By Lois Requist

Maybe you’ve seen the announcement about our first birthday celebration this month, on the 25th at Benicia Yacht Club from 3 to 4:30. I hope you come!
Since the creation of Carquinez Village took a significant chunk of my time since January, 2015, indulge me in remembrance. A friend of mine said, “Lois never met a meeting she didn’t like.” Not true, however, I have come across ideas that felt important enough to donate time and attention.
In the fall of 2014, a friend of mine in Lafayette invited me to a daylong conference addressing the needs of seniors where I was introduced to the Village Movement. Over breakfast, my Tuesday Table group had seen a few articles on the subject. Judie Donaldson and I were part of those discussions. Since we’re both people prone to take an idea and run with it, we began to move.
In January, 2015, we had our first meeting at the Benicia Library. We didn’t know how many chairs to put up and debated between 20 and 30. About 80 people showed up! The person in charge of Lamorinda’s Village spoke. We laid out the basic concept of connection, support, and inspiration for seniors. A library staff member, Helaine Bowles, who many of you know for her prodigious work in the community, stopped by.  Someone in the audience said, “This is like insurance. I could join before I need the services, so they will be there when I do.”
We passed the plate for donations, took names, and were offered space to meet on a regular basis at the library. We’re still doing that. Once a month on the third Thursday, at 10:30 am we have a speaker on a topic of interest to seniors.
We had two more meetings in February, 2015. In these initial meetings, we said, “We can’t do this by ourselves. Others will need to step up if the consideration of a village in the Benicia area is to go forward.” By March we’d assembled a steering committee of people who had expressed interest.
I’m very impressed with those who came forward and the nine who are still on what has become the governing board of Carquinez Village. Alan Plutchok, a retired physician has opened his home for many events. His humor, kindness, and intelligence all serve us well. Linda Barron has been my yoga teacher for years, so when she saw announcements, she jumped right in. A great interest in the theatre, she and Alan now plan our events. They do a great job of it.
Diane Choquette, a retired teacher, joined and was soon checking out senior services already available. We didn’t want to re-invent the wheel!
Linda Cook, a realtor from Vallejo joined with Lars Ekdahl to begin thinking about governance issues. Lars and his wife, Jeanne, the only couple on the board have been steady and extremely helpful. Jeanne is our “tech wizard,” and deals with our website, and all the lists we maintain.
Gerald Forcier has been working on finances since the beginning. He’s run a nonprofit and his knowledge and ties to others have been invaluable. He brings good will and good humor to the group.
Co-founder Judie Donaldson may be the hardest worker and is an excellent thinker on the work of organizing, bringing in members, and keeping people involved. To all these folks, kudos!
Some other folks have joined the team since, bringing talent and expertise. Susan Neuhaus, who along with Diane Choquette, works with our volunteers—through which seniors receive services—has brought dedication and sensitivity to the position. Another important part of the picture is marketing. In that regard, Linda Chandler’s expertise has served us well. Melody Seymour, who also runs FIT (Families in Transition) is a welcome addition to our board for her communication and administrative skills.    Steve Sillen represents us with a couple of county agencies, the Senior Coalition and the Area Agency on Aging of Solano County. He also works on the services we provide and referrals to local businesses. Quite a team, I’d say!
All of this doesn’t begin to mention everyone who is involved. I hope to have a follow-up article on the volunteers and people who simply do things for us without title or position. I should mention that Robert Fuentes at Faith In Action had some faith in us very early on, making our relationship with them as a fiscal agent possible. It’s worked very well.
We’ve developed an organization that connects, supports, and inspires seniors in the Benicia area. We had some 650 service requests in the last year and met those needs! We’ve had serious and fun events. And now, we’re celebrating! Hope you join us!

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