July 17, 2024

“At this point, I’m not going to school anymore, so I really enjoy having a little education and enrichment. “91 year old Dottie Burnett says that’s why she keeps coming  back to  attend the  Pasadena Senior Center’s Masters Series .  She’s been enjoying the lectures for 36 years, starting when she was in her mid-fifties, bringing her mother to what was then called the Senior Curriculum. Burnett says she has enjoyed Alan Chapman’s music discussions, the lectures about art in the community and abroad and more.  “I enjoy the Pasadena history because I’m a native I was born and raised in Pasadena,” Burnett explains.

Attending the Masters Series programs is just one of the things Burnett does to stay active and involved in the community.  She plays tennis once a week and is active with her Occidental college and sorority alumni groups, a book club and a knitting group.  Over the years she’s been PTA president, and on the Board of Creative Arts in Sierra Madre.

Pasadena Senior Center program director Annie Laskey says Burnett is one of the many people she meets at the Center who are a great example for others. “To me Dottie is one of the people at the Center who really embodies if you stay active and you stay involved then you have a better chance of doing that longer. By continuing to be socially, physically, and emotionally engaged with the community and with other people essentially helps you age well and stay energized.”

Burnett has her own ideas about what keeps people like her energized as they get older. “They’re interested in what’s going on in the world, and in what’s going on around them, gardening a little bit, just being interested in life and what’s out there.”    She feels there are several keys to aging well.  Her primary focus is reaching out socially and helping where it’s needed. “I like people, and it’s nice to get out and volunteer, even if it’s sitting and making something for a scarecrow festival. It’s a social thing to be able to be part of a group.”  She admits she has another habit, and it makes her husband laugh. “Every time I go out to shop for food, or if I’m doing a couple of errands in the day, I’m not wearing old jeans and dirty old tops.  I dress in my good-looking pants and a nice top. I am dressing up a little bit and it makes me feel good.”