CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. — A senior center in Lackawanna County finally reopened on Monday after being closed for more than a month.
The Abington Senior Center near Clarks Summit had been closed since the first of the year while local lawmakers disputed the sale of the building.
"First thing in the morning, I got here at 8:25, and they were getting dropped off by the bus straight behind me, smiles on their faces, just so happy, happy to be back," said center director Jen Zarcone.
The members are used to seeing each other nearly every day, but for many of them, it's been since before the Christmas holiday.
"You can see everybody's catching up on dirt, you know, grandkids and friends, what have they been doing for Christmas, and the Super Bowl," said Rich Lenehan.
Bingo got back up and running right away, and the exercise class schedule is back to normal, after a nearly six-week closure that many of the people feel was unnecessary.
"It's been horrendous," Sue Meyer said. "I had a period of getting depressed because of not having, because I come here every day, so I had to work through that."
The senior center transferred ownership in the new year to a recreation board made up of five municipalities in the Abingtons. For weeks, Clarks Green borough officials delayed the reopening by disputing some details of the transfer.
Once those issues were resolved, the center's staff rushed to get the place reopened.
The center's members are choosing to focus on the positive, so they're having a party for the first day back. They even got a "welcome back" cake.
And though the past few weeks have felt long, some say they got something positive out of it: a reminder of how important the senior center is.
"I woke up one day and just realized how much this place meant to me, you know, that was a positive experience, and that's something that I'll take forward with me," Meyer said.
The Abington Senior Center is open five days a week and provides lunch to members each day.