On June 1, The Gathering Place cut the ribbon on its 50 Plus Community Center.
Some 450 members later, it’s already run out of space and is launching a capital campaign to add on.
Executive Director Kim Witkowski brought the Council of Senior Citizens’ plans to the Cobleskill Planning Board Thursday, where she got a thumbs-up to a 750-square-foot addition to the Kenyon Road spot that she hopes will hold them for a while.
The Senior Council bought the building in 2020 and spent the first half of 2021 working toward the spring opening.
By mid-June, Ms. Witkowski told the Planning Board, they had 250 members.
Then they started classes—everything from paint and sip to Tai Chi to Defensive Driving—and things really took off.
“This is work that comes straight from my heart,” she said. “The difference it’s made in people…They now have a place to call their own,” something Ms. Witkowski said seniors especially embraced after 2020’s COVID lockdowns.
The 24-by-30-foot addition will mostly be used to accommodate the Gathering Place’s movement classes, which have already maxed out the available space.
It will adjoin the lower-level exercise space and French doors will be used to maximize flexibility.
Plans also call for adding a 10-by-14-foot shed for storage, about the only thing the building is missing.
“Everyone comes for different reasons,” Ms. Witkowski said. “For some, it’s exercise. For others, it’s arts or support groups.
“The growth in membership since we opened, it shows that this was something the community really needed.”
Even before they launched its capital campaign, donations to the Gathering Place started coming in from supporters.
1947 Gilboa School graduate Nick Juried, who now lives in Texas and is a benefactor for a handful of local projects, has donated $10,000 to their efforts, Ms. Witkowski said; unsolicited, FAM sent them a check for $25,000.
“That just shows the kind of community support we have,” she added.
The Gathering Place returns the favor: it’s hosted meetings for Rotary, CPI, and the Chamber and serves as a site for SCHOOL classes.
Classes, presentations and trips--Thursday a busload of seniors left Cobleskill at 6am for an overnight trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania and the Sight and Sound Theater—are open to everyone, though space is limited.
Membership runs January to January and is $25; scholarships are available.
Call (518) 823-4338 for more information or go to Schoharieseniors.com.