Sartell senior citizens – especially the members of the “Sartell Senior Connection” – are bursting with excitement. And with good reason. At long last, they are about to move into their own senior center, a “home” that is housed in the soon-to-open Sartell Community Center.
A senior center is a long-deferred dream finally come true.
For at least 20 years, Sartell residents (not just seniors) and city-council members had consistently placed “a senior center” at or near the very top of their sales-tax-revenue wish lists, along with “a branch library.” Sad to say, a branch library will not be part of the new community center, but fortunately a senior center will.
A big reason why the dream came true is that senior citizens proved time and again how important they are to the social, creative, educational and recreational needs of Sartell. As the city grew by leaps and bounds, so did its senior-citizen population.
About 10 years ago, there was an exploratory meeting at Sartell City Hall by seniors thinking about starting a senior-citizen organization. At that meeting, attended by about two dozen seniors, ideas were blooming like dazzling streaks at a fireworks show. That initial enthusiasm not only lasted, it grew rapidly stronger, and soon the Sartell Senior Connection was formed in 2008.
What was remarkable then and now about the Connection is that it’s all-embracing, and anybody of any age from any area can join it. There is nothing elitist in the slightest about the group or its members. It’s truly democratic, truly connective. There is no membership fee.
From the get-go, the Connection featured guest speakers, day trips, walks in parks, arts-and-crafts programs, informal shoot-the-breeze sessions, pot-luck parties, screenings of movies, informational programs about just about any topic under the sun. From the very beginning, their organizational efforts received a huge boost from the Sartell-St. Stephen Community Education Program, especially with constant enthusiasm and networking by that program’s program coordinator Ann Doyscher-Domres. Also highly supportive were Country Manor and the Sartell City Council members throughout the years. The school district provided some unused space where the Connection seniors could meet on a regular basis. From its original temporary space in the school district’s District Office Building, the Connection had to move some years later to another space within that building because of the school district’s need for the original space. Those spaces were not ideal, but despite that, the Connection improvised like troopers, and it flourished during the past 10 years. Today, it’s stronger than ever with fun, interesting programs for just about every age and interest.
In October, the Connection’s bulletin calendar offers: Lunch and Farkle sessions, craft classes, music jams, a sing-along, an African travelogue presentation by a Connection member, another meeting of Sartell and Law Enforcement Together, a dinner trip to Grizzly’s, a Trivia Night, the showing of a made-in-St.-Cloud movie, a 55-Alive driving class and guest speakers that include employees of the St. Cloud Hospital’s emergency room, a presentation about the Central Minnesota Council on Aging, insights from a former director of Quiet Oaks Hospice and a talk with Frank Weber – forensic psychologist and novelist.
The Connection also hosts all kinds of day trips to hiking-sightseeing places, museum tours, entertainment venues, dinner theaters and state parks. The activities and programs of the Connection are virtually inexhaustible day after day. The Connection is a thriving example of life being a process of never-ending learning.
To find out more about the organization’s offerings, go to sartellseniorconnection.com, scroll down and click on the icon under “Publications.”
There are so many good people in the Connection who deserve credit for the success of the Connection leading directly to its new home in the community center. Many of those people who helped found the Connection or who worked for it for years are still on its board. They include the one-and-only Jan Sorell, JoAnn Olson, Bill and Judy Morgan, Maggie Kraemer, Lynn Fitzthum, Mary and Mike Gilbert, Pat McNeal, Ron Hurd, Rose Schulte, Gary Orman, Erica Frey and current city-council liaison members to the board – Sartell Mayor Sarah Jane Nicoll and Sartell City Adminstrator/Financial Director Mary DeGiovanni. And, not to forget, Doyscher-Domres and all the others at the Sartell-St. Stephen Community Education Program. Country Manor was also helpful – for example, providing space for the always-interesting Coffee-and-Conversation guest speakers every Thursday morning.
Those people have long earned our admiration and they deserve our thanks. Take a bow, members of the Sartell Senior Connection, and welcome – finally – to your new home.
