Adele Thomas came to Monday night’s community center public meeting as if she was a college freshman peering herself for a final exam.
Thomas, one of about a dozen community members invited by the Community Center Workforce Group to attend the meeting to provide insight and ideas for a new center in Tracy, made good use of her time at the table to rattle off two pages worth of events that could potentially take place inside a new community center — by people of any age.
“Family arts and crafts, a community choir, dance lessons for all ages, board games, tutoring, adopting a grandparent, community parties — it’s really opened ended, and you could go on and on,” Thomas said — and she did. “Teaching skills from the early 1900s, having a jigsaw puzzle area, teaching computer skills, healthcare care support groups for Alzheimers, dementia, cancer … and there’s the whole history area; programs form the SMSU international students, from the Tracy exchange students, hearing the speech students, the drama department, what about the Hmong population? It’s really limitless.”
Thomas’ point was clear and well-received by her peers: a new center can be host to just about any event one can think of — all the more reason, she said, Tracy needs it.
See more in this week’s paper!