Fitchburg Senior Center honors losses and celebrates its seniors
People enjoy returning to activities, even with masks on
FITCHBURG » Folk singer and storyteller Tim Van Egmond helped kick off National Senior Center Month on Wednesday at the senior center with an upbeat program celebrating the wit, wisdom and spirit of seniors, which featured lively music, colorful stories and a variety of instruments including guitar and hammered dulcimer.
A light lunch followed the performance, one of many events slated for September at the bustling senior center such as an end of summer luau on Sept. 14 at 11:30 a.m., a grab and go breakfast on Sept. 15 at 9 a.m. followed by an art exhibit by Barbara Eisenkopf, a Waterfalls & Wineries virtual road trip series program on Sept. 20 at 1:30 p.m., a Welcome Back Friends fall dinner on Sept. 29 at 4 p.m.
In addition, a wide variety of exercise and health classes including chair yoga and line dancing are regularly offered as well as life enrichment programs and activities such as shuffleboard, movie club, bingo, and men’s, ladies’ and coed cribbage.
While the front of the house remains active and upbeat despite pandemic fatigue, with seniors noticeably happy to gather together albeit masked and distanced, senior center Director Joan Goodwin said that behind the scenes it has been a really tough 18 months.
“We have lost 78 seniors since the start of the pandemic to COVID or other health issues,” she said, adding that two of those losses were members of the senior center board of directors. “It has been very difficult for myself and my staff. This has really taken a toll on us and the seniors here who know them.”
Goodwin spoke to the crowd gathered for the National Senior Center Month celebration about those who have died and asked people to join her in a moment of silence for them and the 13 U.S. service members killed in the recent terrorist attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.
“I wanted to recognize the losses, including our service men and women,” she said.
A small group of seniors tested positive for COVID19 in August, forcing the center to close for a week before fully reopening again with a mask mandate for all, vaccinated or unvaccinated, in place, which
is currently the case for all municipal buildings in the city.
And yet, despite the challenges and heartbreaking loss, Goodwin said there are a lot of bright spots at the center, includ
ing the popular and wellattended grab and go meals that became commonplace during the pandemic.
“Those have been very successful,” she said. “The seniors have mentioned how this has mean so much to them to get out of the house and do something.”
In other good news, programs and events that were canceled during the brief closure and throughout the pandemic have been rescheduled and they recently welcomed new Making Opportunity Count Site
Manager Alison Lake, who has Salvation Army kitchen experience and now oversees all the daily and meals served at the senior center.
“It is going really well,” Goodwin said of Lake joining the senior center staff team. “She certainly has been a nice addition.”
Goodwin said she doesn’t think people realize all the things they do for seniors in the surrounding community as the Council on Aging, especially throughout the pandemic.
“It has been tough,” she
said. “Constant wellness checks, lots of cards written to check on people, phone calls. Hopefully we are on the upswing. We are just encouraging everyone to get through the fall.”
The Fitchburg Senior Center is located at 14 Wallace Ave. For more information on events and program and to register call 978-829-1790, visit www.ci .fitchburg. ma. us/484/ SeniorCenter, and follow Fitchburg MA Senior Center on Facebook.