Farmington Senior Center Inc.

In 1977 Garrenata Bonner called Lena Roth in regards to starting a Nutrition Site for the Mesopotamia-Bloomfield and Farmington area. A few people got together and first met at the Mesopotamia park. Bea Gaston was the first paid Site Manager at Mesopotamia and Farmington. When the weather got cold they moved to the Bloomfield Baptist Church.

Garrenta would pick up the food in Warren and bring it to the church. Next they met at the Methodist Church in Mesopotamia, with the help of Bea Gaston and Vinnie Gaston. Later an office was opened on High Street in Warren for the Office of Elderly Affairs with three employees, Mary Bankee, Jane Latchen, and Garrenata Bonner. They had a van which took us shopping one day a month in Middlefield. The driver was Bill Tabot who started to deliver meals to shut-ins. We had an outreach worker that would go around to visit people and see if they needed help or home delivery. In 1979 a large group from Farmington joined and Bill would pick them up. At the time we could only use the church two days a week and the group wanted it for five days a week. They then started meeting at the Farmington Methodist Church three days and continued 2 days at Mespo. In 1984 the nutrition site moved to the Senior Center and still has meals three days a week with home delivery five days a week. Bea Gaston was the first paid Nutrition Site manager in Mesopotamia. At Farmington Lavernne Christlieb is the Site Manager today.

In October 1983 SCOPE held the groundbreaking for the 2500 square-foot wing that was attached to the Fire Station in West Farmington. This was built with an $80,000 federal grant in conjunction with the Farmington Trustees. The Village donated the land for the Senior Center. This addition has a kitchen, craft room, an office, and a multi-purpose room. Ruth Jean Hawkins served as Director. This Senior Center serves Seniors from Bloomfield, Mesopotamia, Bristolville, Southington, and Farmington townships.

The Senior Center is open five days a week from 7:00am to 2:00pm. With a breakfast open to the public on Mondays from 7:00am to noon offering a full menu, we have people attending from Garrettsville, Mayfield Heights, Newton Falls, Southington, Cortland, Bristol, Kinsman, Warren, and surrounding communities with an average attendance of 150 each Monday. Approximately 1100 people make use of the Senior Center each month.

The ladies come to quilt and make lap robes which we sell to help with our expenses. We give a lap robe to any homebound Senior and we take lap robes to a local nursing home. Our biggest project is counting and bagging ferrules and washers for a local plastic plant. We have Amish Ladies Day on the 3rd Tuesday of each month and a covered dish dinner is enjoyed by all. The ladies also help with the ferrules and quilt and other craft projects. An Amish Chicken Dinner is held on the 3rd Saturday of each month. In 1998 we received a grant to put on an 18 by 45 foot addition to the present building which is used for quilting.

In 2005 Lena Roth, who had helped start this Senior Center and who had made the lap robes for years, passed away and is greatly missed. Also in 2005, we left SCOPE and re-organized as the "Farmington Senior Center, Inc." Starr Spangler is the Director and Betty Goist is the Secretary/Bookkeeper. We have a Board of Directors who oversee the operations of the Center. Our motto is "Never Leave as a Stranger".