Volunteers keep active

The Saratoga Senior Center celebrated National Volunteer Week last week. The Saratoga Senior has awesome volunteers and the center would be not be what it is today without them, said Sue Howe, site manager of the Saratoga Senior Center.

Volunteers are Bob and Grace Johnston, Winnie Allen, Frances Kirby, Donna Norden, Leo Yocum and Ed and Paul Howe.

In the last 21 years that Sue Howe has been with the Senior Center, no one has turned her down when she has asked the to volunteer, she said.

"Everyone up here is always willing to help anytime I ask them," Sue said.

"I remember some years ago, we had a group of 35 people come to have lunch with us from Laramie. We set up tables and the seniors here served all of them and got their drinks and everything went so smoothly, you wouldn't have known we had all those extras (people for lunch)," Sue said. "They had fun doing it."

The volunteers come in every day and check the list and set up the silverware for those who come to lunch late. They deliver the fruit or salads or whatever we are eating first, Sue said.

The volunteers say it gives them something to do. They never really ask if they can do anything, they just jump in and do whatever needs to be done, Sue said.

Sometimes they deliver the whole meal, especially if is soup or chili, so that no one gets burned by the hot serving.

When the meal is finished, the volunteers pick up the dishes for everyone, haul the trash out, put away the clean cups and glasses. They also take down the flag.

"These are just some of the things the volunteers do to help and we appreciate every one of them," Howe said.

Paul Howe and Ed Howe do the stuff no one else wants to do, like the plumbing. Recently, they installed a new toilet in the men's room. They have unclogged sinks, replaced pipes and fixed leaks. Ed tries to keep all of the lights working by replacing the bulbs.

"This is just the greatest place to work because of all these people," Sue said.

Sue said she would like to invite every senior in the county to come and enjoy all the fun they have at the Senior Center.