Social Butterflies: The North Canton Senior Center

In an expansive room at the North Canton Civic Center, seniors sit patiently as makeup artists dab black-and-white cosmetics onto their faces. When finished, participants sport dramatic winged eyeliner, fully painted black-and-white faces and black lipstick. They’re ready to head to Walther’s Twin Tavern for a goth dress-up lunch outing put on by the North Canton Senior Center.

“It’s just a great place to be united,” says community engagement librarian Amber Ollis, who leads the senior center programming. “We’re really a welcoming group.”

Launched in June 2022 by the North Canton Public Library — in partnership with the city of North Canton — the senior center opens at the North Canton Civic Center every Tuesday and Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Each day starts with an hour of gentle fitness.

“It’s super important to always have an active lifestyle so that it improves longevity. It definitely gives stability for falls, so prevention of falls,” says fitness instructor Cora MacNeill. “It’s important to have a calming mechanism.”

Exercise is followed by a coffee break and varied programming for the last two hours.

“The seniors … I compare them a lot to teens,” Ollis says. “The goth outing, we have exercise dancing, we’ve had a tattoo artist come in, and they got fake sleeves. We have a really adventurous group, and the programming has just been really fun with them. They’re up for really anything. They tell me what they want, and I go out and get it.”

In the past, they’ve done laughter therapy, planted succulents and fairy gardens, listened to the American Heart Association discuss blood pressure, enjoyed music from live bands and even received a visit from Dr. Howard Tucker, named the world’s oldest practicing physician by Guinness World Records.

“We also do low-key events too, like potlucks, where they bring food, and we just work on puzzles,” Ollis says. “Once a month, we also go to the movies — it’s called our Seniors in Motion program. So, we’re trying to start taking more trips with some of the seniors to local things like the [Pro Football] Hall of Fame, McKinley [Presidential Library &] Museum.”

One of the center’s most highly attended programs was a visit from paranormal researcher Sherri Brake. She discussed Area 51 and UFOs with the seniors, prompting them to share stories.

“She’s going to be coming back again next year,” Ollis says. “They really loved that — had a ton of questions.”

The senior center’s programming is free for those 55 and older. Last year, it saw 4,380 attendees.

“We know loneliness is a big deal with seniors. So just having them connected to either our exercise instructors, each other … sometimes that’s all they have is each other,” Ollis says.

Sixty-four-year-old Lorella Rohrer learned about the senior center through the North Canton Public Library’s e-newsletter.

“Not everyone has a social circle. And here, you meet people — people you otherwise would never meet,” Rohrer says. “I really believe the senior center bridges that gap.”

Rohrer’s favorite program this year was one in which a visiting actor recited the work of Edgar Allan Poe.

“When I was in junior high, I was obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe. So, I came, and he did ‘The Raven’ and ‘The Tell-Tale Heart,’ and he performed it like he was on an actual stage,” she says. “It was fabulous.”

The center’s oldest participant is 96.

“She does chair Pilates — she does it all,” says Ollis. “It’s important to see, yeah, you might be 55 and slowing down, but in another 40 years, you could still be doing chair Pilates.”

Donna Mertes, 84, began attending the senior center after she broke her hip and a friend recommended its exercise programming. She has since made friends through the center.

“Today, it was raining, and you’re always tempted to not come — you know, not go out in the rain,” Mertes says. “But when I came and I opened up the back door, they were laughing … and I thought how lucky all those people are that they could be out of their house and laughing. Because we would just be at home alone otherwise.”

845 W. Maple St., North Canton, 330-499-4712, ext. 329, northcantonlibrary.org