Salvation Army Santa Rosa senior center offers activities, camaraderie

For David Shiflett of Santa Rosa, the Salvation Army’s new Senior Activities Center is more than a clean, comfortable place to shoot pool in front of three tall cathedral-style windows or play cards in a cozy game room.

Shiflett, 72, a retired armored car messenger, does that and more for amusement at the center tucked behind the 10-story Silvercrest senior apartment towers on Third Street, also operated by the Salvation Army.

But for Shiflett, whose wife passed away in January, the social connections he makes there are paramount.

“This place helps me keep my head straight,” he said.

Established in Sonoma County 128 years ago this month, the Salvation Army will celebrate an official opening of the senior center this afternoon, with an open house for the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday.

The center - in a totally refurbished Salvation Army building at 115 Pierce St. - features a library, arts and crafts room, kitchen and computer room with seven internet-connected desktop computers ready for teaching seniors technology skills such as communicating with relatives over Skype and printing photos sent online.

Bingo games, movies, pingpong, music lessons, exercise and meditation are among the activities from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays, soon expanding to 4 p.m.

Carol Orr, the center’s director, said she’s happy to see the members becoming like a family.

“It means a lot to me,” she said. “It’s wonderful to hear the stories about their lives.”

The Salvation Army Santa Rosa advisory board decided to open the center to give seniors “a place where they can go and enjoy their years,” Orr said.

Services are currently free to members, she said, adding that the board is expected to establish a fee of $5 to $7 a month this summer.

Shiflett, who helped get the center’s dishwasher running, is among about 18 regulars at the center since it had a “soft opening” in February.

“The ladies are teaching me how to play poker,” he said.

“High stakes,” Rosemary Chambers said with a laugh. “A lot of chips involved.”

It’s a no-cash game because the Salvation Army, founded in London in 1865, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian church and is opposed to gambling.

Chambers, an 80-something Silvercrest resident for 14 years, said she enjoyed a recent field trip to Bodega Bay, calling it “a lovely day by the shore.”

Drinking coffee with another woman in the center’s spacious main hall, Chambers said she’s thrilled to have the facility for folks age 55 and older next to her residence.

“It’s a whole new life,” she said. “Different things happen every day.”

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 707-521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com.