Our Senior Citizens are an active bunch

More times than any of us can count we’ve all passed the Upper Bucks Senior Center on North Fourth. It’s so familiar I often forget it’s there, just blends into the scenery around our borough. While it may sit quietly along side a borough side street, there’s nothing quiet or slow about all the activities taking place in the space. I sat recently with Center Manager M.W. Ernst. Ernst has held post for going on three years and tells the tale of goings on in the center with great pride and a remarkable admiration for the people that keep the center alive and well.

The Center is part of a network of a few others around Bucks County and raises much of its own funds for projects and functions for its members 55 and over. Some other monies of support come from the Bucks County Area Agency for Aging and the Bucks County Association for Senior and Retired Citizens. For our older folks who take advantage of visits weekdays, the Center which opens just after 9 and runs its services, functions and meals till about 3:30 there’s lots to do. Trips, haircuts, lunch daily, holiday parties, informative monthly seminars on a wide range of topics, summer outings, day trips, vacation trips to places out west, games, exercise, blood pressure screenings, computer classes, financial seminars and more. To list everything that goes on in our Senior Center would take more space than I’m allotted so I’ll stop here.

One of the more interesting things about the center is the relationships and friendships that become forged. Two musical groups have developed that entertain young and old both birthed at the Upper Bucks Senior Center. The Sunshine Singers Chorus and the ‘Impossible’ Band entertain and delight throughout town. A few years under there belt’s hasn’t slowed down these active seniors which practice and rehearse during the week at our senior Center. What a great resource for all of us. Some of us haven’t seen 55 yet but it’s nice to know there’s not just a space in town for our seniors, but a space that offers lots to do, fellowship and fun.

I walked into the center and was immediately drawn to its large auditorium which stands just past the lobby. A table of home baked pies, cakes and cookies was just past the inner door, I fought hard to resist a sample and simply asked for M.W. Ernst at reception, any longer in the lobby and I would have had to be escorted out of the building for pilfering all the baked goods. They really should do a better job of keeping that out of plain view, at least when I’m around. I asked M.W. if there was anything happening in January at the Center. Immediately I was handed a calendar of events for this month that offers more than numerous things for our seniors to partake.

Just this month members can take quilting class, study up on computers, blood pressure screenings and lots, lots more. To the left of the main entrance is a parlor with books, games and a lounge area. There’s a variety shop off to the right if you’re into some household items, clothes, apparel and more. New members join by the dozens each year and since last August at least a dozen have joined in on the fun. Parties abound at the Center. The 2007 Calendar started the year with a kick off New Years Party, next month is the Center’s Valentine’s Party, in March there is a new member’s luncheon and at the end of March there’s a farewell to winter party.

All the big holidays beyond March are marked with lots of fun parties. While the members participate in all the fun, there’s also a side to the center that I discovered was even more remarkable. Many of these Seniors have been ‘giving’ their families and communities there whole lives, and if they slowed down or stopped during their older years that would be completely understandable. But that’s not the case. In addition to many fundraisers and drives to help the center, members also make stuffed bears for children receiving immunizations. The Center’s members take eye glasses to the Lions Club, Paper disposal is donated to St. Isidore’s to raise funds ( thanks for that by the way, I have two in the school and every little bit helps ). Canned and packaged goods were brought in and donated to the food pantry, pop tops are collected for the Ronald McDonald House for seriously ill and injured children. And during the just passed holiday season ‘Project Elves’ was immensely successful as the center’s members gathered well over 100 gifts for almost 30 local children who have a parent serving in Iraq or whose parent has died in the line of duty, plans are being made for ‘Project Elves 2’ for the holidays coming at the end of 2007.

The Center services are for all adults 55 and over that live in Quakertown, Richlandtown, Trumbauersville, Richland, Milford, Haycock, Springfield, Tinicum, Nockamixon, Durham and Bridgeton Townships. The center is designed to help our older residents live a fuller, richer life and has been providing services for its members for over 35 years. So the next time you drive by, stop by, chances are you know and love someone who could benefit from the center. Just don’t expect a slow paced environment. Because The Upper Bucks County Senior Center may have older members, but it has a newer outlook on life, giving and having fun. Trying to keep up with the fine folks at the Senior Center, See ya around town.