Senior centers ring in holidays

Charity, volunteering, parties, dinners and gift giving all part of the cheer at Oasis and Costa Mesa senior centers.Boughs of holly were decking the halls all over Newport-Mesa this week, and the local senior centers were no exception.

Seniors celebrated with holiday parties galore and also gave their charitable bones a good workout.

At the Oasis Senior Center in Corona del Mar, the staff and volunteers organized many holiday parties for members and programs to benefit less fortunate people of all ages.

Nearly 150 seniors dressed in red and green came to the annual holiday luncheon to eat a traditional Christmas meal of turkey, stuffing and cranberries. After lunch, they were entertained by the whimsical music group Holiday Ho Down, which performed classic Christmas carols with their own comedic twist.

“I thought it [the party] was wonderful,” said 90-year-old Willard Courtney of Newport Beach.

Courtney, a musician, was quick to volunteer to play maracas when members from the band called for helpers to come on stage.

“I thought it was a very entertaining band -- it was good for the holidays,” he said.

The Costa Mesa Senior Center also hosted a holiday brunch party for its members on Friday, sponsored by local resident Adele Alterman. Santa Claus paid a visit and each senior could have their photo taken.

Orange Coast College, Kline School, and the city of Costa Mesa donated gifts, which were wrapped by center volunteers, and given out to seniors. Craig Alterman of Emery Financial also donated a large sum of money, which was used toward gift purchases for the seniors.

“We make sure that everybody leaves with a gift,” the center’s executive director, Aviva Goelman, said.

While parties are a linchpin to the holiday season, there’s much more to the meaning behind it, and the staff and members at both centers did their part to give back to the less fortunate and spread the joy throughout the community.

Members of the knitting club that meets regularly at the Oasis Senior Center have been busily making small blankets and hats for the last few months, said Vicki Chin, social services coordinator. The small blankets will be delivered to nursing homes in the area and the hats will go to Serving People in Need, a Costa Mesa-based organization that reaches out to low-income and homeless people. The senior center has also been accepting warm clothing and blanket donations, which will also go to Serving People in Need, Chin said.

“Anything that gets donated, we try to find it a good home,” she said.

Both centers have a homebound seniors holiday program, in which food baskets are assembled and delivered to seniors who can’t get out of the house.

Oasis also has a large box in the lobby where seniors can donate books, magazines, toiletries and things for soldiers. Volunteers from a Helping Our Troops in Santa Ana have come by to empty the box three times so far, Chin said.

And of course, Christmas is all about children. Oasis delivered four large boxes of toys to Someone Cares Soup Kitchen. The toys were distributed at the Costa Mesa Community Center on Friday during a large toy distribution.

“We’ve gotten so many toys this year that each child will probably get two to three gifts,” soup kitchen manager Shannon Santos said. “It’s awesome. I am so excited.”

20051224irz60bncDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Newport Beach City Attorney Dan Ohl serves lunch to Jack Barham, as Mary Wingard, at left wearing red, shares a laugh with Dorothy Sully, at right wearing purple, and Barbara Barham at the Oasis Senior Center holiday luncheon.