Get out of town: Take a day trip with Lifelong 

Community members over the age of 50 who have never seen a glass blowing demonstration or taken a step back in time at a living history community will have their chance this year. 

Susan Weiner, program director for Lifelong in Ithaca, attends all the day trips organized by the community center for adults 50 and over. “Last year, when we went to the New York State Fair, a couple folks needed to rent wheelchairs and things,” Weiner said. By going with the group, she is able to make sure everything goes smoothly and the travelers have everything they need.

The next trip coming up is to the Corning Museum of Glass on March 20, followed by Genesee Country Village & Museum on May 8. Weiner said both these destinations are perfect examples of attractions that are close to home but sometimes overlooked by locals.

On June 11, Lifelong will take a group to see Jesus Christ Superstar at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Auburn.

Meals and transportation on a charter bus are taken care of and included in the price of the trip. Lifelong’s goal is to take food, transportation, and other worries out of the equation so people can travel stress-free, Weiner said.  

“[Going on a day trip is] beneficial on multiple levels,” Weiner said. “It eliminates loneliness and isolation, it’s socially bonding, and it’s also physically important. They’re out, and they’re walking, and it can inspire them to do more things.”

“It is our goal at Lifelong to enhance the lives of older folks in Tompkins County,” Weiner added. “We want people to remain active, healthy and engaged, and that’s why Lifelong is here.”

Corning Museum of Glass

The trip to Corning Museum Glass on March 20 costs $99 for members and $109 for nonmembers and takes participants on a bus ride to the museum, where they will take a class that will result in their own sandblasted, custom designed tumbler to take home.

“If we did the glass blowing class, we wouldn’t be able to take it home right away,” Weiner explained. “You would have had to let it bake and cool, and we wanted to give them that immediate gratification of bringing it home that day.”

One group will take the class while the other does a self-guided tour of the museum, exploring 3,500 years of glass and glassmaking history, from antiquity through present day. A $10 voucher will be provided for lunch.

“People can witness a live glass blowing show if they want,” Weiner said. “It’s just a fascinating art.”

“And,” she added, “there’s always the big, beautiful gift shop.”

Genesee Country Village & Museum

“I bet a lot of folks haven’t heard of this place, and it’s an entire community,” Weiner said of this historical community in Mumford, the largest living history museum in New York and the third-largest in the country.

Lifelong’s trip on May 8 costs $99 for members and $109 for nonmembers and includes charter bus transportation, entry to the grounds, and a preselected lunch.

“We’re going to be wandering around the grounds; there’s a blacksmith, a working farm, and animals. It’s a step back in history to see what life in Upstate New York was like at that timeframe,” Weiner said. “It should be a fun, immersive experience for people. There is a tram ride around the park, so that’s sort of a nice, fun adventure.”

The trip is also educational, as people who work there are dressed in period clothing and teach what life was like in the past.  

Visitors to the grounds can visit 68 historical buildings that were moved to the property from around the Genesee Valley and Greater Rochester area, and they can engage with costumed historical educators, who keep the hearth fires burning, the heirloom gardens flourishing, and the livestock tended.

Other events coming up at Lifelong

Check the Lifelong website, tclifelong.org, to sign up for these day trips or to get more information about other trips coming up this year as more information becomes available.

Two special events coming up at Lifelong in March include a Celtic music concert from the band Six Mile Craic, open to the public March 17 from 4 to 6 p.m., and the launch of a new program called Musical Memories Café at noon on March 18, which will include live music, lunch and an opportunity to connect with others. The program is designed for caregivers and care receivers in our community and is free of charge.