CLAREMONT — The Claremont Senior Center is celebrating its reopening with an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.
The event includes demonstrations and sign-up sheets for activities including quilting, pool, horseshoes, bingo, poker, cribbage, mahjong and computers. Attendees will also get a chance to meet the center’s new executive director, Suany Travis, who started her role in June. The center is located at 5 Acer Heights Road, and people can call 603-543-5998 for more information.
“I think the idea of them hiring me was to bring some innovation, some more technology and a new generation,” said Travis, who is her 40s.
The center is currently open Monday through Thursday and part of the day Friday. It is also open Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6 to 9 p.m. for game night. As of Monday, it will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“Tuesday is the busiest day. Sometimes we have around 10 people,” Travis said. “We are expecting people to be coming back slowly.”
Two weeks ago, the center held a concert outside that was well attended. “We had a good group,” Travis said. “I think what they missed most is meeting friends, chatting and being together.”
So far, the busiest activities have been bingo and pool. Currently, the center provides drive-thru lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“We plan on reopening the place for sit-down lunches in September. I hope so,” Travis said. “Right now it’s more staff-related. We definitely need volunteers.”
NEWBURY, Vt. — Kelly Wood, an education ranger at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Western Colorado, will give a talk at 2 p.m. Sunday at Tenney Memorial Library in Newbury.
Wood, who grew up in Etna and whose parents live in West Newbury, has worked at national parks since 2015. Her talk is titled “Everything You Want to Know About Our National Parks.” Yellowstone, where Wood worked for four years, will be among the parks she talks about.
“As the first national park, there was no guidance at the beginning, and early superintendents at Yellowstone were kind of making it up as they go along,” said Wood, adding that bison almost went extinct. “Now, it’s one of the best places in the world to go see wildlife.”
She has worked at Black Canyon for 2½ years, in addition to stints at the Grand Canyon, the Everglades and Glacier Bay.
“I feel like my interest in the outdoors and wild places started in the Upper Valley, and now, having gotten the chance to work in some of the big icon parks, to come back and share that experience will be a pleasure,” Wood said.
For more information, call 802-866-5366 or visit tenneymemoriallibrary.org. The library is at 4886 Main St. South.
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
