Business of the Week – Lamar Senior Center

You help your community thrive when you shop locally!

Be sure to read The Prowers Journal each week when the Lamar Chamber of Commerce
and The Prowers Journal highlight a featured Business of the Week.

This week we are proud to spotlight the Lamar Senior Center.
Give them a call at: 719.336-4072

The Lamar Community Resource and Senior Center is located at 407 East Olive Street in Lamar, Colorado. We have been in this location since February 2002 and celebrated our 10th Anniversary this past February. This current Resource and Senior Center was a collaboration between the City of Lamar, and Prowers County using many grants and donations. The former Senior Center was located on the corner of 4th Street and Elm Street near the County Courthouse. The hours of operation for LCRSC is Monday through Friday 7:30 am to 5:00 pm. The phone number is 719-336-4072.

In 2002, the Lamar City Administrator was Jeff Anderson when the current Lamar Resource and Senior Center was being built from the old Safeway store. Along with Jeff, Elmer Roberts, Keith Hall and Ed Harms worked very hard on raising funds for the completion of this center. The Lamar Utility Board was instrumental in securing a $715,000 dollar donation. They had agreed to give us $900,000 but with the grants and other fund raisers, we only needed $715,000. Brenda Van Campen and Bert Davis, who were Jeff Anderson’s right hand people in this project, applied for the $875,000 in grants that we received to finance the building. The organizations that donated the grants are named on the plaques in the hallway just inside the front door.

Darla Scranton-Specht, attorney, did the legal work for us in the application for a 501K designation and all of our other legal work while we were building the center. Darla generously donated her services for this project. Warren Camp and Chris Currell, owners of Camp and Currell Construction, did the remodeling.

Local businesses contributed funds for the center, and donations to our fundraising projects have included Wal-Mart and Burger King, along with many other businesses that bought pies and cakes at our fundraisers and other donations.

The citizens of Lamar were an important part of this project. This project would not have been possible without their support and generosity. The citizens of Lamar bought decorative bricks and participated in our many fundraising activities. There were 416 bricks which sold for $100 apiece as well as private donations. The senior ladies always baked pies and cakes for our fundraisers.

Since the inception of the Lamar Resource and Senior Citizens Center, the City of Lamar and Prowers County have provided ongoing support through maintenance, repairs, utilities and general operating funding.

The Lamar Community Resource and Senior Center has a governing body of Senior Citizens. The Lamar Seniors Inc. meets once a month on the 2nd Wednesday at 12:00 noon. There are many activities and resources available to the citizens of Prowers County located here. AARP has a chapter located here and meets once a month on the 1st Tuesday at 11:30 am. SECSPERA also meets here once a month. We have access to many other organizations that are more than willing to answer any question that a resident of Prowers County might have. Prowers County Genealogy Society meets here at the center once a month on the 2nd Wednesday at 6:00 pm. Seniors Inc. also provides a volunteer Monday through Friday 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm to assist anyone with their genealogy questions. Many senior clubs call the Lamar Community and Resource and Senior Center home, including: Ceramics Club meets every Monday at 10:00am, Quilters Club every Wednesday at 10:30 am and the Brush and Palette Club meets every Friday 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. There are several other events held every day at the center, including a Saturday evening dance for the county’s senior citizens beginning at 7:00 pm.

Approximately 325 members make up this Senior Center. The only requirement to join this Senior Center is that you are at least 50 years old and pay a $5.00 membership fee per year. For that you are mailed the monthly newsletter. You can come by anytime and purchase your membership to the Senior Center office or call 719-336-4072 for more information.

For 2012, Dacra Jones is the President of the Senior Inc. Board and Joe Marble is the Vice-President. Darren Glover is the Facility Coordinator and also the Operation Director of Prowers Area Transit. And for everyone who has used this Community Resource and Senior Center, the Senior Board would like to give all of you a very BIG THANK YOU and to keep coming by.

Come and enjoy all the activities held here at the Lamar Community Resource and Senior Center on a daily basis.