By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Chilly weather did not stop seniors from having a lovely dinner together this past Tuesday, October 10th, at the Center at the Heights (CATH). What is normally called “Dinner on the Deck” turned into dinner inside, but seniors still had all the fun!
While seniors did have the option to eat dinner outside on the gorgeous deck that they have on site, many opted to stay inside the warm building. No matter where they sat, attendees were able to mingle with all of their friends while enjoying a fabulous spaghetti, meatball, and sausage dinner.
Programming Support Staff Member, Jennifer Garf, was seen giving a helping hand within the kitchen all while making sure the seniors had a marvelous time. When talking about these “Dinner on the Deck” events, she went on to mention, “So basically, everyone just really enjoys our deck. Of course not every time we have good weather, it is either too cold or too hot and it makes it really hard for our seniors. It is also hard for some seniors too because they do not usually dine outside on their own, so that is why we love to do dinner on the deck, even if that means they have someone to eat with. We try to encourage them to bring their dinner in and eat upstairs but that is just not quite the same. We do these types of dinners seasonally, throughout the summer and the two months within the fall.We will also be doing a monthly dinner throughout the winter months for everyone to come and enjoy.”
The goal for events like these is simply to bring the seniors together and spend some quality time with one another. If they are usually eating dinner home alone, this is a great opportunity for them to have some company, eat some delicious food, and laugh with their friends.
Tuesday’s dinner was special for a multitude of reasons. Not only were they inside, but they also were treated to a home cooked meal! “Tonight is especially interesting because normally we would bring in some takeout from somewhere and serve it, but actually one of the town custodians who works here a lot, her name is Sheila, decided that she wanted to cook for our seniors tonight. So she shopped and cooked all day yesterday with spaghetti and meatballs and sausage. They will get served dinner, hang out with their friends, they get a little dessert at the end and everyone goes home happy,” Garf stated.
One senior in attendance, Barbara, who has been a long-time volunteer at the CATH, could not have been more thrilled talking about this dinner event. She went on to state, “This is my home away from home. I am here all the time. It is nice because I know a lot of the people so it is easy to volunteer. I guess I am doing an okay job because they invited me back everytime! I'm so glad to help out because the staff and everybody here are just so friendly and so nice.”
It can be said with ease that these seniors truly enjoyed this dinner experience and were all a huge fan of Sheila Ernst’s cooking!
