The ladies of the Warwick Senior Citizens Association are pleased to be staying put in their Albert St digs.
The ladies of the Warwick Senior Citizens Association are pleased to be staying put in their Albert St digs. Kerri Moore

Centre’s future assured

MONTHS of uncertainty for the Warwick Senior Citizens Association made for a tough 2013, but now its feet are firmly planted on the ground and members are ready for a great new year.

For much of last year, the group was in negotiations with Education Queensland over their location and was unsure whether it would occupy its Albert St home as 2013 came to close.

With negotiations now finalised and the Senior Citizens Association staying where it is, president Joe Owens said there's only good things in the future.

"The past year was fairly difficult for us until we knew exactly where we were with the education department, but it all worked out very well for us in the end," Mr Owens said.

"We are now eager and excited to start the new year."

He said hall bookings dropped significantly in the past four months of the year, due to the uncertainty, but old and new clients were signing up to rent out the Albert St premises again.

The regular events program starts on January 24, with the Australia Day celebrations again back by demand.

"This will be the third year running we have had the Australia Day event and believe me, we only do this by popular request," Mr Owens said.

The day is jam-packed with fair-dinkum Aussie food and games, reminiscent of days gone by.

Participants should be prepared to launch a gumboot or broom as far as they can, or show off their muscles and hammer a nail into a stump in as few hits as possible.

For those who prefer some good Aussie tucker over all of the activities, corned beef, spuds in jackets, pavlova and lamingtons are sure to impress.

Although the organisation is enjoying strong membership numbers, Mr Owens said the group is always looking for new friends.

Mr Owens said each year members enjoyed a monthly friendship morning, where they hosted nursing home residents from across the region.

"These residents don't get out and they really love to be driven over here and helped out of their buses and taken care of like we do," he said.

"They get served cups of tea and morning tea and we entertain them and they really look forward to it."

A list of regular entertainers has retired from music this year and Mr Owens said anyone who would like to donate their time and skills on the stage would be greatly appreciated. For details on hall hire or membership, phone 4667 0142.



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