Residents of Lynnfield and surrounding towns can happily count down the days until they turn 60, knowing they will be welcomed with open arms to the Lynnfield Senior Center.
The center offers a variety of activities, including boat-cruise field trips, educational seminars, movie nights, and even a salon. The walls are decorated with vibrant paintings, the rooms furnished with comfortable chairs for seated exercises, and the drawers for the Lego group are always stocked with new sets to build.
Behind the scenes of it all are the Friends of the Lynnfield Senior Center, the group responsible for almost everything that the center has to offer.
The town pays for the salaries of the employees, maintains the building, and provides a budget for office supplies, Council on Aging Director Linda Naccara said.
“As far as any programming or the furnishings, that’s 100% the Friends,” she said.
At the peak of the support are the young-spirited sisters Pauline Finberg and Georgann Lieb from Dallas, Texas. They have given back to the Lynnfield Senior Center for more than 20 years by serving as Friends of the Lynnfield Senior Center.
Finberg said she has been president of the Friends for 18 years, while her younger sister has been the treasurer for three years. They are two of the members who serve on the organization’s board along with Secretary Josie Weaver, Venita Armstrong, Virginia Doocy, Pat Gengemi, Anne Hourihan, Debby Huard, Ann Leskiw, and Lorraine Wilson. Together, this team helps senior citizens in the area feel a sense of belonging at the Senior Center.
The center hosts up to 170 guests each day, all of whom take advantage of the lively activities provided by the Friends, Naccara said.
“What we’re all learning is, your body kind of starts to give out. But your heart — your heart and your soul do not,” she said. “But everybody still has the need to get up and get out and have a purpose to their day.”
Although neither Finberg or Lieb live in Lynnfield, they work to keep the center running with donations and fundraising, she said.
“Their dedication — the whole group, but these two in particular — is a true gift because they are here all the time… They are tireless in their efforts,” she said. “I say, I get in bed at night and I think, ‘OK, I can live another day because I have this amazing support.’”
Finberg spends a few days a week at the center, whether as a participant in the pom-pom exercise class or operating the thrift store.
“I’m retired and I was looking for something that I felt would contribute,” she said.
With the help of volunteers, she operates the center’s thrift store. Guests of the center can walk in the store with just a few dollars and leave with a bag filled with jewelry, books, scarves, and anything else the Friends receive as donations. All of the proceeds from the sales go toward activities and decorations for the center.
“That, seriously, is a full-time job because any donations we get, I have to go through them,” she said.
While Finberg spends most of her days at the center, Lieb works tirelessly behind the scenes and takes pride in her work. She feels one of the most important fundraisers the Friends run is their annual donation letter to the town’s residents. It helps raise awareness and funds for the center and reaches all parts of Lynnfield.
“I grew up old. I just wanted to continue to contribute to the town and felt that was a good way to do it,” Lieb said.
Both sisters are looking forward to the annual week-long purse and jewelry sale this November, one of the Friends’ biggest fundraisers of the year.
“The center is so pretty thanks to this group. People want to come here,” Naccara said. “A problem all senior centers have is seniors living in their town say, ‘I’m not going to a senior center. I am not going to a senior center.’ But, if you can get them in the door to the Lynnfield Senior Center, and they see it’s beautiful, it’s bright, it’s welcoming, it’s vibrant, then they come back. Then they come back.”
