LUSK – The Niobrara Senior Center celebrated their 50th anniversary on August 23. Members of the community, past and present Niobrara Senior Center Board members, veteran directors of the Senior Center, and staff gathered for the celebration.
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LUSK – The Niobrara Senior Center celebrated their 50th anniversary on August 23. Members of the community, past and present Niobrara Senior Center Board members, veteran directors of the Senior Center, and staff gathered for the celebration.
Randi Ross, the Director of the Senior Center, spoke during the gathering. There were three sponsors of the meal held at the celebration. Paul Swartz was the entertainment for the evening.
“A couple of people that I need to thank tonight are Jeff Caron with EZ Medicare. He gave us a donation to help with the celebration. We also received a donation from Enroll in Wyoming,” Ross said. “We also got a donation from the Sidewinder Clean Hydrogen Project. They were very generous to help us put together our celebration tonight.”
“I would like to thank Heather God- dard and the Up and Coming 4-H club that will be serving your meal tonight,” Ross said. “I am trying to give the staff a break tonight, so tonight the kitchen staff will be served instead of serving.”
Ross gave a brief history of the Niobrara Senior Center.
“The Senior Center started when a group of people gathered at the Hospi- tality House and a group of interested citizens met on May 8, 1974 for the pur- pose of discussing the possibility of hav- ing a senior center in Lusk,” Ross said. “Just like a lot of things in this county, it was a grassroots effort to get the Se- nior Center going.”
“So, then they did what everybody does and they formed a committee. Then
the committee was advised to apply for a grant. In July of 1974, a grant was ap- proved in the amount of $15,000 so they could do a survey,” Ross said.
When the committee members in 1974 were doing the survey, they wanted to ensure that the Senior Center would be able to provide transportation for se- niors that had medical appointments.
Another concern was for the isolat- ed seniors in the community. It was important to have a Senior Center not only to provide seniors with meals, but a place that they could gather too.
The first Senior Center was in the Charlie Christian building situated in South of Lusk. It was under the supervision of a director and secre- tary. The Lusk Herald ran a front- page feature about the opening of the Niobrara Senior Center in Octo- ber 30, 1974. The November 7 head- line read, “Opening of the Niobrara Senior Citizens’ Center ‘Highlight of the Year’.” It took many dedicat- ed members of the community to make their vision of having a Senior Center a reality.
“We now have a responsibility to continue that legacy to continue to provide services to our seniors,” Ross said.
There were several books and in- formation that chronicled the Nio- brara Senior Center on display.
Earlier this year, the Senior Center held a contest for designs of a new logo. It was open to anyone Ross stated that there was a rather unremarkable response to contest. The Senior Center then contacted some artists and, as a result, re- ceived a few entries. A committee of five persons was formed to judge and pick a winner for the new logo. The winner was Braedyn Johnson. The new design is a variation of the traditional Superman logo. This was chosen because seniors are, in a sense, superheroes. The Senior Center has T-shirts and cups with their new logo that are available for purchase.
The Niobrara Senior Center hon- ored past and present board mem- bers and employees of the Senior Center. There were several volun- teers that were honored, too.
“If we didn’t have volunteers, we couldn’t make things happen,” Ross said. “It is important to have these volunteers to help us with every- thing we do.”
Two former Senior Center Direc- tors, Connie Baker and Mary Lar- son, were honored that night as well. Baker, who served as the Nio- brara Senior Center Director, had worked for over 37 years. Larson was the predecessor to Ross and she retired to become a full-time grandmother.
“It just goes to show how dedicat- ed they [Larson and Baker] were,” said Ross. “It is a job that you do, not for the paycheck, but because you want people to be successful and you want to provide the things for people that want this program and facility to be here.”
Gift bags were handed out to the staff during the celebration event.
“The volunteers and the staff and the board are pieces of the puzzle that makes this Senior Center work,” Ross said. “They are all im- portant. And, let’s face it, there will be one day that we will be the se- niors. I’d like for everyone to give our staff a round of applause for all that they do.”
Several attendees praised Ross for her work as a Director. For all those in attendance, it was evident that a lot of hard work went into the 50th anniversary celebration of the Nio- brara Senior Center.
The Niobrara Senior Center is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information call 307-334-2561.
