Berkshire Senior Online

WILLIAMSTOWN — It is 25 past 11, and the tables at the Harper Center, site of the Williamstown Council on Aging, are set for lunch. “I’m over here,” a woman calls out as she waves to a friend who has just arrived. A man, dressed in blue sports shirt and khaki trousers, pulls out a chair at a table where four women are sitting. “Hello, ladies,” he says. “What are we having for lunch?”

“I don’t care what we have. I come for the company,” one of the woman says.

Most of the people who gather at the Harper Center live alone. They usually play a radio or TV at home to break the silence. But at the center, loneliness is banished and friendships are formed.

The Williamstown Council on Aging was established in 1966 and is funded by the town of Williamstown and the state. “We also receive private donations,” said Brian O’Grady, executive director of the COA since 1999. He used to be a caseworker with Elder Services of Berkshire County.

As a youngster, O’Grady developed an understanding of what life was like for the elderly. “My parents worked and I spent a lot of time with my older relatives,” said O’Grady “People are people and should not be looked at according to their age.

” On a typical day at the Harper Center, O’Grady sets up for different programs. They include the “Great Spring Tune Up,” “Successful Aging in Place” and “Tax Aide.” O’Grady also invites guest speakers who can enlighten the seniors on subjects of interest to them: Social Security, prescription plans, financial planning and more. Other guests have demonstrated how wool is woven, and how hats are made.

 Schoolchildren were invited to join the seniors the day Lars and Gayle Garrison of West Mountain Farm in Stamford, Vt., brought an alpaca and llama to the Harper Center. As a child pet the llama, a wary senior asked, “Do they bite?” A third-grader wanted to know, “Do they eat ice cream?”

“It’s nice having the [Williamstown Elementary School] across the street,” said O’Grady. “[The seniors] love being with the kids.”

O’Grady pitches in wherever help is needed at the center, carrying chairs, washing dishes and mopping spills in the kitchen. But it is not his brawn but his brain power that draws elders to him when they encounter problems with medical insurance, doctors, landlords, etc.

“If I don’t have the answer, I know someone who does,” O’Grady said. “People always say thank you when everything clicks, and it makes you feel good.”

One man called O’Grady and said, “You saved my mother’s life.” The mother had been enrolled in the COA’s “Are You OK Program?” a safety net for seniors who live alone. The seniors call the center every morning to tell a volunteer they are up and about. When they fail to call, a volunteer phones them, and if there is no answer, the police department is notified.

The caller's mother failed to call in and was found on the floor of her home, suffering from a stroke.

Some seniors who have health problems come to the Harper Center whenever possible to participate in the activities or just chat. The scheduled activities include oil painting, knitting, fitness training, line dancing, crafts, bingo and bridge.

Friday afternoons, Angie, Margaret, Loretta and Shirley can be found in the recreation room, knitting squares for a blanket or crafting dolls and Christmas decorations.

“We knit caps for premature babies, too,” said Margaret.

Angie said she spends so much time at the Harper Center that her friends tease her, “We should put a cot in the recreation room for you.”

The COA provides services not only for seniors but for the disabled as well, said Cathy Vareschi, the COA’s van driver. “I take them to doctors’ offices, supermarkets, hairdressers, Sweet Brook and other nursing homes. Thursdays we go to Wal-Mart and, when enough people request, I drive them to the Berkshire Mall. Some ladies call and ask, ‘Where are you going today?’ Then they come along for the ride.”