Baltimore County, MD Time of Your LIfe, 20 Oct 2021

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From YouTube: Baltimore County Department of Aging's Twenty-First Senior Center - The Opal Center

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Kathleen Young, Programming Manager
Baltimore County Department of Aging

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Welcome back to the time of your life., I'm your host, ethel rasmussen.! This segment is special, since we are talking about bcda's, 21st senior, center.,.

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Joining us today is kathleen young, programming manager at the baltimore county department of aging.

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Kathleen, welcome to the time of your life.

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hi ethel., thanks for having me today.

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part of talking about the opal center,.

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If you could briefly share information about bcda's 20 senior centers, located throughout baltimore county.

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Sure. we have 20 senior centers in baltimore county.

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We have regional centers and we have community centers..

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Our regional centers have a larger population,.

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Larger membership than our community centers., we did reopen at the end of may..

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We are requiring masks right now in our centers,, but all the centers are fully open for activities,.

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For classes, for lunch, for special events,, the fitness centers., everything is a go right. Now.

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fleming senior center just opened up their fitness center a month. Ago,.

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So they're really excited to get their members up and moving a little bit. More.

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Everyone is welcome to come back and join our senior centers again.

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Kathleen,, I know this show's viewing audience.

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Is excited to learn about the opal center, opal being an acronym,? What does it stand? For? opal stands for online programs for adult learning,.

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Which is exactly what our senior population has been doing over the last year and a half,.

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Which is logging in online and taking advantage of a lot of online classes and programs.

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Virtual senior center is such a wonderful service for many reasons.

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How did the idea of the opal center originate?.

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After the senior centers closed during the pandemic,.

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It started right, away., we're very concerned and worried. What are we going to do, while these centers are closed? senior center staff just jumped right in and they started with.

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The most well attended classes that our members were going to.

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Miss the most and they figured out a way to make those classes work, online.

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It took some time to get our members to figure out how to use zoom and how to use.

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Webex and how to use your microphone and camera and all that stuff.

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That was the start of it, and it just grew from there.

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We were probably offering more than 50 classes and probably 50 programs a week or in a month.

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That's where it got started and then once the centers reopened, again,.

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People really just didn't want to stop these online classes. Anymore.

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They enjoyed the fellowship of it,, even if they weren't learning online anymore., some groups, like a quilting group,. They just wanted to get together and see each other and continue to do what they love.

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A stained glass class also would do the same thing..

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It isn't always just about learning and taking a class by getting together for the fellowship of it as well.

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Why is the opal center so beneficial in supporting the bcda populations?.

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In addition to the pandemic and ongoing safety precautions due to covid,.

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The virtual center support bcda's, diverse range of clients such as caregivers, homebound, client's,.

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Transportation, challenges, mobility, issues,.

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Childcare, busy schedules, and other situations.

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The opal center enables older adults to enjoy the activities they love without leaving the comfort of their home.

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It provides a lot of convenes for our members.

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They don't have to drive as far now.. It also offers a more diverse offerings for them,.

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So a lot of times, if you lived in a neighborhood and your closest center, was a community center,.

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They may not offer as many classes and programs that you can get through the opal center and through online..

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They have enjoyed taking and participating in these online classes and we've gotten so many emails. Saying,.

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Please don't stop these classes.. I really love taking this watercolor class or this drawing class and a lot of times,.

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A center might offer a class, and hardly any of those members from that center are even taking that class,, but they're coming from different parts of the county that are enjoying those classes and of course, you save on gas,, you can wear whatever you want.

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you're, also safe right now, if you don't like wearing a mask during a fitness, class,.

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You have the comfort of doing that in your own home without having to deal with the wearing the mask as well.

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kathleen,. I know our viewers would love to hear about.

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The many types of programs the opal center is offering.

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Can you share information about the center's online classes and programs, including educational opportunities?,.

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Sure., like I mentioned before, some art classes.

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Two of the most popular ones were drawing classes and art classes, and fitness is of course, a big draw for our seniors,, and that was probably one of our first offerings that we started during the pandemic.

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Yoga, tai chi, strength. Training, we've got some evidence-based classes like enhanced fitness that are well attended as well,.

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Then we have partnerships with different community groups,.

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The mental health association of maryland. they are offering educational programs,, the towson university of nursing students have been doing a great job, offering programs online for us as well.

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Then we have a lot of health and wellness programs..

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We have tapped into the resources that we had when the senior centers were open and a lot of those providers are very happy to continue to offer in-person and also virtual programs. Now.

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Then you've probably heard of the word hybrid,.

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So a lot of centers are also doing that. Now.

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they'll have a class in-person,, but then they'll also set up their laptop or their ipad and.

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Their cameras and their sound system and then people can participate from home,.

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But also people are participating at the same time, while in the building as well.

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It also again expands the opportunity for more people to join these classes as well.

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As far as offerings and other programs,.

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What about the program menu?? Is it available at anytime?.

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We publicize our schedule once a month..

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Last month we just started with the opal newsletter.

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You can find that in any of the 20 senior centers newsletters,.

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You can get a print copy at your local senior center, and it's also available online through the bcda's website.

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That's a great way to find out what we're offering.

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We also use a google document which we'll talk about next on how to access that,.

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But that lists all of our classes and programs as well,.

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But our programs usually are business hours.

