Blaine Senior Center lunches return to three days per week

A highly anticipated program has returned to Blaine Senior Center.

The senior center and Whatcom Council on Aging (WCOA) restarted the center’s hot meal program on June 2 after a two-year closure at the start of the pandemic. The program is returning to three days per week – Monday, Tuesday and Thursday – and is anticipated to add more days later. Meals run from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and are available to anyone in the community, whether they are a senior center member or not.

The program’s return was met by over a dozen enthusiastic seniors socializing during lunchtime on June 7 in the senior center, 763 G Street. People wandered in while greeting each other with hellos and quick-witted comments before filling their plates with Greek lemon oregano cod, Greek potatoes, Nantucket vegetables, fresh fruit and Greek salad.

Barb Bonsaing sat at a table with a handful of friends catching up. Bonsaing, and most others at her table, agreed socializing was their favorite part of the meals.

“Everyone has been so isolated that we really do need to be around other people. Even it’s just for lunch or getting a cup of coffee, it’s necessary,” Bonsaing said. “People want to hear somebody talk and they want to talk to somebody. It’s good for your mental health.”

Community members 60 years old and over are asked to pay a donation, recommended at $5 per meal or whatever is affordable, but no one will be turned away for not being able to pay. A senior’s spouse, unpaid caregiver, disabled dependent and meal program volunteers can receive meals. Those under 60 can purchase meals for $8.50.

Blaine Senior Center vice president Penny Tallman, sitting with Bonsaing, said she prefers eating at the center as the meals are better than cooking. Her favorite so far has been the fish.

June meals will include turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken pot pie, roast beef, pork loin with apple chutney and wild rice pilaf, among others. Sides include fruit salads, cranberry sauce, spinach salad, garden salad and baby carrots. Pumpkin pie, fresh berries with whipped cream, birthday cake and cookies are some the upcoming desserts this month.

Bonsaing said she’d love to see numbers return to as they were before the pandemic, bringing up to 40 people for the most popular meals. She said a lot of seniors rely on the lunch as the main source of their nutrients for the day.

“It’s a safe place for each one of us to come here,” she said. “The more you look around, you’ll notice there are more people getting meals with canes, in walkers or who have limps. It’s normal because we’re all in the same boat.”

Raymond Martin said it feels good to see other seniors again, and looks forward to more people getting comfortable about returning to the center. He said he’s glad isolation is over.

“A pain,” he said of pandemic isolation. “A pain in the hiney.”

Blaine Senior Center director Gordon MacGregor said he looks forward to more people returning.

“It’s been good,” MacGregor said. “Maybe a little slow but it’s picking back up every day.”

He anticipates the program returning to five days a week in a few months, but said WCOA, which provides the meals, needs more staffing before that happens.

To-go frozen meals are handed out in brown bags from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Thursday. Frozen meals are available to any senior in the community, regardless whether they have a BSC membership.

“Just drop by and we’ll always have enough,” MacGregor said.

MacGregor previously said there wasn’t a limit on the number of people who could eat lunch at the senior center.

Bonsaing said people will jump up to help someone new to the meal program. For every question, there’s someone to answer it, she said.

“I think we’re very warm and welcoming to anyone coming here for the first time,” Bonsaing said. “There’s always going to be a table you can sit at and someone is going to listen to you. Or a book you can get from the library and read.”

For more information, call Blaine Senior Center at 360/332-8040.