Seniors Returning To Center After First Month

A month has passed since the Sparta-White County Senior Center reopened and Director Jayne Guy said both old and new faces are showing up.

Guy said the newly-renamed Sparta-White County Activity Center remains popular. She said recent feedback to the new center has been positive.

“We are getting new people that are coming into the center,” Guy said. “In fact, I had a lady come in last week for the first time and she spent several hours here. And as she was leaving she said, “Thank you so much, I have had the best day’ and she’s been back every day she can since.”

Guy said the center will begin looking for new employees in the next month so that they can begin their senior lunch program. Guy began her job as director last month and expects her tenure to be focused on planning trips and fundraisers for White County seniors.

“It’s been active daily,” Guy said. “Some days bring in more than others, especially those bingo days, but some days we’ve had about 50 people and sometimes it looks more like 20 depending on what’s going on for the day.”

The reopening also brings a new name to align with the activity center’s goals of appealing to a more diverse audience.

“It’s still intended for seniors but we, the development center is looking at reducing the use of the word ‘senior’ in that. And so that’s what we’ve changed our branding to is the Activity Center,” Guy said.

The center closed last December following concerns over financial issues.