Senior Center President Honored for 26 Years of Service

During its Dec. 10 meeting, the Grand Terrace City Council recognized JoAnn Johnson for her over two decades of service to her community. Johnson, who has resided in the bedroom community since 1958, has served in various capacities on the board of the Grand Terrace Senior Center, most recently as its president. At the end of this year, she will retire from her post and her position with the board. Jane Haines will succeed Johnson in the role of Senior Center president. Her start with the Senior Center was an unexpected one, she told the Grand Terrace City News. "It's actually rather funny," she said. "I'd had a terrible summer in 1986 and I wanted to make sure, after that, that my finances would be in order. I heard [the Senior Center] was hosting a program that had a financial advisor at the center and I thought, 'I'll go to that meeting and see if I have done everything right.'" Following the presentation, the Senior Center was also electing new board members. The positions of president and vice president were already filled but the center was in need of both a secretary and a treasurer. When no one in attendance offered to volunteer for the board positions, Johnson said the current president at the time became visibly agitated. "Here I am, a total stranger, sitting at the back of the room; the president finally asked, 'Is there anybody willing to take these positions?' and I said nothing. There was dead silence! And she became very mad," Johnson said. "She said, 'If no one wants to do anything, then maybe we'll disband.' Here I am, and I don't know a soul but there's guilt written all over my face. So I raised my hand and said, 'I could probably be the treasurer.'" With 16 years experience as a middle school math teacher, Johnson felt she could fit the need for the treasurer, she explained. "That was my introduction to the Senior Center and from there it just went," she said. Throughout her 26 total years helping manage the facility, Johnson has served numerous times as the center's president and has helped establish many programs and activities throughout her tenure that Senior Center members continue to enjoy, including programs like Bingo and Bunco. Johnson's daily responsibilities include organizing bi-weekly programs, securing refreshments for presentations, writing the Senior Center's monthly newsletter, writing a column for the Grand Terrace Area Chamber of Commerce's Blue Mountain Outlook newsletter and, generally, whatever else she is needed for. "My motto is: If it needs to be done and there's nobody else to do it, you do it yourself," she said. As Haines prepares to take over the duties and responsibilities of the president, Johnson said she will be retiring from the board — but she won't disappear completely. "I'll still be available to help if they need me," she said. The Senior Center provides a breadth of recreational and social activities for Blue Mountain seniors, including daily lunches, arts and crafts, bingo, bridge, card games, educational courses, music lessons, health screenings and services, a senior boutique, senior service advising, support groups and workshops. The center's monthly general meeting on the second Friday of every month at 10 a.m., also includes various entertainment, from magical acts to live bands and more. Johnson said there's a lot that she'll miss but mostly she'll miss the residents. "I'll miss being here and being with the people," she said.