Man About Canton: New Senior Center

Did you know …

The new senior center is scheduled to be completed around this time in 2014. The building at 500 Pleasant Street — the former headquarters of the Canton Knights of Columbus council — will be renovated into Canton’s new senior center.

The core of the building is a multi-purpose room and a fitness area, which has a removable partition. The fitness area is 860 square feet and could be expanded to almost 2,000 square feet if the partition were opened. Adjacent to that area is a “living room.” The perimeter of the center will contain offices, a game room, conference room, kitchen and serving area.

Council on Aging Director Diane Tynan and the COA board have been working diligently with the BRC to make the best possible use of the available space, which offers much more than the current location at the Hemenway building. One of the biggest assets of the new senior center will be the ease of entrance as well as 60 parking spaces.

There are presently over 5,000 residents of Canton that are so-called “Golden-Agers” (over age 60), and as much as I hate to admit it, that number includes MAC. That is almost 20 percent of the population of Canton, and with the numbers like that, there is no question that the town of Canton should have a sizable senior center with plenty of parking spaces and all the programs that make seniors’ lives a little better.

The dream location would have been behind the Canton Police Station on town-owned property, a safe and centrally located site, but Canton voted down that proposal eight years ago. So now we have the renovation of the old K of C building on Pleasant Street, and MAC says, “Let’s make the best of it.

The fifth grade class at the John F. Kennedy Elementary School, which includes MAC’s twin granddaughters, Brooke and Taylor Alessi, was listed as the state’s highest performers on the English portion of the MCAS test.

Approximately 80 percent of bottles that require a deposit are recycled, while the recycling rates for bottles that don’t require a deposit are about 20 percent.

Talking about recycling, Dunkin’ Donuts has been testing an alternative to the foam cup in the town of Brookline, which approved a ban of foam cups effective January 1, 2014. The company has no intention of replacing foam cups in cities and towns without bans. The new paper cup is warmer to the touch than foam; it does not retain heat and costs more to produce.

Norwood Hospital offers a senior supper program consisting of soup, entree, and a drink in the cafeteria Monday through Friday between 4:45 and 6:45 p.m. for only $5.50.

Hallie Ephron, a mystery writer, will be the guest speaker at the Canton Council on Aging Women’s Club on Tuesday, October 15, at 1 p.m. at the senior center.

State representatives Bill Galvin of Canton and Louis Kafka of Stoughton and state Senator Brian A. Joyce of Milton worked to add $50,000 to the state budget to restore the theater in downtown Stoughton. The theater, which opened in 1927, has been vacant since the Stoughton Cinema Pub closed in 2007. A group led by former Stoughton selectman John Stagnone is trying to restore the theater in a similar fashion that was done with the Norwood Theater. They have entered into a 20-year lease agreement for the building.

Again, thanks to Senator Brian A. Joyce and Rep. Bill Galvin, Canton will be receiving two zero-interest loans totaling $2.12 million from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority — a $1.09 million loan for the rehabilitation of the Tolman Street water tank and $1.03 million to help fix Canton’s sewer system.

The Canton Senior Olympics, scheduled to take place at the Massachusetts Hospital School, has been postponed until May of next year.

There is no limit to what you can imagine; and with commitment and effort, what you can imagine, you can become. Put your mind to work for you. Believe that you can do it. The world will tell you that you cannot. Yet, in your belief, you will find the strength and ability to do it anyway.  –Ralph Marston

This is all for now folks. See you next week.

Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=22518

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Oct 3 2013. Filed under Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.