Mustang Community Resource Fair, Thursday, March 7
Ardmore Senior Center — Where staying active is fun
In a bright red “Bama” shirt, Willie Emma Billions doesn’t look her age. She’s 96 and loves to play the board game Aggravation. It’s hard to beat her.
Earl Nichols sits to her right as a game is underway. He says he’s 72.
“No, he’s not, he’s 92!” says his wife Deborah, who is 72. Earl looks up and grins. Then Willie Emma sends Earl’s playing pieces back to the beginning and moves one of hers to home.
Willie Emma and Earl are the oldest participants at the Ardmore Senior Center, where there was a lot of joshing around on a recent Thursday morning when a guest drops in for a visit at 8 a.m. when the center opens.
“We’re the best looking too,” Earl says of himself and Willie Emma.
Center Manager Jim Bonner, 88, goes from table to table and plays different games with the participants. Soft bluegrass music plays in the background while a billiards game is going on in one corner of the room, a puzzle is being worked on at one table, while a game of Rook is underway at another table and Gin Rummy is going at another.
It may be a small center, but Jim says most days of the week that there are 12 to 14 participants who attend out of the 28 total who are signed up. Attendance is higher in the warmer months, he added.
“Basic Instructions before leaving earth, that’s what the Bible is,” Georgia Wessling, 87, is saying as the visitor approached a table where she, Deborah, and Mildred Mitchell, 76, insist on teaching the visitor how to play Rummy. The conversation among the ladies is effortless and informative.
Mildred stops by most every morning before she goes to work at Blondie’s Beauty Shop or fixing hair over at the nursing home. She takes time to help the visitor learn the card game, while Deborah shares a story about how she ended up bringing home a stray cat from the parking lot of Walmart on Jordan Lane in Huntsville.
“It was young, running around dodging cars about to get killed when a young boy stopped and jumped out of his pickup truck and grabbed it,” Deborah said. “I asked him if he was going to take it home and he said he couldn’t and he asked me if I could take it. I said my husband will kill me if I bring home another cat, but I took her anyway.”
Then she woke up one morning feeling something cold next to her in bed. The cat had three kittens next to Deborah in her bed.
Deborah described her new cat as being pretty with long white hair and a little gray patch on her head. She named her Sadie. Two of the kittens were white with a gray spot on their heads and one was black. She named them Nina, Cassie and Tootie. She’s keeping all of them, plus her 10-year-old gray and white cat Sissie.
When asked about the cats later, Earl joked that he should have killed his wife and the cat, but then he reluctantly admitted he enjoys the kittens.
As Mildred heads out to go to work, Evelyn Hubbard, 87, has just arrived at the center and takes Mildred’s chair at the card table. Georgia says she can put up with anything “I worked seven years with the criminally insane at Fulton State Hospital in Missouri.”
About that time, Louie Daly also arrived, and everyone says his name as he walks through the side door and heads over to the pool table.
There’s always a game of Rook at the center. On this day, Tom Brannon, 76, Dale Mitchell, 76, Lordel “Lori” McClain, 87, and Roger Harvell, 81, are playing their last hand.
Roger says he and Jackie Billions, the center’s bus driver, have played bluegrass music at “Picking and Grinning” night at Tennessee Annex Building every Thursday night for the past 18 years. It’s open mic and anybody who wants to can play.
The points are tallied up and Tom gets up to leave saying “It was good beating you,” as he walked out the door.
Lori is one of the newcomers to the area. She and her husband moved to the area to be closer to their daughter when her husband became ill about four to five years ago. Her husband died about a year ago.
She started coming to the Senior Center to stay active and rides the bus to get there.
“Sometimes our games last three or four hours,” Lori said, adding she enjoys the company of the others.
Jackie drives the bus and is Willie Emma’s son. In between rides, he’s working on the last pieces of a puzzle.
“I’m thinking about keeping this one and taking it home. I like it,” Jackie says. “About four years ago we did a big one that was all Alabama football … I framed it and took it home.”
Jackie said he doesn’t mind doing all the driving because everyone has a good time at the center. He also does the driving when they take day trips to the Amish Country or other places to get out and about.
Right next to Jackie, Roger has moved from the Rook table to the pool table where he and Louie are racking up the balls and getting ready for another game. Jim reminds everyone to pick up some free chocolate that was dropped off by Russell Stover.
Jim says there’s something for everyone at the Ardmore Senior Center. Ardmore is located on the Alabama-Tennessee state line with nearly 2,600 residents combined in the Town of Ardmore in Alabama and the City of Ardmore in Tennessee. Both sides are welcome at the Senior Center.
Free refreshments are provided each day, but no hot meals are served at the center. Jim said several participants pick up a week’s worth of frozen meals each week. However, Jim bakes goodies and from time to time they often have a soup or chili day, he says. And there are days they also go out to a restaurant and eat together.
Jim said he thinks people who have never been to the Senior Center may have a misconception about what it’s like.
