The Center in Gainesville serves as a community hub for all ages

In the eight years that The Center has been in its current building, it has grown to truly serve as a community hub for residents and visitors of all ages in the Gainesville area and beyond, offering up homemade, from-scratch lunches Monday through Friday at very affordable prices, hosting bingo nights and arthritic exercise classes, evening music jam sessions, game nights, card games and more. 

In its off hours, the space is available for rent and serves as a convenient location for birthday parties, baby showers, church services, meetings and family reunions.

Behind the scenes of the operation is a small-but-mighty army of workers and volunteers, keeping The Center moving in a forward direction at all times. 

The current board members of The Center include President Connie Davidson, Vice President Lana Bushong, Treasurer Lorene Holt, Secretary Karen Dugger and Board Members Juanita Luna, Carolyn Johnson and Tom Pitcock. 

The organization SeniorAge, which provides daily lunches and other offerings Monday through Friday and is a separate entity from The Center, has four employees stationed at the Gainesville location: Administrator Kaela Anderson, Lead Culinary Specialist Tricia Holder, Culinary Assistants Catherine Moreno and Kate White. Two AARP temporary employees are also available on a 48 month contract to help SeniorAge staff. Currently those employees are Bryan Shoemate and Mary Martin. Many others help along the way as volunteers taking money for lunches, heading up the activities or stepping in when board members need a hand. 

50 years of service

The Senior Citizens of Ozark County officially organized in 1974, and although the Times could not verify dates, by about 1976 the group had set up the first senior citizens center in the old Central Hotel on the northwest corner of the Gainesville square. 

It’s believed the next occupied building on Third / High Street was built in the mid-1980s and was expanded in the 1990s. The late Irene Trent, who worked with the group as a volunteer beginning in 1975 and then served as its paid administrator from 1978 until 1995, led the efforts to create the senior center. The expansion of the facility was named the Trent Addition in her honor. 

But as much as that facility had been used and loved, it had some flaws that made it difficult for residents to use, especially those who had disabilities or had been slowed by age-related health issues. A rather steep driveway led to a hillside parking lot that was difficult to negotiate. “Even when they park on the street, where it’s relatively flat, they still have to get up that hill to the front door,” the late Diane White, who was on The Center’s board at the time, told the Gainesville City Council in February 2014 when the idea of moving the center to a former restaurant building was first presented publicly.

There was some opposition, and the board investigated other options that had been suggested. In October 2015, it held a public meeting and told the approximately 40 attendees that the estimate for the most common suggestion, leveling the current site’s parking lot, came in at $150,000, much more than the board wanted to pay. 

In early 2016, The Center board members voted to purchase the restaurant building. The parking lot was flatter and easy to navigate, and the former restaurant space was perfect for cooking lunches, guest dining and hosting events. The former building was sold to Gainesville First Baptist Church, which continues to use the space now in addition to its church building, located directly across the street. 

The Center took on a mortgage of $175,635 on Jan. 22, 2016, to purchase the building. Treasurer Lorene Holt says that now The Center has made significant progress on paying off the mortgage and currently owes just over $71,000, meaning they’ve paid more than $104,000 over the last eight years - and more than $60,000 of that progress has been made in just the last three years. 

Its monthly mortgage payment is $1,890, which is covered by $1,000 paid by SeniorAge and $890 paid by The Center board. 

Partnership with SeniorAge Area Agency on Aging

The Center partners with SeniorAge Area Agency on Aging, a government-funded organization that “encourages, coordinates and delivers community-based services for senior citizens,” according to its website. It leases the building from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. In Ozark County, SeniorAge operates out of The Center and orchestrates the daily lunches that are served in-house and delivered to home-bound residents in the area. SeniorAge pays The Center $1,000 per month to operate in the space and provides all ingredients for meals. The Center board, however, pays for all napkins, straws, to-go containers and any other paper or plastic goods needed for the service. 

Lunches are served from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with a new menu each day. The meals are well rounded and include a main dish, multiple sides, a drink and a dessert. The suggested contribution for those age 60 and older is just $3.50 per meal. It costs $7 per meal for those 59 and younger. Meals can be eaten at The Center or called in to be picked up as a to-go order. The meals are not just for seniors. Diners of all ages are welcome to order, and many younger customers take advantage of the tasty lunch spot on a regular basis. 

As an idea of what types of meals are served, this month The Center has offered lunches of chicken fajitas, grilled burgers, meatloaf, Greek chicken bowls, fiesta taco salads, cashew chicken and more. Friday’s lunch special is always crispy fried fish served with seasoned beans, tangy coleslaw, warm cornbread, a homemade dessert and a drink. Weekly menus are included each week in the Ozark County Times on page 6, community news. 

Activity schedule

A calendar of activities is also published weekly and includes rotating activities. Currently, Mondays include an exercise class for those with arthritis at 1 p.m., card games at 2 p.m. and bingo at 6 p.m. 

On Tuesdays, a music jam session group gathers together at 6 p.m. 

On Wednesdays, the arthritic exercise class is back for another session at 1 p.m., and cards are played at 2 p.m. 

