Area Seniors Celebrate in Recognition of Older Americans Month

Dancing, playing bean bag toss, taking motorcycle rides, singing karaoke, eating popcorn and hoping to win raffles were among the things people could do at the recent Older Americans Month Event.

The event, formerly called the senior picnic, returned after a two-year, Covid-induced hiatus, and recognized the Prince William area older adults who came together to celebrate Older Americans Month sponsored by the Prince William Area Agency on Aging.   

“I think it’s a blast for everybody,” said the Area Agency on Aging Director, Sarah Henry. “Everybody comes and says, ‘I wish I knew about this sooner.’ This is the first time we’ve had it since 2019, so we were very ready to come back together and celebrate. It’s really just a fun activity for folks to participate in and for us to recognize older adults. It’s our most favorite event of the year.”

While the county’s two senior centers in Manassas and Woodbridge offer year-round pastimes, the Older Americans Month event is popular among the county’s older residents.

“Each day at the senior center we celebrate older adults on a smaller scale,” said Deputy Director for the Area Agency on Aging, Josh Lee.  “We do activities for them to stay active and stay socially engaged in our community. We’re really excited that we could get everyone together again to celebrate. We hope that we’ll be able to do this for years to come.”

Elected officials and members of county leadership attended the event, where they served the seniors boxed lunches. Ice cream from an ice cream truck rounded out lunch.  

Fannie Hargrave and Retha Davis, members of the Woodbridge Senior Center, attended the event and said they enjoyed themselves.

“It was a nice place to get away,” Hargrave said of the Boy Scout’s Camp William B. Snyder. “I just walked around and enjoyed the view – the fresh air, mingling with the people.”

“I just sat and enjoyed watching the dancing, and I registered for a class and just enjoyed myself all around,” Davis said. “It’s great to get waited on once-in-a-while.” 

John Bucsko, a 10-year Manassas Senior Center member, danced a little bit, played three games of bean bag toss, visited with friends and got an ID card from deputies from the Prince William County Sheriff’s office.

“It was a lot of fun. The staff are absolutely great. They had everything organized. The job they did was fantastic,” Bucsko said.

Diane Husch danced, sang, played bean bag toss and had ice cream after lunch. Husch was glad to be at another picnic after the break.

“I had fun. I really did. I had a ball. I love picnics,” said Husch, a five-year member of the Manassas Senior Center. “It was fun to see all my people and have a good time with music.”

To learn more about the Prince William Area Agency on Aging, serving Prince William County, the City of Manassas and the City of Manassas Park, visit pwcva.gov/department/area-agency-aging.