Senior Center Holds Annual Swap Meet

It was a warm and cheery morning on Saturday for the annual Senior Center Swap meet. The booth vendors were all revved and ready for the day selling produce, jewelry, tools, aprons. Even a child-size mini grand piano at a tempting $40 was for sale!

It was almost a shame to have to go indoors for the breakfast that was served, but the smell coming out of the kitchen was irresistible. Once inside, it was difficult to choose which way to go with the breakfast on one end of the cafeteria and The Bake Sale with fresh homemade goods on the other.

The eggs and pancakes were delicious the orange juice was cold and tart and the service was pretty great too! The Moapa Valley High School Honors Society Students were there serving breakfast and seeing to the needs of every customer. Bryan Gurule was especially attentive delivering plates of food to hungry swap meet attendees, even stopping to ‘shoot the breeze’ with several elderly folks in a friendly and respectful manner. It was refreshing, as an onlooker, to witness the interactions of youth with seniors in such a way.

The Honors Society kids are no strangers to service. Volunteer time is required to stay in the society.

“The students must complete at least 10 hours of volunteer time, but they always far exceed that number!” said Honors Society Advisor Donna Swanson “We also volunteer at the Pomegranate Festival, and we put on three blood drives each year at the High School.” The Moapa Valley High School Honors Society definitely keeps the kids busy and striving to keep their grades up.

“The Honor’s kids have to maintain a 3.0 grade average to stay on.” said High School Dean Tracy Cardinal.

These kids definitely stood out in the crowd. They were all smiles and friendliness, even at such an early hour on a Saturday!

The booths in the cafeteria were headed by Senior Center Members. Some of which were Charlotte Collins, Shirley Durrans, and Senior Center Yoga Instructor Mary Perkins (who will be turning 90 this next year!).

“Come stretch with us in the mornings on Mondays and Fridays at 9 a.m., it’s a perfect way to start the day.” said Perkins.

Raffle winner and administrative assistant at the Center, Vicki Wendt, took home a beautiful hand stitched blue quilt. A real prize, but even if you weren’t a raffle winner, which I wasn’t, there were plenty of treasures to take home from the vendors outside. Amongst the tools, movies and books, was jewelry. I found a great sterling silver ring for just a dollar! So, with breakfast, a ring, and raffle tickets, I made out spending just $10 dollars, and I had a great two hours of fun!