It was a bitter cold day on. Jan. 21, but that didn’t matter. Senior after senior filed into the Pitman Methodist Church Fellowship Hall out of the cold for the monthly Senior Outreach luncheon.
There were smiles, waves and hugs all around.
“We really have grown this past year by leaps and bounds,” relayed Eileen Salmon, chair of the Senior Outreach Committee this year, as she welcomed the seniors for the luncheon.
“We had 75 people for our Thanksgiving dinner and 75 people for our Christmas dinner, which is the most ever.”
And with the weather as it was, Salmon wasn’t sure how the turnout would be.
The first luncheon of 2025 featured Rosemary O’Dea, registered dietician with Rutgers, who spoke on the topic “Healthy Living For Your Brain and Body.”
A flutist and piccolo specialist followed with musical entertainment while the seniors enjoyed a prepared lunch.
Afterwards, they enjoyed each other’s company with a friendly game of Bingo.
The monthly luncheons are a time for the seniors to come together to socialize, dine and share information with one another.
And over the past decade, they have done just that.
The Pitman Senior Outreach Committee formed in 2016 and previously met at the VFW hall.
Monthly luncheon provides needed ‘socialization’ outlet for many.
“It started out small where seniors met to play a few games,” Salmon said, noting the borough does not have a dedicated senior center.
With increased funding from the borough over the years, Salmon said they have been able to provide so much more and eventually outgrew the VFW hall space on Oakcrest Avenue.
The Pitman Methodist Church Fellowship Hall at 758 N Broadway has provided them with enough space to welcome more seniors and space to prepare lunches if need be. Before every luncheon and program, seniors can come early for coffee and light refreshments.
Regina Gail Pappas, who goes by Gail, has been attending the annual luncheons and programs for about a year.
“Eileen and I are friends and she mentioned it and I said, ‘Oh it sounds good,’” Pappas recalled. “I lost a husband about three years ago and I believe you need to get out. I don’t believe sitting in the house will help you.
“When I came here, I was impressed … for a lot of these people, it’s camaraderie, they get out and they get to talk to other people.
“For many of them, today is the day, they get a meal. Not everybody’s family is as good as mine. I have daughters who – for all that I complain about them tracking me down – they are there. Not everybody has that advantage.”
Pappas, who has lived in the borough for 43 years and raised three daughters with her husband, said she has enjoyed the variety of programs from exercise to recent information on the school referendum and the federal ANCHOR rebates program.
“Eileen tries for a wide variety of topics,” she said.
The friendships are what also draws Pappas in. “For me, I enjoy seeing the same faces,” she said, noting with a nursing background, she also enjoys helping those in need.
Currently there are 10 members of the committee including Salmon as chair, Judy Ryder, Debra Higbee, Karen Hickman, Walt Friedrich, Barbara Lowden, Karla Langlois, Nancy Bea, and Jen Evans.
And a council representative, who sits on the committee. This year it is Debra Guarni with Adam Mazzola as the council alternate.
The committee meets every third Thursday in the borough conference room from 6-7 p.m. All are welcome!
For the love month of February, the monthly luncheon will feature a representative from the Economic Development Committee, who will update the seniors on what the committee is up to and how they develop different ways to interest businesses to come into Pitman.
Personal Touch Group Fitness will also be on hand to provide a balance class to show balance movements that seniors can do to work on at home.
Lunch will be catered through Thyme Kitchen and Catering.
A look ahead
As Salmon prepares for what is to come in the new year, it all depends on the funds the Senior Outreach Committee receives from the borough and that will dictate what the committee can offer.
She hopes the committee can offer a 45-minute balance class for those interested outside the monthly luncheons.
Also, Salmon hopes the committee can organize and subsidize more trips. In the past, the seniors traveled to Kitchen Kettle Village, a historic Pennsylvania Dutch village, and Shady Maple Farm in Pennsylvania.
“We take the borough bus when we can, it holds 22 people,” Salmon said. “If we fill the bus, a lot of the time people will just follow the bus.”
The monthly Pitman Senior Outreach luncheons and programs are open to all Pitman seniors. For more information visit the committee’s Facebook page.
