Dispel the myths about aging gracefully. Grasp the basics of pointing, clicking and sending e-mails. Engage the brain with life-prolonging laughter.

That’s the world of knowledge Broward’s elderly popular can expect to find during Memorial Manor’s 20th Anniversary Senior Expo at the Pembroke Pines nursing home at 777 S. Douglas Road.

The two-day expo, beginning Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. 5 p.m., exposes 55-and-overs to the benefits of life after retirement with a series of lectures, demonstrations and hands-on activities.
Included among the melee of senior-friendly events are presentations from geriatricians, motivational speakers, chefs, technology buffs and law firms.

On Sunday, seniors will also be treated to a Memorial Healthcare System-sponsored resource fair featuring booths and demonstrations of Wii Fitness, Pilates and Yoga.

The schedule, which can be downloaded in .PDF format here, runs as follows:

10am – Lighten Up: Laughter Really Is the Best Medicine
Maria Soldani, Motivational Speaker

11am – Myths and Secrets of Aging Gracefully
Regina Marranzini, MD, Geriatrician

Noon – Healthy and Delicious Recipes for Two
Adam Feidelman, People’s Choice Chef –
Miramar/Pembroke Pines Chamber of Commerce

1pm – Looking for Love After 40
Kenn Shapiro, Author,
Finding It Again: The Truth About Love After 40

2pm – Point, Click and Send:
Internet, E-mail and Photo Basics
Carlene Levine and Horacio Randazzo,
Memorial’s “Tech Squad”

3pm – Crash Course in Wills and Trusts:
Estate Planning Basics
Richard Sabra, Esq., Ruden McClosky

4pm – Engage Your Brain, Enrich Your Life
Linda Maurice, Nova
Southeastern University
Lifelong Learning Institute

Sunday Resource Fair, 10am – 1pm
Demonstrations and Booths include:
• Wii Fitness Challenge hosted by GameStop
• Pilates Demonstration
• Yoga Demonstration
• Tai Chi Exercise Demonstration
• Scrapbooking Seminar (Please Bring Photos)
• CPR and Choking Demonstration
• Broward County Elderly and Veterans Services
• Southeast Focal Point/Joseph Meyerhoff Senior Center
• Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office
• Florida Poison Information Center
• Memorial Home Health Services
• Memorial Senior Partners
• Leeza’s Place/Memorial Hospital Pembroke Memory Center
• Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute
• Memorial Neuroscience Center And more!

For more information, call 954-276-5985, or visit www.memorialmanor.com.

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Every November, homeowners from one of Pembroke Pines’ largest ‘burbs cracks open their garage doors in unison and plunks down wares on the front lawn.

The mounds of secondhand treasures signals the launch of the annual Chapel Trail Community Garage Sale, which runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 across every subdivision.

The season, the most active hotspots to catch piles of assorted memorabilia range from Chapel Oaks, Kensington, Kensington Park and Chapel Lake Estates, said Pat Decillis, a local real estate agent and garage sale coordinator.

Treasure hunters seeking unwanted baseball cards, “I Love Lucy” lunchboxes, or other pop culture knickknacks might hit the jackpot among the jumble of cookware, toys and unwanted items.

For more information, call Decillis at 954-306-4431, or visit www.chapeltrailgaragesale.com.

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Thanks to virtual reality, Pembroke Pines high schoolers can find themselves up close and personal with a medical surgery.

BECON-TV is beaming out to 10 district high schools a live, interactive cervical spine surgery hosted by Chief Neurosurgeon Dr. Greg Zorman from the Memorial Healthcare System at 8 a.m. Nov. 10.

The Distance Learning Outreach presentation will videoconference in West Broward High, 500 NW 209th Ave., with the neurosurgeon during the surgery, with the students participating in pre- and post-tests and observing the invasive procedure.

The two-way presentation allows West Broward High’s and other county schools a chance to visit an actual operating room from the comfort of their classroom.

For more in formation, call Joy Veasy at 754-321-1109, or visit www.browardschools.com.

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There was nothing spooky about a recent Halloween golf tournament to benefit senior citizens.

Pembroke Pines Commissioner Carl Shechter’s annual Swing for the Green tee off on Oct. 31 netted through sponsorships and entry fees roughly $25,000 for the Southwest Focal Point Senior Center, 301 NW 103rd Ave.

Several four-member teams hit the links at Hollybrook Country Club and Golf Course, 9050 Pines Blvd., for a shotgun scramble-style tourney, swinging off for raffle prizes such a Miami Dolphins golf cart.

Since 2004, Shechter’s tourneys have earned more than $150,000 for the senior center, which supplies a network of services for 55-and-older Pines residents.

