Senior citizens in Mackinaw City enjoyed their first dinner in their newly reopened center in the Lion Dan Russell Building on Cedar Street Sunday, March 29, and senior citizens meals will now be offered there three days a week.

After meeting for potluck dinners at the former Ramada Inn, now Cedarbrook Village, in recent years, the group has returned to its original building and hired a cook, Dale Houle of Cheboygan, to offer meals on Tuesdays and Fridays at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m., said Lorahdelle Darrow, the secretary and treasurer of the Wawatam Area Senior Citizens.

Other officers of the senior citizens group, formerly known as the Mackinaw Seniors, are president Martha Darrow and vice president Ed Johnson.

The group shares the building with the Mackinaw City Lions Club, which meets there also. The facility has been freshly painted, the roof has been repaired, and refurbished appliances and furnishings are in place. To celebrate the reopening of the center, 35 people attended the turkey dinner served Sunday.

"Helping the Mackinaw Seniors get back into the Lions Club building has been our number one priority for the past year, and we want to do everything we can to make this work," said Lions Club President Ron Gwilt.

The Mackinaw Seniors had met in the Lion Dan Russell Building since 1976, until meetings were moved to Cedarbrook Village in recent years.

The group was founded in 1973 as a locally sponsored club with a membership and dues structure. The first meals were served in the Church of the Straits Fellowship Hall. The group's goal is to bring local and area senior citizens together for the purpose of promoting good health and long-lasting quality of life. The group now intends to continue this goal by providing an environment for camaraderie, social activities, nutritional meals, recreation, and entertainment. In addition to congregate meals, the group plans to offer Foot Care, Hearing, and Vision Screening Clinics; provide educational and entertaining programs for the seniors, and purchase equipment through donations to enhance a variety of programs held at the center, such as video equipment and electronic games.

The group plans to offer meals more frequently during summer. Meals cost $3 for those 60 and older, and $5 for those younger than 60.

For more information about the organization and its services, call (231) 436-5334.