I had the opportunity to visit the West End Senior Center aka Buhl Senior Center in Buhl, Idaho…read morerecently. I am not a senior, but I was there on business to provide some information to local seniors. Information from their website: The West End Senior Center provides essential services and resources for senior citizens 60 and older and their families. We offer a variety of activities at the center: Occasional Trips Meal Programs Silver Sneakers Exercise Thrift Store Educational and Informative Programs and much more. Located in the heart of Buhl, our historic senior center supports our mission of "Sustaining and improving the quality of life and independence of our aging seniors." The West End Senior Center provides hot, nutritious lunches Sunday thru Thursday. Serving time is 12:00 pm during the week and at 1:00 pm on Sundays. The suggested donation of $5.00 is for adults over 60 years of age. A person under 60 may dine as well, for the mandatory price of $7.00. Special pricing is available for persons under 10 years of age. I enjoyed lunch here. They have a salad bar - but not the traditional kind where you put your salad together. They have pre-made salads. This particular day they had broccoli salad and a grape/apple/marshmallow salad (which was quite delicious). Soup is out before the meal and it's in a large Crock Pot. Today's soup was a creamy, delicious potato soup. Bread, butter and crackers are near the salad bar too. And the desserts are out for you to take before the meal as well. On this day it was a pumpkin bread pudding that I didn't particularly care for - I'm not big on pumpkin. It had raisins in it and whipped cream on top - if it weren't pumpkin, I think I would have liked it. The main meal was baked chicken (with gravy if you like it), cooked carrots, and rice with peas and carrots (similar to a Chinese fried rice). Drinks are water, coffee, and iced tea. Everybody knows everybody here. The facility is clean, with clean bathrooms, good food, and hospitable people. As with all senior centers I have been to for lunch, they do a blessing before the meal and the Pledge of Allegiance. A good portion of the center is a thrift store; the walls are decorated with a lot of local history. It's a beautiful drive from I-84 in to Buhl - I didn't know this, and was pleasantly surprised. If you happen to be in Buhl around lunch time Sunday-Thursday, pop in for a good, cheap meal with some nice folks.

From the owner: West End Senior Center located in Buhl Idaho, is a community focused facility dedicated to serving…read morethe needs of senior citizens. We offer a supportive network for seniors providing essential services and fostering a sense of community.

I had the opportunity to visit the Hagerman Valley Senior Center in Hagerman, Idaho recently. I am…read morenot a senior, but I was there on business to provide some information to local seniors. Hagerman is a small town with less than 900 people in it, so the folks here are a tight-knit bunch. Tight-knit but funnny!! We played bingo before lunch (2 bingo boards are included in the price of your lunch) and the prizes were hilarious. They had large gift bags with different names on them. One was called "light up your life." The gentleman who won that bingo game received a light-up Christmas light necklace that he put on immediately. Someone said that you don't even have to decorate for Christmas, just invite him over. The other prize was called "make a spectacle of yourself" and that prize was a pair of reindeer glasses. Lots of laughs with these folks. Dessert was on the table - homemade chocolate chip and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. And they were gooooood. Lunch was salad bar, pineapple, and a piece of homemade pizza. My gosh it was good and filling. Drinks were water, coffee, and iced tea. They also have a thrift store in there where you can donate and/or purchase from. It was time to decorate for Christmas, so they asked for helpers to make a fire bucket line to help get the decorations out of storage. Nearly everyone helped with it. Just shows you the kind of people there are here. As with all senior centers I have been to for lunch, they do a blessing before the meal and the Pledge of Allegiance. hagermanvalleyseniorcenter.org - check the menu and if you see pizza on it, get there. You'll be glad you did.

I had the opportunity to visit Senior Connection aka the Hailey Senior Center in Hailey, Idaho. I…read moream not a senior, but I was there on business to provide some information to local seniors. Wow - what an amazing place! I've been to a lot of senior centers lately and this one is well above a 5-star rating. It's a large, clean facility. There is a "bar" with coffee, juice, tea, and ice cream. Salad bar, giant portions of assorted dessert cakes and pies. And good food. Apparently, their chef left so they have been putting out these lunches with people pitching in to help. And doing a spectacular job. Today's lunch was spaghetti and meatballs, corn, garlic toast, salad bar, Italian wedding soup (with meatballs) with sourdough bread and butter. The place was packed with seniors, but also locals who were not seniors who came in for lunch. They have a full suite of activities like fitness classes, bingo, and seasonal activities like a festival of trees. Check out their website - it's up-to-date and pretty impressive: https://seniorconnectionidaho.org/.

I had the opportunity to visit the Golden Years Senior Center aka the Shoshone Senior Center in…read moreShoshone, Idaho recently. I am not a senior, but I was there on business to provide some information to local seniors. I was not able to find a website for them, but what I know is that they have a large library where seniors can come read or borrow books, and have bingo and pinochle games. Lunch is served on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Seniors, $4.00 Those under 60, $5.50 Before lunch was served there were some large homemade sugar cookies on each table which some people (like myself) enjoyed with coffee before the meal. The food here is simple, but good - a salad bar, ham, potato casserole, vegetables, and a roll were served when I was here. Everybody knows everybody here and in the pre-meal prayer they prayed for someone who was in the hospital. The facility is older but clean, with clean bathrooms, and hospitable people. As with all senior centers I have been to for lunch, they do a blessing before the meal and the Pledge of Allegiance. If you happen to be in Shoshone around lunch time on Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday, pop in for a cheap meal with some nice folks.