On Thursday, a mid-day bingo game is offered at 1 p.m. 

On Fridays, game night is held at 6 p.m. 

Other activities are scheduled in as needed, including appointments with Grace Foot Clinic, which comes monthly to cut toenails for those who want the service and offers pedicures or foot soaks for those who request them. 

Other programs include free tax preparation for seniors, offered by Treva Warrick through an IRS program called Tax Counseling for the Elderly. Preference is given to those age 60 and older, but those under that age can be served if no seniors are waiting. This year, Warrick says she prepared just over 250 income tax returns at The Center in Gainesville.  

An upcoming planned program will feature high school students coming into The Center to teach seniors (or others who need help) how to use cell phones, laptops, iPads and other technological devices. 

The Center board fundraisers

What funds that $890 monthly mortgage payment that comes from The Center board? Mainly fundraising dinners put on monthly by The Center board, paired with donations and some contributions from groups who use the space and rental fees. 

The biggest fundraising effort from The Center board comes from its monthly fundraiser dinners, when board members prepare food for nearly 100 people. The meals are usually served on the first Sunday of the month with a changing menu. 

The last dinner, held two Sundays ago, featured a menu of tender roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, candied carrots, a yeast roll, fresh strawberry shortcake and a drink. The meal is served each month for a set $10 fee for those age 10 and up and $5 for those under 10. There were 87 people who dined at April’s fundraising meal. Another recent dinner featured ribs, and it proved to be the most popular meal yet with more than 150 diners. 

The Center board members, who are unpaid volunteers, cook and prepare all of the meals with the exception of the months when fried chicken is offered, in which case the board members say they leave the cooking up to the professionals and hire a cook to fry the chicken for them. 

The meal is served cafeteria-style with diners coming through a line and explaining their special requests as the cooks dish up the meal. Local school groups, church groups and others in the community who are looking to provide community service while raising funds for an organization, volunteer to clean off tables, refill drinks and otherwise help out. Any tips that are left on the tables by the diners are then given to the server’s volunteer organization. 

Businesses, residents and community groups can “sponsor” the meal with a $375 donation, which is used to pay for ingredients. For most dinners, the sponsorship covers a substantial portion of the food cost, leaving the $10 and $5 meal payments to go toward The Center’s bank account to pay for the mortgage payment and all the other things that it is responsible for paying for: coffee, tea, paper goods, cleaners, trash bags, soap, copy paper, printer ink - and the inevitable building maintenance demands that sometimes pop up unexpectedly - like when a busted pipe on Christmas morning 2022 led to a very costly full kitchen renovation. Any leftover funds beyond the scope of what’s needed are put directly toward the mortgage payment. 

Every few months, The Center board hosts a second fundraiser soup/chili supper and dessert auction, which always goes over really well. Mike Overturf and brother Chief volunteer to handle the auctioneering services and really get the crowd going, organizers say. Participants pay surprisingly large amounts for donated baked goods. During the last auction, a patron bid up a carrot cake made by The Center board Treasurer Lorene Holt to $265, securing sweet success. Others also joined in on the fun, bidding hundreds of dollars for cinnamon rolls, cakes, pies and more. “It’s people who usually want to donate anyway, and this just gives them a fun way to do it - and come home with dessert,” Holt said. 

Another fundraiser The Center offers is donor recognition boards from area businesses, residents and community groups. Those who wish to participate can pay $75 to list their business name and details on a business card-sized ad or $120 for an 8-inch by 10-inch ad which are on display at The Center. 

The Center board members also actively pursue grant opportunities and have been awarded several that have helped make repairs or additions to the structure, including rebuilding the covered back porch, paving the parking lot, installing handicap-accessible doors, putting new screws on the roof, building a fence around the property and more. 

How you can help

Although that small-but-mighty team of volunteers is always behind the scenes working hard, they can’t do it alone. The Center relies on volunteers, those willing to serve as board members and donors to help keep the good work going. 

Board members say that financial donations are always gladly accepted (the organization is a 501c3 non-profit, meaning donations are tax-deductible), but they also appreciate donations of toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, dishwasher detergent, decaf and regular coffee, any type of cleaning supplies, bleach, vinegar, copy/printer paper, straws or anything else used in the building that the board generally has to purchase. 

Volunteers can help with monthly fundraising dinners, daily lunches, cleaning, cooking and also as serving as board members. 

The Center’s board election is coming up in June, and the board generally has seven to nine board members at a time. The positions are unpaid volunteer positions, and those who run are responsible for coming to board meetings once a month, helping with monthly fundraising dinners, helping man the booth at Hootin an Hollarin and helping with other activities or events as needed. The current board members say that it would be helpful to have a strong volunteer on the board who can help with lifting heavy things like big pots of potatoes during meal preparation. They invite anyone interested to contact them to run for a board position. Nominations will be accepted at the May board meeting. 

To find out more about how to volunteer, make a donation, rent The Center in its off hours or participate in the many aspects of The Center, call the main office at 417-679-4746 during regular business hours of 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Monthly meal and activity schedules, along with various updates, are also posted to The Center’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TheCenterGainesville.