The Senior Scene

Puyallup Activity Center supervisor Doug McCormick hopes the public knows that the center is a community facility.

It operates under the Parks and Recreation Department of the city of Puyallup and offers a variety of activities for citizens 55 and older.

“The center provides support and a meeting place for older adults to interact with each other, and provides education and recreation, as well as fitness, nutrition and other necessities,” said McCormick.

Serving about 1,200 seniors every single year, the activity center requires no membership fee, although some programs such as trips and tours would require one. Most of the classes at the center are free of charge.

McCormick said a number of adults who go to the center for companionship and to take part in the programs end up volunteering.

Joan Cronk is a freelance writer who lives in Puyallup.

“There are about 294 volunteers throughout the year. That would be about 12,000 hours of service, and we wouldn’t be able to operate at the current level of service without them,” said McCormick.

Volunteering is just one of the tools that older folks can use to stay active, said McCormick.

“It deepens their social networks and definitely reduces the likelihood of social isolation,” he said.

The center offers a variety of programs on a daily basis.

Thursdays from 9 to noon, a group of men and women meet for woodcarving. Kay Lang has been carving for about 10 years and is always working on something.

“I like the people here, and everyone makes you feel welcome,” she said.

Retired chemist Charles Hochmuth, who is nearly 91 years old, said he just looks at a photo of a woodcarving and carves from that. He likes to share his creations. “I just give them away,” he said.

Al Neeley’s specialty is wood stars. He cuts them out at home, and then brings them to class every week to share with others to enhance as they like. A former cabinetmaker who owned his own construction company, Neeley said the weekly get-togethers are a great social time.

Next door to the woodcarving group on a Thursday was a storytelling session led by Linda Phillips.

“There are a variety of people and experiences that come, and I learn more from them than they do from me,” she said. The class meets on Thursdays from 10 to 11:30 a.m..

Phillips, who was a recreation leader at Rainier School, says older adults are capable of learning new things. She also does instruction on how to use the Internet and use digital cameras.

Loretta Reynolds, who is edging close to 90 years old, enjoys the storytelling class. Phillips gives class members a list of ideas to help them pick a topic.

“People ask me when I’ll finish my life story, and I tell them as long as you are still living, you can still write it,” said Reynolds.

The Puyallup Activity Center offers a workout room, as well, and John Herbertson and Jack Porter both say they visit it every day to work out. They rotate on the exercise machines and use free weights in their daily program.

Information on center activities can be accessed on line at http://www.cityofpuyallup.org/services/senior-services/

McCormick said the center is available for rentals and can accommodate a wide variety of special occasions at a reasonable price.

Pierce College’s Science Dome, located on the Fort Steilacoom campus in Lakewood, offers visitors the show of a lifetime for the price of a latte.

Hillary Stephens, associate professor of physics and astronomy and the dome’s coordinator, explained that the first half-hour of the show could consist of a tour of that night’s sky, or it could cover things like black holes.

The digital planetarium allows visitors to go just about anywhere in the known universe, she said.

“You are sitting underneath and we can project whatever we want up there,” she said. “If you can put it on a computer screen, we can put it on the dome. We can simulate the night sky or the view out of a space ship.”

The presenters are either college students or staff, and they put the content together. Stephens said everyone is extremely excited to offer the public such a rare view of the universe.

After the presentations, there is a half-hour dome video. “You feel like you are flying through space in your chair,” said Stephens.

The three public shows each week run at 7 p.m. on Friday and 2 and 3:15 in the afternoon on Saturdays. The 2 o’clock show is geared toward children ages 3 to 8 years old, and Stephens said a lot of grandparents bring their grandchildren to that presentation.

During the 2 p.m. show, there is an open space in the front of the auditorium for the children to sit on the floor. “The presenter has hands-on activities for them to do,” Stephens said, adding that an upcoming presentation, titled “Comets, Asteroids and Meteors, Oh My,” is guaranteed to thrill. Adults attending the 2 p.m. Saturday show with children are admitted free, and the show lasts 45 minutes. Prices for the other shows are $3 for children up to 18 and $6 for adults.

