by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
The Sartell Senior Connection meeting place is now closed through the summer.
On May 11, the Connection’s board learned the center must be vacated because of remodeling in the north wing of the school district’s District Office Building. That remodeling will get underway in the near future.
The news was no surprise to members of the Senior Connection as they knew the remodeling project was forthcoming, although seniors did not expect the remodeling to begin so soon. The school system decided to place pre-school programs into the district building starting next school year.
However, once the remodeling is completed, toward the end of July, the Senior Connection will once again have a meeting place in the district building — in its east wing.
“We are fortunate in the timing in that many of our activities are suspended during summer months, anyway,” said Jan Sorell, editor of the organization’s newsletter.
In the meantime, activities scheduled for the center will be cancelled unless they can be moved to a new venue. The library will also be closed until the new center opens. Anyone scheduled to be involved in an activity should contact the leader of the activity to find out if it will be moved to a different location or if it will be cancelled. The “Coffee and Conversation” guest-speaker program, sponsored by the Senior
Connection, will continue at 9 a.m. every Thursday at Country Manor’s Garden Cove, East Door.
The Sartell-St. Stephen School District made space available for the Senior Connection about three years ago, one year after the organization was founded by seniors in Sartell. The school district and its community-education program were instrumental in helping start the organization.
Since then, it has offered many activities, including trips, card-playing, a trivia night, arts-and-crafts sessions, guest speakers, music get-togethers, the annual Lemonade and Laughter event, and more. Anyone is welcome to take part in the events. One need not live in Sartell to join the Sartell Connection or to attend its events.