THE SENIOR TIMES OCTOBER 2026
Our theme for October is “FallFest”
GOLDEN NUGGETS
Fall Festivals are everywhere. Each one seems to want to outdo the others. Some have celebrations featuring delicious corn. Others feature juicy apples. While many are all about pumpkins, naming the largest, the smallest and the best carved jack o’lanterns. Colorful leaves gently fall from the trees as the wind carries them through the air. Trying to catch them before they reach the ground is a challenge and scuffing feet thru the dry leaves makes such a sweet rustling sound that it brings smiles to our faces, even though this season is considered the season of dying, it doesn’t feel that way when you visit a corn maze or a pumpkin patch. It feels happy and joyous. In the Jewish religion there are three fall festivals. They are The Feast of the Trumpets (Yom Teruah/Rosh Hashanah), The Day of Atonement (Yom Kipper) and The Feast of the Tabernacles (Sukkot). Each is a happy occasion. In fact, God actually commands that Sukkot be joyous because it celebrates God’s provision for the Israelites when they were in the wilderness. God provided water from a rock and mana from heaven. This feast also looks forward as it shows that Jesus is the rock in Ephesians 2:20 which states “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone (rock)”. The Bible also declares that Jesus is the water in John 7:37 “Let anyone who is thirsty come and drink of me.” Finally in John 6:43 Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” That is why Sukkot is celebrated with joy, praise and thanksgiving. What a precious feast is waiting for all of the Heavenly Father’s children! That is a Fall Festival worth celebrating now and for all eternity! Will you be part of this glorious celebration?
Brain Teaser (answer at the end)
Frankie the Squirrel can find one acorn in 15 minutes and Glenn the Squirrel can find one acorn in 12 minutes. As autumn approaches, they both work all day and all night. However, Alex the Squirrel is eating their collection! It takes Alex 20 minutes to eat an acorn, and Alex eats all day and all night long (and starts on yesterday's acorns).How many extra acorns will there be at the end of a 24-hour day.
NonProfit of the Month
The Harvest Foundation
Training, coaching and mentoring leaders as well as leaders-in-training seminars is the mission of The Harvest Foundation. The training is designed for in-person or remote sessions that can be adapted for diverse contexts ranging from informal groups to formal Doctor of Ministry programs. All resources related to the primary program are called the Samaritan Strategy. Bob Moffitt began the Harvest journey in 1981 with a vision to help local churches in the developing world, add to their passion to evangelize an equal passion to demonstrate God’s great love, and to see that they can do that without depending on outside or foreign resources
Words Of Wisdom
“The beauty of autumn is that it reminds us that even the most beautiful things have to end, and it’s okay.” —
Unknown Author
GRANDMA’S COOKING CORNER
Pumpkin Cake
Ingredients
· Cooking spray
· 3 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 tsp. pumpkin spice
· 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
· 1 tsp. kosher salt
· 1/2 tsp. baking soda
· 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
· 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
· 3/4 cup granulated sugar
· 4 large eggs
· 1 (15-oz.) can pumpkin puree
· 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Frosting
· 16 oz. cream cheese, softened
· 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
· 2 1/2 cups (283 g) confectioners’ sugar
· 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
· 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon or Pumpkin spice
· Pinch of kosher salt
Directions
Step 1 Arrange a rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°. Line a 13" x 9" baking dish with parchment and grease with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin spice, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Step 2 In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer (or in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Step 3 Pour batter into prepared baking pan and smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely.
Step 4 In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer (or in the large bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add confectioners’ sugar and beat until no lumps remain, then add vanilla and a pinch of salt.
Step 5 Lift cake out of pan by parchment and place on a platter or cutting board. Frost cake with an offset spatula and top with cinnamon.
Grandpa’s Sports Stories
The 1960 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1960 season. The 57th edition of the World Series was played October 5th thru the 13th. It was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the National League (NL) champion Pittsburgh Pirates against the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees. In Game 7, Bill Mazeroski hit the series winning ninth inning home run, the first time a winner-take-all World Series game ended with a home run, and the first World Series to end on a home run. Mazeroski's home run gave the Pirates their third title overall and their first since 1925.
