Moorhead’s Senior Center welcomes residents 60 and older for meals, special events, card-playing, art and congenial company. (Photo/Moorhead Parks and Recreation.)
Seniors gather to play bridge, whist or double pinochle three afternoons each week. Mahjong play is on Tuesdays. (Photo/Moorhead Parks and Recreation.)
Moorhead Senior Center
Nancy Edmonds Hanson
Anyone who’s stepped into the Hjemkomst Center at noon likely knows about the Moorhead Senior Center. You can smell it – savory, nutritious hot meals served Monday through Friday to the seniors who call themselves the Lunch Bunch.
But the city’s senior meal program is just the best-known – albeit the tastiest – aspect of the programs developed to bring smiles to the faces of men and women who’ve passed their 60th birthdays. Operated by Moorhead Parks and Recreation, the Senior Center schedule is stocked with opportunities for elders to pursue their passions, get together with friends, and generally add fun to their days.
“We call our programs ‘community builders,’” explains Hope Thier, who since 2022 has directed the weekday programs. “After COVID, we were hearing a lot about seniors who were isolated in their homes. We’ve tried to fit in as much social engagement as we can. The Senior Center offers a variety of ways to get together with people who share their interests and make new friends.
Attendance at meals has been recovering in the years since the pandemic. Uncertainty over rising prices and potential limits to government programs may have contributed, too, to growing numbers. “We’re seeing new faces every day,” she says of the number who gather for meals at Monday through Friday, as well as those who contact her to find out more about other gatherings and events.
Senior meals are the center’s flagship program. The menus – available in each week’s FM Extra as well as online and in their newsletter – feature a long list of area favorites: from beef stew and tater tot hot dish to hamburgers and fajitas, beef stroganoff, Swedish meatballs, ham and chili. “One of our biggest days is when cabbage rolls are served,” she confides. (They’re coming up again next Tuesday, Nov. 25.)
Meals are catered by the Concordia College catering department. “We ask that people make lunch reservations the day prior,” she adds. To make a reservation, call the Food Site Manager at 218-299-5519 between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
The suggested donation for the meals is just $5, though it’s going up $1 in January. That’s for those aged 60 and up, thanks to a federal subsidy. Younger diners are welcome, too, but at a cost of $9.
But lunch isn’t the only thing the Senior Center serves up every day. Consider these activities, all at no charge and all held weekly:
Artist group: Thursdays, 1-3 p.m.
Bridge: Monday, Thursday and Friday, 12:30 – 4 p.m.
Double Pinochle: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Mahjong: Tuesday, 1-4 p.m.
Pickleball (at Church of the Good Shepherd, 4000 28th St. S.): Monday and Thursday,, 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. ($5/day or $40/10 punches).
Social Circle (coffee and conversation): Daily, 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Whist: Monday, Tuesday and Friday, 1—4 p.m.
Zippity Singers (group singing): Tuesday, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
And there’s more, including a wide range of monthly events. They include Bingo (first Wednesday, 1-3 p.m.); movement education with Total Balance, first Tuesday; and quilting, second and fourth Wednesdays. On the third Thursday of each month the Breakfast Club, featuring guest speakers addressing topics of interest to older adults. (Registration is required for that one. Call 218-299-5514.)
Then there are the parties. In October, the Pumpkin Palooza celebrated autumn with lunch, fall-themed crafts, and games. Coming up Dec. 3 is the Merry and Bright Bash, featuring music by the Apollo strings and a guest appearance by Santa.
The entire schedule can be found online at moorheadseniors.com or moorheadmn.gov/departments/parks-recreation/senior-connections
Hope, a Moorhead native who graduated from MHS in 2008, returned from Fort Dodge, Iowa, to work with Parks and Rec. She’s a graduate of Minnesota State University-Mankato. Before returning to her home town, she spent five years as assistant director and staff educator at the Blanden Art Museum in Fort Dodge. “I grew up here and missed my family and friends,” she says, explaining her return three years ago. “I love what Moorhead is doing for its people. Programming is what I really enjoy. I love the people aspect, and that’s what the Senior Center is all about.
