Daleville Senior Center serving seniors for decades

DALEVILLE, Ala. (WTVY) - The Daleville Senior Center has been around for decades where they host all sorts of events, games and entertainment tailored to helping older Americans have fun. They invite everyone 55 years old and older to join them.

“I enjoy coming out here and playing bingo and meeting people and getting out of the house,” Timothy Meissner, a senior, said.

Meissner is a longtime regular at the Daleville Senior Center.

“We’re all up in age, but we all enjoy meeting each other and talking and everything,” Meissner said.

It’s a place where friends feel like family.

“We want to see them living their best life, so we try to help them with that,” Laura Leger, the director of the center, said.

Leger she has worked at the center for 15 years.

“I think there is a stigma with the word “Senior Center” a lot of older people may think, ‘Oh, if I go to a senior center that’s the end of my life,’ well we try to discourage that mentality because the group I have here they are young,” Leger said. “We have 60 to their 90′s, and they are vital. They like to go and do, and they don’t like to just sit around and you know waste life. So we try to make it a fun center.”

From what these seniors tell News4, Leger’s mission of being a fun center is accomplished.

Dianne DuBose said she enjoys the comradery and the games like bingo the most. Roberta Brooks said she likes that she can make new friends at the center and overall have a good time when she spends her day there.

“I like bingo, I like this game [”Skip. Bo”], I like eating,” Bonnie Seale, a senior said. “I like the music when they have it and the trips going here and there and everywhere around the area.”

Leger said the center prioritizes socialization and exploration by taking the seniors out in the community and to surrounding areas.

“We try get the ones that don’t have transportation we take them and try to do things outside in the community with them that they don’t normally get a chance to do,” Leger said.

The center also provides a daily lunch to those who can make it in house and those who can’t through their transportation services.

“A lot of seniors that are home bound they don’t have anybody to interact with on a daily basis,” Leger said. “A lot of them don’t have family members here. So, we try to provide a home away from home where they can come and they can enjoy their time with us. We try to get them active, we try to stimulate their minds, we try to stimulate their bodies, we just want to give them a place where they can have a sense of purpose.”

The Daleville Senior Center serves 37 seniors daily; 10 to 17 come to the center to take part in the activities and events.

Meissner encourages those eligible to come out and join them.

“I would like for more people to come out if they would, but I know it’s hard for some of them to get out,” Meissner said.

The center is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“You can come be a part of our family,” Leger said.

It is free to join the center. Seniors must be at least 55 years old to join and 60 years old or older to qualify for a daily lunch.

“If we can get them in the door once we can usually snag them and we try to make them feel like just because they are 60-plus you know their life isn’t over yet,” Leger said. “They still have a lot of life to live and we want them to know they are a vital part of our community.”

The center accepts monetary donations that will help supply items for crafts, bingo, and prizes.

They are also in need of volunteers to assist with delivering meals and with in-house activities.

To donate your time or dollars, Leger said you can just come see her at the center or give them a call at (334)598-9197.

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