After 13 months of closure and three months of gradual reopening, the Longmont Senior Center will be back in full swing in September, offering the full array of in-person programs and activities.
The fall catalog will be available online and in print by Aug. 9. Program registration starts Aug. 16.
The center has been a lifeline for many seniors, age 55 and older, over the years. Seniors visit the center to see longtime friends and make new ones, volunteer to help others and just plain hang out. Other opportunities include day trips, out of state travel, counseling, courses to develop new skills and even learn foreign languages.
Pre-pandemic the center offered about 40 or 50 drop-in programs, groups and clubs, according to Brandy Queen, Longmont Senior Center seniors counselor and resource education coordinator. Drop-in offerings are led by older adults, don’t require a commitment or sign-up, and cover a wide range of topics from current events to bowling and wood carving.
“Our drop-in groups have been very successful. As they’ve come back into our building this summer, it has been beautiful to watch them. I know multiple staff have actually cried after checking in a drop-in group that hadn’t met together for the whole pandemic, because it was so beautiful to see how happy they were together again. And I am one of those people,” Queen said.
The gradual reopening, however, has been “a work in progress” for staff, she said.
“When we first opened, we were still doing social distancing and using masks. Figuring out which groups could work well six feet apart wearing masks took some work. People have hearing problems. There are some real difficulties with figuring out which groups were appropriate to meet under those conditions. And then there was the time limit of the building only being open until 1 p.m. (in May and June),” she said.
The pandemic has been tough for everyone, but especially for seniors.
“It’s had a profound impact. People asked our staff sort of constantly through the whole pandemic, ‘When is the building going to be open again? When can we come back?’ It was a constant question. We provide that forum for people to socialize Monday through Friday all day long. We’re a social hub, and before the pandemic averaged about 10,000 visits per month,” Queen said.
“I think people forget that older adults as a vulnerable population had different and more stringent rules throughout the pandemic. The public health orders for older adults were usually tighter than they were for younger folks who weren’t vulnerable. So, this is the population who were isolated the most, the longest,” she said.
Before the pandemic Rita Brandyberry participated in activities at the center about three days a week, including exercise classes, tai chi, lectures and out-to-lunch groups and other excursions. “I was very, very busy up until the pandemic, and then it was like everything came to a screeching halt. It wasn’t just for me, that was for everyone,” said Rita Brandyberry, a retired court reporter, former dance instructor and front desk attendant at the senior center.
“It was awful. The senior center was probably a good 25-50% of my life. In fact, almost everyone I knew, we all spent lots of time over there. So, when the senior center closed, there was really no place for us to go. It made me very lonely,” Brandyberry, of Longmont, said.
While the senior center maintained online offerings throughout the pandemic, virtual programs don’t work for everyone and not all types of programs lend themselves to an online format. Queen estimates the number of virtual drop-in groups at about a quarter of pre-pandemic in-person drop-in groups.
Elaine Keiser has offered her care and attention to seniors in need, first with the center’s peer counseling program and more recently with the Lunch Bunch program, which offers socialization to individuals with dementia and their caregivers at weekly lunches.
“I missed the weekly get-togethers. So, what I would try to do is get a hold of some of the participants by phone or by email periodically, just to stay in touch and say, ‘How are you doing?’ and maybe share a couple of pandemic type of issues that they might have. That’s about all I could do.” she said.
Keiser gave online programs a try, but found it wasn’t her thing.
“I did one or two of them. I’m not that good technologically, so sometimes I couldn’t make them work that well. Again, I think it was, for me, the contact by phone or email was more satisfying,” she said.
Brandyberry expressed similar sentiments.
“I don’t do virtual on the computer. I don’t know, I just like meeting people in person. If I’m going to talk to someone, I like it to be on the phone or in person. I worked so much, to me the computer is work, not enjoyment,” Brandyberry said.
The 86-year-old Longmont resident is eagerly awaiting the chance to register for the center’s many trips and has volunteered to help with sign-ups.
“Being able to shift out of that loneliness and reconnect is a powerful and beautiful thing,” Queen said.
