RELATED REPORT
State Secretary of Aging Theresa Osborne visits Encore Experiences in Harleysville.
Marjorie Swymelar says she comes to Encore Experiences in Harleysville almost every day Monday through Friday.
“My friends are here. I play cards here,” the 95-year-old Harleysville resident said as she sat with a group of people having lunch in the Encore Café Aug. 24.
The Encore lunches are usually her main meal of the day, she said.
She’s often at Encore for several hours a day, doing things such as playing pinochle or other card games, bingo, reading, cutting coupons or taking part in the Stitch and Chat knitting and sewing group, she said. She’s been coming there for about 15 years, she said.
“Everybody knows her. Everybody loves her. Can’t go by Marjorie without saying hello,” said Linda Danasko, 63, of Red Hill, who was seated at the same lunch table.
Danasko said she usually comes to Encore three or four days a week.
“I came here for bingo and lunch and just fell in love with it,” she said.
Along with lunch and bingo, she plays cards, does puzzles and uses the library, she said.
“It’s an extended family,” Danasko said.
Lunchtime is a good example of that, she said.
“No matter where you sit, you’re welcome,” Danasko said. “You sit down at a different table and all of a sudden, you’re all friends.”
On average, 100 to 110 people per day have lunch at Encore, Sarah Whetstone, interim executive director, said. On Aug. 24, though, additional tables had to be set up with an estimated up to 150 people there for lunch as Pennsylvania Secretary of Aging Teresa Osborne stopped in for a tour.
State Sen. Bob Mensch, R-24, said he’s often been to Encore and each time he comes at lunch time, he sees more people eating there.
“I’m guessing that’s because the food keeps getting even better,” Mensch said.
“The secretary has an incredible challenge,” Mensch said while introducing Os- borne. “It’s the smallest department in the state, I believe, and she deals with the largest constituency in the state, so it is an incredible job that she does.”
All the state funding for the department comes from the lottery, he said. The re- cent addition of lottery ticket sales at state stores helps bring in more money to provide benefits for seniors, such as meals at senior centers and discounted rides from SEPTA, he said.
The Pennsylvania Department of Aging gets 78 percent of its funding from the lottery and the other 22 percent from federal funding, Osborne said.
The state is blessed to have the lottery fund, but she wasn’t at Encore to talk about funding, she said.
She said she wanted to instead talk about the benefits provided by the funding, such as senior centers and reduced price meals for seniors.
At Encore, persons who are 60 or older or disabled, or the spouse of someone who is 60 or older or disabled, are asked to make an anonymous $2 voluntary contribution for the lunches. The lunch cost is $6.95 for persons younger than 60. Sandwich options are also available. Lunch is served 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday at Encore, which is located at 312 Alumni Ave.
“I’m thrilled to see you here in this incredible space eating such nutritious meals,” Osborne told the diners.
Telling the group, “We need to look out for one another,” she said the goal is to provide services and support “so that you can age well and live in your homes and communities with the dignity and respect that you all deserve.”
Osborne’s Aug. 24 Montgomery County visit began with taking part i n that day’s Montgomery County Trail Challenge celebration, she said. The trail challenge is a public health initiative to encourage families and individuals to walk selected trails for healthy and active lifestyles.
Before the lunchtime stop at Encore, Osborne also toured Generations of Indian Valley in Souderton, including its Meals on Wheels program, and the neighboring Souderton Adult Day Care Center.
“It was really an impressive site to visit,” she said.
The Generations and Encore visits had a similar purpose, she said.
“I wanted to come by and meet the people that participate here,” Osborne said.
Participants told her about the challenges of things such as increasing property taxes or rents, as well as talking about their gratitude for the senior centers, she said.
“There’s a palpable camaraderie here. It’s what makes senior centers the anchors of the community,” Osborne said.
“No matter where you sit, you’re welcome. You sit down at a different table and all of a sudden, you’re all friends.” — Linda Danasko on lunching at Encore Experiences in Harleysville “There’s a palpable camaraderie here. It’s what makes senior centers the anchors of the community.” — Pennsylvania Secretary of Aging Teresa Osborne