Sweden town leaders are continuing to ponder the fate of the Sweden Senior Center where weekday hours were shorted earlier this summer.
During their regular meeting Tuesday, August 26, resident Maryln Lafferty told Sweden Town Board members during the public comment session how the cut-back in hours has affected seniors, specifically those with whom she plays euchre.
Lafferty says with the Senior Center on State Street in Brockport closing at 1 p.m. on weekdays, she and other seniors have had to take their weekly card games to the Sweden/Clarkson Community Center, located on a hill south of the village on Lake Road.
She described the challenges seniors face when they attend activities at the Community Center. “There are no push buttons to get into the building,” Lafferty noted, explaining that seniors with walkers have a difficult time getting in the doors.
Walking up hill to the building from limited handicap spots in the parking lot; inadequate restroom facilities for those with mobility problems; rugs in the activity room which make it difficult for seniors to get out of chairs, were among additional issues Lafferty brought to the attention of board members.
She asked the town board to “do what you can to make it a little friendlier for us.”
Lafferty made it clear she and other seniors would like to see longer hours re-instated at the Senior Center, but said she felt, “What I have to say won’t make much of a difference.” She said she realizes the eventual decision by the town will be influenced by finances. Lafferty noted Seniors in the town have “paid their dues” paying taxes for “30, 40, 50, even 60 years … but you don’t get credit for what you have done, it’s what you (younger residents) are going to do.”
She acknowledged participation in activities and luncheon meals at the Sweden Senior Center is dwindling, but said attendance is significantly higher at other local senior centers, such as the one in Ogden and in Parma, where she also participates in activities.
Sweden Supervisor Rob Carges told Lafferty that she has legitimate concerns of which the board is aware.
“The things you are looking at now are fixable,” Supervisor Carges said regarding changes that could be made at the Community Center to better accommodate Seniors. “The town will decide what is affordable – there’s nothing you’ve brought up that can’t be remedied in some way, shape, or form,” he said.
Supervisor Carges indicated that the town is still in the process of deciding what to do regarding the Senior Center.
“We appreciate all your comments,” he said. “The board is definitely looking at all options. We will consider what we can keep and what we can’t.”
At the July 22 Sweden Town Board meeting, dozens of Seniors attended and told Town Board members they do not want the Senior Center to be closed or sold.
