Christmas fun is for all ages

Deepa Bharath

Irene Pfeif was afraid to sit on Santa’s lap last year.

This year, Pfeif -- one of the guests at the Christmas brunch

hosted by the Costa Mesa Senior Center on Tuesday -- walked warily

toward the genial man in the red suit.

“Last year, I didn’t want to do it because I was afraid I was too

big,” she said, laughing. “But this year, he told me that Shaquille

O’Neal sat on his lap. So it would be OK for me to do it.”

With that assurance, Pfeif walked right up to Santa, sat on his

lap and posed for a picture. She laughed as she covered her mouth,

looking at the instant Polaroid image.

At least 100 seniors came to the brunch, which featured food and

entertainment. Several colorfully wrapped gifts were stacked up in

front of the room, waiting to be picked by the guests.

The holiday event was started last year to give seniors a chance

to celebrate the holidays with their friends, said Aviva Goelman, the

center’s director.

This year, she said, they started a senior gift drive that brought

in more than 450 gifts. The event itself was sponsored by Adele

Alterman of Irvine, Goelman said.

“We’ve had a tremendous response for our gift drive,” she said.

Goelman said she has met several seniors who don’t look forward to

the holidays.

“People tend to feel really lonely during the holidays,” she said.

“It’s hard to have no one around to celebrate them with.”

Looking around the full room, Goelman said most of the guests were

regular visitors to the senior center.

“It’s nice to see them dressed up and having a good time,” she

said.

Avis Swallow said she comes to the center to get her blood

pressure checked every now and then.

“This is nice,” she said. “It’s good to be here with my friends.”

Anne Hogan Shereshevsky, a volunteer, senior advocate and regular

visitor to the center, said she was hoping more seniors would have

come to the brunch.

“This kind of an event is great because it brings seniors

together,” she said. “We just lost two seniors recently, and it’s

been tough on all of us. This is good for many of us who tend to feel

lonesome during the holidays.”