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Community Corner

St. Michael Area Seniors Welcome Fall with Hog Roast

The Crow River Area Senior Center rung in September with a memorable lunch, capped by some live music.

If you are fortunate enough to live in the St. Michael-Albertville area and you are 55 or older, you are eligible to join one of the most vibrant groups in the STMA area – the Crow River Senior Center community. Housed in the St. Michael City Hall complex, the Senior Center is centrally located in the heart of downtown St. Michael.

Recently the Senior Center kicked off the fall season by hosting a hog roast. On this evening, about 100 seniors gathered to enjoy a night of carved pork, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw and dessert. The meal was catered by the locally based Dehmer’s Meats.

(A side note: If you have not had the chance to taste Dehmer’s meats – you should stop by their store near the St. Michael Dairy Queen – and try out some of the best meats around. There is a reason Dehmer’s has been thriving here in St. Michael for over 80 years.)

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Joyce Flury, the Senior Center director, smiled and greeted nearly everyone by name as she moved about the room.

“Tonight is a celebration kick-off for the fall season. There is always something going on here. We have come so far in the six years I have been director and especially this last year since we moved to our new location. Membership has doubled!”

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Entertaining the crowd was Skeets Langley on the accordion. Skeets–a previous World Accordion Champion–moved from table to table, taking requests and entertaining with his own brand of charm and wit. A world-renowned accordionist, in 1963 Skeets competed in Germany at the Confederation Internationale des Accodeonistes (CIA), securing first place against more than 20 countries. Skeets resides in the Twin Cities area and is a retired elementary band teacher from the Robbinsdale school district.

During his show, he was asked how long he had played accordion. Skeets looked at his watch and answered, “Oh about 25 minutes.” The crowd delighted in his sense of humor. Skeets plays on a 1957 Excelsior Accordion on which he won the World Accordion Championship by playing several difficult pieces–including Rachmaninoff.

Skeets said he finds his most requested song is “The Way You Look Tonight”. The oddest request (to Skeets) was a song from “Pink”, requested by the grandchild of an attendee in the audience.

The crowd at the Senior Center was happy to sit back and enjoy the music, the fellowship and the good food.

A smiling Darlene, who is from the STMA area, explained how the Crow River Senior Center has been a wonderful addition in her life. The Center has helped her to get to know other people her age in the community as well as provided opportunities for classes, events and lunches four days a week. In fact, Darlene enjoys it so much, she picks up an older friend–97-year-old Mertis–to share the fun with her.

“I really do consider this place my lifesaver. It’s full of nice people and so many things to do. I can’t imagine my life without it. After my husband died, I never thought I’d have this kind of support in my life.  I am so grateful," she said.

Vivacious Lola Hall–Flury’s “right hand," laughed as she shared, “We are always asked how old you have to be to join this group and we always tell them age doesn’t matter–we don’t discriminate here!  The best part of this center is the people. We have the nicest folks around town and new people come very week. There is so much to do, so many nice people to meet, I truly enjoy everything.”

The center is always looking for new faces and friends. Check out the Crow River Senior Center News to see all the events available.

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