“We’ve got a varied supply of people already attending that cover all socio-economic groups, education and income levels,” Jim said. “There’s something that will fit almost anybody, one way or another. In addition to the games and activities, there are places for conversations, exercise equipment, a television and a small library for reading.
“When the weather is warmer, we will take trips and we go out to eat together too,”
Last year, the Senior Center took trips to the Amish communities during harvest season and when it was time to make molasses. They also went to the Milky Way Farm in Tennessee and to the Yesterdays Dinner Theater near Athens. Photos from different events hang around the center’s bulletin board.
In addition to the fun and engaging activities, Jim says he also stays up on what resources are available for seniors.
“If they call and ask, if I don’t know the answer, I’ll locate the resource they need,” Jim said.
But it’s the comradery that keeps this group coming back day after day.
“It’s a place to talk a lot and it’s a lot better than sitting at home alone talking to yourself,” Evelyn said. “And we have fun.”
The Town of Ardmore Senior Center, is located at 29920 Park Ave. For more information, call 256-423-2099.
2024 Senior Expo of the Jackson County Council on Aging
More than 500 people had a chance to learn about the agencies, resources and services available to them in the area at the 2024 Senior Expo of the Jackson County Council on Aging held Friday, Jan. 26, at the Scottsboro Goose Pond Civic Center.
Chad Coleman, council director, said the event gave the aging population in Jackson County an opportunity to learn from 51 vendors about services and resources. It was also a chance to listen to live music, dance, have food and win door prizes.
A paper shredder truck to safely get rid of confidential paperwork was available in the parking lot sponsored by First Southern State Bank. Music was provided by Roy Whitaker and the Jimmy Ray’s Slap Happy Hayride.
The free event lasted from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and was sponsored by One Love Hearing Concepts and Devoted Health Plans.
TARCOG Office Closed
Due to the continued hazardous winter weather conditions, the TARCOG office will be closed on Friday, Jan. 19.
Staff is expected to return to work at 8 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 22.
Crossville Senior Center
WHERE FRIENDS GATHER AND PUZZLES ARE SOLVED
It’s a little before 8 a.m. on the Wednesday morning before Christmas inside the Crossville Senior Center in DeKalb County. The furniture, decorations, piano and artwork look and feel homey. Center Manager Teresa Tomlinson offers a friendly welcome.
The action is happening in the back part of the center near the kitchen. The truck delivering meals to those who can’t come to the center just pulled out of the driveway. Senior volunteers Violet Davis, Pat Shipp, Judy Denning and Ron Thorpe are cleaning up the kitchen. They helped Teresa prep the meals for delivery.
Once everything is in order, they sit down for a spirited game of Rummikub and talk to a visitor. Violet, 72, describes herself as an immigrant from Attalla. She used to go to the Boaz Senior Center but has been coming to Crossville for the past three years. She comes three days a week.
Pat, 87, was born in Crossville but lived a chunk of her life in South Huntsville because of her work with Army Missile Command on Redstone Arsenal. But when she retired and moved home, she got her EMT license and worked with the Rescue Squad until its building burned. But she also started delivering meals for the Senior Center. She also enjoys Rummikub and singing.
Pat, Judy, 80, and Ron, 74, come to the center every day. They’re sitting, joking around and playing Rummikub when the others stop in, and the bus arrives with four more participants.
Judith Rusk, 85, gives an update to the group on a friend’s health condition before the gathering starts breaking up for different activities. A card game of Rook gets underway in one of the front rooms, which also houses a small library of books.
Lyman Chumley, 88, and Fayrene Davis, 88, pair up against Ann Black, 86, and Freida Coker, 87. There’s much banter between dealing, bids, trumps and the widow.
Linda White, 75, pops in saying “Merry Christmas” to everyone. She’s returning a book before heading to the dining area where two tables of Rummikub games are underway. Linda is a newcomer to the center, coming about six months, and thankful to her friend, Judy, who invited her.
Judy has moved from the first group of Rummikub players to a second table to play with Linda Doeberyl, 76, who is originally from upstate New York and Florida before moving to the area in 2007.
“I love it here,” said Linda Doeberyl, wearing an Alabama Crimson Tide sweatshirt. “We went on vacation driving to Tennessee, and on our way back we stopped in Fort Payne and were just really impressed by the small town … I got a job at a nursing home here and have been here ever since and no regrets.”
She said she believes she should have been born in the South and added it didn’t take her long to choose Alabama as her football team. “I don’t like those other colors, and Alabama wins a lot, so that’s a bonus.”
Linda White sits at the table with Judy and Linda Doeberyl.
“I don’t play because I like to talk too much, and it messes everyone up,” Linda White added.
Off in a room by herself, Judith is working on a puzzle of a stormy sea with a rainbow. She’s been coming to the center since 1985. She said the building was once a doctor’s office in the small town.
“I come one day a week and it used to be on singing day. We haven’t had that in a while, Covid messed everything up, but we’re starting back with Judy playing the piano, and we have a better piano now, too,” Judith said. “But I love to sing, and sometimes I play some games and work on puzzles.”
