Nourishing Mind, Body and Soul for Seniors on St. Patty’s Day

Community Renewal Team’s (CRT) Senior Community Café sites in Middlefield and Durham turned festively green on Thursday, March 15 to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with traditional Irish food, music, and tons of fun. 

At the Durham Activity Center, approximately 45 seniors showed up early and stayed late for the lunch that featured corned beef, cabbage and boiled potatoes. Instrumental Irish songs played throughout as staff volunteers cracked jokes and shared smiles with the seniors as they served lunch and shared stories. The Durham location usually serves lunch on Mondays and Wednesdays, but with the special holiday meal available on Thursday, Senior Director Amanda Astarita and her nine volunteers decided to switch the regularly scheduled day to take advantage.  

“Most people come down to socialize and play cards, and I come to volunteer because I’ve made so many friends,” said Cheryl Siegel, a volunteer at the Durham site. “Of course it’s great that the food is so delicious too.”

The CRT Senior Community Café Program, or Elder Nutrition Program, offers residents in Durham and Middlefield hot meals and a community meeting space at two locations a few times a week for a small, suggested donation—though no one is refused a meal if they cannot make a donation.

At the Middlefield Community Center, the Senior Community Café’s St. Patrick’s celebration featured live music and story-telling by Tom Stankus, or T-Bone of Bristol who listed as “America’s musical Pied Piper” on his Website. Approximately 38 seniors turned out for the St. Patrick’s Day lunch, the live entertainment and games with friends.

CRT’s Middlefield Senior Community Café site has been serving lunch to seniors in the community for more than 20 years, and it serves lunch Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week at noon. Middlefield’s Senior Director Antoinette Astle remarked that the site has become a community within another.

“This space has become a second home to the group, and working with CRT has made it easy for us to cater to the needs of the seniors through this wonderful program,” said Astle. “It’s the best lunch deal in town!”

Astle along with her 15 senior volunteers have made the Middlefield lunch site a home-style and comfortable setting for the guests that come back again and again. Events are enhanced with favors and festive decorations like the Irish beer bottles that served as flower vases for the St. Patrick’s celebration.

“It’s important that this experience is nourishing to those who come—mind, body and soul,” Astle said.

Unlike Middlefield, the Durham location sprang up quite recently (January 2011) and volunteer Beverly Pederson said she is excited about the popularity of the program and about the community support from the community.

“Even though everyone knows lunch is served at noon, people start coming just after 11 to see each other and to start socializing,” Pederson said. “Local businesses have helped us greatly by donating tables, chairs, a flat screen TV and even a Nintendo Wii that make this a great place to hang out.”

As a show of local business support, Krystyna Kamal and Patricia Eick from Durham’s Liberty Bank were on hand to help out for the celebration, and they brought homemade cupcakes decorated with shamrocks for the occasion.

CRT hosts a total of nine Senior Community Café sites in the Midstate Region to go along with the 42 locations in the Greater Hartford area. Residents of any town age 60+ can call to make a reservation for a lunch 24 hours in advance.

To reserve a lunch at the Durham Activity Center on 350 Main St., please call Senior Café Manager Amanda Astarita at 860-349-3153. Lunch is served Mondays and Wednesdays promptly at noon.

To reserve a lunch at the Middlefield Community Center on 405 Main St., please call Antoinette Astle at 860-349-7121. Lunch is served Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at noon.