lake sorrounded by trees

Fall brings plenty of fun! With October’s arrival we start to sense the end of the year, we pay a lot more attention to the trees, and cold/flu/covid season is upon us. This month’s BugbeeTalks echo all three of these seasonal changes! All sessions are free and do not require advance sign up.

On Tuesday, October 3rd at 12:45pm, we are welcoming Bryan L’Hereux from Dartmouth Health to talk about the latest guidelines for vaccination. He’ll be joined by Nancy, DH’s emergency coordinator, and Alex, nurse lead at Dartmouth’s vaccine clinics. They will help untangle all the news, rumors, updates, and sometimes daunting labyrinth of information about vaccines! You’ll also be able to sign up for a special block at the Dartmouth flu clinic on Friday, October 13, right around the ideal time to get a flu shot this year. Did we mention…as an incentive, lunch at Snax is on us after the flu clinic for people who get their shot! We figure: why not make this basic health maintenance as fun and social as possible. The talk on Tuesday, October 3rd starts at 12:45, right after lunch. For more information about Bugbee’s Public Health Day at Dartmouth, click here.

Fall in New England is all about the trees. Karen Watson, a former member of the Hartford Tree Board (and self-proclaimed tree hugger) will be here on Wednesday, October 11 at 1:00 pm. She will discuss recent Tree Board projects, tips to identify trees, problems with invasive species, tree “hot spots,” and the ways climate change may affect tree migrations. If we have good weather, you’ll also be invited for a follow up tree tour of the heritage trees in downtown WRJ. (Did you even know we have heritage trees downtown??)

The end of the year is a time to reflect on what endings mean. The word “hospice,” for example, have a lot of negative reactions when brought up in conversation, but it really shouldn’t. Hospice is a service provided to individuals during the final stages of an incurable disease, but the service is so much more than that! On Wednesday, October 18 at 1:00 pm, we’ll be joined by the VNH Hospice team to walk us through understanding all aspects of the care received during hospice. There can be a lot of fear around the idea, but VNH will show us that it doesn’t have to be as scary as we think!

October at Bugbee is full of many more activities and services! Liz Carey is returning to schedule some benefits screening programs, we have a really fun Halloween costume party for lunch on the 31st, Oktoberfest the evening of 10/4, and introducing…Bingocize! Check out the full calendar of activities this month!