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monday through friday, from 8:30 until 4:00,.

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But there are going to be some classes that are in the evenings and also are on weekends, as well.

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baltimore, county department of aging has sponsored with getsetup and.

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It getssetup.io and if you use the coupon code, baltimore,.

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You get a free membership and they're offering 300 programs a week.

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Their classes start from 1:00 am and they go until.

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11-12 o'clock at night, because some of these providers are living all around the world.

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I mean, it is a amazing opportunity and I hope.

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Our viewers will take advantage of joining up for that program as well.

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Kathleen,: let's talk about the easy way to.

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Access these exciting programs you've just shared.

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sure.. A google document is currently what we're.

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Using right now, where we refer to it as a google doc., the easiest way is to get it emailed to you, because it is a long link.

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It's a little difficult for me to tell some over the phone all of those letters and it's a good chance. They might type it in incorrectly.

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Once you get that link for the google doc,, you just click on it and it'll pop up. The top half of that document lists all of our ongoing classes,.

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It's an order from day of the week and morning until evening time and then at the bottom half of that document you will find all of our onetime programs that are just going to be offered for that month.

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As long as the class is free or the program is free,, the link for that program will be in there.

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occasionally, a provider might ask that you register in advance because they may.

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Want to send you some handouts ahead of time or maybe for attendance. Purposes,.

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So you just still click on the link and then they'll email. The link right to you to join into that program.

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We do ask for our members to sign into that google doc just before their class,.

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Just to make sure nothing has changed..

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Sometimes something happens with the provider..

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They might have some technology issues where they maybe can't connect that day.

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Again,, something might happen personally where they have to reschedule a program,.

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So we certainly don't want to disappoint any of our participants where they're logging in and then the program or class isn't happening.

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We always encourage them just a few minutes or an.

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Hour or so before, that program gets started to login to the google document,.

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Any changes that might be happening are always highlighted in yellow.

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If a time changes, a link changes anything like that,, it's easy and brought to their attention through that.

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for our viewers that are interested in participating, now,.

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Who would they contact?? You can contact me and my email is kyoung@baltimorecountymd.gov.

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Again,, you can call me at 410, 887 3654.

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If you do email,, I do ask for you include your name,, your date of birth,.

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And if you're affiliated with the senior center too include that as well.

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If you do call me, I'll ask for your email address, because that again, would be the best way for me to send that link to our participants.

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Now,, I understand that registration for the opal center will be different.

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Can you talk about these upcoming changes?

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sure. we're excited to launch the opal center.

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It is going to be a work in progress as we move to getting everything on a website,.

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Eventually, we won't have that google document anymore.

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we're hoping to have a password protected website where you can login with your credentials.

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we're going to ask for our members to actually join the opal center.

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Just like you would join one over 20 senior centers,.

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We're going to be now 21st senior center., we'll ask for you to join, but of course, it'll be online, so you won't be coming into a senior center to join.

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It should only take just a couple of minutes to join.: it is free, of course,. Just like membership at all of our centers is free..

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There may eventually be some fees for our classes or programs,.

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So if we do have to hire an instructor,, then we would pass that fee onto our members,, but we will be using online payments,.

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We will be taking credit cards if you're not comfortable with that,.

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You can also mail in a check to me for payments.

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all that will be coming up and we're going to be very excited to announce that probably in the next couple of months,, so look for more information on that. such a wonderful opportunity,.

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Kathleen, anything you would care to add.

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We're always looking for volunteers, and this is a new volunteer opportunity for our seniors..

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One of the things that we are looking for is what we call spotters,.

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And that's for our fitness classes..

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We really just want to make sure that our participants at home are safe and, if anything happens, to them, if they have a fall or any emergency,, we want to make sure that someone is able to see that..

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That's a great volunteer opportunity for anyone,.

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You don't have to have experience, with,, fitness or tied to you or anything like that..

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As long as you have a laptop or computer, and you can view and see the other participants,.

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That would be a great opportunity,, certainly to lead classes or programs..

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If there's a skill or a trade that you do or a hobby that you want to do,.

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Or something from your work history that you would love to teach,, please contact me.

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We would be happy to have you teach some classes or programs and again,.

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Any community providers that are out there.

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if you want to offer a program or a class for our members,, we would be happy to have you. excellent, kathleen,.

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Thank you for being on today's show and sharing information about the opal center.

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Thanks again for having me today.

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before we close today's show,, please join bcda for our living longer or living well. Adult virtual summit on november 17th,.

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2021 from 09:00 am to 02:00 pm.

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Learn about cutting edge topics from experts to help you live your best life.

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Due to the generous support of our sponsors,, the gordon center, keswick, home instead,, mid atlantic medical supply and equipment and green spring valley neighbors., the conference is free of charge. for more information,. Please call for 410 887-2002.

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That's today's show.. Thank you for spending your time with us..

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Please remember,! You can call the department of aging's information line called maryland access point.

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Of baltimore county or map at 410, 887 2594 with questions pertaining to older adults and persons with disabilities.

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This show may also be viewed anytime on the internet at.

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Www.Baltimorecountymd.Gov/Videos with open captioning.

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That brings us to the conclusion of this edition of the time of your life and.

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National mature media award winner about the services and contemporary topics that keep you living connected.

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Wishing you and yours are happy and healthy holiday season and new year.