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Tour Of The New Senior Center

Tour Of The New Senior Center
By Vernon Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
Published April 1, 2009

Last week was one of great excitement for Moapa Valley seniors. It was a time that has been eagerly anticipated for many years. Last week was the unofficial opening of the brand new Senior Center facility in Overton. Members of the United Seniors of Overton began holding activities and eating lunch in the sparkling new building.

“This is truly wonderful,” said Senior Center Director Ruth Caldwell during a tour of the new facility. “It has been

Chairman of the United Seniors Board, Pete Kesl, and Senior Center Director, Ruth Caldwell, stand in front of the new Senior Center facility that went into use last week.
a very long time coming. Sometimes I wondered whether this day would ever come.”

The new center is a state of the art facility. It has a full-service commercial grade kitchen with industrial walk-in refrigerator and freezer. It also is equipped with a laundry facility and a small, but efficient, administrative office complex.

Coming through the front doors of the center, the visitor enters a large entry hall with tall ceilings and beautiful furnishings.

The front doors open to a beautiful entry hall at the new Overton Senior Center facility. The entry hall leads directly back to a large dining hall which can be split down the middle with a sliding room divider. Half of the space can be used to accomodate the typical lunchtime crowd of about 120 people during the busy season. The other half is used as a multi-purpose room for a variety of classes and activities. During our tour, a yoga class was in progress.

This room also has a small stage at one end where live music groups can perform for dancing couples. Musical jam sessions featuring Senior Center members are held here a couple of times a week.

In addition to these rooms, the new facility sports a large billiard room with two pool tables. This is a popular place for the men (and some of the women) to gather for a good game and lively conversation.

The ladies are more likely to spend their time in the room devoted to quilting. Here a set of quilting frames can be assembled permanently. “Once things get going here, there is always a work in progress,” said Caldwell.

A library room offers seniors a place for quiet study and reading. A large collection of books fill the shelves that line the walls. The library also has two new computers for members to check email and do online research.

Another room is devoted to the making of ceramics. A large ceramics kiln is set up there and the room has all of the facilities needed for the seniors to make beautiful items.

As with any new facility, Caldwell was scrambling in the first week to get used to the operations of the building. As we walked through the different rooms, the temperature in one room was cold and in another it was warmer. Caldwell was busy throughout the tour making climate adjustments. “There are a lot of little quirks and things to get used to,” she said.

Senior Center members play pool in the billiard room at the new Overton facility. Another early challenge is parking. During the lunchtime hour, the small parking lot is filled to capacity and running over, Caldwell said. Caldwell explained that this hadn’t been a problem at the old center because many of the seniors resided at the neighboring Robbins Nest trailer park and would just walk over at lunchtime. Now all those folks have to drive. “I’m afraid that it is just an adjustment that has to be made,” Caldwell said. “The early bird will get the lunch.”

Though membership and involvement in the Overton center has always been healthy, Caldwell hopes that the new facility

will attract more people. Currently the Senior Center has about 250 members. But Caldwell said that she has seen the enrollment increase by nearly 20 people in the last week since the center has opened. “We hope, with the location and the publicity for the new center, that more seniors will be drawn to be involved here,” Caldwell said.

The seniors also intend to involve the broader community to enjoy these new facilities. “We have plans to increase the activities, classes and workshops that we offer,” Caldwell said. “They will have a broad appeal and we would like to open them up to the whole community and not just the seniors.”

The facility is open daily from 6:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. An official ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the facility’s grand opening is expected to be held sometime in mid April.

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