Giving You What You Need for Better Hearing
Snacks Included!
Fika is a Swedish tradition that is difficult to translate directly into English. Simply put, it is a time of coming together for a cup of coffee and something to eat. People have fika in their homes and their workplaces. It’s more than a coffee break – it’s taking the time to chat with family, friends, and workmates while enjoying coffee and cake, or a cookie or two.
HRF offers a monthly fika morning for adults with hearing loss. It is an opportunity to meet other people with hearing loss, share experiences, and perhaps offer the kind of support and encouragement that comes when we meet others who are “in the same boat.”
Our personal responses to hearing loss vary greatly, but we all get buffeted by the waves sooner or later. Fika gives you the opportunity to find out how others cope with the day-to-day realities of hearing loss.
There will be a one hour presentation at each fika. The topics vary – some will be related to hearing loss, others will be more general. Each presentation will strive to provide the opportunity for you to attend to speech for an extended time in a supportive group setting. Of course, there will be coffee and tea, cake and cookies, because it would not be a fika without them!
Join us to foster improved kommunication abilities.
Past Fikas
August 25th, 2021
David Hockney
British Artist and Social Gadfly
Speaker: Geoff Plant
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
William H. Johnson – An American Tragedy
Speaker: Geoff Plant
About six months ago, my wife and I visited the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, for the first time. There was a special exhibit of American art of the twentieth century, and the painting above, “Li’l Sis,” by William H. Johnson caught our eyes. Neither of us had heard of Johnson, and we assumed he was a minor figure in art history. Later, we were having coffee in the museum cafeteria, and saw several large reproductions of Johnson’s paintings hanging on the walls. The paintings depicted flowers and fruits in bright, exuberant colors. Now he had our attention! I asked at the information counter to see if there were any other of his works on display, and was directed to several galleries. It was now obvious that this was an important artist, but we had never heard of him, nor could we recall having seen his work before.
I googled him later that day, and discovered a little about his life. It was fascinating to read of this African American man, born in the South in 1901, who had lived for many years in Europe, and painted landscapes that evoked the best of the Expressionists. He returned to the US in the late 1930s, and, in a period of less than ten years, started to paint in a radically different style that attempted to reveal the reality of life for African Americans in the rural South. The mid-1940s saw tragedy strike when his wife died, and he was diagnosed with an incurable condition that saw him hospitalized for the rest of his life. He died in 1971, only months before a Smithsonian exhibition of his work.
The first FIKA of 2019 included a presentation on Johnson’s life and work.
December 11, 2018
My Favorite Places
Speaker: Geoff Plant
For our last FIKA of the year, the topic was My Favorite Places. I had several to share, and attendees told us about some of their personal favorites.
November 13, 2018
Our Sunshine
The Life and Legend of Ned Kelly
Speaker: Geoff Plant
Ned Kelly was only 24 when he was hanged in Melbourne Gaol in 1888, but he is now a legendary figure in Australian history. This presentation will tell the story of Kelly’s life and look at the controversy that surrounds it. Was he a common criminal, or a political revolutionary fighting against the establishment of the time? The presentation will include the series of paintings of Kelly and his gang by the Australian artist Sidney Nolan. These are amongst the best known and loved paintings in Australian art, and Nolan’s representations have become iconic. It’s a fascinating story and there is music to accompany it. Come along and hear the story of the “Iron Outlaw.” Tea, coffee, and cakes will be provided.
September 11, 2018
A Journey to Utopia
The Shakers and Their Legacy
Speaker: Geoff Plant
Geoff Plant talked about the Shakers, a religious sect that came to the US from England in the latter part of the eighteenth century. At their peak, there were around 6,000 Shakers living in communities in the New England region and the mid-west. Over the next two centuries, the numbers of Shakers dwindled until now there are only two members living in Sabbathday Lake, ME.
Although they were a powerful religious and social force, the Shakers are now best remembered for the furniture that they made. In some ways it anticipated the clean, simple lines of modern Scandinavian furniture and is greatly prized by collectors. In their lives, the Shakers followed the admonition of one of their early leaders, Mother Ann Lee – “Do your work as though you had a thousand years to live and as if you were to die tomorrow.”