Pandemic hurt local seniors

Another place to find some good news online

By Ken Tingley

Kim Bren remembered the woman from before the pandemic.

“She was always on the ball, sharp,” Bren started. “She was always dressed well.”

The Glens Falls Senior Center held its last event on March 17, 2020, then it closed down.

The woman lived alone and over the ensuing months, like many of the local seniors, dealt with isolation, fear and little human contact.

Bren, the executive director of the Glens Falls Senior Center for the past eight years, was worried. The building was closed, but her staff remained engaged.

With nearly 1,000 members, Bren and her staff divided up the names and tried to call all its members at least once a week to see how they were doing, to see if they needed anything.

“Some phone calls lasted five minutes,” Bren remembered. “Others went on for 45 minutes.”

Bren knew the human contact was vital.

So when the woman came back after the pandemic, Bren was shocked. She didn’t recognize the woman.

She wasn’t as sharp as before, her attention to her dress was not the same. It was not the same woman anymore.

Since opening back up, the Glens Falls Senior Center has seen a precipitous drop in membership since from before the pandemic. Membership, which costs just $30 in dues a year, is down to about 650.

Events that drew 45 to 65 people before the pandemic are drawing far less.

Bren is concerned what the pandemic did to them.

Many have not returned. Too many died during the pandemic.

Some are still afraid to leave their homes.

Some tell Bren their children don’t want them to risk their health by being out in the public.

But Bren worries that they are at risk without that senior community with friends and social events.

“Come join our family,” is the slogan at the Glens Falls Senior Center.

Bren reminds people that senior centers are far more than the stereotype of “bingo and bridge.”

There is a monthly holiday party.

This year the Christmas party had 65. It used to have 120, but it was a start.

The goal is to improve the quality of life and when you ask if she has an example she remembers, she gets excited and leans forward with a big smile. She tells you about the “Gifts for Goldens” program the center runs every year at Christmastime.

A woman came into the center looking to get a gift. No one had signed her up, but she was adamant about getting a gift. Bren went downstairs to talk to the woman.

“I told her we would get her a present and asked her what she wanted,” Bren said.

“You can’t get me what I need,” the woman said.

“What do you need?” Bren asked.

“I need a life.”

You see the smile flow across Bren’s face because she knew that’s exactly what she could get the woman.

She told the woman there was an event the next day at the senior center and asked her to come back. The woman showed up and it was a beginning of a relationship that is still thriving five years later.

“We become the family for many of these people,” Bren said. “That’s why I’m here. This is my passion.”

Three more events

If you want to stay warm during the winter, keep moving.

That was my philosophy in January and I will keep moving in February with three more events scheduled to talk about “The Last American Newspaper” and “The Last American Editor.”

- Thursday, Feb. 2 - Speaking to Glens Falls Rotary Club at Queensbury Hotel at noon luncheon.

- Wednesday, Feb. 8 - Appearing at Northshire Books in Saratoga at 6 p.m and signing books afterward.

- Friday, Feb. 10 - Speaking at The Glen at Hiland Meadows in Queensbury at 2 p.m.

Listen in Sunday

Mike Morgan of Adirondack Broadcasting had me in for his “Community Issues” broadcast this week. You can listen in on Sunday morning at 6 a.m. on Froggy 100.3 FM or 6:30 a.m. at Q 101.7 FM.

Mike was especially interested in hearing about my criticism of Rep. Elise Stefanik. So we covered a lot of ground.

Brighter side

Dave Wick contacted me and gave me a suggestion about finding a little more heart and soul in the news by reading www.the brighter side.news/

I took a look and the website and and hope to share some of the stories they cover in the future.

I was fascinated to see they had something called a “good news index.” It was just a C+ Thursday. It defined it this way:

“The Good News Index is a daily measure of how much positivity is being promoted by established media sources in relation to negative news stories.  It is proprietary to The Brighter Side of News and can provide a benchmark to the mood of the US population as it is impacted by the news being reported and promoted by mainstream media.”

If you are burned out by bad news, you might want to check it out.