Hale
The Veterans Coffee, Donuts and Camaraderie is held every Friday at the Senior Center of Sidney/Shelby County from 9-11 a.m.
SIDNEY — The Senior Center of Sidney/Shelby County focus is on four areas of enrichment: Health, Education, Recreation & Socialization. Each of these are vitally important in their own way.
The center had a very successful year in 2023. For the first time since 2015 membership reached over 1,000 with the grand total as of Dec. 31, 2023, being 1,007!
“ I credit this accomplishment to several factors, one being that in 2023 we really focused on health and wellness. The daily visits are tracked based on what activity members participate in and 53% are in the health-related category. “ said Rachel Hale, executive director. “We partnered with Wilson Health on a “Live Healthy, Get Active” incentive program which was very well received with a great amount of participation!” Members could sign up and track their hours of exercise or miles they walked/ran/biked in our facility. Incentive items included certificates, water bottles and t-shirts, provided by Wilson Health and were given out at different levels of achievement. There were 71 participants that logged 6,886 hours and 49 participants with 9,451 miles logged for the year.
Her report continues:
The Senior Center of Sidney-Shelby County was voted one of the best exercise facilities (2nd place) in the 2023 Sidney Daily News Readers Choice awards. I believe that our updated and state of the art Fitness Room complete with Athletic Trainer, our exercise classes and other healthy programming contributed to this award”. The Center increased the number of days that Pickleball is available, moving from three days a week to five and adding a Beginners Level class on Wednesdays.
Our program “Veterans Coffee, Donuts and Camaraderie that began in October of 2022 has grown and is thriving. This is open to any Veteran 50 or better regardless as to whether they are a member or not. It takes place every Friday 9 – 11 a.m. They can come in and enjoy some Free refreshments, a game or more of cards, play billiards or air hockey. It is our way of thanking our Veterans for their service.
We continued to partner with other agencies through out the year including the Area Agency on Aging’s Healthy U Workshop programming and the Shelby County Adult Protective Services Elder Financial Exploitation seminar just to name a few. Being a resource for our seniors in the community, providing them with information on area agencies and services available is very important to us.
We increased the number of free and open to the public events in 2023 such as Trivia & Karaoke nights, Dances and our Trunk or Treat. Our calendar of activities includes bingo, billiards, card playing and much more.
We are a non-profit organization and our funding comes from grants such as the Shelby County United Way, city of Sidney and Shelby County Commissioners. We also have several fundraisers throughout the year.
Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. – noon. This makes it available to many of our members that are still in the work force. You must be 50 or better to join. If you are under 50 but married to someone over 50 who is a member, you may also join. We offer two free visits before you join and our membership dues are very affordable at $35 per calendar year for in county residents and $40 per calendar year for those out of county
We invite you to stop down to the center located at 304 S. West Ave.
Until we see you here, have a blessed day!
