The Battle Ground Senior Citizens Inc. (BGSC) group is celebrating 50 years of building a welcoming community for senior citizens to partake in social activities, educational classes and monthly luncheons.
The 50th anniversary celebration, or as BGSC President Sharon Wodtke said, “a birthday,” will be held at the Battle Ground Even Center, 912 E. Main Street, on Monday, June 23, with an open-house style from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. The event will recount the organization’s history and provide educational information on the events it hosts.
“A group of seniors kind of started the social group like 50 years ago, and that was when they decided that they really needed a center to have and hold activities,” said volunteer Lori Lindberg. “That group worked to raise funds and worked with the city to get the city to build the Battle Ground Senior Citizen Center, and since then, the organization itself, through the years, has kind of grown and then got smaller, but it’s morphed from a social group into a full 501c3 now, and we have over 650 people on our rosters.”
Lindberg said the open house event on June 23 will be open to all, not just senior citizens. Battle Ground City Council members will be barbecuing up some food. Dutch Bros will provide coffee, and ice cream will be from Pacific Perks. Walmart has also donated cupcakes for the event.
“We’re going to have stations set up around the building to where people can find out more about what we do,” Lindberg said.
The organization offers consistent activities, of which more may be underway now that the senior center remodel is complete, Lindberg said. The regular activities include Bunko, Game Day, arts and crafts, as well as the monthly luncheon, which usually features a guest speaker discussing important topics and issues that seniors face locally.
Lindberg said oftentimes they are asked what the group is all about after a senior’s loved one has passed away or family is no longer local, as they seek the socialization aspect of life. New members of the senior citizen organization often find friends that have gone through similar life events and share great moments through arts and crafts, entertainment and other games, Lindberg said.
Throughout the pandemic, the senior citizen’s group faced challenges as rough as anyone did, Lindberg said, adding that the bizarre times brought ideas such as drive-through meals that helped with interaction and socialization.
“But once everything opened back up, it was like the floodgates kind of opened because everyone needed socialization, but especially seniors, because I think they were really scared during that time of any type of socialization, not wanting to get sick,” Lindberg said. “So we’ve really grown from there. I mean, I think our first luncheon after we reopened was like 40 people, and now we get 200 every month and more and more people that are signing up to get the newsletter and are interested in the activities.”
The group also remains active in the community, holding food drives to support the North County Community Food Bank.
“So that’s created a lot of awareness of our organization, which has helped us gain sponsorships because we pay to rent the building for the luncheon, and we provide the food and all the things, so we’re always looking for grant opportunities, and businesses, that want to sponsor with us,” Lindberg said. “Our growth has helped to create awareness in the community to get more support, so that’s been nice.”
