As Clara McNeil scooped up some sweet potatoes and served up ham, green beans and rolls, she looked around the inside of the Masonic Lodge at a group of about 20 seniors on Monday.
"This is a big crowd," said McNeil.
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the Masonic Lodge serves as the Mancos Senior Center for lunch. The room is full of puzzles, decorated for Christmas, but the room is also full of history.
"These people, they are the history of Mancos," said Vivian Wright, 84.
Wright and her husband Paul, 85, have been going to the senior center for 13 years.
"It is essential the seniors have a place to go, a hot meal and fellowship," Wright said.
Seniors meet inside the Masonic Lodge, 141 E. Montezuma in Mancos on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Wednesdays, they play Bingo, and there's always entertainment. This Monday, the seniors exchanged in re-gifted presents, a holiday tradition.
"Some of these gifts have made their rounds," said Saundra Curry, the Mancos Senior Center site coordinator.
For Curry, Monday's Christmas party was a happy day, but Curry worries about the future of the senior center.
"Every year, the state gives us a $2,800 grant," she said. "But we have to match that grant, and this year, we are $600 short."
Curry isn't sure what will happen.
The Senior Center asked the town of Mancos in October for $2,800, and the town board of trustees approved a $1,400 contribution, which is what the town voted to contribute to the Senior Center last year. This year, donations are down, and fewer seniors have been attending.
"We are having a hard time this year," she said. "It's been a tough year."
Curry has put out a plea for donations to the senior center before the end of the year.
Also on Monday, seniors picked through donations from local grocery stores to take home. Wright said she asked local stores if they'd donate their seconds about 13 years ago.
Curry said they serve lunch to about 20 people during the winter and deliver about 15 meals to homebound seniors. The meals cost $3.50.
The seniors ate, laughed and told stories Monday. They also sang "Happy Birthday" to Jean Bader, who turned 92 on Tuesday.
In the summer, the center serves about 30 seniors when the "snowbirds" come back to town, Curry said.
Bader has been going to the senior center for 20 years.
"I like the friendships," Bader said.
She was born and raised in Mancos and had some stories to tell.
"I rode a horse to school," she said. "My grandmother lived at 246 Grand Avenue, and I would tie my horse across the street, and he would stand and wait for me all day."
Bader said she rode her horse a couple of miles every day to school, except when it snowed. When it snowed she had a faster way to get to school.
"I would slide from the top of the hill all the way down," she said. "It would take me about five minutes to get to school then."
Sue Paschal said her favorite part about the senior center is the stories and the good fellowship.
"We can act crazy together," Paschal said.
How to help
Send donations to:
Mancos Senior Center
P.O. Box 354
Mancos, CO 81328.
