A club for East Williston seniors is getting growing support a year after stepping out on its own.
The East Williston Senior Group became an independent club last year after existing for many years as a program of the East Williston Public Library, Bonnie Parente, the Village of East Williston deputy mayor, said.
The group, which hosts monthly social gatherings and educational programs, got a $2,000 grant last month from the Town of North Hempstead, one of more than 20 the town provides to groups for senior citizens. Town officials presented a ceremonial check at the group’s June 15 meeting.
“These are such an impressive group of men and women,” said Parente, who is the village’s liaison to the group. “I don’t consider them your typical seniors looking for something to do.”
At its meetings, the group hosts guests ranging from local historians to Parente herself, a lawyer who gave a talk on estate planning at one meeting.
The most recent gathering drew about 25 people, Parente said. The group gives the village’s older residents a chance to socialize and discuss social issues, local village problems and other topics, she said.
“[S]ome of them have a very high level of education and they had full rewarding careers in their lives, and now they get to share this part of their lives, this chapter of their lives, socially with friends and neighbors,” Parente said.
Members do not pay dues, and there is no commitment to attend any number of meetings, Parente said.
The group applied for the town funding about a year ago, around the time it became its own organization, Parente said. The group also gets $2,200 annually from the village budget.
The town has been “very involved and very willing to see our organization grow,” Parente said.
“We’re proud to show appreciation for our older residents each and every day, with programs like our senior initiative Project Independence, our well-attended FunDay Monday and dozens of other programs that entertain and educate our seniors,” Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said in a news release.
