Lamar Senior Center Celebrates its 10th Year

Jeff Anderson Chatting with Keith Hall, SOS Center Treasurer

Jeff Anderson, former Lamar City Administrator, was on hand for the 10^th anniversary celebration for the Lamar Community Resource and Senior Center on East Olive Street, the former Safeway building.  Anderson took time to visit with senior members and other citizens, engaging Prowers County Commissioner Joe Marble in a discussion about the center, from its early days to today. 

According to Keith Hall, Senior Center treasurer, Anderson was instrumental in securing several grants which allowed the new center to be built.  Hall said the former senior center on East Elm Street was in need of extensive repairs, especially in the kitchen and rest rooms.  Anderson, after a recent visit to that center, decided it was time to upgrade and secured a grant for $875,000.  Hall said the Lamar Utilities Board pledged an additional $900,000 towards construction, but only $715,000 of that was required.  He added that an additional $70,000 was raised by the senior members through various contributions from the civic, private and business sectors of the county, as well as the sale of commemorative bricks costing $100 each.  Those engraved bricks line the east wall of the main dining room. 

“We took several trips around the area, looking at other senior centers,” Hall said.  He noted that one south of Syracuse, Kansas was particularly impressive, “that community had a lot of oil money behind it, and that wasn’t the case with us.  But we did a fine job with this one, and it’s hosted a lot of activities over the past ten years,” Hall added. 

Memberships are available to anyone over 50 years of age at $5 a year and that entitles an individual to the daily lunches provided by the Sage Nutrition kitchen at the Center, as well as other activities through the month.  The remainder of the day was spent reviewing photograph displays from the past ten years, as well as games and prize drawings.  The Center provided a roast beef dinner, as well as other refreshments.

By Russ Baldwin