SEBASTIAN — The Senior Activity Center of Sebastian opened on Sept. 4 as locals poured in to play cards and dominoes on donated tables. Now it’s gearing up for its big reveal on Sept. 28 with a grand opening scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m.
The public is invited to meet the seniors and tour the facility at 1255 Main Street in the old Sebastian City Hall offices behind the Art Club building. Also, the senior center volunteers will be making a presentation to the public during the Sebastian City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 26, which will be televised on Comcast Channel 25.
Sebastian City Councilwoman Andrea Coy said she’s truly been inspired by the way the community came together and opened their hearts and pocketbooks to make the center a reality in only a few short weeks. More money, though, is still needed to renovate the former Keep Indian River Beautiful office behind where the Sebastian River Art Club and other organizations meet.
The framework of a nonprofit organization has been formed and officers have been elected. Carolyn Sartain Anderson will serve as president, with Belinda Summers as secretary and Pat Goodfellow as treasurer. Mary McGee and Lana Williams will act as volunteer program directors.
The center was opened because recreational activities at the Davis Street senior center operated by the Senior Resource Association has dwindled and been relegated to a small room in the back of the center to make way for adult day care facilities.
Coy said she was hearing from seniors that things just weren’t the same as when they had the run of the place.
“I have been very vocal about seniors, that their needs are not being met,” said Coy, who has served on an advisory board.
Last week, the Senior Resource Association announced that it will be closing its senior center in Vero Beach and taking over the whole facility for adult day care and services for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. That is set to happen on Oct. 1 and it’s unclear where the seniors who frequent that center will go for recreation and other programs.
Fortunately for Sebastian seniors, solutions are in place or emerging as the community has pitched in to fill the vacuum. The congregate meals once served on Davis Street to area seniors who wanted some fellowship and a hot lunch were lovingly taken over by the By The River community, but people still needed a friendly home base to meet, play cards, have a laugh and hang out with friends.
On Mondays, there’s Scrabble in the mornings from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Then there’s Mahjongg in the afternoons from 12:30 to 4:15 p.m. The center opens at 8 a.m. Tuesdays through Fridays for socializing in the morning. In the afternoons, a four-deck canasta game running from 1 to 4:15 p.m. Tuesdays and Cribbage, Pinochle and Euchre from 12:30 to 4:15 p.m. on Wednesdays. Thursdays is back to Dominoes and Mahjongg from 12:30 to 4:15 p.m. Fridays rounds out the week with two-deck and seven-deck canasta games from 12:30 to 4:15 p.m.
Now that the center is up and running, equipping it to keep it going is the task at hand.
“We need cash,” Coy has said, noting that the seniors would rather be able to purchase the items they need rather than take donated items. “We don’t want this to look like a Goodwill thrift shop.”
To that end, many residents and organizations have made donations to the effort, including City Clerk Sally Maio and her husband, Fred, who provided eight brand new card tables, other city employees, Indian River RV, the Sebastian River Junior Woman’s Club, and many others. G-N-L Flooring, a new Sebastian flooring company, donated its labor and provided the carpet at cost for the Sebastian Senior Center.
Still needed is $1,000 to carpet four activity rooms and one office and $1,000 for office equipment, including a laptop computer, printer, desk and office supplies. The organization is looking for an attorney and a CPA to donate some time and services. The center is also seeking donations of refreshments for the grand opening.
The next step is for the board members to begin completing the paperwork that will make the Senior Activity Center of Sebastian a full-fledged 501(c)3. Coy said several board members have served in leadership capacities of nonprofits and are familiar with all the legal and IRS requirements involved.
Coy emphasized that every dollar raised will go toward providing services to local seniors and that no member of the board or anyone else for that matter would take a salary from the center. She said this strictly volunteer approach will ensure that the focus remains on the seniors who use and enjoy the center every day.
Seniors need not live within the city, Coy said, in order to participate – and “seniors” means those 50 or older.
Anyone interested in helping to form the non-profit or learn more about the center is encouraged to attend the Friday morning meeting or to call Coy at (772) 388-0961, or program directors Mary McGee at (772) 388-9047 and Lana Williams at (772) 388-9027.
Those who wish to donate financially to the cause can send checks made payable to City of Sebastian – with a note on the memo line for “Senior Activity Center of Sebastian” – and drop them off at City Hall or mail them to City Hall, City Clerk’s Office, 1225 Main St., Sebastian, FL 32958. Cash donations, too, would be accepted.
Staff Writer Lisa Zahner contributed to this report.