VIENNA — The Vienna Senior Center on Dec. 18 received a $10,000 check from Three Rivers Electric Company, a gift that will help keep meals served, programs running and the doors open, according to Center Administrator Brandi Pendleton.

Three Rivers representatives Victor Connell, Vicki Lange and Gabby McDermott handed over the check in a small ceremony. Accepting the donation on behalf of the Senior Center were Lloyd Homes, Cole Higbee, Lynda Wyss, Rosemary Stratman and Rhonda Henson. Pendleton said the gift would be used to fund the Senior Center’s operational facilities.

“This helps keep our doors open,” Pendleton said. “Generally our food budget, our employee budget and the different activities that we put on. It just kind of keeps the lights on and keeps us being the function to serve our community.”

Pendleton said the Center’s mission extends beyond serving only seniors.

“We serve all ages,” Pendleton said. “Now, we can pour a lot more into our community in order to help everybody make sure they have a hot meal, a place to come. So we greatly, greatly appreciate that.”

That same day, students from Maries County R-1 School District, under the guidance of Choir Director Rob Kilmer, brought holiday cheer and some Christmas caroling to the Center with instruments, xylophones, drums and choir performances. Music and angelic voices filled the Center as students shared holiday cheer. The drummers, all seventh graders, delivered an energetic solo that drew immediate smiles from the visitors. Students from grades four through eighth joined in after with carols, instruments and dance. Middle and high school choir groups layered their voices on top, creating a festive, harmonious sound.

Familiar favorites like “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” and “It’s a Wonderful Time of the Year” rang through the space. The most memorable moment, many said, was the rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” made famous by Judy Garland in St. Louis, sung by the high school choir.

“They’ve really put a lot of hard work into it, and they are beyond excited,” one grandmother and patron of the Senior Center said. “My niece up there is a fourth grader, and she can’t stop talking about her work to perform. We want the younger population coming in. We want them to know that we exist because they will be the next population to eventually run through here.”

The event introduced younger members of the community to the Senior Center and its role in the town.

“So many people in our community are like, ‘We didn’t know we had a Senior Center,” Pendleton said. “Hopefully now, people should know. The students, it’s very important to bring them in and roll with them and learn. It would be really cool if we got the school more involved.”