Wed., June 17

Y centennial

The Riverdale YM-YWHA, located at 5625 Arlington Ave., will celebrate its centennial anniversary with a gala annual dinner at 6:30 p.m.

The dinner will honor current president, Dr. Miriam Westheimer, all of its living past presidents and long-time staff member Marti Michael.

Dr. Westheimer, a Riverdale resident, graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College in 1978. Then she went to get her master’s degree at Teachers College, Columbia University so she could teach English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). She then moved to Israel to live on a kibbutz in the Negev Desert to work in the fields, drive a tractor and teach. There she taught English and folk dancing and worked in daycare facilities. She then moved to Haifa in Israel for three years, where she also worked as an educator.

She created a program in Israel called HIPPY — Home instruction for Parents and Preschool Youngsters — and HIPPY USA was established as an independent educational corporation, which she served as its executive director and president for 10 years.

Tickets to the event cost $180 per person.

For more information, call 718-548-8200 ext. 214.

Movie screening

Riverdale Senior Services, 2800 Netherland Ave., will screen Live and Become from 4 to 7 p.m.

The 2008 film tells the story of a Christian Ethiopian boy from an impoverished family who is forced by his mother to pretend he is a Jewish orphan so that an upper-class family in Israel might adopt him.

Registration is required. Discussion and refreshments will follow the screening, which is free.

For more information, call 718-884-5900.

Brandeis meeting

The Riverdale Chapter of the Brandeis National Committee will hold its final meeting of the season at 12:30 p.m. in Riverdale Temple, located at West 246th Street and Independence Avenue.

The study group will be entertained with a musical revue presented by Gary Lovett. Bagels and light refreshments will be served and boutique items will be sold.

Participants can make a reservation in advance by sending check for $12, payable to the committee, to Cecile Horwich, 5800 Arlington Ave., unit 10W, Bronx, NY, 10471, by June 10. Admission at the door will be $15.

Health seminar

Riverdale Senior Services, located at 2600 Netherland Ave., presents a dinner and health education seminar from 5 to 7 p.m.

“For Your Eyes Only!” is part of the “Seminars at the Century Series,” sponsored by the RSS Visionaries, a peer support group for the vision impaired.

Dr. Stanley Wainapel, director of rehabilitation of Montefiore Medical Center, will discuss adaptive aids and resources available for the vision impaired. Dr. Wainapel has spent much of his professional life with a vision condition that has left him blind.

Fee for lasagna dinner (alternate choice/chicken) costs $5, payable to Riverdale Senior Services, Inc.

The second session will meet Thursday, June 25 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Call 718-884-5900 by Tuesday, June 15 to register. Payments can be made by sending a check to Riverdale Senior Services, 2600 Netherland Ave., Bronx, NY 10463. Attention: Visionaries.

This is part of the June 11, 2009 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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