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When you open the door to the DeLeon
Senior Citizens Center on a cold winter day, the warmth, the smell of
freshly prepared food and the buzz of conversation hit you all at
once. It’s a place that makes you want to linger.
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These
quilters, left to right, Edith Brownlee, Ruth Painter and
Jeannette Damron, were busy at the Senior Citizen's Center last
week working on a quilt for Senior Center cook Betty Melton.
Melton and Painter hand-painted each Indian-themed square and the
others began the quilting process. Also quilting was Marie White,
not pictured. The women, affectionately called the "Old Hands
Quilters" by the center staff, say they would love to have other
quilters join them. |
Meals are served Monday, Wednesday and
Friday at 11:30 a.m. for a donation price of $3. There is also home
delivery available for those over 60 years of age, who are not able to
go to the center. The center, located at 133 Ball Park Loop, is closed
on Thursdays.
Dianne Donegan, center director, said
that there is a common misconception that meals are available only for
those who can’t afford to eat elsewhere. Jeanette Damron, a center
regular, said that she’s had friends who thought that’s the way the
center operated. “And I said no, it’s for anybody who wants to come
and eat,” Damron said. “You donate $3, you eat lunch, and you don’t
even have to do the dishes.”
“Yes, anybody can eat here,” Donegan
said, adding that the center serves between 90 and 100 lunches each
day, with approximately 40 delivered.
Center patrons can have fun even before
lunch begins. Bingo is scheduled for Mondays, at 10 a.m. Tuesday is
“covered dish” and game day. “People start getting here around 8
a.m.,” Donegan said, “and we make toast for them. And then they have
their covered-dish lunch at around 11:30.” Group singing is the order
of the day for Wednesdays, beginning at 10 a.m.
There are six on-line computers available
at the center, and periodic help with e-mail and Internet usage.
Various nutrition programs are offered monthly, and the “Too Sweet”
diabetes group meets on the last Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m.
Bake sales are scheduled each fall and
spring and there are periodic programs by the Agency on Aging
representatives from Abilene.
There are also folks playing dominoes and
jigsaw “puzzling” every day. And the quilters, who say they could use
more help, are busy most days the center is open.
“It’s a nice place to visit,” Donegan
said, “and the fellowship is a big part of it.” |
