Activities In Pleasant Hill       One Uplands resident says she resisted moving to Uplands at first because there were too many wonderful things to do, but the opportunity to stay active, make a difference, use her skills, and continue to be stretched intellectually won her over.      The ability to say no is a skill that has to be cultivated, but more important is saying yes to the opportunity to live life to the fullest and give yourself over completely to those things that give your life meaning.  Activities of all stripes can be found within Uplands and in churches, cultural and social activist organizations, and informal gatherings in the wider community.        Many hours are given to the May Cravath Wharton Association which holds four fundraisers a year to benefit the Wharton Nursing Home, a scholarship fund, the Baird and Cravath endowments of Uplands, and local people in need. Residents work with the Victim-Offenders Reconciliation Program in the local court system as well as with Habitat for Humanity, the Avalon Center for the prevention of domestic violence, the county library, and Parents and Friends of Gays and Lesbians. Environmental concerns and peace and justice issues are addressed in committees and task forces, in the community church, ecumenically, and secularly.        Residents enjoy participating in programs at the Cumberland County Playhouse, a community-professional theatre, as patrons, board members, ushers, and performers. They also sing and play in the community band and chorus as well as with the Pleasant Hill Ensemble and dulcimer and recorder groups.      There are bridge groups and book clubs, armchair theatre and craft classes. Some get together to lose themselves in the rhythms and soul of jazz music or write poetry and prose. They stretch and flex and play pool, ping-pong and tennis. They dance and plan canoe trips. They grill their legislators and congressional representatives. They listen and discuss health care issues, war and peace conflicts, education disparities.      Residents with a particular interest in life-long learning established the Shalom Center for Continuing Education in Pleasant Hill. The Center sponsors several workshops each year on a wide variety of subjects. Past leaders have been Al Stagg as Oscar Romero and Dietrich Bonhoffer; the Rev. Al Fuertes of the Philippines talking about social trauma, healing and peace building; Mart and Betty Bailey along with Lerry Chase talking about walls and borders, particularly in Palestine and between the US and Mexico; Marshall Hughes of Roxbury Community College teaching African American spirituals; Dan Byrens talking about Mozart; and Photographer Jane Feldman’s work on Jefferson’s children and art as activism.      All activities are resident directed and/or initiated. So, if a resident doesn’t find an activity of his or her particular interest, he or she is encouraged to start one. No doubt others will join in. Just ask someone about the May Pole Dance and Celebration. Day Trips from Pleasant Hill BACK TO TOP