Center for Seniors Resumes Congregate Lunches And Regular Activities

The Muskingum County Center for Seniors held their first congregate lunch today in 16 months, signifying their return to a normal schedule.

The Center shut down the congregate lunches and most of their regular activities back in March of 2020 due to the Covid-19 restrictions. The return to serving the lunches as usual and the attendees being able to eat together is a strong signal of a much desired return to normalcy.

“They love to be social. They love interacting with our staff. They love interacting with each other. Many of these folks have been shut in for a long time. They have been not necessarily home bound, but they haven’t had a lot of social contacts. So I think just the fellowship they’re able to enjoy here with our staff, with each other, they love getting out. They consider this home. The comments are they consider this an extension of their home,” said Interm Executive Director David Boyer.

Boyer also added that he believes the return to socialization and group activities for the seniors will have a tremendous positive affect on their mental and emotional health. The Center had their first event on Thursday and the turn out for it was quite telling as to the affect these events have.

“We had an event yesterday, an ice cream social to kick off the weekend. There was standing room only in here. We had over 165 seniors in here at the apex of the numbers. And, we didn’t have enough seating for the seniors. But, it was a wonderful time, and this is just an extension of that. We wanted to make sure our congregate lunches started for this weekend to kind of get this special weekend off to the right start,” added Boyer.

Boyer also added there are several new activities currently being considering for the seniors in the future.