Senior Center Picnic Draws Crowd Of 100

Sitting at a card table on the lawn at Corbin Park, 76-year-old Mable Riddle nibbled on fried chicken and talked with her north Spokane neighbor, Mildred Day, 81. They were enjoying the day and the company.

The two were among 100 people at a weekday picnic sponsored by the Corbin Senior Center.

Undaunted by the clouds, the seniors drove, car-pooled, came by bus and walked to the park Aug. 23 to munch on fried chicken, pasta, rolls, watermelon and corn.

They were joined by family, friends and neighborhood residents. As she visited with Day, Riddle’s two great-grandchildren stopped for a few minutes to sit on her lap.

The Corbin Senior Center has a membership of more than 3,000 and getting 100 people to an event is not unusual, volunteers said.

“We go there every Wednesday and get our blood pressure,” said Erma Coffield, 67. She was eating chicken and sitting next to Rudy Kraut, 82, both regulars at Corbin dances.

“We met there and we’re going steady,” Coffield said.

Many said they had been on nature walks or on travel tours arranged by Corbin. The center hosts dances, classes and has “pool tables that are open for action all day,” said Kraut.

For the picnic, volunteer Jorgi Herron had set up activities ranging from a Frisbee golf course to a “floating green,” which involved shooting a golf ball into a plastic swimming pool.

“Silly stuff like this keeps them bending,” said Herron. “If everyone bends every day that’s good.”

“You can just do about anything you want at Corbin,” said Day, “because there’s something for everyone.”

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