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Want more information, please call Tomi at 860-441-6782

Elizabeth is our October volunteer. She is an outstanding volunteer and we are very lucky to have her! She has
been a volunteer at Groton Senior Center for the past 5 years. You will often find Elizabeth behind the scenes
quietly working away at any given task.
After 40 years of Elizabeth being the “goose” flying in the front of the formation, she decided that when she
retired, she would move back in the formation but still provide lift to the group. Thus, she became a background
volunteer. She really enjoys being a volunteer; she meets new people, learns new things, stays sharp and active.
Some of these activities have included: member of the Groton Parks & Recreation Commission, Participant for
the Vendor Selection team for the Senior Center Branding Study, Community First Dinner program, grab and go
lunch program, Garden Club, TRIAD Committee, Club 55 raffle ticket sales and bake sales, Holiday Luncheons
and pretty much anything that we need help with Elizabeth is always willing to lend a hand.
While Groton Senior Center is her main focus for volunteering (and social) activities, she has also served as a
member of the Council of Advisors to the Department of Nursing at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY. Recently
she was invited to join the Stonington Odd Fellows. When Elizabeth isn’t at the senior center she enjoys reading,
traveling, paper crafts, lighthouses and visiting Old Sturbridge Village & Mystic Seaport. Elizabeth also enjoys
spending time with Manny, her 12-year-old faithful feline companion, which tops her list (he insists!)

During the height of the pandemic, we learned that wearing masks, frequent hand
washing and use of hand sanitizer kept us safer from getting the Covid19 infection.
What we also learned is that there was very little flu during flu season and hardly anyone
out there with a cold or bronchitis. Since reopening the center in July, staff has started
to see an increase in people with summer colds. Maybe it is time to apply some of our
Covid safety precautions to every day infections.
Currently, MASKS are required to be worn by ANYONE in our center. This includes
those who have been vaccinated. We deeply appreciate your understanding and cooperation. Keep diligently
washing your hands and using the hand sanitizer that is around the building. Let’s see if this year we can keep
infections down in the building.
On another note, we only have the front doors open for people to enter and we ask that you do not prop doors
open in the back to let people in. We are doing this because we are still following protocol for contact tracing.
Though Covid-19 has significantly decreased, this continues to be important. One thing we have noticed is that
we have more people signing in when someone is sitting there asking you to sign in than if we left it to do on
your own. This is a good thing as we now have better statistics as to how many are using our building. We hope
that by mid fall, we will have the back doors open again but will be looking to see if the number signing in drops
when we do this.
We are so happy you are all back and we are also seeing many new faces! We have lots planned for you in the
upcoming year. Don’t forget to sign up for Club 55 membership too.

You can often find Sharon, our September volunteer of the month, at our special events greeting folks at the front door or working hard to ensure final details for events have been accomplished such as stuffing  swag bags or tying 200 bows! Her help the past the past three years has been invaluable. Sharon was a tremendous help with the Community First Dinner Program distributions. From the very beginning she handed meals out and directed traffic. She also helped at our food box distribution events, handed out grab and go lunches throughout the entire pandemic, no matter the weather. She is also a GSC Garden
Club Member Volunteer. When Sharon isn’t volunteering she often enjoys reading, gardening, traveling and spending time with her husband and dog.
Sharon chooses to volunteer at our center because she enjoys meeting new people and talking with folks learning about them and what their lives were like before retirement and joining the center. Sharon also wanted to volunteer somewhere that would allow her to be a part of the community that she lives in. She is very happy that she found GSC. We are also extremely happy that Sharon found us too!