At their March Garden Club meeting 10 members learned about the many services to the Great Bend Community that the Great Bend Senior Center (the location of their meeting) provides and partners with. The director of the Senior Center, Brenda Lebbin, spoke of the collaboration of the Senior Center Board of Directors with Elder Care, which owns and is in charge of the kitchen, with the City of Great Bend and K-DOT in providing transportation within the city limits, and with the Southwest Area on Aging, and Great Bend’s Commission on Aging. The Kitchen, in addition to providing in-building and pick-up Friendship meals during the week to Great Bend’s senior citizens, it also works with Meals on Wheels to deliver over 48,000 meals during the year to homebound senior citizens. The center is also willing to establish a home-check telephone call to individual senior citizens who don’t have family to regularly check on their welfare. Brenda stressed the skills of the kitchen crew in providing meals which not only meet the nutritional requirements of the state, but strive successfully to provide meals which are tasty and enjoyed by the patrons of the Center. Seniors over age 60 pay $3.50 for the meals. The Senior Center is also available for private events during times when the kitchen is not open. Renting the building can be accomplished by calling the Senior Center at 620-792-3906 to inquire about prices and availability. A small meeting room is also available for meetings and gatherings of smaller size. Detailed statistics are kept and sent to the cooperating state and local agencies for funding purposes.
During the Garden Club business meeting, led by President Nancy Williams, it was decided to offer to provide flowers for the flowerpots that the Senior Center has lining the south side of the Center. Plans for encouraging the construction of the memorial flower garden at the Great Bend Cemetery were also discussed. Refreshments were served by member Vi Hiss.
The next meeting of Garden Club on April 18 will be a field trip to visit the green house of Kelly’s Garden Sense for a tour and the opportunity for each member to choose flowers to fill a flower pot which members will bring.