Despite losing the series, the Yankees scored 55 runs, the most runs scored by any one team in World Series history, and more than twice as many as the Pirates, who scored 27. The Yankees won three blowouts (16–3, 10–0, and 12–0), while the Pirates won four close games (6–4, 3–2, 5–2, and 10–9) to win the series. The Pirates' run differential of minus 28 is the lowest ever by any team, winner or loser, in a World Series. The Series MVP was Bobby Richardson of the Yankees, the only time in history that the award has been given to a member of the losing team, though the rules were different at this time. Votes had to be in by the start of the 8th inning of Game 7, at which point the Yankees were in the lead, and this was the first time since the series MVP award was created in 1955 that the team leading at that point did not go on to win. Richardson was also the first non-pitcher to be named MVP.
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Who’d A Thunk
Pumpkin spice — a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice — is used in hundreds of ways across food, drinks, and even non-food products, thanks to its warm, comforting aroma and versatility. It is such an easy recipe that anyone can combine the ingredients and have a special fall accent any time they wish. If you blend 8 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons of ground nutmeg, 2 teaspoons of ground ginger and 1 teaspoon of ground cloves you should have enough pumpkin spice to last you through the fall season. Each spice has its own phytonutrients. Cinnamon helps regulate blood sugar. Nutmeg supports brain health and relaxation. Ginger aids digestion and reduces nausea. Cloves offer antioxidants and antimicrobial effects. Immune-boosting and anti-inflammatory properties belong to allspice. This pumpkin spice was first used 250 years ago by the American colonists in 1776. Today it is an amazing ingredient to add to coffee, cookies, barbeque rubs, cakes and so much more.
Military Salute
Cuban missile crisis, (October 1962), major confrontation that brought the United States and the Soviet Union close to war over the presence of Soviet nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba.
Having promised in May 1960 to defend Cuba with Soviet arms, the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev assumed that the United States would take no steps to prevent the installation of Soviet medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba. Such missiles could hit much of the eastern United States within a few minutes if launched from Cuba. The United States learned in July 1962 that the Soviet Union had begun missile shipments to Cuba. By August 29 new military construction and the presence of Soviet technicians had been reported by U.S. U-2 spy planes flying over the island, and on October 14 the presence of a ballistic missile on a launching site was reported.
After carefully considering the alternatives of an immediate U.S. invasion of Cuba (or air strikes of the missile sites), a blockade of the island, or further diplomatic maneuvers, U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy decided to place a naval “quarantine,” or blockade, on Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments of missiles. Kennedy announced the quarantine on October 22 and warned that U.S. forces would seize “offensive weapons and associated matériel” that Soviet vessels might attempt to deliver to Cuba. During the following days, Soviet ships bound for Cuba altered course away from the quarantined zone. As the two superpowers hovered close to the brink of nuclear war, messages were exchanged between Kennedy and Khrushchev amidst extreme tension on both sides. On October 28 Khrushchev capitulated, informing Kennedy that work on the missile sites would be halted and that the missiles already in Cuba would be returned to the Soviet Union. In return, Kennedy committed the United States to never invading Cuba. Kennedy also secretly promised to withdraw the nuclear-armed missiles that the United States had stationed in Turkey in previous years. In the following weeks both superpowers began fulfilling their promises, and the crisis was over by late November. Cuba’s communist leader, Fidel Castro, was infuriated by the Soviets’ retreat in the face of the U.S. ultimatum but was powerless to act.
“Senior Day at the Mall”
If in the Raleigh area, on Friday, October 16th, please join us at Triangle Town Center for our monthly “Senior Day at the Mall”. The theme is “Fall Fest”. There is continuous entertainment from 11 am until 3 pm. Seating available. Fun, Raffles, Vendors, Networking!
Humor Me
I had a huge oak tree I wanted removed, because it was too close to the house. I called a tree guy and he came out and did a nice job cutting down the tree. He asked me what I thought and I said it was nice but what about the stump? He informed me that he was just a tree guy who cut down trees. If I wanted the stump removed, I would need to call a stump guy. I found a highly recommended "stump" guy, and he came and got the stump out......I asked him about the hole......He said. “I'm a stump guy; I just remove stumps, I don't fill in the hole”…...Long story short, He told me I would need to call a Landscaper......I get a hold of a landscaper and I tell him I'm fixing to leave town on a trip and I don't care what he does, Just fix the hole and make it look nice. I get back today and find out it he planted an oak tree!
