Mind and body

JACKSONVILLE — James “Buck” Buchanan was the only man among two tables of women. He comes in from Cabot to be a substitute player in the bridge games at the Jacksonville Senior Wellness and Activity Center.

Being surrounded by women didn’t seem to bother him as he fanned out his cards. Seniors from the Jacksonville area meet at the center each weekday for various activities.

“What amazed me,” Jo Merck said, holding her cards close to her, “is no matter what happens, everybody laughs; nobody argues.” Her motto is “love and laugh.” As she introduced herself as Jo Merck, she added that her name rhymes with berserk. “See, you laughed,” she added. “[Laughter] keeps the peace and will solve the social problems of the seniors.” The center has been at its current location since 1984, but on Nov. 30, the facility also became a wellness center.

In order to be certified as a wellness center, Betty Seales, activity director and assistant director, said the center had to cater to the Seven Dimensions of Wellness, which are intellectual, emotional, spiritual, environmental, physical, social and vocational.

“Everything that we do points back to those Seven Dimensions of Wellness,” Seales said.

She said it has been scientifically proven that new brain cells can develop through physical activity. She said the center provides thinking activities to keep the mind sharp, as well as physical activities to keep the body healthy.

The center began in a trailer 37 years ago, Seales said, to give the seniors in Jacksonville an opportunity to gather. Then the Meals on Wheels program began, and in the early 1980s, the Bart Gray family donated the land on which the center sits.

It means a lot for seniors to have a place to eat, visit and participate in activities.

“We have a place where we are welcome,” Melda Rice said, “and we can meet our friends here.”

Rice’s son, Ben Rice, served on the board of directors of the center during its conception, Seales said.

She also said that to be eligible for membership, one must be at least 60 years old and pay a $20 annual fee. Members have access to the center’s activities and meals. The only time the members are charged for anything, Seales said, is when they go on a trip and extra expenses are incurred.

For its members who are home bound, the center has a telephone reassurance program.

“We call every day to make sure they are OK,” Seales said.

The center, at 100 Victory Circle, is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday.

For more information, visit www.jacksonvilleseniorcenter.com.

Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or at jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.

Three Rivers, Pages 112 on 01/08/2012

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