RETIRING SENIOR CENTER DIRECTOR SAYS FAREWELL

Wearing a large straw hat with silk flowers, Jo Nelle Lingo said goodbye to her friends at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center during a reception Friday.

Friends and colleagues offered hugs and good wishes for her retirement after 15 years as administrator of the program, which offers hot meals and activities to the elderly.

Taking Lingo's place as administrator is Susan McClannahan, who previously worked with the American Lung Association and Kwik Kopy.

Under Lingo's direction, the senior nutrition program flourished and expanded. She helped coordinate a fund drive that landed the program in a new building at 921 N. Clark St. with a paved parking lot and a large kitchen.

"It's not a one-person job," Lingo said to the assemblage Friday. "I couldn't do it without all of you."

Throughout the program, flowers and gifts kept arriving for her.

"See the kind of fun and camaraderie you'll be involved with here," Grace Hoover told the new administrator. Hoover is the president of the Cape Girardeau Council on Aging, which oversees the senior center.

McClannahan said she's looking forward to the job. "For me, it's a perfect fit," she explained.

She holds a bachelor's degree in home economics and worked more than four years for a non-profit agency.

"I love non-profit work, but figured I'd never find a job that would allow me to use my home-ec degree," she said. "Now I have. It's perfect."

As participants in the senior center's programs introduced themselves to McClannahan, she said, "I know I've got big shoes to fill."

And Lingo, as she shook hands and said goodbye to her friends and an assortment of dignitaries, promised to check back in after a few months to see how things are going.

The hat was a gift from the senior center volunteers who thought she needed something fun to wear for her going-away celebration.