The Centre Region Senior Center (CRSC) is in transition, again. What began part-time in 1976 in the basement of the State College Christian Church (then at Easterly Parkway and William Street) until the downtown Fraser Center was ready in 1986, arrived last September at the Nittany Mall. It is poised to open next month in larger mall quarters.
Currently, its 3,800-square-foot temporary mall home faces Payless Shoes. In September, its 7,075-square-foot home will be beside Sears.
“I love it here,” says CRSC supervisor Cindy Stahlman, amid the 55 and older center members who showed up that day.
Since making the Nittany Mall home, the center has doubled its membership and number of visitors, according to Stahlman. For example, in February, 495 lunches were needed, as opposed to downtown’s 250 the previous year. In membership, some 140 had been counted downtown; the recent monthly participation at the mall has averaged slightly more than 300.
Few tears were shed over leaving downtown State College. All but one member came along: a 67-year-old employed Penn State master’s degree candidate who “only came in for lunch.”
Among pluses for the move was free parking. (Centre Region nondrivers can take a county van from their homes to the mall.) For the winter wary, indoor shopping could delay departure. Several services are under one roof.
“One lady got her ears pierced the second day we were here,” says Stahlman.
Hope exists for a future mall drug store.
Stahlman, supervisor for two and a half years, sympathizes. Were it not for her smiling, supportive direction and her 14 years of experience as social service director at River Woods Nursing Center in Lewisburg, she could become a CRSC member. She’s 57, a year younger than the center’s youngest member currently. At the moment, ages run up to 96. Assisting Stahlman is 56-year-old staff assistant Kim Hacker, who was United Way project coordinator for nine years.
There is a well-used informational “welcome desk” at the CRSC entrance. New to the center, it will be repeated in the new space. Some days, queries in-house are topped by those from outside.
“We get a lot of nonmember traffic,” Stahlman says. Besides part-time members who “pop in to get monthly calendars and lunch menus,” older visitors stop in “for a cup of coffee,” and spouses occasionally take a break there while their other halves shop.
Furnishings came from Fraser Street and will travel again in late August, as will wall decorations. Punctuating new framed touches are two large glued picture puzzles that used to be puzzled-over at a CRSC table.
Crossovers aside, daily attendance at the center, which is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is divided generally into two groups, each in the low 30s: those who take classes and those who come for lunch. Both usually build friendships.
In another context, I talked with a woman who had brought her out-of-state mother to Centre County and praised the existence of CRSC. The older society that greeted her mother has made a big difference, she says.
Relocating nearer to Bellefonte has given CRSC a closer relationship with the Bellefonte Senior Center.
“We did things in the past,” says BSC director Vickey Confer, but now “we’re starting to branch out.”
She explained that parking was considered a problem downtown. Now at the mall, “We’re starting to plan things together.” Last month, the two toured the Penn State Arboretum, picnicked at Sunset Park, and visited the Berkey Creamery. (Speaking of picnicking, the annual one for all six Centre County senior centers is scheduled for this month.) Next month, joint craft classes will be held — quilling at CRSC, a “Button Tree” at BSC.
In the year CRSC has been at the mall, the BSC hasn’t lost any of its 50 members, Confer says. Activities “complement” one another, she points out, so members of both centers go to activities at both.
Until the big upcoming move, CRSC has needed extra space for tai chi, healthy steps, the open art studio, and line dancing.
“The mall has been really gracious,” Stahlman says, making available its exercise and community rooms.
Even with insufficient space, a class has been added to the curriculum: Stretch & Weights & Walking, for younger (late-50s and early-60s) seniors. CRSC also offers excursions and is treated to some surprises. On this particular day, cake was served, celebrating a marriage proposal by one senior center member to another.
“I hope she says ‘Yes’ ” was heard in the room. She did. Cheers broke out.
For all, the future holds a longer name and more plumbing. The current two restrooms will become three for women and two for men. CRSC — run by the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority and the Centre County Office of Aging — will become CRAAC (Centre Region Active Adult Center).
In order to remove “preconceived notions of what a ‘senior center’ is,” Stahlman says, “we’ll be rebranded when we move.”
For nearly 40 years, State College was home. Now College Township is, but the “where” is much less important than the “what.”
Hacker says, “People hear about us and they come.”
