A Home Away From Home
Where else in Lakewood except the Clement Community Center,
Any senior citizen over 50 can freely enter?
You will be welcomed at their registration desk with a great big smile,
One you couldn't match within a mile.
If you are a new caller at the center you will find that with a bound,
A senior volunteer will show you all around.
Then there is Tom Proctor who by any ones meter,
Makes the Center a dog gone good leader.
He works hard and does the best he can,
You can't ask more of any man.
There are over 50 classes as rewards,
Including arts, pottery, ceramics, writing, and playing cards.
The many volunteers all come in handy,
They are all good looking and they are dandy.
We don't want to leave out Carol and the VOA nutritional lunch,
Every day they feed more than 80 senior citizens over 60 (which is a bunch).
They serve a five compartment plate with food that is very tasty,
There are meat, vegetables, potatoes, bread, two kinds of milk, coffee, tea and pastry.
It's getting late and December soon will be here
So I will close by wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
*****
It's true. By Christmas, 1980, Dad was spending a lot of time at Clements Community Center. Mom and Dad were living in a court at 14
th and Pierce so they didn't have far to go. The only problem was Dad was suffering with inoperable macular degeneration and could no longer drive. But Alice, trooper that she was, drove over to the VOA lunches almost every day and Dad's vision problems just made the ladies look that much better.
One day a lady approached my mother and asked if she and Dad were a couple. My mom said, "I've been married to the old coot for over 40 years so I guess we are."
The VOA still serve their lunches for those people 60 or older Monday through Thursday and the first Friday of each month. And on Wednesday they have dancing to the Happy Hour Band. Call 303-987-4483 to reserve meals or get your questions answered. And if you're like me and don't have transportation, call 303-987-4826 to line yourself up a ride.
Dad also enjoyed the Grandtimers that now meets every Friday from 9 a.m. - noon. Back in the late 1970's, I believe the Grandtimers had a lunch once a month as I remember Mom occasionally fixing things for the pot luck at Clements.
If you are over 50 and would like to know more about Clements, located at 1580 Yarrow Street, call 303-987-4820 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.. They have also helped me in finding phone numbers I couldn't find in the 17 phone books I have.
This poem was written as a class project and never submitted. With one year to go, Dad just liked to write poems. And he could still see well enough to read a poem to anyone who would listen.