REMEMBER WHEN
Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite, was launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, marking the beginning of the Space Age. Sputnik 1 was a spherical satellite 58 cm (23 inches) in diameter, weighing 83.6 kg (184 pounds), roughly the size of a beach ball It had four external radio antennas that transmitted signals detectable by amateur radio operators worldwide The satellite orbited Earth in an elliptical low Earth orbit with a perigee of 230 km (143 miles) and an apogee of 940 km (584 miles), completing one orbit approximately every 96 minutes at a speed of about 8 km/s (18,000 mph) Sputnik 1 remained in orbit for three months, completing around 1,440 orbits before burning up in the atmosphere on January 4, 1958 . The launch took place at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time from the Tyuratam launch site in the Kazakh SSR, now known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was part of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), a global scientific initiative from July 1957 to December 1958 aimed at studying Earth and space phenomena. The Soviet decision to launch Sputnik 1 ahead of the United States was partly motivated by the desire to demonstrate technological superiority during the Cold War. The launch of Sputnik 1 shocked the world, particularly the United States, which had assumed it was technologically ahead of the Soviet Union. This event triggered the Space Race, leading to accelerated U.S. efforts in satellite development, including the Explorer project. Sputnik 1 also provided valuable scientific data, such as measurements of upper atmospheric density and ionospheric conditions, through the analysis of its orbital drag and radio signal propagation. The success of Sputnik 1 was followed by Sputnik 2, which carried the dog Laika, the first living creature to orbit Earth, and later Sputnik 3, which carried scientific instruments to study the upper atmosphere. The term "Sputnik" became synonymous in the West with Soviet satellites and symbolized the dawn of human space exploration.
SENIOR OF THE MONTH
October 2026
FRANK JOSEPH SMITH
Frank was born in Atlanta, Georgia in the fall of the year when his dad was in his final year of seminary at Columbia Theological Seminary.
After college, Frank moved with his family to Westchester County, New York, where his father was planting a church for the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
Frank earned his M.Div. and Th.M. from Westchester Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. His Ph.D. is from the Graduate Center at City University of New York. In 2005, he was awarded a D.D from the Methodist Episcopal Church in the USA in conjunction with the National Clergy Council for his work in ecclesiastical journalism and interchurch relations.
The first ministerial candidate of the PCA, Frank also wrote the first history of the denomination (The History of the Presbyterian Church In America: The Continuing Church Movement). Numerous other books have followed.
Franks’s articles have been written on a wide array of topics, including the history and philosophy of science; religion and the Civil War; Biblical studies; church polity; women’s history; and the doctrine of worship.
In 2020, in conjunction with the quadricentennial of the voyage of the Mayflower, Frank produced a video, The Pilgrim’s 17th Century English Emigrants.
He was the founding editor of Presbyterian International News Service (PINS). Frank has served on many Boards and is Chancellor of Tyndale International University.
Frank resides in Atlanta with his wife, Penelope A. Wild, a British lady with a distinguished career in Her Majesty’s Royal Air Force.
Frank has coached basketball, has had bit parts in movies, and besides enjoying reading and playing chess, is a railroad fanatic!
Be sure to check out a personal story from Frank this is my story - theseniornetwork.org
Answer to Brain Teaser
144 acornsFrankie finds 4 acorns every hour, Glenn finds 5 acorns every hour and Alex eats 3 acorns every hour, so the net total per hour is 4 + 5 − 3 = 6. (Which is 6 x 24 = 144 extra acorns)
954-666-2040
DATES TO REMEMBER (EVENTS THAT ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC)
Wednesday, October 7th
10-11 am
"Rolling In Rolesville" (Bunco)
Rolesville Community Center
514 Southtown Circle
Rolesville, NC
Saturday, October 10th
11 am – 3 pm
“Fall Into Wellness” Expo
The Villages
500 Shady Summit Way
Raleigh, NC
Friday, October 16th
11 am - 3 pm
"Senior Day at the Mall"
Triangle Town Center
5959 Triangle Town Blvd.
Raleigh, NC
Wednesday, October 21st
10-11 am
"Rolling In Rolesville" (Bunco)
Rolesville Community Center
514 Southtown Circle
Rolesville, NC
Saturday, December 5th
11 am – 3 pm
“Candy Cane Stroll
& Expo”
Triangle Town Center
5959 Triangle Town Blvd.
Raleigh, NC.
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