— Judy Hand, author November silently sneaks up on us, whispering of the changes as the tattered remnant of October’s splendor fades. The seasons overlap and blend together. It is a wonderful time of the year. The bare and brisk November days keep Thanksgiving in each heart.

The holiday gatherings will soon begin. Days brightened by the reuniting of families and visiting with friends. Good times, good food and good memories will unfold at the Big Fat Greek Bazaar on Saturday, Nov. 21, 186 Bradley St. in Saco.

Every year when November rolls around it is a call back to the past. I can still vividly see all the first graders smiling and busy as we baked pumpkin pies for their parents’ Thanksgiving dinner. At school, young, impressionable minds enjoyed cooking with their teacher and classmates. Hopefully, they were learning while cooking but they knew they were having fun. At the same time, they were experiencing math and a little knowledge about nutrition.

The primary grade prepared Thanksgiving dinner for parents. With wonder, excitement and anticipation the children planned table settings, created invitations and pilgrim and Indian hats. It was wonderful. It was slightly messy but made learning what it was supposed to be: fun.

Enthusiastic helpers, they added ingredients, measured, mixed and rolled dough, cut and decorated. We used extra-large mixing bowls since it prevented flour and other ingredients from flying all over. Mixing the dough with a large spoon, one little girl exclaimed, “Mrs. Hadiaris, I just can’t keep my tongue off the spoon.” It was truly a hard struggle for the little ones to keep their fingers where they belonged – out of the dough and out of their mouths.

Although the years have passed and the children are grown, those treasured memories remain in my mind forever.

At this season our community has thoughtful events for all ages. I will briefly mention a few.

Everyone gains from physical activity, the young and not so young. The Saco Parks and Recreation Department directs a recreation basketball program with divisions for children age 3 through sixth grade. Registration is open through Nov. 20. For more information, call the SPR Department at 283-3139.

For folks who have dementia, memory cafes are places where anyone with any form of memory loss can socialize, learn and have fun. At memory cafés people can just relax and be themselves, knowing that no one judges them and all there are going through similar challenges. Every third Wednesday at 1 p.m. a memory cafe meets at HomeHealth Visiting Nurses at 15 Industrial Park Road in Saco. For more information, call Ken Capon at 797-7891 or visit www.memoryworks.org.

The editor of a special John Hopkins Health Alert report lists these strategies that can improve overall memory ability at any age:

• Stay mentally active

• Stay physically active

• Rule out other sources of memory loss

• Do not smoke

• Limit alcohol consumption

• Place commonly lost items in same place

• Write things down

• Say words out loud

• Group items using mnemonics

• Use memory aids

• Use visual images

• Group items using memory games

— Zaffie Hadiaris of Saco is the host of “Zaffie,” a weekly television talk show on Channel 3 Biddeford public access. It can also be seen at biddefordmaine.org. Contact Hadiaris at zhadiaris@hotmail.com.