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A Golden Anniversary

The Kalispell Senior Center celebrates 50 years serving the valley

By Molly Priddy
Lisa Sheppard, director of the Agency on Aging, speaks during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Kalispell Senior Center on Sept. 27, 2018. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon

Like any good party, there was cake and there was laughter.

But the celebration honoring the 50th anniversary of the Kalispell Senior Center services also had a unique aspect: A collective appreciation of how far the services have come.

The Sept. 27 event featured the Kalispell Senior Center’s original charter from 1968, as well as speakers who spoke about the progress the center and Flathead County’s Agency on Aging have made since their inceptions.

One of the biggest evolutions was the South Campus Building housing the 50th anniversary party, where the AOA and senior center are now located. The building, which opened in October 2016, marked the end to a years-long battle trying to relocate the senior center and Agency on Aging services due to the former facilities being unfit.

The Flathead County Commission, having heard from county officials and residents who use the services for years about needing a new facility, announced in 2014 that the AOA and senior center would be relocated to the $7 million South Campus Building. Commissioner Pam Holmquist was in attendance, as was AOA Director Lisa Sheppard.

Gerri Backes, one of the senior center’s board members, said the new building has shifted the senior center’s goal of trying to stay afloat to now giving back to the community that has supported them.

This includes service projects, such as 32 knitters making hats, mittens, and scarves for dozens of different organizations, to adding more programming for the valley’s aging population.

Along with meals, patrons of the senior center have multiple activities to choose from each day, including arts, exercise classes, card games, dancing, and more.

“Our focus now is giving back and donating back to the community,” Backes said. “We’re also enhancing services for our seniors.”

The one request Backes had of the community was for yarn. The senior center provides the yarn for the projects, and they’re running thin on supplies. Any donations would be appreciated.

There’s a bus drop-off and pickup area, as well as valet parking. A patio, built with donated money and labor, offers ample outdoor seating.

As the party continued with folks getting their cake and sitting around to eat and talk with their friends, across the hall, a serious game of Bingo was already underway in the dining area. Backes said it’s been great watching the seniors take advantage of the programming, sometimes walking from an exercise class to get donuts in the next room over.

It’s working the way they hoped it would with this big change to the new building, Backes said, and it builds the foundation for getting better in the future.

“It’s just unreal,” Backes said before returning to the party to announce a door prize.