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By Carrie Miller

Davie Senior Services

The folks at Davie County Senior Services have a blast celebrating all of the best occasions.

On March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, Senior Services celebrated with bingo, sponsored by Roberts Chapel, and Cheryl Anderson called the games. Three won the grand prizes: a coffee maker with a basket of coffee, a food processor, and a personal blender. More than 60 people enjoyed the activity.

At lunchtime on March 17, Senior Services held a St. Patrick’s Day contest where Hazel Dillard was crowned the winner for dressing up to the occasion. Each month, the Senior Lunchbox holds a contest where participants have a chance to dress to impress and to win the prize.

On March 18, Senior Services held a Welcome to Medicare luncheon. All those who are about to go on Medicare were invited. This presentation was given by the SHIIP Coordinator, Michelle Ellis. Following the presentation, lunch consisted of a baked potato and salad followed with cupcakes for dessert. There will be another Welcome to Medicare event this fall. SHIIP stands for Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program.

Senior Services will offer a Medicare Extra Help Seminar on Tuesday, April 19, at the Davie County Public Library. Call 336-753-6230.

On March 21, participants gathered at the main campus for the Monthly Movie, offered the third Monday each month at 1 p.m. Call 336-753-6230 for more information on the titles. The next movie is Monday, April 18.

On March 23, the A Matter of Balance class concluded with a celebration after finishing the 9-week course. Another balance class will meet April-June.

On March 24, Senior Services held the second meeting of the Good Health Club. The fourth Thursday of each month is reserved for this. Led by Nutrition Coordinator Stacey Southern, it focuses on healthy eating and light exercises. Snacks included peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, hummus, and ranch dressing. The next meeting owill be on Thursday, April 28 at the main campus.

March 25, Senior Services held its largest fundraiser of the year, the Rock-a-thon featuring seven teams: Boogie Brigade, Blue Sky Yoga, Senior Games, SilverStrikers, Dazzling Rockers, Kiwanis of Davie County, and Mike’s Rockers. These teams went out into the community and raised funds to support the programs and services at Senior Services.

The event was titled, “Rockin’ the Blues Away,” and featured Mel Jones and His Bag O’Bones performning music. Event attendees were able to purchase food at the event from The Dog Wagon owned by Thomas and Angie Black of Farmington, followed by dessert from Mason’s Sweet Shoppe ice cream cart owned by the Goodnight family from Union Grove.

At the conclusion of the event, the raffle basket winners were chosen for the Dazzling Rocker raffle baskets. Winners were: Sharon Chaffin and Lash Sanford. Concluding the event, the final totals were counted, and the teams that raised the largest amount of money were the Boogie Brigade and Blue Sky Yoga.

Senior Services would like to thank each person who donated to the Rock-a-thon.  Thanks to the generosity of the community and the hard work of the teams, over $10,500 was raised.

The following Monday, March 28, Senior Services held a Disaster Preparedness Seminar. Greg Forbes from the community paramedic program presented on disasters and handed out disaster kits to each person. At least annually, Senior Services holds a disaster preparedness seminar for the community to stay aware of how to protect themselves when disasters hit unexpectedly.

Senior Services held its “50 Years of Nutrition: Celebrate, Innovate, and Educate” party on March 29. Individuals from the community were invited to come to Senior Services and experience the nutrition program often called Congregate Lunch or The Senior Lunchbox. The room was decorated with navy, white, gold, and confetti balloon arches above both doorways followed with navy tablecloths and special centerpieces with the 50 years of nutrition logo.

County Commissioner Benita Finney opened the program at 10 a.m. by reading a proclamation from the county commissioners making March 2022 the 50th Anniversary of the National Senior Nutrition Program in Davie County. Finney followed the proclamation by singing.

Kim Shuskey, director, announced the flow of the party where individuals were invited to visit three tables set up at the front of the room that represented Celebrate, Innovate, and Educate.

The first table, Celebrate, was filled with cupcakes to celebrate the 50 years of the nutrition program, part of the Older American’s Act. This table also held a guessing game where each person put in a guess to win a container filled with grapes. The final amount of grapes in the container was 113.

The next table, Innovate, shared information and ideas to receive vitamins through food. The food items featured No Bake Oatmeal Raisin Energy Balls, Orange Julius Smoothies, Crispy Baked Tofu with Almond Dipping Sauce, and sliced yellow, orange, and red peppers with hummus. This table was intended to offer healthy selections to add to diets to achieve more nutrients in the body such as fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin B, and more.

The final table was the Educate table where representatives from the health department offered nutritional trivia by spinning the wheel and asking the participants questions. To encourage participation, each visit to a table allowed participants to earn a ticket to be entered into a door prize.

Following the visits to the tables, Shuskey led the group in a game of Nutrition Wheel of Fortune. The room was divided into three teams and each team had two representatives. The team representatives each earned an extra ticket for the door prizes, and each person from the winning team received an extra ticket as well. The door prize featured a Senior Services lunch box filled with a jar opener, insulated coffee tumbler, toothpicks, and a $10 Subway gift card.

Lunch was passed out to everyone in attendance, and Finney closed the program by singing two songs.

April events include the Easter Party, Meet the Candidates, the Veterans Social, and more. Contact Senior Services at 336-753-6230 for more information, to be added to the mailing list, to become a member, or register for upcoming events.