After the Christian County Senior Center reopened in early July, 78-year-old Landis Groves was back in a favorite spot with other regulars. He chalked his pool cue, walked around a billiard table looking for the best shot and banked a red ball into a corner pocket.
Groves hadn’t lost his touch despite a long absence. He and his friends had not been able to use the senior center since early 2020, when it was hit with a double-whammy — a destructive winter storm that tore off part of the center’s roof in January and then coronavirus restrictions a few months later.
Initially, because the storm damages were so extensive, the center moved its operations to the former Christian County Middle School. For three months, it offered most of its programs, including lunch and Meals on Wheels, from the school.
Two months later, the center had to close the school doors and switch to curbside activities, including its popular bingo games. Seniors also collected their weekday lunches curbside.
By July 2020, the staff had moved back to the center on West Seventh Street and continued operations under COVID-19 restrictions. Seniors still could not gather inside the building.
The center worked to keep in touch with its patrons, but the pandemic took a toll and a few of the regulars moved from independent living to nursing homes because of the isolation, said Director Rossia Schneider.
Volunteer receptionist Nannie Croney, herself a senior, said the closure was not the only hardship during the pandemic.
“We lost 12 of our regulars,” she said.
Now the center is working to get back to a pre-pandemic routine.
Croney pointed to a number of programs in a detailed calendar, including several exercise classes, bingo games and Bible studies. The center has a fully equipped exercise room, along with the pool room.
Schneider said she wants to start the Friday night dances soon. She said the staff regularly asks the seniors what activities they would like to have. A writing class provided by Hopkinsville Community College will start soon. Unfortunately, out-of-town trips have become cost-prohibitive because of fee increases for bus transportation.
While the facility and its activities are the face of the center, there are several behind-the-scene programs. Meals on Wheels provides a lunch to 300 seniors Monday through Friday. The Senior Shuttle offers transportation to the center, medical appointments and shopping. And 60 county residents are enrolled in a homemaking program that provides light housekeeping.
On a recent Friday when Groves and his friends shot pool, several seniors were walking the half-mile loop in the center, which is the former Westwood Church of Christ building. Around 11 a.m., the seniors began to gather in the lobby before lunch.
A hot lunch is served every weekday. The price is $3 for people 60 and older and $5 for those under 60.
The menu has stick-to-your-ribs meals. Croney said the pulled pork is a favorite. Camaraderie is evident at the meals.
Eldridge Cumbee, 95, drives himself to there every weekday to visit friends and have lunch. Trudy Sova does the same.
The center draws a diverse crowd of people from different walks of life and backgrounds.
Brenda Lile, a retired community college employee, and her husband, David, are also regulars. She uses a walker and gets in her paces on the exercise loop.
“I have met people I would have never known,” Brenda Lile said.
One such person is Gladys Sivils, a retired Lacy Elementary School teacher. The two women recently compared their fresh manicures, another of the center’s services.
Others are there just for the fellowship. James Peterson, 85, Anderson Browder, 79, and Leon Donald, 70, met at the center and now come to talk about anything and everything.
For them, and others, the senior center is a haven where they maintain social contact and stay active, both of which are critical for long-term health.
A 2019 study published in the Journals of Gerontology found that older adults who interacted with people beyond their family and close friends were more likely to have higher levels of physical activity, better moods and fewer negative feelings.
The center, at 1402 W. Seventh St., is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. The number to call for information about programming and services is 270-886-8885.
Toni Wilson Riley is a freelance writer and a retired Christian County Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development agent. She lives in Hopkinsville on a small goat farm.
