ROGERS — There’s no doubt in volunteer Marie Haas’ voice when she says people would go crazy if they didn’t have the Benton County Senior Center. Haas has volunteered at the senior center for 18 years. Everyone, she said, needs something to do with their time.

Director Susan Moore has spent the last few months making sure everyone at the center has something to do. Mostly there have been trips. She’s invited seniors to go along with her to the Art Center of the Ozarks, the Lincoln Apple Fest, an Indian Pow Wow and Fantastic Caverns.

“Not everyone can do everything,” she said, but she’s happy to help everyone try.

“She knows what she’s doing.

She knows what we need and we all love her,” Haas said. “She’s here when we need her and that’s the main thing.” Moore has even been known to visit her regulars when they have to stay home sick, she said.

The center, in Bentonville, near Interstate 540, is open to anyone aged 60 or over, as well as the spouse of anyone 60 or over. The activities in the center are free and that includes the pool room, cards, dominoes, exercise equipment and a computer lab. There’s also a free lunch each week day.

The suggested donation for lunch is only three dollars, butit is just a donation and no one is ever turned away, Moore said.

She also tries to find sponsors for seniors who want to go along on the trips but can’t afford it.

The center is headquarters for a Meals on Wheels program that is also funded by the federal government and free to the meal recipients. In September, 3,900 meals were delivered out to the Senior Center kitchen.

The number of meals has gone up as the economy has gone down, Moore said. There are also more people arriving early for a hot breakfast at the center.

She spends almost every morning mingling with her clients and tries to get a mountainof paperwork done each afternoon when the center is quiet.

The job as director means fundraising. Each senior center has to raise part of their budget with events like chili suppers and bake sales, she explained. She’ll spend more time on fundraising after the holidays.

So far the community has been supportive. People call her and offer to help. Not long ago, she brought a group of seniors to play bean bag baseball with a group of Harley Davidson owners. Then they all ate lunch. She expects to have more visitors during the holiday season whenhigh school orchestras will come to play and Girl Scouts troops will sing Christmas carols.

“We get the job done, no matter what it takes,” she said.

Moore opened the new Lowell Senior Center last winter, and didn’t want to leave it when the job at the Bentonville Center opened up. So she asked if she could run both and now the Lowell Center operates as a satellite center and she spends a couple mornings a week there. The trips she plans are open to seniors at both centers and lunch is cooked in Bentonville and delivered to Lowell three days a week.

“I’ve always had a heart for seniors,” Moore said.

She was raised by her grandparents after they were retired. Later, she did volunteer work with seniorgroups through her church.

“I connect more with this age group,” she said.

“They know if you like itor not,” she said. “I love going out and doing the trips and they know that. They appreciate that we care.”

News, Pages 1 on 10/28/2009

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