By Ed Moreth 

Plains-Paradise Senior Center needs help

Declining membership, lack of staff may close nonprof it

 

January 2, 2020

Ed Moreth

SENIOR SERVICE – Members of the Plains-Paradise Senior Center work with Plains High School students to box food for low-income seniors.

The Plains-Paradise Senior Center might be in danger of shutting down, taking away an important link of senior citizens to the community.

"This is a vital lifeline for seniors," said John Sheridan, acting president of the center. "They need this. It's a good contribution to the community and to the well-being of the seniors in general," he added.

The center's membership has been steadily declining over the past couple of years, losing about a dozen members in the last year. The center also has no cook, no on-site manager or a full board, which runs the center's operations. The nonprofit organization will be holding an election in January to fill the president vacancy. Sheridan had been the vice president and took over the top position in July when Bill Beck resigned. Judy Hulme, the group's secretary and treasurer, has been filling in as cook since November, when the cook quit. Her daughter, Carol Sugarbaker, has been the assistant cook since August. It also has five board members. "If we don't get more members or more staff to help, we might have to close," said Hulme.

The center got its charter for Plains in 1937, but didn't move into the building they're in now until the 1970s, according to Dale Schmoyer, a board member and the acting on site manager. It later became the Plains-Paradise Senior Center. Schmoyer said the building used to be a private residence, but space was added when it became the senior center. He said the building, which is in good condition, is owned by the town of Plains, which leases it to the seniors for $5 a year, but the group handles all the maintenance and upkeep.

The center has about 30 members ranging in age from 60 to 90-year-old Melva Welty, the oldest member. It serves noontime meals on Wednesdays and Fridays. Hulme said a person doesn't have to be a senior citizen or a member to eat there. Cost of the meal is a $5 donation for seniors and a fee of $7 for those 59 years old and younger. The Sanders County Council on Aging (COA) in Hot Springs funds the center's meals and helps to ensure recipients get a well balanced meal. Hulme said they have to submit their menus to the COA three months in advance.

The center also operates a Meals on Wheels program to Plains and Paradise residents seven days a week. Volunteers deliver the food to the recipients five days a week; on Friday, the driver provides frozen dinners for the weekend. In addition, the center also participates in the federally funded Commodity Supplemental Food Program for seniors, which was established so that low income seniors could get a nutritious diet. Forty-six seniors pick up their boxes of food every other week, said Dixie Geist, who coordinates the program. She said about a dozen of the home bound seniors get the food delivered to them by volunteers from the center. For about 10 years, Plains High School Superintendent Thom Chisholm and a handful of his students went to the center to help box items when it gets a delivery.

Although the building rental is insignificant, the cost to maintain the building, pay for propane, electricity, and insurance can be high. A portion of the funds the center raises to stay in business comes from renting the hall for parties, weddings, funerals and graduations. Groups, like the Montana Mavericks Square Dance Club moved their operation from the First Security Bank to the senior center this year. The center also rents the hall out for Bingo and Pinochle groups. The center also holds one or two fundraisers a year to help pay the bills. Hulme said people can donate money to the senior center, which is tax deductible.

Ed Moreth

LOADING UP – Carl Pope loads boxes of food on a dolly for Charles "Ole" Oelschlager at the Plains-Paradise Senior Center. The food will eventually go to low-income seniors.

Sheridan said he'd like to see more seniors join the center, which is only $5 a year. He said the center is an important part of the community. "It's an outlet to get them out of their homes and fellowship with others their age," said Sheridan, who added that the primary purpose behind the senior center is human interaction. "There's a gambit of things we can assist seniors with," said Sheridan, such as providing speakers about financial, medical and dietary advice, as well as fraud awareness. The center also has a low cost bus service with certified volunteer drivers and a regular schedule to Plains, Missoula, Kalispell, Thompson Falls, Sandpoint, Idaho, and has wheelchair capability. To reserve a ride, people can call 741-2346.

"Ya, it's important to seniors. I enjoyed going in for a meal," said Beck, a Meals on Wheels volunteer driver since 2005. "I think for some people that come in for meals, it might be their only time they get a balanced meal," said Beck, who added that a lot of people rely on the senior center for fellowship.

"It's important for them to stay open, but their membership is going down and their volunteers is going down. They need help," said Antonio Tinacci, the Sanders County COA executive director, who overseas COA sponsorship for senior centers in Plains, Thompson Falls, Hot Springs, Trout Creek and Heron. Only one person, Dee Lusk Vandal, has applied for the cook position, as of last week, but the center still has had no interest in the on site job.

 

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