Ground is broken on the project to expand the Bullhead City Senior Enrichment Center August 14, 2023.
BULLHEAD CITY – With activities aplenty, a place for seniors to congregate and feel a sense of community, it only made sense for the Bullhead City Senior Enrichment Center to decide to evolve.
A grand opening is scheduled 8 a.m. on March 4 at 2275 Trane Road.
“The community is warmly invited to join us in celebrating this significant milestone for our seniors and our community,” said Bullhead City Manager Toby Cotter in a press release. “This was a dream of the current City Council and past councils. Former Mayors Jack Hakim and Tom Brady advocated for the funding to expand senior services. Current Mayor Steve D’Amico helped push the project over the finish line with City Council support.”
Attendees can look forward to a morning ceremony with heartfelt and educational speeches from city officials and community leaders, musical performances, and a ceremonial ribbon-cutting, followed by a day of fun activities, free giveaways, live music, food, and guided tours of the new space.
“The day is going to be packed with awesome entertainment, food, and more,” said Senior Services Program Manager Kim Cool. “Thank you to Pinkbox Donuts for agreeing to donate nine dozen donuts for our grand opening breakfast! In addition to the donuts, we’ll serve pancakes, French toast, fruit, and yogurt for breakfast. The Kiwanis Club of the Colorado River sponsored lunch, which will include pulled pork, shredded cheesy hashbrowns, and coleslaw. We’ll also celebrate with cake and an ice cream bar.”
A full list of the day’s activities can be found on the city’s website at https://www.bullheadcity.com/government/departments/human-services/senior-services/senior-center/senior-activities.
“This expansion is a remarkable achievement for Bullhead City,” said Human Services Director Jeff Tipton. “The enhanced facilities will further empower our seniors to engage in a variety of activities that promote well-being, creativity, and social interaction. We are thrilled to show the community the incredible resources we now have available.”
The Senior Enrichment Center has undergone substantial enhancements, adding 9,000 square feet of space that includes a dedicated exercise room, game room, library, crafting area, conference room, and more. This new center is designed to foster social connections and encourage active lifestyles among our senior residents.
Jenny Oliverio, senior enrichment center activities coordinator, said some of the newer offerings are the Diamond Dots Painting which began Tuesday and will run on the last Tuesday of each month.
“This one will be the first one we’ll be doing because we’re going to the new center,” Oliverio said. “We have a craft, exercise, great big game and library conference rooms.
“I feel the Senior Center is the heart of Bullhead City when it comes to seniors because what we offer. It’s just not in the lunches and the activities and the events that we do. People come here all the time and our policy is we don’t say no. The new center is there to enrich those 50-plus who can come to our facility.”
Diamond Dots Is similar to painting by numbers but a tool s used to put little diamonds on a painting.
“They’re like little plastic diamonds and it’s the big thing right now,” Oliverio said. “It was brought to me about a couple of months ago. I went ahead and put it on the calendar and I made it for the last Tuesday of every month under our therapy class.
“It’s important to keep your mind active because you know they’re saying that they’re finding out in research that if you keep your mind active – you do puzzles – your chances of getting dementia and Alzheimer’s are pretty slim. Instead of standing there sitting all day looking at TV is not as good as if you use your mind.”
Alan Dale
