VIENNA — People aged 60 and older can visit the Vienna Senior Center at Vienna City Park to have a hot lunch and socialize with their peers.

Aging Best, a nonprofit nutrition organization based in Columbia and serving 19 counties throughout mid-Missouri, funds the center’s meal program. Visitors aged 60 and older are encouraged to contribute $5 for lunch. Anyone younger than 60 may eat lunch for $7.

Vienna Senior Center offers more than lunch to its visitors. Many days also feature activities and educational opportunities that provide an opportunity to both catch up with old friends and make new ones.

Upon arrival at Vienna Senior Center, guests are asked to sign in. Two boxes wait for the visitors to provide their contributions for lunch. The boxes they use depend on their age grouping because seniors may provide whatever contribution they can afford. No one over the age of 60 will be denied service because they cannot contribute. The host can provide change if necessary.

Vienna Senior Center is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday through Friday. Lunch begins at 11 a.m. and continues through 12:30 p.m. On most days, the soup will be ready at 10:30 a.m.

Fern Robertson is the administrator and head cook at Vienna Senior Center. Kelly Schoene-Shepherd is the assistant cook. John Webb handles janitorial and maintenance duties. He also keeps the rose bushes in front of the center looking great on his own time. A board oversees the center. They are President Peggy Rowden; Vice President Joyce Honse; Secretary Becky Bowser; Treasurer Karen Hautaniemi and members Pat Caillouet, Donna Backues, Sheri Godat, Linda Wyss and Phyllis Christensen.

Hosts at Vienna Senior Center volunteer their time. Recently, Jan Wenzel, Eleanor Terry and Barb Webb have been volunteering at the entry desk. They answer the phones and any questions visitors may have about the center. They also make calls to check on regular patrons to see if they have not seen them in a while to see and if they need anything.

Vienna Senior Center also offers home-delivered frozen meals for those who are homebound or have disabilities that prevent them from making it to the center for lunch. Tom Eads delivers the meals once per week. Deliveries expand beyond Vienna and into Belle and Vichy. The center asks homebound clients to contribute toward meal costs like they would if they visited in person.

Aging Best has allowed Vienna Senior Center to continue offering curbside meals, a practice it started during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vienna is one of the only locations that still offers curbside meals. Those wishing to receive a curbside meal may pull up to the second door and either walk in and pick up their hot meal or have one of the center’s staff bring the meal to their car.

Although Vienna Senior Center receives funding from Aging Best, the remainder of its budget comes from fundraisers and donations, which is why the center has fundraiser events throughout the year. For the 2023 fiscal year, the center had to raise $30,606 to meet its budget for 15,729 meals. Donations from residents and a grant from United Way helped the center meet its goal.

During the last fiscal year, Vienna Senior Center served 15,180 meals among 277 individual clients who visited throughout the year and had 5,016 meals and 144 homebound clients who received 10,164 meals throughout the year. The center is projecting a $38,976.88 need to meet its projection of 15,729 meals for the 2024 fiscal year.

In March, Vienna Senior Center received a grant to make improvements to the building. Over the summer, it hosted an open house to show the community the bright changes to the facilities. More changes are coming soon.

Each morning, Robertson makes coffee and people walking at the park stop in for a drink. Vienna Senior Center hosts many games including pitch, pinochle, checkers, Farkle and puzzles. On the third Wednesday of each month, the center hosts bingo for prizes.

More information about Vienna Senior Center, including its monthly menu, is on the Vienna Missouri Senior Center Lunch Menu Facebook page. The account also posts fraud facts and other information relevant to the center’s patrons. The center’s phone number is 573-422-3834.

Upcoming fundraisers include Oct. 19 for the Eagles Night Auction/Dinner and Nov. 5 election bake sale at the Knights of Columbus Hall.