Big Sir
Bevin Hong

October is here. The weather is cooling down, football is in full swing (Go Bears!), and somehow the stores are already preparing us for Christmas.

Recently I was reading about Blue Zones, places around the world where people tend to live longer, healthier lives. Researchers have spent years studying what these people eat, how much they exercise, and what they do differently.

The good news: apparently you don’t have to run marathons, live at the gym, or survive entirely on kale.

One of the biggest factors is surprisingly simple: stay connected to other people.

People who live long, healthy lives tend to have strong friendships, regular social interaction, a sense of purpose, and reasons to get out of the house.

Sound familiar?

That’s pretty much the SIR business model.

We play golf and bocce, hike, meet for breakfast and coffee, drink a little wine, beer and whiskey, play poker, learn something at our luncheons. And, most importantly, give each other a reason to show up.

At our age, that’s more important than we sometimes realize.

Retirement gives us something we spent decades wishing for: free time. The trick is figuring out what to do with all of it. SIR gives us places to go, things to do, and people who notice when we don’t show up.

And according to the Blue Zones people, that may actually help us live longer.

Which is excellent news, because we’ll need those extra years just to get through all our doctor appointments.

So this month, invite someone to golf, breakfast, bocce, coffee, or lunch. Better yet, invite a friend who isn’t a SIR member yet. He may think he’s just coming out for a meal.

Little does he know we’re trying to extend his life.

See you at the luncheon!

Bevin Hong
Big SIR, Branch 34

Little Sir
Casey Brierley

Since we are coming into elections on November 3^rd I was able to get Julie Testa, who is running for mayor in the City of Pleasanton, to speak at our meeting on October 8th. She is running against the current mayor, Jack Balch.

Julie is a longtime Pleasanton resident and current member of the City Council since 2018. She was also a former Human Services Commission member, NAMI Tri Valley volunteer, and Tri Valley Reach Board member. A lot of the issues in Pleasanton are similar to what is happening in the other Tri Valley communities so I think everyone will find her talk interesting!

See you on October 8th!

Casey

Activities Chairman
Peter Weeks

Peter Weeks
pweeks6166@gmail.com
925-353-0234