Published: August 31, 2008 12:22 pm      

Senior center showcases talent

Craft shop serves dual purpose

DUNCAN — Duncan Senior Citizens Center has a new feature — the Senior Citizen Craft Shop in the office of the center at 1110 N. Seventh.

The talented seniors who frequent the center on a regular basis have contributed their skills to making a variety of items to offer for sale to benefit the center and its programs for people age 55 and older. Some offerings would make great Christmas or wedding gifts, while others would be perfect for a baby shower. From the ceramic room are Old World Santas, reindeer and other holiday decorating items.

Other offerings include kitchen decor, afghans, scissors holders, pin cushions, tea towels with a crocheted loop to attach them to kitchen cabinets, scarfs and rings with which to pin them to coats, coasters, pot holders and other items. One nifty creation is an insulated carrier for casserole dishes that comes complete with matching pot holders. There are also “working” — as opposed to strictly decorative — bird houses available, along with a few gag gifts.

The people making the crafts donate their time and materials, said Luana Shufeldt, director of the center.

“The craft shop serves a dual purpose, in that it not only helps the center, but it gives participants a chance to contribute and share their talents. While they’re visiting, they are busy making things for the craft shop,” she said.

The center, a United Way agency, is already widely known for some of the items participants have produced for years and sold at the center and at an annual show at the fairgrounds held by a local craft club.

“People come from as far away as New Mexico to buy our famous pot scrubbers,” Shufeldt said. “And the dish rags are almost as famous as the pot scrubbers!”

Both are crochet projects, with the pot scrubbers made of nylon net crocheted into little rinse-clean puffs that really do a job on dishes and pots and pans, Shufeldt said.

To keep the shop offerings fresh and new, the center offers opportunities to participate in ceramics, needlework, twining and quilting. Ceramics projects can be worked on any day of the week, but there is an instructor available on Monday and Tuesday mornings to explain how to pour molds, clean the greenware and paint or glaze the finished piece. The center has many molds available, along with two large kilns for firing the pieces. The needlework group works on knitting, crochet, embroidery and rug hooking each Thursday morning. Twining is a type of weaving with yarn or strips of cloth. The twiners meet each Tuesday morning. The quilters work at 1 p.m. each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Pool, dominoes and forty-two games are popular at the center, and bingo is played at 2 p.m. each Thursday. The Third Thursday Bridge Group meets at 10:30 a.m. on the third Thursday of each month.

There are also three kinds of exercise available at the center. Low-impact aerobics are offered at 9 a.m. Mondays and Fridays. At 9 a.m. Wednesdays, line dancing challenges the entire body, including the mind. For those with less physical ability or who depend on walkers or wheelchairs to get around, Sit and Be Fit exercises are just the ticket to strengthen the body and give it more flexibility. That group meets at 11 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Country and western dances at 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays, twice-a-month potluck luncheons and free checks on blood pressure and blood sugar round out the center’s offerings. Check out the calendar listed here each month for details.

You’ll have to wait an extra day before checking out the craft shop, however, as the center will be closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Its usual hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. For information, call 580-255-6902.



September activities include:

Daily activities

Mondays:

8:30 a.m., ceramics

9 a.m., aerobics

11 a.m., Sit & Be Fit

Tuesdays:

8:30 a.m., ceramics

9 a.m., weaving

11 a.m., Mind Exercises

1 p.m., quilting

Wednesdays:

9 a.m., line dancing

11 a.m., Sit & Be Fit

1 p.m., quilting

Thursdays:

8 a.m., TOPS

9:30 a.m., needlework

11 a.m., Mind Exercises

1 p.m., quilting

2 p.m., bingo

7 p.m., pool, dominoes and Forty-Two games

Fridays:

9 a.m., aerobics

9 a.m., dulcimer

11 a.m., Sit & Be Fit

There are also pool, dominoes and Forty-Two games from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each weekday.