SENIOR NUTRITION TURNS 25

Two thousand senior citizens from 18 Southeast Missouri counties will have lunch together next week and celebrate 25 years of the federal nutrition program.

The Silver Jubilee Celebration will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at the Show Me Center. Admission is free for people 60 and older and includes a box lunch, games, prizes and dancing to the Jerry Ford Orchestra and music by The Plummers.

"In October 25 years ago, the nutrition program started," explained Susan McClanahan, director of the Cape Girardeau Senior Center and chairman of the event. "That was the beginning of all the senior centers in the area."

Chaffee Senior Center opened that first month 25 years ago. The Cape Girardeau program began in April.

In the 18 counties of Southeast Missouri, 38 nutrition programs currently operate. On Thursday, seniors served by all of those center are invited to the celebration. Transportation will be provided.

The federal government provided a $25,000 budget for the event through the Southeast Missouri Nutrition Project and the Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging.

"We decided to do it up right," McClanahan said.

At least 50 informational booths will offer information on services and products for seniors. In addition, blood pressure checks and eye screenings will be provided.

Audiology Associates will offer free hearing checks in its mobile van, which will be parked outside the Show Me Center.

Each of the Senior Centers in the region will also provide information about the services they provide.

Doors open at 10 a.m. Dancing and carnival games begin at 10:45 a.m. Lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Plummers will perform from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., and the Jerry Ford Orchestra will perform again from 1:30 to 3 p.m.

Carnival games include a ring toss, bean-bag toss, a duck pond, a lollipop pull and a cupcake walk. The cupcake walk will be similar to a traditional cake walk, but the prize is a snack-sized cake. Ice cream and pop corn will also be provided. Door prizes will be awarded every 30 minutes throughout the day.

Seniors who are interested in attending should contact their local nutrition program to make arrangements for transportation.