Director's Message - August 2025

The entire parking lot at the Wenatchee Valley Senior Activity Center has been restriped and all of the handicap space markers and directional arrows have been repainted.. However, the sidewalk at the right of this photo is still under renovation. Please be careful around this area.

W​e have made it to the “dog days” of summer and it feels as if the long, hot days have slowed to a crawl. How is it, then, that I can hardly keep up? I seem to get busier every week, working hard to make the Senior Center a place everyone loves to come to whether it is for our terrific lunches created by Debbie and her volunteer crew, or Frankie and her line dancing group or David and his creative card-making group. It seems we have something to offer nearly everyone. We are continuing our diligent work on raising funds to make our new building a reality for all of the other activities and events we are currently unable to accommodate.

Lisa Blair
Executive Director

This is a good time to update everyone on the building expansion. We are continuing to apply for grants and we are actively reaching out to prospective donors — locally and regionally — in an effort to attain our financial goal. Initially, we had a starting goal of $400,000 and we have raised $365,000 to date. We have nearly reached that first goal, but we are learning that in order to access the larger grants from the state and federal government we will most likely need to have a starting number of $1,000,000. The Building Committee is bringing on a new contractor to help direct our efforts and make them more fruitful. Erin Cass, of Healthy Aging, LLC, will begin to work on the project as our Campaign and Donor Relations Manager. She comes to us with a robust portfolio including grant writing, grant research, CRM development, donor development and event and organizational planning. Although Erin has been a member of the Building Committee since its inception, we are extremely excited to work with her on a professional level with dedicated time to the project from her end.

As most people know by now, we are also strongly considering a name change for our facility. This seems to be the only way we will be eligible for the larger grants that will enable us to move forward with this project. We have been listening to our members for input and are getting ready to roll out a community-wide contest for suggestions and ideas. The goal is to have this contest rolled out by mid-August and wrapped up by September 1. If we are going to make a name change happen, we need to move now so that we can get brochures and other promotional material created for our potential donors, as well as apply for the state and federal grants with new branding. A new identity should remove the government’s perception of stereotype (“seniors only”) from our applications, allowing us to be viewed as more inclusive with our membership and visitors. This paragraph is just a highlight of the hows and whys to moving forward with a name change and I encourage anyone with questions or ideas to attend one of our many meetings regarding the details. Jim Tarbert, our Board Chairman, hosts these meetings and they are typically announced during the lunch hour or in The Spark (our electronic newsletter) prior to the event.

Okay, I am going to move on to something a little less controversial and much more fun! We will be having a Summer’s End BBQ on August 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. Rusty Barbed Wire Boys will be playing for our entertainment and there will be hamburgers, hotdogs, sides and ice cream for dessert. We have decided to hold this event a little later in the evening to hopefully avoid the heat which allows us to be outside as well as inside. Tickets are available for $15 at the reception desk. This is a “don’t miss” event, so make sure you get your tickets early and join us for a good old-fashioned summer barbecue.

I’m sure you have all noticed the new striping in our parking lot by now. It really brightens things up and makes it much easier to park. However, we are still not completely finished with parking lot maintenance and I’m sure you’ve all seen the work going on with the sidewalk at the front corner of the building. I am hoping that by the time you receive this publication the project will be completed. Unfortunately, nothing is easy with construction (or “destruction” in this case) and this little repair project is no exception. The city Planning and Building Department has to be involved to make sure it is done correctly and this has slowed us down a bit. If we get the go-ahead from them, the project should continue to move along quickly. If they require more from us, it may take additional time. My point is, if the project is complete, then YAY!!  If it isn’t complete, then I ask you to please be extremely careful when navigating this area. We have many options for wheelchair and walker access to get into the building and I don’t want anyone to take a tumble in this construction zone. So please, give it a wide berth. The construction company has made sure that this area is well marked for everyone’s safety.

I have a simple request from our Second Chance Thrift Shop staff to pass along to everyone. They have had several sales on glassware and are running critically low in old newspapers to wrap these items in. If any of you have newspapers you would be willing to recycle, please bring them to the Thrift Shop or the front desk and we will make sure they get where they need to go. Thank you for your help with this.

As a final note, the Senior Center will be closed on Monday, September 1, and the Second Chance Thrift Shop will be closed Saturday, August 30 and Monday, September 1 to celebrate all of the labor forces that keep our country going. Take this time to enjoy your families and the unofficial end to summer.

Remember, you are all special to someone, me included. You are what makes my job so enjoyable to come to every day!

~ Lisa

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