County Senior Center Brings Virtual Programming to Residents

Annette Rockwood, Summit County Senior Center secretary, passes out food Dec. 17 at the South Summit Senior Center in Kamas. Photo: TownLift // Bailey Edelstein

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah. — A typical month as a senior in Summit County’s Senior Citizens Center programming would include hot lunches multiple times a week, games of Bingo and pool, museum visits, or a play, but since the pandemic hit, all in-person events have been canceled.

Annette Rockwood, secretary at the North Summit Senior Center, was determined to continue providing a sense of normalcy to the county’s seniors when their usual social schedules were upended.

“When the pandemic came around, I was really worried they weren’t going to get their lunches, worried that they were going to have difficulties not being in the senior center visiting with their friends,” Rockwood said. 

She started offering the North and South Summit Senior Center chapters virtual games of Bingo and scheduled county health department educators to contribute through Zoom to physical and mental wellness exercises to keep everyone healthy-minded and socializing.

“There’s something to be said about having a schedule,” Rockwood said. “When you get older and life slows down a bit, you don’t have those children that you’re chasing after or a job that you’re getting up and going to, but you still need to have a schedule to keep your mind happy, to keep your body happy.”

Thanks to senior center chef Jair Ramirez-Escobar, seniors are still enjoying their weekly lunches, but instead of eating together, Rockwood passes them out drive-through style in the parking lots.

Lunches are available Wednesdays and Fridays in North Summit, and Mondays and Thursdays in South Summit for a suggested donation of $3 for residents ages 60 and up, and a charge of $6 for anyone under the age of 60. Questions can be directed to the North Summit Senior Center at 435-336-2622 and South Summit Senior Center at 435-783-4311.