Date: 3/24/2021
I wish to take this opportunity to say a warm so long to the many friends I made during the 47 years I had the pleasure of living in Wilbraham. Whenever I mowed the lawn or shoveled the driveway on our Stony Hill home a lot of friendly folks went by tooting their horn and getting a smile and a wave from me. You are wonderful people and I will never forget you. As some of you may know, I have moved to sunny Arizona to spend my last years without a cold and snowy winter and to be with my son and his wife. Thank you all for the warm memories Wilbraham!
A few observations as I head off into the sunset. The Senior Center and the Wilbraham Council on Aging was founded 39 years ago. Since that time the Wilbraham Senior Center has been housed in four separate locations. All of them were too small. Three of them were hand me downs and poorly designed for the use of Wilbraham’s rapidly growing senior population.
Enough good things cannot be said of the Senior Center staff: Director Paula Dubord, Mary Ellen Schmidt, Barbara Harrington, Jen Curtis and Gregg Schmutte. Let’s not forget the Veterans Service Officer Jered Sasen.
Currently our center is rented from the YMCA at an annual cost of $72,960. As an aside, each month the Senior Center must “borrow” space from the YMCA to have our luncheon for 100 seniors because we don’t have enough room. Also Wilbraham’s lease is for only half of the kitchen. The other half is the Y’s. Bet you didn't know that either?
It’s important to realize that seniors represent 38 percent (and growing) of the town’s adult population. For my last 28 years in Wilbraham I was a senior citizen and spent a lot of that time raising money and community awareness toward the goal of a new and appropriately-sized Senior Center of our very own and I was proud to do so.
During these last several years, the town has provided it’s citizenry a new Police Station, a new Fire Station with some renovations, a new Minnechaug, heavily renovated Mile Tree and Stony Hill schools and completed a remarkable Spec Pond Recreational Complex. All necessary and much needed. Seniors have voted for and supported to help pay for all these projects! Only one thing is missing. A Senior Center for our own 4,428 vigorous and worthy elderly.
The Friends of Wilbraham Seniors have already raised over $250,000 for a new Center. Fortunately, a very suitable town-owned site has been found to build upon. Also Wilbraham needs its own Senior Center that would be suitable as a warming and cooling center when the conditions arise. In the past, Hampden and Ludlow have pitched in to help us out in that regard.
Thank you once again Wilbraham for 47 years of wonderful memories. Wilbraham is a beautiful and desirable community. As I said before it just needs this one more thing; A New Senior Center suitable to its needs. I hope I live to see it become a reality.
Bob Page
Arizona
Formerly Wilbraham
