BLACKSBURG AARP CHAPTER: A BRIEF LOOK AT YESTERDAY AND TODAY

THE BEGINNING: In 1975 a small group of seniors met to talk about a possible organization to enhance the social life and community activities for persons in their age group. They called themselves the LEISUREES and Clarence Jenicks (deceased) was chairman.

Within months the LEISUREES sought information about forming a local AARP Chapter, but hesitated to do so because of some required rules (said to be a state’s rights issue). Finally, in April 1976 they voted to organize a chapter which was chartered and incorporated June 29 that same year, with a $10 annual fee.

Denver Bragg (deceased) was elected their first president. It’s interesting to note our first female president was Jean Davis in 1984 and Lucy Lee Lancaster was chapter secretary. Meetings were on the VT campus in Squires.

Early activities of the chapter included:

· Group trips (because the chapter had access to new bus) to Barter Theater, Old Salem, Southern Living Show, Trail of The Lonesome Pine, etc.

· Income tax preparation assistance

· Weekly Bridge games

· Monthly programs of general interest (insurance, Warm Hearth plans & information presented by Dr. Wybe Kroontje. Minutes said WH to get underway in 1981 with Bob McNichols as administrator.

· Monthly reports on Warm Hearth progress throughout 1980

· Health Fair (April 1980)

· Need for a recreation center brought up frequently in meetings. Blacksburg Mayor Walrath (Torchy), deceased, met with chapter 1980. He agreed the AARP chapter had needs and mentioned a multipurpose room in the proposed recreation facility.

· Here is an excerpt from the Chapter History (available on line) that gives a good “feel” for how the chapter was operating in the early years:

“1982--Meetings to be 3^rd Tuesday from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, a bag lunch followed by program and business. Cost $16.67 per meeting.Officers, Directors and Committees List prepared and distributed.Various tours and programs were discussed.Workshops were also proposed.May meeting held at Warm Hearth to showcase it; speaker was Joan Munford telling of experiences in the General Assembly.Trips to the World’s Fair, Knoxville.Warm Hearth has two buildings under construction and private houses for sale.Programs were presented on Agency on Aging for the New River Valley and Montgomery Health Department and a directory of social services. Proposed Blacksburg-Virginia Tech bus system was discussed. Regional Library open house event held on April 18. Vern Hillman presented a gavel and block to President William Hoy. May was Senior Citizens Month – Lucy Lee Lancaster told of her early days here, as did Al Payne, Cartmel Brown, Carrie Sibold, Myron Shear, Nell Corey and William Hoy. Summer tours were announced. Rev. Glen Tyndall gave a slide talk on the plan to start a Christmas Store”.

TODAY: Forty-five (45) years later, the Blacksburg AARP Chapter is still going strong as a force for good which is enhanced by outstanding support from AARP VA. AARP gave VT $32,000 after the campus tragedy where 33 died including the shooter, and financially supports the chapter with the chapter health fair and other programs/events. Numerous chapter projects, donations, and activities are listed in the 2019 and prior chapter annual reports, newsletters, December meetings and on the chapter web page.

The chapter multiplies its good works through community partnerships with organizations such as the NRV Agency on Aging, Lifelong Learning Institute at VT (LLI), Community Foundation of the NRV, RSVP, VT Center for Gerontology, VCOM, Warm Hearth, and more.

For example, the chapter is partnering with several of these agencies to plan and execute an Aging in Place Train-the-Trainer Academy: the purpose is to support our local aging population by recruiting and training facilitators to assist individual seniors and/or their family members in creating personalized plans to age in place. This positions seniors to live as independently as possible in their own homes.

As another example, the chapter is partnering with the League of Women Voters in Montgomery County and with OneVirginia2021 to lobby for the elimination of Gerrymandering in The Old Dominion. Action on this bill is an important decision to be made in the first 2020 session of the Virginia Legislature. And a third example is the popular chapter Health Fair held every two years in cooperation with the Virginia College of Osteopathy (VCOM).

AARP’s brand is wide, deep and national. And the Blacksburg Chapter is a good example. It is widely known for good works in the New River Valley and beyond, or as AARP says “Create the Good”, and the chapter membership follows the motto established by AARP’s founder, Dr Ethel Percy Andrus.


TO SERVE, NOT TO BE SERVED