PRESCOTT VALLEY - Staff members at the Central Arizona Senior Association (CASA) center here are preparing for a "grand re-opening" Wednesday that coincides with their official takeover of the meals programs.
However, the crew at CASA as well as senior centers in Mayer, Black Canyon City and Yarnell already assumed control of the on-site lunches and Meals on Wheels services.
That is because Yavapai Senior Nutrition Providers, which did business as Meals on Wheels, bowed out of its contract even though it does not expire until this coming Tuesday. The Northern Arizona Council of Governments notified Yavapai Senior Nutrition Providers weeks ago that NACOG would not renew its contract with the entity for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which begins Wednesday.
Yavapai Senior Nutrition Providers notified NACOG June 9, and CASA assumed control on the next day, said Mary Wise, administrative assistant at the CASA center. She is married to Councilman Harold Wise, a CASA board member.
"They needed to get their bills paid, and closed their books," said Betty Robinson, CASA's executive director.
The nutrition program left early because each senior center "decided to go independently," said Eileen Gnabasik, president of Meals on Wheels. "The transition went extremely smoothly."
Robinson apparently agrees that the transition went smoothly even though the nutrition program's early departure "kinda" caught her off guard.
Robinson and Wise cite the support they receive from NACOG, and noted they and Meals on Wheels coordinator Dawn Koval attended an all-day training session June 17 with NACOG in Flagstaff.
CASA also has retained the kitchen employees and volunteers who prepared the meals under the previous contractor.
"We are learning a lot," Robinson said. "We are learning together."
NACOG's director of the Area Agency on Aging, Mary Beals-Luedtka, applauded the efforts at CASA and the three other senior centers.
"I thank God that these organizations have stepped to the plate," she said. "We are all working together with these four places."
Beals-Luedtka said all four sites will have new contracts with NACOG that go into effect Wednesday.
The CASA staff also has seen a 5 percent increase in the number of seniors who buy lunches served weekdays in the center, located on Manzanita Circle. Wise credits the fact that CASA lowered prices for the meals from $5 to $4 and restored the popular salad bar.
CASA now serves 150 to 200 meals per week in its dining room, Wise said. Robinson said volunteer drivers deliver between 110 and 125 meals on weekdays to home-bound seniors through Meals on Wheels.
The lunches have improved, said Lewis Freeman, a summer visitor to Prescott Valley who has patronized CASA for years.
"I think we are going to have more variety of food and keep our salad bar," said Freeman, a retired rancher who showed up this past Wednesday morning with his wife, Estelle, and Marge Samuelson, another summer visitor.
Meanwhile, the CASA crew is preparing for the grand re-opening, with 100 people signed up as of Wednesday morning, Wise said.
In preparation for the event, volunteers from NACOG, the Parks and Recreation, and Public Works departments repainted the interior of the building from white to light green Monday and Tuesday, the first paint job in 10 years.
The grand re-opening luncheon is set for 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
