Karen Brady
April 10, 2008 04:33 pm
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Since 1986, Debra Smith has been providing the citizens of Tuttle with recreation, fellowship and hot meals.
The Director of the Tuttle Senior Citizens Center, Smith works five days a week serving up hearty meals like fried chicken, onion burgers and chicken fried steak to as many as 75 customers each day.
“And we have meals on wheels,” says Smith. “So the homebound can have meals.”
In addition to seniors who come to the center for lunch, there are others who also come.
“The main backbone of the community comes out here,” said Smith. “We get high school kids, construction workers, and visitors of all ages are welcome,”
While lunch is served at 11 a.m., the center opens at 8 a.m. so seniors and others may come visit, play dominoes or even engage in a rousing game of Skip-O.
“They do get wild when they’re playing their card games,” said Smith. “They also play pool in the mornings and we’ve got some pretty good pool players.”
In addition, around 5:30 on Tuesday evenings, the center holds a country music open-mike night where anyone can come and sing, an event that may draw up to 60 guests. If you aren’t a performer, you can still bring a dessert or a covered dish and come enjoy the music.
Another point of interest is the ongoing education the center offers over such topics as medications, Medicare, insurance, living trusts and Legal Aid.
“We also offer medical management and health promotions,” said Smith. “We have a health fair and we take blood pressures and do blood-sugar tests.”
The center provides congregate meals from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for a small donation. The meal is $4 for those under 60 and the meal is open to the public.
The menu on Monday and Friday varies, with Indian tacos served every-other Friday, fried chicken is served on Tuesday, with onion burgers on Wednesday and chicken-fried steak on Thursdays.
“We are self-supporting, but we do receieve a grant from ASCOG,” said Smith. “I write an ASCOG grant each year for the Coordinator salary and a little bit of office supplies. And we try to find donations from local organizations to help support the Meals on Wheels program.”
Smith added that she hopes that anyone interested in donating to a non-profit organization will consider the Tuttle Senior Citizens Center.
“Any donations will be greatly appreciated,” she said.
When the center is not in use, it is often rented out for birthday parties or family reunions or to various organizations. In fact, the Tuttle Masonic Lodge rents the building to serve breakfast on the first Saturday of every month.
The Tuttle Senior Citizens Center is located on the west end of Shrock Park in Tuttle and now boasts a new wheelchair accessible ramp on the east side of the bright orange building, courtesy of the City of Tuttle.
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