By George Stephens
Information Advisory Committe (IAC) Member
Do you remember plate spinning as a part of a juggling act that was presented on the Ed Sullivan Show in years past? When a spinning plate slows, it will topple, fall, and break. The juggler had to revisit each spinning plate as it slowed to speed it up again. The greater the number of plates, the more frantically the juggler had to dash from plate to plate to plate to keep them all spinning. The image of a juggler rushing from spinning plate to spinning plate is a good analogy for describing Cynthia Bakshy, who has a history of balancing many activities (if not plates).
Cynthia and husband David will be celebrating their fiftieth (50) anniversary next year. Before she married, Cynthia worked in hospitals as a radiology and cardiology technician. After she and David married and were living in St. Louis, she went back to college. There she obtained an art degree with the intention of becoming a medical illustrator or a graphic art designer. That didn’t work out as planned so . . .
She and David then moved to California where Cynthia started her second career. She sold heart and cardiovascular surgery devices for 18 years. As if that wasn’t challenging enough, she and David bought an event production company and ran that for 20 years. She was president and co-owner with David and, along with 40 employees, they planned and presented corporate events for groups of between 300 and 2,000 attendees. And you thought having a dinner party on the patio for 20 friends was a big job! Being responsible for such large and critically important events for corporate clients was stressful and required planning for any unexpected calamities, such as generators and public address systems in case of power disruptions.
After Cynthia thoroughly researched dozens of 55+ communities, in June 2014 she and David moved to SCSH from Cowan Heights in Orange County. Having demonstrated her ability to keep many “plates” in the air, she has been a positive addition to our community. She is currently a member of 10 clubs. (And some of us are overwhelmed about being challenged with two clubs.) Just to mention a few they include: Reformer Pilates, current Computer Club secretary, past president of Classy Niners, the Discussion Forum Club, and currently serving on both the Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee and the Covenants Committee.
Cynthia explains: “One of the things I’ve done all my life, as far back as I can remember, is to connect people to each other. Living here is the perfect scenario, with all of us starting a new life and finding all these amazing people! Everyone has a story to tell about their outstanding lives. I love finding out what residents might need and connecting them with another person to help them. I believe that’s why I was successful with my careers in sales and marketing.”
One of her current interests is in mentoring young women at Shadow Hills High School through the Ophelia Project. The JFK Foundation, through the Ophelia Project, “empowers and encourages young teens to increase their sense of self worth and maximize their potential contribution to society.” Cynthia meets with seven or eight high school coeds several times a month, hoping to be a positive influence in their lives.
I think you’ll agree with me that Cynthia has a lot of plates in the air. Like many others who help our community thrive, she deserves our respect for her devotion to our SCSH community.