Hall lights are left on for the 2 o’clock show for any children who might become uncomfortable in the dark.

The planetarium’s goal, said Stephens, is to be used for classes, but also to reach out to the public by “bringing science to the community and having them get interested in it and learn.”

Since the programs repeat every five weeks, visitors are encouraged to return to the planetarium often to see a new show.

Stephens teaches classes on astrobiology at Pierce College. She said her high school physics and astronomy teacher sparked her interest in the field.

“I think one of the things that has always captured me is the idea that there is just so much out there that we don’t know, and being part of discovering that is awesome,” she said.

The planetarium will hold another public event on March 14 called “Pi Day,” said Stephens.

The Fort Steilacoom campus is at 9401 Farwest Dr. More information about the planetarium can be found at piercecollegedome.com.

Steve Hill, a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) supervisor, says that becoming a CASA volunteer is a big job – but a very important one.

When a child is placed in foster care due to suffering neglect or abuse at home, the court appoints a special advocate to represent the minor child or children.

The CASA volunteer receives special training for the job. Senior citizens who are CASA volunteers bring a lifetime of experience with them, and they take it very seriously, Hill said.

“They are like a party to the case. They get all the information, visit the child and give extra attention to the cases,” said Hill, adding that the overloaded system benefits from the advocates because they can be the eyes and ears for the court.

“They make sure the children’s needs are being taken care of, such as their dental, medical and school issues,” he said.

CASA volunteers make recommendations to the court as to what should happen to the children. They also make recommendations to service providers working with the parents who are receiving treatment for a variety of issues before being reunited with their children.

“They write reports to the court on what they think should happen. It is a huge responsibility,” said Hill, adding that the court makes the ultimate decisions in all cases.

A judge in the 1970s created the CASA program. “He was tired of hearing all the cookie-cutter plans and wanted kids to have individualized attention,” Hill said.

According to Hill, the system relies heavily on the volunteers. The goal is always to reunite children with their parents, and Hill said most of the time that does happen. He added that a typical case takes about two years to complete.

Bob Estrada, who lives in Gig Hargor, has been a CASA volunteer for two years.

“I got into it because I saw the advertisement about wanting individuals to be advocates for children, and since my wife and I are foster parents for infants, we decided that this would be an extension to what I was already doing,” he said.

Estrada said one of his jobs is to make sure parents do what they need to do in order to get their children back. He and other volunteers make sure the foster parents are following through with any medical and dental issues, as well as other important appointments.

“You have to have a heart for the children and do the best you can, and you have to remember that you are not the foster parents. You can’t be taking children to appointments. You have to remember your boundaries as a CASA volunteer,” Estrada said.

Emily Taylor has been a CASA volunteer for two years and said it’s all about teaching.

“It is a calling more than anything. I gain a sense that I am helping vulnerable people in our community and I am the voice for foster children,” she said.

Carrie Appling, volunteer coordinator, said CASA is extremely important to the community.

“We do have staff that take caseloads, but they have 80 to 100 cases a year, and having advocates from the community makes sure that we stay fresh and pay attention to what each child needs,” she said.

Appling said the best-case scenario is for the court to have a volunteer on each case who knows the child and family intimately and meets regularly with the child and whoever they are placed with to make sure that the court is working for the best outcome.

“The volunteers help by giving kids the time and attention that is needed to make sure that the whole system is aware of what is happening in that child’s life and that the court is meeting each child’s needs,” Appling said.

Volunteers are passionate about their cases and the children involved.

“I plan to keep doing this for as long as I can,” said Taylor.

Anyone interested in becoming a CASA volunteer should contact Volunteer Coordinator Carrie Appling at 253-798-3837.