By Martie Thompson
editor@floridanewsline.com
Approximately 20 seniors, who pre-COVID participated in activities at the Trout Creek Senior Center, got together for the first time in more than a year at a picnic organized by Glo Jackson at Alpine Groves Park on June 9.
“This was the first time many of us had gotten together since the lockdown,” Jackson said. “The weather was perfect, nice and breezy, and everyone brought their own picnic to the park.”
According to Jackson, one couple, Carol and Norm Leno, celebrated their wedding anniversary at the picnic. The seniors were also able to tour the farmhouse that is onsite at the park. Members of the Friends of Alpine Groves Park showed them the repairs and renovations that are in progress.
The event lasted for about two-and-a-half hours, and the seniors enjoyed reconnecting after their time apart. Jackson said that some of the participants came from as far away as Green Cove Springs and south of Palm Coast. She said this is why the Trout Creek Senior Center is so important, due to its central location.
According to Carolyn Karger with the COA (Council on Aging), which handles the facility’s programming, Trout Creek Senior Center is planned to reopen in the early fall.
It can’t come soon enough for this group of seniors, whom Jackson said rely on friendships made at the senior center. She hopes to hold another picnic at Alpine Groves Park in September.
“Just to be able to come out and relax and see our friends was so healthy,” Jackson said. “We have really missed each other.”
Photo courtesy Glo Jackson
Local seniors enjoyed a picnic at Alpine Groves Park on June 9.