She talks about growing up on the family farm with her brother Lyman, playing cards across the hall. She and her husband went to St. Louis, and Lyman went to California for work because there were no jobs in the area. Both eventually migrated back home.
“We are so blessed to be back living on the farm where we grew up,” Judith said as she slides another piece of the puzzle into place. It’s one of many that have been completed at the senior center by all center particpants. Many are framed and line the halls and hang on the walls in each room.
“This is a puzzle place,” Lyman said, as the foursome wraps up another game just in time for lunch. Everyone walks to the kitchen where they find a hot meal of beef and rice casserole, capri vegetables, cabbage, wheat bread, and chocolate cake, with milk, grape juice or water to drink.
On top of Sand Mountain, Crossville is a town of about 1,800 residents. Of those residents, nearly 330 are age 60 or older. The Crossville Senior Center serves meals to 25 people each day. Teresa, who has been the manager since 2009, says her goal is to make those who come to the center feel at home and accepted.
“I think there’s a misconception about what a senior center is, but once they get in here one time, they understand,” Teresa added. “We are a family and we care about each other.”
TARCOG Senior Fun Fest — Save the Date!
Senior Fun Fest for the entire TARCOG Region — DeKalb, Jackson, Limestone, Madison and Marshall counties — is scheduled for Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
The event will be at Sharon Johnston Park in New Market. More details to come but for now, save the date!
Senior Expo Set in Jackson County
The Jackson County Council on Aging will host its Senior Expo on Friday, Jan. 26, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Goosepond Civic Center in Scottsboro.
The event, sponsored by Devoted Health Plans and One Love Hearing, will provide an opportunity to learn about the agencies, groups and resources that enhance the lives of people 50 and older.
For more information or to volunteer contact 256-574-5733.
Need new job skills? 55+? Contact TARCOG for possibilities!
If you are 55 and looking for a paid part-time community service role, TARCOG can help. John Sanders, director of Senior Employment, says low-income seniors may qualify for paid job training opportunities through the program, funded by the Center for Workforce Inclusion and Alabama Department of Senior Services.
The program provides paid job training opportunities in which people may learn new skills or enhance existing ones, with the goal of finding employment opportunities.
For more information or to see if you qualify, call TARCOG at (256) 716-2666.
A Golden Celebration for Seniors
A celebration in Fort Payne isn’t complete without musicians and for the combined 50th Anniversary of Senior Center programs and Annual Health Fair for DeKalb County, residents enjoyed a performance by the band Homegrown.
Nearly 200 people participated in the Nov. 16, event held for people aged 60 and their caregivers at the VFW Fairgrounds. It was sponsored by the DeKalb County Council on Aging and the Times-Journal.
Emily McCamy, director of the DeKalb County Transportation and Council on Aging, thanked everyone for attending and highlighted each of the county’s Senior Centers in Collinsville, Crossville, Fort Payne, Fyffe, Geraldine, Ider, and Rainsville.
DeKalb County Commissioner and TARCOG Board Member Lester Black talked about the importance of services provided to seniors in the community over the years and into the future.
In addition to vision and blood pressure checks, there were 40 vendors who provided free materials and useful information. Lunch, and door prizes were provided, along with live music.
The four-member senior band has been together about four years goes by the name of Homegrown. But the band has also been called Billy Roberts and Friends, and the Good ‘Ole Boys. One time, DeKalb County Commission Chair and TARCOG Board Member Ricky Harcrow joined them with his banjo and called the group the Ball Bearings, Martin said. None of the members are overly concerned about the name, for them, it’s about the music.
They typically get together to play at assisted living facilities, nursing homes, Mayberry Days and holiday celebrations. And they were glad to help celebrate DeKalb County Council on Aging’s 50th anniversary of its Senior Centers and Rural Public Transportation.
Lifelong musician’s Billy Roberts, 76, guitarist, Jack Martin, 80, guitarist, Donnie Owen, 72, fiddler, and Kenneth Whited, 71, bass guitarist, make up the group, which plays a variety of tunes — gospel, country and a little rock ‘n roll.
Growing up in Fort Payne, it’s no surprise the band has ties to country super group Alabama as well as their own musical successes. Back in high school, Roberts played in a rock ‘n roll band with Jeff Cook. Donnie and Randy Owen are cousins, and Whited played in a rock ‘n roll band with Teddy Gentry.
Martin fondly recalls playing in an FFA Band in Scottsboro and winning third place in a district competition in the 1960s. And Owen won multiple bluegrass competitions all over the state, participated in fiddler’s conventions all over the U.S., and performed at Opryland for nine years. Whited remembers opening for Paul Harvey and being on the same Ralph Emory Show as Porter Wagner and Dolly Parton in the late 1960s.
Today, this group of men say they are happy to still be able to play and bring enjoyment to the community, no matter what age, which they did to rounds of applause at the anniversary celebration.