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Benton Senior Center welcomes back members

A senior center in Columbia County reopened Monday after being closed for most of last year.

BENTON, Pa. — Ladies at the Benton Senior Center had a lot to catch up on. Monday was their first day back to the center in about five months.

"It gives me a reason to get out of bed in the morning," Nancy Creveling said.

The Benton Senior Center was closed for most of last year because of COVID-19. It reopened Monday with one restriction: a capacity limit of five members.

"Everybody's being really patient, and they're taking their turn signing up, so we're good with that," Jinny Keifer said.

Jinny Keifer is the Director of the Center.

"I come in, and I sanitize all the chairs, all the tables. I pour the coffee, and our meals come pre-packed," Keifer said.

Keifer says the Benton Senior Center would typically have up to 20 people here at a time. Many of these seniors live alone and look forward to seeing each other. Keifer called every member at least once a week during the pandemic.

"People need socialization, and the seniors who live alone don't always get that," Keifer said.

Members agree.

"It's nice to be back. Like I said, I've been looking forward to it and had hoped they didn't change their minds," Creveling said.

The capacity limit right now is five seniors, but over the next few weeks, the organizations that oversee the Benton Senior Center will monitor that and see if the capacity limit can be increased.

"Everybody will look at it and decide if we can up it a little or whether we need to stay the same for a while," Keifer said.

The seniors say they don't mind sitting at different tables and wearing masks; they were just happy to be together.

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