Danby Seniors: Good home cooking, even better company

Last month, as she and a few dedicated volunteers have done every month for the last few years, Danby Seniors President Patricia Phelps got everything prepared to host a gathering that would fill the dining hall of a local church with the hustle and bustle of hungry seniors eager to see each other again. 

The group meets at the Danby Community Church at noon on the first Thursday of every month for a dish-to-pass meal. In October, a group of about 65 seniors got together and enjoyed a spread that included casseroles, chili, deviled eggs and desserts, just to name a few of the many, many dishes that were brought to share.

“It’s nice to meet new friends, and I’ve been a member for a while,” said Cindy Ceracche, Danby Seniors treasurer. “It’s nice to see the same people coming back… and the food is so good. We have good cooks in Danby. A lot of times there are things I might not make, but I think, ‘I might have to ask her for the recipe.’’’

Every month, the group has some kind of entertainment along with the meal; some weeks it’s bingo, others it’s live music, and often educational speakers pay a visit. On this day, Oct. 6, Thena Lindhorst stopped by to let the seniors know about the many services and volunteer opportunities offered by Love Living at Home (an organization we will highlight in our next Thinking Ahead article).

“I got involved and eventually got moved into the travel committee to help plan trips and really enjoyed that a lot,” Patricia Phelps, President of Enfield Seniors.

After working for 25 years for the School of Music at Ithaca College, Phelps retired in 2010. A little over 10 years ago, she saw advertised the Danby Seniors trip to Lights on the Lake in Syracuse with a dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse.

“I got involved and eventually got moved into the travel committee to help plan trips and really enjoyed that a lot,” Phelps said. Eventually she became president of the organization. 

Danby Seniors was founded in 1959 by Emily Wiggins. “Wiggins is a name that’s been around in the community forever,” Phelps said. “We had a recognition of our 50-some years with a huge cake about three or four years ago.”

Looking through the bylaws of the organization from the 1960s, it states that there were to be “no dues or lengthy meetings” and that the group was to be “for the sole purpose of fellowship.”

“It was pretty informal, and it’s stayed pretty informal,” Phelps said.

There are dues now in the amount of $10 per year

The group is thankful for the use of the church. “We appreciate the fact that we have the facility,” Phelps said. “They don’t charge, and it is a matter of plowing the driveway and the sidewalk; their custodial people set up tables every month, and our people come in and prepare for the luncheon.”

One does not have to live in Danby to join the organization. Some members come from as far away as Horseheads to attend the meals, events and trips.

Multiple local senior citizens groups have disbanded recently, and Danby Seniors leaders say they hope that some of their members will join them in Danby.

“Most are willing to come to Danby, share a meal and meet new friends,” Phelps said.

Danby Seniors also hopes that other groups in the area will consider collaborating to plan more trips. By casting a wider net, the hope is that it will become easier to fill buses to capacity. 

In the past, the group has organized trips to theatre productions and destinations like Cooperstown and Rochester. 

One popular trip was going to New York City to see the Rockettes. “Even though they had to leave at 5 a.m., they didn’t care,” Phelps said.

Recently they took a trip to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, for a horse-drawn covered wagon ride to the “Grand Canyon the East,” also known as the Pine Creek Gorge.

“The ride overlooked the [Pennsylvania] Grand Canyon, which is magnificent,” Phelps said. “This place is in Pennsylvania, it’s free, it’s a beautiful little touristy place, and the overlook looks out for miles and miles.”

Ceracche said that trip was one of her all-time favorites as well. 

“I like to think about those pioneers, when all they had was their covered wagon and whatever they could carry in the covered wagon. It makes you think, ‘how did we ever pioneer this country?’”

On Dec. 11, there will be a Danby Seniors trip to see A Very Barry Christmas Show, a Barry Manilow’s Hits & Holiday Tribute.

The group likes to celebrate holidays and throws an annual offsite Christmas party, which is at the Boatyard in Ithaca this year.

Phelps said she is grateful to her fellow Danby Senior officers, without whom she said the organization couldn’t exist: Ceracche, Vice President Patricia Sawyer and Communications Director Nancy Gould.

For more information about Danby Seniors, email Phelps at patriciaphelps2.0@gmail.com.