Health fair, flu clinics scheduled at senior center

The September and October programs for Darien Senior Activities Center, 30 Edgerton Road, are:

Flu shots will be available Wednesday, Oct. 3, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Each winter, millions of people suffer from seasonal flu. Flu is caused by viruses. Some viruses can spread easily from one person to another. For older people, especially those who have health problems like diabetes or heart disease, the flu can be serious, even life-threatening.

The Darien Health Department will be sponsoring two seasonal flu clinics. Visiting Nurse and Hospice of Fairfield County will be administering the shots. The Health Department will also be offering the Fluzone High-Dose Vaccine, which was specifically designed and recommended for individuals 65 years of age and older.

The cost is $30and Medicare is accepted. Bring an insurance card. Payment must be by cash or check and a voucher to insurance companies.

Seniors are invited to square dance, watch rope and cowboy hat tricks at a hoedown at noon Thursday, Sept. 27.

Music performed by Richard Stillman. A western barbecue also will be featured. Lunch is $4 at noon and the entertainment begins at 12:30 p.m.

Medicare Part D will be explained by Inta Adams and Ali Ramsteck with the Department of Social Services on Tuesday, Oct. 2, at 12:30 p.m. They will explain the importance examining Medicare Part D (prescription drug) plan every year. Plan changes for the upcoming year will be discussed along with an explanation of how Medicare Part D works.

Art Gottlieb will offer a presentation at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, on U.S. Pacific Fleet submarines during World War II. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. submarines made the hazardous journey to the shipping lanes off the coast of Japan, only to have their torpedoes bounce harmlessly off the sides of enemy ships without exploding. Only after two years of bureaucratic wrangling was the "Silent Service" finally supplied with reliable torpedoes that would lead to the virtual elimination of Japanese shipping.