Young at heart come together to celebrate annual Valentine's Day for Older Adults

Elderly adults celebrated love a few days early at a Valentine’s Day party at the Carrboro Century Center on Friday afternoon.

The Carrboro Recreation and Parks Department has been hosting its annual Valentine’s Day Party for Older Adults for many years.

“It is a party for us old people who are increased in age,” said Sara Smith, who has attended the event multiple times.

Recreation Supervisor Dana Hughes has hosted the event for 11 years, but she said the annual party began well before she was in charge of it.

Hughes said she organizes the event and thinks that it is important to give local seniors an outlet of community for Valentine’s Day.

“Some people might not have that loved one with them still, so we are trying to provide an outlet for them to come celebrate just life,” she said.

According to Hughes, anywhere from about 30 to 50 people attend the party each year.

Most of the attendees come from Carrboro and Chapel Hill, she said.

This year, 33 people came to the party.

The main entertainment for the Valentine’s Day party was a drum circle, which was back by popular request from previous events.

There were also snacks, time to socialize and a prize drawing at the event.

Peggy Lanier, a Chapel Hill resident, has been going to this event for 10 years and said she always has a good time.

“Well, I come because I feel like if they are going to give us these things, we need to support them,” Lanier said.

Lanier said she feels that the Valentine’s Day holiday is important to recognize because it celebrates love.

“Love is what keeps us all together,” Lanier said.

She said Valentine’s Day is also special to her because it is her great-grandson’s fourth birthday this year.

Though Chapel Hill residents Priscilla and Jay Boomer attend a lot of events organized by the Carrboro Recreation and Parks Department, this was the couple’s first time attending the Valentine’s Day party.

Priscilla Boomer said the drum circle was one of the primary reasons why she came to the party for the first time.

“It is amazing that you can get that much music from percussion instruments,” she said.

The Boomers will have been married for 52 years this summer.

The pair met while skiing, and Priscilla was the one who initiated their relationship.

“I picked him up at a lift line in a double chair,” Priscilla said. “I was the aggressor.”

Smith said she tries to attend the Valentine’s Day party every year and thinks Valentine’s Day is an important holiday that should be celebrated.

On Valentine’s Day itself, Smith said she will spend time knitting clothes for children in the hospital with her knitting group.

“Love is the most important thing in the whole world,” Smith said.

“We come together, and when they invite us to the party, they list to be loving to everyone — not just your husband or wife but to everybody.”

@gabmicchia

city@dailytarheel.com