There are some great initiatives out there to help older people connect leading up to and within retirement.
This year we started the first MMC here in Sydney and it is growing fast.
MMC is about getting guys together to listen to and talk about music. Reliving songs from their past and finding exciting new music of today and yesterday, exploring new styles, reggae, rock, punk … pushing our musical knowledge and experiences.
MMC is a chapter based initiative. In other words, you can start one in your own suburb or town and invite people along. Generally they are hosted in a members home – someone with a good stereo perhaps. The structure is up to you. The initial MMC in Mosman, Sydney has ten members (limited to keep it chatty) and we break the three hours into two parts. The first hour is a theme for the night agreed the previous session – it might be the work of Bob Dylan, or Paul McCartney’s solo years or the life and times of Sun Studios – anything you like. We usually research this so we can talk about it and play some relevant music and learn the background and history.
The second part is about playing and discussing songs suggested by the members of the chapter. In the Mosman chapter we ask that each member suggest three songs for the next session for example. We stop half we through for a pizza, some drink beer or wine, some Coke.
We get together every six weeks. It is a great way to connect and build friendship around a common interest.
If you are interested in starting a chapter please contact me through the contacts page. There is no cost in joining the MMC network and of course you don’t have to contact us at all, simply start your own. Just please don’t call it Mens Music Club. If you want to use MMC or be part of our network you will need to agree that with us through this site. We building a connected MMC network not only with the face to face meetings of each chapter but also through an online site that connects MMC members everywhere. As an MMC member this will be available to you of course.
goretirement.org 