Downtown Ellijay center offers fellowship, food and activities for senior citizens
The staff of the Gilmer Senior Center wants to see more senior citizens coming to the downtown Ellijay center for fellowship, food and activities.
Located at 111 North Gilmer Street, the North Georgia Community Action (NGCA)-run senior center offers all its activities and meals free to Gilmer County residents age 60 and up.
There’s a common misconception that the senior center is more of a nursing home or senior care facility, but that’s not the case, noted Joan Alford, activities coordinator.
“It’s a place to come and meet new people, do activities and have interaction. You have to be ambulatory and able to get around on your own to come,” she added.
Senior Center Director Vicki Padgett said the facility was closed for 15 months during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Meals on Wheels were still delivered and offered for pickup during the closure.
“We did that the whole time we were closed, and we opened up in the parking lot before we opened back up in here,” said Padgett.
The center’s regular daily attendance still hasn’t picked back up since it fully reopened last year.
“Some days we’ll have 20 (who come), but we want it to be higher,” Padgett said.
The center is open from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday-Friday. Snacks and lunch are provided to attendees, and lunch is served at 11 a.m., Padgett noted.
Whether it’s playing board games or cards, shooting pool or making seasonal crafts like attendees recently did for the Fourth of July, there’s a variety of things to do there, noted Alford.
“The guys are a little harder to get going on crafty things, but the ladies like it,” she added.
A recent cooking class provided by the county extension office has been a popular offering, and group games of Rummikub, in which the card game Rummy is played using tiles, have also been very well-received, Alford said.
“Rummikub is the hit of the day,” she added.
Alford said she’s trying to line up more speakers and guest presenters now that the COVID restrictions are loosening.
“Things are picking up, I hope. We’ve got somebody coming in once a week through July, and l try to get the calendar as full as we can,” she said. “We can go on field trips, but it has to be in the county. We (recently) went to lunch at Mike’s Ellijay Restaurant and had a picnic out at Carters Lake. One of our ladies is going to start teaching a regular exercise class once a week, and we’re already looking toward the holidays and things we can do.”
MATS (Mountain Area Transportation System) buses, which are also coordinated by NGCA, bring some attendees to and from the center. If senior center attendees fill out some registration paperwork, they can ride the bus to and from the center for free, noted Padgett.
Otherwise, riding the bus costs $4 round trip for under 10 miles and $6 round trip for over 10 miles.
“(We usually have) about 10 to 12 who ride the MATS bus. Everybody else drives,” said Padgett.
Open house scheduled
The senior center will hold a public open house Wednesday, Aug. 17, from 9-10:30 a.m.
Anyone who’d like to see what the center is all about is welcome to stop by. Light refreshments will be served, Padgett noted.
“I know taking that first step in the door is hard when you haven’t been somewhere and you walk into a group that’s already comfortable with everybody, but we have a great group of people who like to have fun and do things,” Alford said. “We have a group of regulars, as well as people who come on and off.”