After years of talk, planning, and hard work, the Lebanon Senior Center officially opened the afternoon of March 15 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house. It was well worth the wait. “This is a beautiful senior center,” said Sen. Edith Prague. “It’s one of the nicest I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot of them.” Prague was instrumental in helping to secure grants through the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and the Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) that partially funded the project.

“The initial $300,000 that we used to purchase the land was provided by Hugh Trumbull Adams,” said building committee co-chair , Marion Russo. “We did very well staying on budget,” said Russo. “In fact, we completed slightly under budget.” Some desired items, such as a portico over the entrance, were eliminated or postponed to meet that goal. “But I’m glad we got to keep the fireplace,” said Russo with a smile. The front doors of the new center open upon a cozy, two-sided gas fireplace that backs onto a comfortable seating area, complete with a 42-inch flat panel TV. “I think the fireplace really adds to the space,” said Russo. Other cost-saving measures included purchasing the three large televisions on-line during a Black Friday event. “We saved several hundred dollars apiece purchasing them that way,” said building committee co-chair , John Bendoraitis. The center’s 15 computers were all donated. “We have ten for use in computer classes ,” said Russo, “and four stationary computers that people can just come in and use.” The center also has a rolling computer that can be moved from room to room. “The computers will be great for the seniors to use,” said State Rep. Kevin Ryan. “They’ll be able to come in and keep in touch with family members .”

Another great addition is a nifty gadget that can be used to magnify and enhance reading material for the vision impaired. The machine was purchased from a Connecticut company called Vison Dynamics, owned by a man with macular degeneration whose employees all deal with some form of vision impairment. The viewer was donated to the center by the Lebanon Lions Club. “If you have a macular degeneration issue or even cataracts, this will really help,” said Lion’s Club member Harry Teller. Teller has dealt with cataracts himself, and says that the machine’s ability to adjust color components can be very helpful in dealing with the condition. Teller has a lot of respect for Vision Dynamics. And the price was right. “We couldn’t have touched a unit like this for $3,100 through another company,” said Teller.

The machine, as well as the center’s other amenities, including exercise equipment and a game room with a pool table, should get plenty of use. Lebanon residents over the age of 60 currently number approximately 1,150, or 17 percent of the total population, according to town statistics.

One of those residents, 84-year-old Oliver Manning, considers himself a fixture in town. A member of the Congregational Church for generations, Manning was the original owner of the property where the senior center was built. “I was a dairy farmer until 1989,” he said. While generally pleased with the final product, “I could have saved them a bunch of money,” said Manning. “I could have told them where the ledge and the swamp land were, and saved them a lot of time.” But overall, Manning sees the senior center as a good investment . “I think it will be well-used by the population,” he said.

Cheryl Trask of the Stoneybridge Art Studio was at the open house, offering watercolor classes to the seniors. Future plans also include health clinics and computer courses. There are plans to use some leftover funding for landscaping and grading improvements. “We don’t know all of the programs that we might line up for the future,” said Russo. “We were concentrating on getting the center built, and getting the building open. We haven’t had time to focus on programming.” With 6,400 square feet of beautiful new space, there’s plenty of room for any number of new programs.