A BITE TO EAT AND A BIT OF RHYTHM
Seniors look forward to Christmas Day dinner and dance at the Roosevelt Community Center
SAN JOSE — Ask Marolyn O’Neill what draws people to a popular San Jose lunch and dance program for seniors where she’s worked or volunteered for more than 25 years, and you’ll get a lesson in a philosophy of life itself.
“One of the main things people need is food,” she says, “and the other is companionship.”
Music, too, she quickly adds to illustrate her point that all three are important cultural elements around the globe and a natural way for people to connect to each other, especially in the diverse Bay Area.
Lunch and music are easy to find most afternoons at the Roosevelt Community Center. The companion-
ship — and friendships — just grows from there, she says, noting that language and other social boundaries instantly break down when people sit down to share a meal.
“Once you trust someone with your story,” O’Neill says, “you want to continue that relationship.”
Stella Gutierrez, a gerontology specialist for the city of San Jose, says the lunch and dance programs are held at the center six days a week.
They have become a natural gathering time for people of all backgrounds, many of whom have been coming for years, from all over the South Bay.
By extension, one of the highlights of the year for many regulars is the added opportunity to have dinner and dance on Christmas Day. Unlike the daily programs, the holiday dinner depends on a host of volunteers and community support for funding.
O’Neill was laid off in 2011 after 24 years of serving as the center’s director, but her commitment to the program — now as a volunteer — never waned.
It’s a commitment she shares with her twin sister, Carolyn Mosby, who also was employed for years by the city of San Jose as a recreation supervisor before retiring, and now volunteers for the dances.
Mosby says she’s seen some of the same people for more than 20 years. One thing she loves about still being a part of the center is that her background puts her in a position to direct people to resources — or she can contact the program director — if she sees someone in distress or in need of help. “You talk to people through the years so you hear their story, and they don’t talk to just anybody,” she says.
The programs were moved from the original location at St. James Community Center, where Mosby and O’Neill were also involved, to the Roosevelt center in the Alum Rock area in 2010.
Anyone 60 or older can attend, with a suggested donation of $3 and another $1 to dance.
Volunteer DJs are on site to play all kinds of music reflecting the diversity of the South Bay, Gutierrez says. Depending on the day and DJ, the mix includes Chinese, Vietnamese, Latin, Filipino, country, big band and modern music, all of it designed to get participants up and moving.
Similar lunch programs are served at more than a dozen senior centers around San Jose, but Mosby says people who regularly come to Roosevelt do so because it’s the one that fits them — and their interests — best.
“You know, how many places have Chinese Opera?” she laughed, referring to one of the special events at the center.
Gutierrez says the Christmas dinner and dance program can draw as many as 800 people, some who at- tend before heading off to spend time with loved ones.
“We might have some who come, and this is their celebration, the only celebration they get,” she says.
To find out more about classes, other programs and how to sign up to attend the Roosevelt Community Center Christmas Day event, go to http://sanjoseca.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/320.