Still laughing, a year later

The Hawthorne Laughter Club will celebrate its first anniversary on New Year's Day.

The Hawthorne Laughter Club has been filling the movement studio of the Hawthorne Wellness Center with peals of laughter since January 2011. At its New Year's meeting on Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 4 p.m., the group will celebrate its first anniversary at the Hawthorne Wellness location and also honor and thank the Wellness Center and all of its leaders and laughers, past and present, for support. All are invited to join in the fun.

The club is managed by Certified Laughter Yoga Leader Laura Lou Pape-McCarthy. Leaders Andrea Crisp and Tajha Whiteley also help lead sessions on a regular basis. The Hawthorne Laughter Club began, originally, as the Belmont Laughter Club and was started by Molly Dilg and Jamie Poster in the Spring of 2010. For scheduling reasons, during 2010, the club had to change hands and ultimately find a new home, so the celebration of the one year anniversary is a feat unto its self! Finding space for a laughter club is the hardest part of getting a club going. Hawthorne Wellness Center allows the generous use of its space and in return club leaders joyously clean the movement center after each laughter session.

The Hawthorne Laughter Club meets every Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Hawthorne Wellness Center Movement Studio, 3942 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, OR. The club will even meet this coming Sunday, December 25th, Christmas Day. All are welcome, whether you come once or every time! Some members come alone, some in pairs and some with their entire family. But, they all enjoy the many health benefits of Laughter Yoga. The laughter club is free, but donations are gladly accepted.