For years, Schoharie County’s wanted a community center for senior citizens.
Kim Witkowski made it happen, and that’s why she’s the 2022 Times-Journal Star.
Ms. Witkowski is the executive director of The Gathering Place 50 Plus Community Center, which grew from ground zero 18 months ago to boasting 800 members.
But instead of a location for people to only socialize, The Gathering Place offers a range of programs put in place by Ms. Witkowski: painting, music, calligraphy, movies, zumba, exercise, Alzheimer’s and stress support, dancing, pinochle, pool and many more.
“You don’t stop living after retiring,” Ms. Witkowski said. “It’s all about staying active. You can’t become irrelevant. This place makes people feel needed.”
Ms. Witkowski, 53, has believed this for quite a while. Her grandmother started a senior center in Connecticut, and as a girl, Ms. Witkowski helped.
She also helped her mom with field trips for seniors.
“This is just like full circle,” she said, recalling early days and the present Gathering Place.
Moving to Schoharie County in 2000, Ms. Witkowski worked at the Leaf Alcoholism Center and later, the Wildwood School in Schenectady, both not-for-profits.
In 2018, she decided she wanted to work with older people and became office administrator for the Schoharie County Council of Senior Citizens.
Suddenly working locally after commuting for years, Ms. Witkowski recognized a local center was essential.
“There was no place for seniors to go,” she said. “It was weird. Every place I was before, they always had a place.”
She talked to the Senior Council board, and they supported the plan to find such a place.
Ms. Witkowski also visited a senior center in Saratoga and came away with ideas.
“They had some nice programs, and I took that and went with it,” she said.
She and Betty Karlau, a Council board member, found an available building in Cobleskill’s East End. Near the Speedway convenience store, the building in the past had housed Motorola, a radio station, health food store and Heirloom Seeds.
Ms. Witkowski made her pitch to the Council board in July 2019, and board members approved the purchase.
COVID delayed renovations, but The Gathering Place eventually opened in June 2021.
Since then, The Gathering Place has added two employees: Liz Kosier, who handles activities, and Nancy Becker, front desk.
And also since then, Ms. Witkowski and the staff have added programs and services.
“I just wing it,” she said. “I ask for suggestions, and this group gives them. I always have an open door.
“I want this to be one-stop shopping. I can help people apply for Social Security, Medicare, whatever people need.”
But there’s also the personal aspect. The Gathering Place lives up to its slogan, “Where Friends Become Family.”
Along that theme, The Gathering Place holds dinners at the holidays and hosted a New Year’s Eve Party this past weekend.
“I don’t what people to be alone,” Ms. Witkowski said. “It’s really all about togetherness. You have to bring people together.”
Funding comes from the $25 annual membership––“That keeps the lights on,” she said––and sponsorships and donations from Fenimore Asset Management, Sterling Insurance and philanthropist Nick Juried.
A large expansion is already under way, and Ms. Witkowski is pleased with The Gathering Place’s success in such a brief time.
“God has a plan, and you can see it happen here,” she said.
Ms. Witkowski and her husband John live on Clove Road in Seward.

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