Betty Dayron retired 2 ½ years ago, ending a long and rewarding 43-year career as a Social Worker with Jewish Family and Community Service (now Jewish Children and Family Services). With an MA in social work from the U. of C., Betty began as an agency case worker in South Shore and, through the years, became a district administrator, ran the refugee resettlement program, and served as the associate executive director.  Her last assignment:  director of human resources.  

"I thought I might be bored in retirement," Betty remembers.  "So I made a list of home clean-out projects, just in case.  I organized two kitchen drawers, and that was the end of that."

Betty in her Lincoln Park front yard.

Like so many Village members, Betty is active, involved, and always ready for new experiences.  She stays connected to her profession and her schools; takes exercise classes at the Park District building right across from her high rise condo on Lincoln Park West; and loves to travel - her last trip, in March, was to Egypt.  She also indulges in her musical passion for blues and folk: every January for the past 17 years, she sails off on a Blues Cruise in the Caribbean, and along the way has gotten to know blues legends such as Taj Mahal. 

The Give and Get of the Village
However, once she bid goodbye to work and relaxed into retirement, Betty realized she was lacking one important thing:  enough connections and close friendships in her own Lincoln Park neighborhood, where she had lived for 24 years and now was spending most of her free time. When an acquaintance mentioned a new community group called Lincoln Park Village, Betty decided it could be just the right fit.  She liked the Village concept and figured she could help move the start-up group forward.  And the rest, as they say, is history.   

Although she started as a Village volunteer with "no intention of joining," it took little time for her to understand the importance and benefits of membership: Betty joined at the Founding Member level.  Drawn by the opportunities for volunteering, she quickly became one of the Village's most "diverse" workers, taking on tasks that touch on operations throughout the organization.   

"I had always functioned in a staff-to-client setting," Betty says.  "But the village is based on friend-to-friend, neighbor-to-neighbor relationships, which makes it particularly interesting for me."

Among other duties, Betty works regularly in the office, has conducted new-member conversations, interviewed new volunteers, and helped organize volunteer orientations.  Right now, she is interviewing interns from Loyola University for Village work this summer and fall.  "I have my hand in a number of things at the Village, which I really like."  

Deciding to Join and Also to Support
Betty also is a member of the Host Committee for the June 21 First Anniversary event with Gail Sheehy.  As she puts it, "Once I decided to join the Village, I also decided to support. This is one good way for me to do that."  

So, what about those community friendships and connections she was looking for when she first knocked on the Village door?  Betty has become a regular at Village programs:  art tours, music and food events, neighborhood walks, lectures.  As a result, not only has she made new friends, but she also has reconnected with people -- among them a college dorm-mate from Brandeis who she hadn't seen for years, and a colleague from JFCS, now director of Older Adult Programs at Rush University Medical Center, with whom Betty is enjoying a new dimension of friendship based on Village service.

"I'm very pleased with my membership in the Village and the range of opportunities for volunteering," she says.  "It's a wonderful place.  Now we just need to get bigger."  Amen to that.

Photo: Jane Curry

Start with a buffet bursting with delicious homemade dishes, including the best brisket in town, add a hot Dixieland jazz band,bring in Village members rarin' to mix and mingle, and top it off with an intriguing  game or two to get to know your neighbors and their interests even better.  That was the Village's second annual Members Meeting and Potluck in May -- with thanks to St. Paul Church for the lovely venue.  By the way, straight from the Potluck, here are some of the books Villlage members currently are reading:  Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, The Bridge by Doug Marlette, Too Big To Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin, The Big Short by Michael Lewis, The Women of Frank Lloyd Wright, by T.C. Boyle, and Queen Emma and the Vikings by Harriet O'Brien.                        
   

Larry and Nancy-Felton Elkins

Ella Jenkins, Hazel Vespa, and Bernadelle Richter

Glittering boots on tabletops were created by Louise Witt

Photos: Marjorie Freed

The Village Caregiver Forum in May attracted  an animated and interested group of people, who spent a morning exploring the landscape of  caregiving and learning from experts at CJE SeniorLife.  Art of Wellness forums and related programs will continue during the year (see June Calendar for upcoming program on health care fraud).
 

Caregiver story-tellers Ed Rose (from left), Dar Johnson, Jim Zartman, and Rev. John Hobbs

Breakout groups readily shared personal insights and information.  

Photos: Nancy Biederman