Celebrating its 11th year, FiftyForward’s Hats Off to Bordeaux! was created to celebrate the Bordeaux community in North Nashville as well as raise funds for the FiftyForward Bordeaux center that serves this community.
The lively fundraiser features a hat fashion show and has become a favorite of community fashion aficionados. In the past it has offered great visibility for local businesses like HatWRKS, Dottie Wotties, and many other local business owners and entrepreneurs.
This festive event is historically held the last Friday in June, but due to the threat COVID-19 poses to older adults and with their safety in mind, we decided not to host an in-person gathering this year.
In order to keep our members, families, and community safe this year we are exploring new ways to connect. Virtual programming has become the norm. To date, staff members of FiftyForward Bordeaux have brought the community fabulous programs including gardening how-to sessions and well as some lively exercise classes with bit of a dance twist.
Combating isolation
Center members miss the interaction and socialization with one another. Research has shown that isolation for older adults can negatively impact health outcomes. In a recent survey conducted by FiftyForward, members said they may not go back in public until after a vaccine is found. Others referenced they now felt devoid of freedom, bored, and that they were eager to get back together.
A report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) points out that more than one-third of adults aged 45 and older feel lonely, and nearly one-fourth of adults aged 65 and older are socially isolated. Seniors are at increased risk for loneliness and social isolation because they are more likely to face factors such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and hearing loss.
To counter this isolation and bring the community together, albeit virtually, this year a digital fashion show will take place Friday, July 24, 2020, at 11 a.m. click here for tickets and will include a short program highlighting our work at FiftyForward Bordeaux. Registration includes a link to the celebration via Zoom Meetings. We hope to bring the enthusiasm and energy of Hats Off! to the greater community as we shine light during these uncertain times.
FiftyForward Bordeaux supports older adults through COVID-19 pandemic
Here is a snapshot of the work FiftyForward has been doing since we began operating under the Safer at Home order established by Nashville Mayor John Cooper on March 23, 2020:
- FiftyForward Bordeaux Center staff members have made more than 800 wellness-check phone calls to members who are sheltered at home.
- Through our weekly food distribution program, we have provided more than 3,000 meals to those living in the Bordeaux community.
- FiftyForward staff has created more than 116 original virtual programming options and made them available to members across the agency.
- FiftyForward Bordeaux as well as the other six FiftyForward centers are scheduling socially distanced outdoor events such as “Beep-and-Greets” and “front porch visits” with members to help counter isolation and to act as a wellness check-in. These events give members and staff a chance to chat face-to-face in a safe, socially distanced way.
Research continues to show seniors are especially at risk with COVID-19. We are committed to doing everything we can to improve the mental health of older adults, to counter their stress and anxiety during these difficult times, and to provide distant and/or virtual connections until we can all safely be together again in our centers and programs.
History of Hats Off to Bordeaux!
Looking back at Hats Off to Bordeaux and those on the fashion show runway, we can get a great glimpse of the personality and swagger of those who have supported the agency and the event over the years. We dearly miss folks like the now late Metro Nashville Trustee Charlie Cardwell, who always was a crowd pleaser. Tennessee State Senator Brenda Gilmore, who was then a state representative and board member was one of the founders of Hats Off to Bordeaux. Over the years she brought her daughter, Erica, (now Metro Trustee-Elect) to the event. Soon “the Gilmore girls,” as we affectionately called them, were wowing the crowd. SunTrust’s Carolyn Ermey always rocked the runway with her moxy and fashion sense, not to be outdone by wealth management advisors Jana Lisle Parham and Don Greene who never disappointed in showing their runway moves. Greene is famous for not only charming attendees with his fabulous chapeau but also for showing attendees a glimpse of his sensational and jazzy socks.
About FiftyForward Bordeaux
Nestled in a historic area of Northwest Nashville, FiftyForward Bordeaux Center opened in May 2007, in what was previously the Bordeaux Library. This center offers many opportunities for engagement through programs, activities, and services for more than 2,000 older adults annually. FiftyForward Bordeaux serves a diverse community of older adults and offers opportunities for activities for fun, fitness, and fellowship in the community.
The leadership of FiftyForward Bordeaux seeks to ensure that members of this community are engaged in ways that strengthen them physically, socially, and spiritually and improve members’ lives through various programs. These programs include classes in nutritional, dance, fitness, music, drumming, exercise, art projects, day trips around the community and the planting of an annual community garden. FiftyForward Bordeaux is also one of our two centers that offer Metro Services congregate meals that deliver nutritionally sound meals to eligible older adults.
We hope that you will join us for this festive, virtual event as we celebrate the love of community and the center at the heart of it.
