All-you-can eat homemade ham and bean soup, along with toasted cheese sandwiches, will be some of the fare available to the community during the 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. soup luncheon Saturday at the Greater Bradford Senior Activity Center on Campus Drive.
The third-annual luncheon will cost $6 per person with proceeds to benefit the nonprofit senior center and its upkeep, said the facility’s president, Nancy Reynolds.
“The money is used toward operations” at the center, Reynolds said on Wednesday. “Our electric bill can be $600 a month … we’re open from 8 to 4 everyday, so the lights are on all the time.”
Reynolds said the event is completely run by the seniors, who donate a variety of soups, as well as bread and cheese for toasted cheese sandwiches. Other soups at the luncheon will include broccoli, cheese and ham soup, as well as chicken noodle, vegetable beef, pepper soup and pizza soup. Dessert and beverages that include soda pop, coffee and tea will also be available.
Reynolds said the senior center, which relies on donations and grants to stay open, provides a needed service to older residents who stop in during the morning hours for coffee and during the noon hour for lunch.
“They come in and have coffee and chit-chat every morning,” she said of a group of men who congregate in the facility early every day. “It’s good for them.”
Nancy Reynolds, herself, said the facility has helped her very much since the death of her beloved husband, Ron, in December. Her husband had served on the senior center board and did multiple tasks around the facility. He also had prepared his own special potato leek soup for last year’s luncheon.
“It was hard at first coming in here because he played for the band, too,” Reynolds said of her husband. “He had played here for years.”
On a related note, she said the lunches served to seniors during the week are state-funded and use a sliding-scale fee based on the senior’s income in determining how much is charged for lunch.
In addition, a weekly breakfast is provided from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Tuesdays to seniors and the general public for $2. The meal consists of pancakes or French toast with sausage links, half a banana, orange juice and coffee or tea. “With our sign out front, we have had a few people come in,” Reynolds said of the breakfasts. “We use the funds raised for our petty cash fund” which pays for lawn mowing and other miscellaneous needs throughout the year.
In addition to the luncheon benefit, the senior center also receives funds from the McKean County Commissioners, various local municipalities and the United Way of the Bradford Area.
“We would not be able to function without the United Way funds,” Reynolds admitted.
As for Saturday’s luncheon, Carol Steck, director of the senior center, agreed the event, and the senior volunteers, are a big help in maintaining the facility.
“They do the cooking and they’re here to clean up and get it all organized,” Steck said. “It helps with the overhead costs and keeping the doors open. I love it.”
