Nov 11, 2014 2 min read

CALIFORNIA – Judy Buletza stopped by her local senior center in California Borough Tuesday to recognize former soldiers on Veterans Day.

As a mother of a veteran, she distributed patriotic lapel pins in the cafeteria of Center in the Woods in one of a string of programs offered in the building.

“I do this every year to honor them,” said Buletza, of nearby Blainesburg, in a senior center that’s about to celebrate its 20th birthday.

“The center offers just about everything,” said Theresa Brangard, a fundraiser and activities director at the center, which was built to resemble a ski lodge behind a forest at 130 Woodland Court.

“You name it. We have it,” Brangard said.

It offers such services as exercise programs, massage therapy, a beauty shop, a medical laboratory and an adult day-care center.

The center grew out of a partnership with nearby California University of Pennsylvania, which obtained a grant in 1982 to operate a senior center.

A nonprofit organization formed and raised $1.5 million to build the multipurpose center, where Cal U. paid the salaries of five of its employees in a working laboratory for students majoring in gerontology.

“The unique arrangement was the only one of its kind in the nation,” a former director, Mary Hart, wrote in a history of the center.

That partnership came to an end, though, in 2003 when Cal U. cut the center’s funding in response to a state mandate to reduce spending.

The center managed to survive, and it still offers internships and volunteering opportunities to Cal U. students, including a few of them who raked and bagged leaves there Tuesday.

Meals are provided at noon during the week to people who are 60 and older. Volunteers also deliver meals to the homebound.

Presbyterian Senior Care operates a 40-unit building on the property.

The center will celebrate its birthday with a “Pack the Center Day” which will include prizes and guest speakers, beginning at 10 a.m. Dec. 12.