Jan 18, 2025
OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford A ribbon cutting was held Friday morning for the latest branch of Chautauqua County Office for Aging Services’ Dining Out program, at Fredonia First Methodist Church. Church pastor Nettie Puleff, holding giant scissors, did the honors.
A ribbon cutting was held Friday at the Fredonia First Methodist Church for a new branch of the Chautauqua County Office for Aging Services’ Dining Out program.
Carey Skelton, nutrition and wellness coordinator for the Office of Aging Services (OAS), said the program will offer social activities and food for seniors on Wednesdays and Fridays at the new Fredonia location. Doors will open at 10 a.m. and activities such as cards and other games will be available. Lunch will be served at noon each day.
The program has an application process based on age and nutritional need. Applicants must call OAS at 716-753-4582 to register. They will have to complete an initial nutrition risk screening, then annual ones if accepted into Dining Out.
Eligible applicants get a “CHQ Aging Dining Out” card that is loaded with 20 meal units per month, restricted to one usage per day. They can use the card for meals at Dining Out participants. People can use the card at different sites; they are not restricted to one Dining Out location.
The Fredonia United Methodist Church is the sixth Dining Out site. Others are in Cassadaga, Dunkirk, Jamestown, Ripley and Sinclairville.
Skelton said the Fredonia opening marks the first new Dining Out site in a decade. A reservation will be required with OAS 48 hours in advance if someone wants to eat at the Fredonia location, she said.
The program will be held in the First Methodist Church basement, which is basically a large meeting room with a stage and a kitchen. Volunteers and customers watched Friday as Skelton, OAS Interim Director Dana Corwin, and others made some remarks from the stage.
“We have so much to celebrate today,” Skelton said, first thanking Dining Out’s volunteers in Fredonia. “Today could not be possible without the volunteers. They are the drive to pull this all together and support what Aging Services does for the community.”
She and Corwin emphasized that the program not only provides food, but another sort of nutrition too: the ability to get out and socialize.
“We are building community around a table,” Corwin said. “All of us feel better when we’re together.”
The program served 23,951 meals in 2024, Corwin said.
State Assemblyman Andrew Molitor was there Friday and offered a few remarks as well. Congressman Nick Langworthy, State Sen. George Borrello, and Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel sent representatives who also spoke.
The ribbon cutting was then held offstage, in the middle of the room. The OAS officials asked it to be held there so Dining Out volunteers and customers could get into the photo.
A vehicle involved in a fatal accident at the North County Transfer Station in July 2024 must be preserved as …
Copyright © Observer Today | https://www.observertoday.com | PO Box 391, Dunkirk, NY 14048 | 716-366-3000
