Senior Board presented with a petition to reopen Altenburg facility

Meals have been available in person at the Perry County Senior Center in Perryville since late December. However, that hasn’t been the case at the building in Altenburg owned by the East Perry Community Fair Association since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
The Perry County Senior Citizens Service Center Inc. Board were scheduled to meet April 21.
A quorum of board members was not in attendance so no official action could be taken by the board.
Bob Foster of Frohna presented board president Tom Gibbar with more than 100 signatures of residents in the East End of Perry County that would like to see the building in Altenburg re-open.
“We’re asking for a chance to start and see how it goes,” Foster said. “There are people that are retired down there, looking for something to do.”
Senior center director Jennifer Freeman said the Perry County Health Department would have to do a walk through before the Altenburg building could open for senior meals and other activities.

“We are interested in bringing in as many members of the senior community as we can,” Foster said.
Gibbar understands the interest, though he thinks the board needs to be patient and not expect changes immediately.
“It’s building, slowly but surely, but it takes time,” Gibbar said. “People are creatures of habit.”
In addition to Gibbar, other board members in attendance April 21 were June Leuckel and Bob Post.
Absent at the April 21 meeting were board members Susan LaRose, Shannon Tarrillion, Kathy Donze and Tim Tarrillion. Seven of the nine spots on the board are filled. Five members must be present at a meeting for any action to take place. The board is actively seeking to fill the two openings.
Another meeting will take place Thursday, April 28, at 1:30 p.m. at the community center.