
{"id":921,"date":"2007-09-13T12:12:58","date_gmt":"2007-09-13T20:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2007\/09\/13\/rising-seniors\/"},"modified":"2007-09-13T12:12:58","modified_gmt":"2007-09-13T20:12:58","slug":"rising-seniors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2007\/09\/13\/rising-seniors\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising Seniors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>New center a buzz of activity since opening <\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/seniors1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/seniors1.jpg\" height=\"177\" width=\"267\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<em>Joan Hiskey, center, participates in a strength and mobility class for seniors at the newly opened senior center on Homestead Road. Photo by Isaac Sandlin <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>By Susan Dickson<\/strong><br \/>\nStaff Writer <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Over the past few months, county seniors have been quietly settling into their new senior center, which has quickly become a hot spot for the area\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s older population.<\/p>\n<p>The Robert and Pearl Seymour Center for Seniors has been open since May, and while it still has that new-car smell, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already a second home for its regular visitors.<\/p>\n<p>On a recent Thursday morning, the center is scattered with people. A group of older men sit near the entrance watching the activities around them, rehashing the week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happenings. One is wearing UNC attire head-to-toe, while another dons suspenders and a fedora.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Their ease and comfort suggests their late-morning rendezvous isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a rare occurrence. From where the men sit, most of the center is visible, and they seem to be taking it all in.<\/p>\n<p>The center resembles a ski lodge, with huge windows and tall ceilings supported by exposed wooden beams. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s open and airy and echoes with chatter almost like that of a high school, only slightly muted.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We made sure that the central focus point of the center is free floating,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Jerry Passmore, director of the Orange County Department on Aging. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153People don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to be signed up for anything. They can just enjoy the amenities.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The center certainly provides plenty for visitors to do, with a fitness center, a caf\u00c3\u00a9, a large movie theater, a computer classroom, ping-pong and pool tables. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also an art room and another for crafts.<\/p>\n<p>Both are a bit messy with ongoing and completed projects. Near the center\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entrance, adjacent to the area where the older men are sitting, crafts for sale are displayed in a glass case.<\/p>\n<p>Down the hall, the center\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fitness center is bustling. A couple of seniors work out in the equipment room, where a trainer is on hand to offer advice and assistance. Next door, a group of seniors \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all shapes and sizes\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c participate in a strength-training class.<\/p>\n<p>Strangely enough, it feels a bit like summer camp.<\/p>\n<p>Passmore said the center\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s diversity of activities is intended to ensure that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something for everyone. When the Northside and Chapel Hill senior centers closed, some were concerned that the new center wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t cater to everyone, and that only certain groups of people would use it.<\/p>\n<p>The Northside Senior Center was generally frequented by the predominantly black population of the neighborhood where it was situated and offered different activities than the Chapel Hill Senior Center.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/seniors2.jpg\" height=\"734\" width=\"490\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Sylvia Hubbard stretches during a strength and mobility class. Photo by Isaac Sandlin\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For instance, crafts \u00e2\u20ac\u201c such as jewelry-making and flower displays \u00e2\u20ac\u201c were extremely popular at the Northside center, while visitors to the Chapel Hill center preferred art. In response to these different focuses, said Passmore, the Seymour Center was built with both an arts and a crafts room.<\/p>\n<p>The arts and crafts focus this morning seems to be jewelry-making, and about six or seven ladies are crowded around a table in the crafts room. One woman is making a watch for her daughter, while others work on different projects or offer suggestions.<\/p>\n<p>As Passmore enters the room, the conversation drifts from the projects at hand to a debate over the need for a soda machine. Some of the women advocate for the machine while others say they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be tempted by the sugary drinks.<\/p>\n<p>Passmore said that balancing the competing wants and needs of seniors has become more difficult in recent years as baby-boomers have aged and the senior population has grown exponentially.<\/p>\n<p>Because the center is targeted toward people ages 55-105, services and activities have to be designed for a group of people with a wide range of needs and abilities, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Marvin Block, a senior center regular and former UNC professor, said he thought it was important for all seniors to come to the center to participate in activities and socialize.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You have to say, well, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll make the best of it as long as we can,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, grinning from ear to ear.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about what he would like to accomplish through the new center, Passmore paused for a moment before responding: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bringing more people together. Getting people out of their box.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcNot just fun and games\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/strong><br \/>\nThough the center certainly seems to have a thriving social scene, Passmore emphasized that there is much more to it than planned activities.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just fun and games,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. The center offers seniors a number of services, which are growing and expanding every day, and Passmore said a lot of seniors aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t aware of the services available to them.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can come in for one thing, and you leave with something else,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, noting the separate space for services. While most of the center is open, seniors visit enclosed offices to discuss Medicare, volunteer opportunities and personalized services for those going through transitions.<\/p>\n<p>The center also has an occupational therapist on hand to help older seniors evaluate their homes as they age.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a focus on prevention, rather than reaction,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Passmore said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153functionality, and keeping people well.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Next year, the senior center will be a one-stop voting center. Passmore said center staff is trying to bring increasingly more county services to the center, such as health department services or county services, to make the center\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s offerings more comprehensive.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My thing is making people feel they can be independent as long as possible,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Passmore said.<\/p>\n<p>As morning rolls toward noon and the smell of a mid-day meal wafts through the center, the scattered groups of people have shifted toward the great room, where lunch is served on weekdays.<\/p>\n<p>The men who had been sitting near the center\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entrance are now downstairs, close to the ping-pong and pool tables around the corner from the great room. A group of domino-players nearby has merged with the group of men, and some are commenting on a ping-pong match.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s move from upstairs, they seem as if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been there all morning, perfectly at ease, and ready for lunch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New center a buzz of activity since opening Joan Hiskey, center, participates in a strength and mobility class for seniors at the newly opened senior center on Homestead Road. Photo by Isaac Sandlin By Susan Dickson Staff Writer Over the past few months, county seniors have been quietly settling into their new senior center, which&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}