Dear editor,
Do you know how many people come just to have companionship and fun for a short time at the senior center? These people really enjoy playing Bingo. Maybe you should come to the center on Wednesday and see for yourself. It is very important to the 30 or 40 people who come to play.
Maybe you haven’t thought about your age. You will be there someday! Will you have family available to fill in the gaps of time so you aren’t alone a good share of your time? What if you have no one to take you places? There are no guarantees what situations we will find ourselves in as we grow older. Will we be able to drive and if so how long? Will we have family around us? We hope so but we can’t be sure. How is our health going to hold out?
The center isn’t just about Bingo. It’s about a place for our seniors to come and enjoy themselves and be involved in their community. There are numerous things taking place at our center. We have a sewing club that gathers and makes lots of things and donates a bunch of their items i.e., quilts and afgans to our armed service men and women. We have a wood making club, a croquet club, a card club, just to name a few. Yes we have a very active center. There are classes provided that teach us how to paint a picture, make soap, exercise training, and the list goes on. We have visiting doctors, such as vision, foot, chiropractic, etc. There are volunteers that assist at the center with various things that need to be done. We don’t know everything that our center does as we are still learning of all the wonderful things our center does. When we mention all the stuff we do at our center to people from other communities they are amazed!
The center brings the people in from the group homes for various events. These outings give them a time to have some enjoyment in their lives. We don’t know of any other organizations, although there maybe some, that reach out to those in our community who are otherwise forgotten. We have every reason to be proud.
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention talking to some of the seniors who depend on the center for various services. One lady told us she didn’t know what she would do without the van service as it is her only means to get to the doctor, the center, and shopping. She is not alone. We don’t know how many people need the van service, but even if we can make a few lives easier it is well worth it. It’s not like they can get a bus, or call a cab. Their transportation options are pretty slim. The vans are their life-lines.
We don’t know how long our center has been in existence but it’s been around the 50 years that we have lived in this community. We have only recently started getting involved at the center and we’re still learning about it. We’re so glad it is here and it provides needed services to our seniors and disabled.
Let us repeat….We have a center we can be proud of! The center has already taken numerous cuts. Let’s not cut them anymore….we may need their service ourselves one day!
Mary Lou Williams
Alice Noble