Keystone senior center may permanently close

The Keystone Senior Center Board met for the last time this year. There is dire concern it may have met for the last time ever unless volunteers step up.

The Dec. 2 meeting was attended by eight individuals and two board members, neither of whom will be on the board next year. And without a board the fate of the center is obvious.

“If you don’t have a board it’s gonna dissolve whether you like it or not,” said Deb Lervaag, who is filling in as board secretary until January. That is when nominations and board elections will take place, if anyone is interested.  

That interest was the focus of the meeting.

“I don’t want to close the senior center,” said current board president Jon Veltman. “But do we keep beating a dead horse?”  

Veltman stressed that the commitment to the board and the center is a “part time job” that he is no longer able to take on. Without a paid director or a core group of dedicated volunteers with time on their hands, the senior center is incapable of staying open.

“There are no volunteers for this institution (or) for anything in this town,” said Phil Lervaag.  

The senior center used to thrive as a place to go for comraderie and a meal. It was a base for the community, supporting people when loved ones died. It was also a source of activity, at one point hosting at minimum one activity per month. Seniors are more active now and there doesn’t seem to be a need for the center anymore.

“What I see is that we do have ederly who need food,” said Vanessa Row. “They don’t get involved.” 

“Our population is dying and not refilling. There isn’t a need,” Deb Lervaag said. 

A recent senior center survey garnered 20 responses. Sixty five percent of those responses were in favor of keeping the center open. It was not clear how many of those individuals use the center or are members. 

Yet the people in attendance at this meeting are hopeful some people will step up and continue this tradition that has been around since the town began nearly 50  years ago.

If enough people show up at the next meeting Jan. 27, some believe the center can get an active board and a vibrant center again. Sandi McLain will send out letters to all members letting them know when the meeting is and what the center needs. In the meantime, the center, which is currently the home of the Keystone Chamber of Commerce, will allow the chamber to continue to be housed there. The chamber doesn’t pay rent to the senior center and did not split utilities with the center in 2021 because they didn’t budget for it.

“Our budget was done,” said chamber director Robin Pladson. “We were trying to get theirs approved,” by taking the  lease.

The chamber had been located  in Keystone City Hall but that space was not conducive for multiple offices. The senior center seemed like a good fit. Pladson was asked to be a part-time director in the hopes of perhaps running some activities and bringing more people to the center. Meals were served weekly all summer but no other activities were offered.

Pladson said the chamber was “budgeted down to the penny last year” and is “even worse” this year in terms of finding an office  space to rent.

“We don’t have a population to back either of you up,” Phil Lervaag said about the senior center and the chamber. “Those are the facts.”

Pladson said the chamber has had a place to be rent free since 1974. It has budgeted for senior center utilities in 2022 if the center remains open. If not, the chamber will effectively be homeless. 

If the Keystone Senior Center closes permanently it will not impact the monthly food donations of Feeding South Dakota. That drop off has nothing to do with partner agencies according to Mary Corbine, agency relations coordinator.  

Anyone interested in volunteering with the Keystone Senior Center or serving on its board is asked to attend the next Keystone Senior Center meeting Jan. 27 at 5:30 p.m. You do not need to be a member to volunteer or to serve on the board.