I had the opportunity to visit the Minidoka County Senior Center in Rupert, Idaho last week. I am…read morenot a senior, but I was there on business to provide some information to local seniors. The facility is large. It's clean. It's well laid out. The bathrooms are spotless and have lotion and pump soaps that are from Bath & Body Works sort of places. (Perhaps they are donated, but it was a nice touch.) Penny, the manager is lovely. Super friendly, very helpful, and very gracious. I think folks sit in their groups of who their friends and neighbors are, but they were all welcoming and kind. Just a nice bunch of people. They do the Meals on Wheels program out of this location, and the same lunch that goes out for them is also made for lunch for people to come in and enjoy. Lunch is $5 for seniors, and $6 for non-seniors. I did not take a photo - but the meal was gigantic and delicious. You get a cafeteria tray and they load. it. up. You put the salad on your plate and top it with dressing. And then go down the line where they put a humongous piece of chicken fried steak, a big helping of mashed potatoes with white gravy on them (and on the chicken fried steak), some yellow corn, and a large, fluffy white roll. I had my choice of a cup of strawberry ice cream or rainbow sherbet - I went with the rainbow sherbet and it was tangy and yummy. I could not finish my meal - it was SO MUCH FOOD! - and never have I ever not finished a meal - ha ha! Cold tea, hot tea, water, and coffee are included. I think I may have seen some lemonade, but don't quote me on that. If you happen to be in Rupert, and want a delicious meal with some good, quality people, stop in - - and/or recommend this place to any seniors you know in the Rupert area!

Another great senior center offering meals and activities to the senior and not-so senior community…read morein Mountain Home. This is a clean, spacious facility, with a long ramp outside for wheelchairs access/entry. The front parking lot is a little snug, but they have a lot of parking on the back side. Lunch is served on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with Meals on Wheels home-delivered meals on the same days. The lunch calendar may be found here: https://mountainhomeseniorcenter.org/lunch-calendar/. They have a lot of activities including a popular fitness class, and Pinochle each Thursday and Sundays Quilting - 2nd and 4th Tuesday (winter months) Bunco - 1st Wednesday each month Hand and Foot Cards each Wednesday and Friday Line Dancing each Tuesday and Thursday Adult Coloring each Tuesday. Currently they are offering free tax preparation (by appointment) available through an AARP partnership. (I did not take pictures of this one, but will on a future visit.)

I had the opportunity to visit the Camas County Senior Center in Fairfield, Idaho last week. I am…read morenot a senior, but I was there on business to provide some information to local seniors. This was my second visit to this senior center, but my first time having lunch here. Kelly, the site manager, was cooking what smelled like a delicious barbecue pork lunch on my first visit. The cook had called in sick and she was tasked with making the lunch. Her demeanor was still cheery and welcoming even with taking on a duty I don't think she was planning on this particular day. She also made what looked and smelled like some bomb homemade brownies. But on this visit - I got to have lunch. On the menu today was chicken and dumplings. Which admittedly is one of my least favorite things to eat. I would not ever have this - unless I had to. And being here for lunch, and it being what was served, I had to. And it wasn't bad. The people I was sitting with who have chicken and dumplings often said that these were pretty good. The flavor was good, there were big pieces of chicken, and the dumplings reminded me of gnocchi. Dumplings I've had - and not liked - in the past were very pasty/gummy. So these were OK for me, but pretty good by standards of people more familiar with what this dish should taste like. The salad bar is a good one. Clean, with a good amount of the usual fresh items to put on your lettuce in addition to cottage cheese and peaches. And for dessert: BROWNIES! They had baked 2 pans of them, and had a tub of vanilla ice cream to go with. The brownies were gooey and delicious and warm when I put the vanilla ice cream on top. Yummmmmy! Lunch is $5 for seniors, $6 for those under 60, and served on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Everybody knows everybody here. And they seem to take care of each other. So and so wasn't doing well, so they packed up a lunch and took it to him. They made a 2020 calendar to sell (with proceeds going back to the senior center) with everyone's birthdays on it. A group stayed after lunch to play cards. There was a quilting area where a lady was working on a quilt that was going to be for sale at the Christmas bazaar. They have many events here for seniors: *Art class each Thursday 10am-12pm *Bingo 2nd Wed 1pm *Book Club 1st Wed of each month 3:30pm *Breakfast 2nd Saturday 8-10am *Cards Tues/Wed/Fri 1:30-4pm *Exercise Class Tues/Thurs 5pm *Foot Clinic 4th Wed 9:30am *Laughter Yoga Tue1pm *Meditation Tues 7pm *Miracle Hot Springs Trip 1st Mon of each month 8am *Old Time Fiddlers 4th Fridays 11:30am *Prairie Quilters Tue/Fri 10am-12pm *Weight Loss Group Tues 10:30 am - when you're that far in and away from larger cities, I think it's great that they are a destination for people to get out and be social. The facility is clean, with clean bathrooms, delicious food, and good, quality people. As with all senior centers I have been to for lunch, they do a blessing before the meal and the Pledge of Allegiance. It's a pretty drive out to the Camas Prairie, and if you time it right, you can enjoy a nice meal with with great people too.