The Hallo-themed shindig also culled local politicians like Florida Sen. Steve Geller, Broward County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger and other city staff.

For more information, call Shechter at 954-431-0279, or visit www.ppines.com.

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Pembroke Pines Charter Middle can now add “Blue Ribbon School” to its list of accomplishments.

The Central and West Middle campuses recently netted the U.S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon award, which honors public and private schools that place on state or national assessment, or have show improvement in student performance to high levels.

The Pembroke Pines Charter Middle was the only school to pocket the kudos in Broward County, is one of 12 across the state and 312 in the country.

To recognize, the Charter’s status, the Department of Education is staging an awards ceremony Nov. 3 inside Washington, D.C.’s Omni Shoreham Hotel.

The West and Central Middle campuses, at 12350 Sheridan St. and 18500 Pembroke Road, respectively, qualified for placing in the top 10 percent on state tests or nationally-normed tests.

For more information, call 954-322-3300 and 954-443-4847, or visit www.pinescharter.com.

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Thanks to one Pembroke Pines charter school, fathers and sons can appreciate some upcoming bonding time.

That’s because FSU Charter Elementary, 601 SW 172 Ave., is hosting an All-Pro Dads breakfast bonanza at 7:40 a.m. inside FSU’s cafeteria.

The gathering lets children and their pops grab some family-friendly face time while noshing on breakfast and participating in numerous activities. As the father/son duos grow closer together, the charter is also giving away prizes.

The inaugural All-Pro Dads kicks off Oct. 29 and the following get-together is Dec. 3. Dads must RSVP in advance.

For more information, call 954-499-4244 or visit www.pinescharter.com.

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It’s November, and that means the new season of Pembroke Pines Theater of the Performing Arts is kicking off.

Running Nov. 6 through Nov. 28, PPTOPA is staging performances of “Bye Bye Birdie” at Susan B. Katz Theater of the Performing Arts, 17195 Sheridan St.

The Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, which homages Elvis Presley’s early career, centers on a hip-gyrating rock-and-roll up-and-comer named Conrad Birdie who’s drafted into the Army.

Actors’ll hit the stage Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $20 for adults, $15 for seniors.

For more information, call Marlene at 954-437-4884, or visit www.pptopa.com.

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Come Halloween, Pines Recreation Park will see a spooktacular makeover.

The Pembroke Pines hangout will notice its baseball diamonds, recreation center and its sprawling grass fields swarming with thousands of Pines residents, several parlor games and rides during the city’s seventh annual Boo-ville celebration.

For the haunted fête, children can dive headfirst into a hay-strewn pumpkin patch and, with “passport” in hand, scavenge for trick-or-treat stations, greet strolling Hallo-characters and cut wicked Mummy Raps with a turntable-spinning DJ.

Visitors can also expect food vendors, crafts and partake in “Hallo-win,” a fundraiser benefiting the city’s Special Populations Department where players crack open pumpkins in exchange for prizes.

And, of course, there are the 40,000-plus pieces of candy up for grabs.

The shindig runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 31 at Pines Recreation Center, 7400 Pines Blvd. Free. Call Novo at 954-435-6525, or visit www.ppines.com.

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The Truth in Millage notices are in the mail, but what to do?

Sweeping in for the rescue is the Broward County Property Appraiser’s office, who’s making the rounds in November to field more TRIM notice questions.

Deputy appraisers will be on hand from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nov. 10 at Pembroke Pines City Hall, 10100 Pines Blvd. to assist with Homestead, Senior, Portability and other property tax exemption applications.

Interested residents should bring a current Florida driver's license ID, a voter registration card or declaration of domicile and proof of permanent residency.

Eligible senior citizen residents, or those with a total adjusted gross income less than $25,873, should bring either a copy of their 2008 income tax return or 2008 Social Security 1099 Form.

Later that month, deputy appraisers are hitting the condo community Pembroke Pines Century Village from noon to 2 p.m. Nov. 20 at 13550 SW 10th St.

For more information, call Kelly Brown at 954-357-5579, or visit www.bcpa.net.

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Pembroke Pines officials voted 5-0 on Wednesday to strike an agreement with Broward County to refurbish 10 very low to moderate income homes ravaged by Hurricanes Wilma or Katrina.

The program, whose contract was extended through March 31, 2010, uses a $689,283 grant to aid homeowners whose incomes are less than 80 percent of the average median income.

The home repair program is a 15-year deferred payment loan specifically designed to target the Holly Lake mobile home community, a Pines neighborhood west of U.S. 27.

To qualify, homeowners must show proper documentation of disaster-related damaged still unfixed by the Disaster Recovery Initiative, according to contract documents.

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