Lunch Group Offers a Chance to Socialize

MCLEAN—The portions were generous. The conversation was far-ranging. The mood was friendly and welcoming. It was the third Monday of the month and about a dozen diners were schmoozing over sandwiches and salads at Mylo’s Grill in McLean.

It was the monthly lunch bunch sponsored by AARP and McLeanCVA (Community Village Association).

“Our focus is socialization, specifically aimed at isolation, because there are people in McLean who are isolated either by choice or circumstance,” said Steve Morrison, a community outreach volunteer wearing a red AARP polo shirt.

“That’s why we encourage people to find someone who is isolated and bring them” to a lunch gathering, Morrison said.

There is no program and no proselytizing, Morrison stressed. That means no one gets up and gives a pitch for AARP or any other group. And the passing out of business cards is discouraged. This is not a place to troll for prospective customers, it’s a place to share experiences and ideas.

It’s also the rare place where you can have lunch and conversation with total strangers.
Four newcomers sat at one of the many tables in the quiet back room at Mylo’s. They were hungry, but not just for food; they wanted information and to share insights.

Ileen Shefferman, an artist from McLean who has long had a studio at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, was eager to learn about the McLeanCVA. She had heard of the Village concept—where neighborhoods organize to provide a range of services, particularly for older residents—and wanted to know how the McLean version worked.

Jen Bears, owner of Early Learning Express, a preschool in McLean, was anxious to learn about community and other resources for her 94-year-old father who lives in Daytona Beach but will be moving in with her shortly. She was excited to hear about some of the organizations that provide adult day care and other services.

Cynthia Crooks drove over from Annandale. She had retired only a month earlier from being the equal employment opportunity director at the federal Department of Health and Human Services and was looking forward to meeting other retired people and sharing experiences.
And this article’s author, a retired journalist, was there to see what happened at an AARP McLean lunch. He shared a discussion of journalistic opportunities with Bears, who has a daughter studying journalism at a college in California.

The conversation touched on careers, social media, family, library apps, courses provided to seniors at a local synagogue, and the penchant of grown children to travel and live overseas.

Cooks said she read about the lunch in one of the AARP publications “and I was looking for something that was local to me—not on the Beltway—to meet other people who were retired. This was lovely. Very lovely.”

Bears said, “I’ve learned a lot and gotten ideas about where I can take my father,” including the Shepherd Center, Insight Memory Care, and the McLeanCVA. “I’ve gotten some very good information and I’ve also learned about opportunities in journalism. That was a very big deal for me.”

Shefferman said one reason she came was to learn whether a Wise Aging group she belongs to at Temple Rodef Shalom might be able to work with the McLeanCVA. That sparked a lengthy conversation about Wise Aging, a program of courses based on a book of the same name.
Morrison, who is also active in the McLeanCVA, joined the group and explained that this village association provides research into services available for seniors. He noted that it posts a continuously updated calendar of events for older people in the McLean area.

The McLean lunch bunch meets at Mylo’s Grill, 6238 Old Dominion Drive in McLean, the third Monday of every month except January and February when it meets on the second Monday to avoid the federal holidays. Admission is free, but each person pays for their meal, which comes with a 15 percent discount.

Join us at our next lunch! Details and registration are here:
https://states.aarp.org/virginia/mylosgrill