the Center. There are instructive lectures, school choruses, movies, dancing school presentations, and colored slides of many lands.

The Senior Citizens' orchestra and chorus have provided programs for service clubs, hospitals, Grange meetings, and many other groups. The Center's experience with service activities indicates that the possibilities are extensive and that excellent cooperation can be expected with proper publicity and properly expressed appreciation.

The community is kept alert to each new step of growth by the cooperation of the local press and radio, and by talks given by board members and staff members. The director has a history of the Center's growth and program development illustrated in colored slides which is presented to community groups on invitation.

Not only is there evident cooperation from the press and radio, but industry, merchants, the county fair board, the public library, banks, and public agencies have been generous in giving space for displays of pictures and craft products of the Center. The local newspaper provides weekly (or several times a week) publicity covering all phases of the program. The local radio station provides two Center programs a week as a public service. One 5-minute program covers the complete activity schedule for the week. The second is a 15minute program presented by members with music and reminiscing of their and Hamilton's past. A nearby university and a school of nursing have visits to and tours of the Center as part of their regular

curriculum. A discussion of the program and the challenges of aging are highlights of these tours.

Features of the Program

A detailed account of the many program features is to be found in Part IV, "Activities of the Center," beginning on page 21.

With a large and varied membership, a wide and interesting range of programs is maintained to offer something of interest to each member. The program grows as new interests are discovered. Each suggestion is tried and given a fair trial. However, if a program does not "go over," it is dropped and something else tried. Out of experience in identifying interests of members, three types of programs have evolved:

Recreation: To keep the body alert.
Learning: To keep the mind alert.

Service: To keep the heart alert.

Seventy member committees give direction to activities within these areas of individual and community concern. Specific activities and features of programs that have had "survival value" in the Center are included in Part IV.

Part III

W

The Center Evaluated

HAT WERE THE MAJOR PURPOSES of those who initiated plans for the Hamilton Senior Citizen Center? To what extent have these purposes been achieved?

Development of recreation, learning experiences, and community services for and by older persons was clearly the basic objective of those who launched the program. The discussion that follows is relevant to these purposes. The analysis may be helpful to communities involved in, or about to undertake, a similar development. Members and families of participating members were asked to evaluate the Center. The following are typical of the comments:

"This is our second home."

"I don't know what I did before we had the Center."

"The Center could do without us, but we can't do without the Center."

"I hadn't played an instrument for years until I came to the Center and started playing with the orchestra."

"We have had a whole new life since we came to the Center and entered into the activities."

"We like belonging to the Center and the companionship of people our own age because we don't have to compete with younger people. We can be ourselves."

"We can do what we want to here without fear of being laughed at by our children or other young folks."

Families and friends of Senior Citizens made comments like these:

"Dad is so much happier since he has found old friends and made new ones and is taking part in the crafts. He isn't so tired or so crabby." "Mother is a new person since going to the Center. She has made so many new friends and has so many new interests and so much to talk about." "My aunt feels so much better than she did before she started going to the Center. She has found new interests and doesn't have so much time to think about how 'bad' she feels."

"My neighbor was in the hospital and couldn't wait to get out so she could get back to the Center to keep up with what was going on there." The growth experience of the Center is significant. Beginning with 7 members in 1954, the Center membership has grown to 1,150

in May 1961. Both on a quantitative and a qualitative basis there is reason to believe that Center activities are meeting some of the needs and interests of older persons.

Community Services

Has the Center developed significant programs in the area of community service? The specific community service programs are set forth on page 26. The record indicates that each year the membership, working through committees (now 70), discovered and developed new community services. Illustrative of the many services is the Friendly Visitors service. In Hamilton some 350 elderly persons, "less fortunate" than most of the members, are homebound, residing in nursing homes, or hospitalized. Through systematic arrangements and transportation, the Center has made it possible for members to visit those older persons whose physical burdens are the

most severe.

Learning Activities

Has the Center fostered learning activities of interest to the members? The specific features of the educational programs are given on pages 21-23. Again the record shows growth in class instruction and informal grouping of members who choose to expand their intellectual interests. Motivation has clearly been uppermost in the minds of Center leaders who have stimulated learning activities. Challenging types of artistic, cultural, and intellectual activities have grown out of informal association, and scheduling arrangements have been made sufficiently flexible to accommodate most of the interested members.

In the judgment of Center leaders, motivation for educational experiences has resulted from the informal approach which in essence is succinctly expressed in the following words:

In a pleasant physical and social environment the new members may sit and watch. As they see interesting learning activities underway, many find new interests and ways to sharpen old interests. There is no effort to crowd the individual into an educational program until it strikes the spark of interest, but there must be creative leadership in setting up educational programs that call for instruction and leadership from within the Center and from the rich community resources.

Recreation

Has the Center met the recreational needs of members? The specific features of the recreational programs are given on pages 24-25. It

is significant that recreational activities were emphasized in the early development of Center programs. "That is what they wanted to do," say the staff leadership. Out of the imaginative leadership of members developed an extensive program of recreational activities.

Expansion to Other Communities

Has the Center influenced other Ohio communities in developing similar programs? As a result of numerous inquiries, leaders of the Center felt that a sharing of ideas on a statewide basis might prove helpful. In March 1958 eight centers in Ohio sent representatives to the Hamilton Center to exchange ideas, talk over problems, and to consider the forming of The Ohio Association of Centers for Senior Citizens. The response was positive, and other meetings followed. With the help of national and State leaders, a constitution and bylaws were drawn and ratified in September 1959. Eleven centers are at present active members of the State association.

Broadening Influence of the Center

Has the Center influenced community thinking about older persons and their potentialities? Precise cause and effect relationships are not demonstrable, but the consensus in Hamilton, as discovered by an "outsider," is that community thinking has been focused (and sharpened) on a wide range of the more obscure problems and potentials in the older age group.

The broadening influence of the Center is reflected in recommendations of the Butler County Committee on Aging released Friday, April 1, 1960, in the Hamilton Journal & Daily News. The local committee reported nine services for older persons that are needed in the county. These include additional day centers and clubs; more friendly visitors for shut-ins; care for sub-acute, chronic, and long-term illnesses; a job placement bureau; adequate housing facilities; a clinic for the aging; rehabilitation and/or therapy for nursing home patients; and better preparation for retirement.

The committee recommended employment of retired talent in industry and education. Regarding education and recreation for older. persons, the committee recommended that education courses and planning for retirement be developed by schools, by management and labor, with special attention to housing, medical care, employment, recreation, and income maintenance. The committee suggested that citizenship classes for the foreign-born aged be established in the