by Leia Owen
The typical image of a senior center includes wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, bland food, and Bingo. Aside from the Bingo games, the scene at the Senior Center in Hudson is very different. In fact, the scene is more akin to a high school cafeteria. Laughter emanates at a nearly constant rate, and there is hardly ever a dull moment.
Things get busy around 11:00, when all of the senior citizens flock to the eating area for their lunch. Tables are set for anywhere from four to eight people. The process of getting seated is very similar to a cafeteria; everyone looks for their friends and sits with people from their own social group.
“You can sit here, but you can’t hold my hand ‘cause I’m holding up my newspaper,” said Walter to his friend Janis, who laughed at his remark.
After everyone gets their tables and places their heavy coats along the back of their chairs, they line up outside the kitchen’s serving window to grab lunch trays from the green countertop. There are two food options to sign up for, hot or cold meals. The hot option today is “Friendship Stew,” which is made with beef and lentils. The cold option is cranberry chicken salad, beets and onion salad, and pasta salad. All of the meals come with bread, milk, and applesauce.
One of the other men named Walter jokes with the women who work inside the kitchen about his meal. “Are you checking up on her? [referring to the site manager, Beth Bruso] ‘Cause I have a complaint to file,” said Walter. “She didn’t give me any dessert today!”
Bruso promises to give him two cups of applesauce the next day before informing the other volunteers that Walter doesn’t enjoy sweets anyway. This causes all three women to erupt with laughter before they realize that there are a series of slightly unfortunate events going on outside.
One man in a purple sweater asks the woman next to him to open his milk, and when she gives it back, he spills the milk all over his lap. Everyone, including him, laughs and rushes over with napkins to clean up.
Not long after, at a nearby table, a group is playing cards and gets into an argument. One woman wants to play, and another woman refuses to deal her cards. Eventually, the volunteers have to intervene, and one of the disgruntled women goes home.
The room calms down significantly after that, and people enjoy their lunches while The Price Is Right plays in the background. Drivers from Meals On Wheels service, who deliver food to elderly people that can’t leave their homes, return with empty coolers one by one.
Clean up in the kitchen area starts right away. There are three industrial refrigerators and one large freezer, two dishwashers, stove tops, steel sinks, ovens and convection ovens. Dishes are rinsed and washers are loaded, with silverware going through the washing cycle twice.
After cleaning up, most people leave or return to Bingo. Some stay behind to watch game shows and continue to socialize with friends.
By 12:00, most people have left, but an older man sits in the back of the room reading a book. He has fluffy white hair tucked under a black top hat that has strap wrapped around his chin. He hums an Irish Sea Shanty and carries a small change purse over to the counter. When he is ready to pay for his lunch, he dumps the change purse on the counter and quarters land all over the counter. He counts out enough to pay for his meal and insists on giving Bruso a tip. She finally accepts, and the man begins putting all of his quarters back into the change purse one by one.
Then, at the end of every week, the lunch room transforms into a performance center. Every Friday afternoon, attendees bring various instruments, ranging from acoustic guitars to mandolins and banjos, and they play through the lunch period. Occasionally, they will play songs that nearly everyone can sing along to. The lunch room is fullest on Fridays, and ‘the regulars’ come in for lunch, while others stop by to join in the musical festivities.
Once all of the food and fun has been had, people gather their coats, leftovers, and other belongings and say their goodbyes. Laughter continues and is accompanied by hugs and well wishes. However, the goodbyes are not for long, and the same crowd will rush back in for the next day and do it all over.
