By Selene Raj
A new social club for 55+ Caribbean-Americans is now in swing and kicks off with an inaugural board game event.
Named Tähti, the event includes Caribbean drinks, food, music, and games.
Nadia Aldridge launched the social club, and like more than 16,000 residents in Coral Springs, she is of West Indian descent.
Born in Jamaica, Aldridge is an assistant professor at Nova Southeastern University, an occupational therapist, and a military veteran.
After moving to the U.S. in 1990, she enlisted in the army after graduating high school, then met her husband Roger, an active service member.
They’ve lived in Coral Springs for five years with their children, Alyssa and Andrew.
During this time, she found herself in a situation that many other Caribbean professionals—trying to take care of children, community, career, education, and an aging parent.
Aldridge’s mother, Brenda Reid, often didn’t get to spend as much time with her daughter as either of them would have liked. She spent long periods watching television, craving to socialize, but hated the idea of going to senior centers.
Reid was an early retiree and saw senior centers as boring and institutionalized, making her feel too “old.”
Nadia Aldridge launched the social club for 55+ Caribbean-Americans.
Aldridge knew nothing wrong with aging and wished that her mother could do more of what she enjoyed: spending time with people, dancing to reggae and soca, and playing games like dominoes or Ludi —-a strategic board game popular in the West Indies.
After Reid passed away in 2019, Aldridge never lost the desire to help people in a similar situation find a community.
Aldridge began to envision a place where she would have loved for her mother and decided to act on it, becoming the founder of the new social club, borrowing the name Tähti, from her mother’s nickname.
Her vision is to create a community that offers active, mature, Caribbean adults an opportunity to experience the power of socializing with people similar in age and culture, but much more as well.
“[I want them to experience] the healing medicine called laughter as they enjoy fun cultural activities, the joy of serving their community with their knowledge, ample experience, and talents.”
Aldridge hopes that word spread to the more than 200,000 West Indian residents in Broward County, who may be curious enough to attend their first event.
The Stan Man of Largeradio is DJing, and the theme is Caribbean everything—food, music, and games.
Held at At Last, an event venue at 7579 West Sample Road, on Sunday, December 12 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase online and are $50 per person.
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Author Profile
- Selene Raj is a writer and a Florida International University graduate. Born in Trinidad and raised in America, she completed her Master’s in Mass Communications in 2020 and has been living in Coral Springs since 2004. She is passionate about the communities she lives and works in and loves reporting and sharing stories that are as complex and meaningful as the people who live in them.
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December 06, 2021 at 01:29AM
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