People over age 55 are the fastest growing segment of the population in Newton, and the city has been stepping up its programming for this group, according to Nancy Scammon, the “Over 55” Director for Newton Parks, Recreation & Culture.
Scammon has been doing that job for 18 years, and a lot has changed. Sports are more popular now, from basketball and golf to kayaking.
“Pickleball is massive,” she said, noting that she has about 1,000 people on her pickleball mailing list. She’s happy about the new pickleball courts being added at Albemarle Field, which will help with the growing demand for space for the sport.
Other activities have gotten less popular. When Scammon started, there were about 60 people regularly playing cribbage; now there’s only about 8 regular attendees. The number of people interested in day trips has also gone down. She said planning activities can be like fishing.
“Sometimes you catch something, sometimes you don’t,” Scammon said.
This analogy might have sprung to mind because of her surprise at how popular a learn-to-fish event was. She’s also been trying to add additional events for the south side of the city, which has previously had fewer due to the distribution of building space, and she was pleased that a new walking group on the former Mt. Ida campus has had 48 people join.
One thing Scammon is excited about is for the future prospects of the Cooper Center for Active Living, which will hopefully be open next fall. The city broke ground on it earlier this year.
“It’s going to be a hopping, wonderful, vibrant place, but we’re still trying to figure out how it’ll work,” she said. Unlike the previous senior center, it will be open later in the day and also on weekends. The name is also intentional.
“People don’t like to be associated with the Senior Center. That’s where old people go!” she said.
While Parks and Recreation is a different department, Scammon sees her office as a sister department to Senior Services.
A big struggle for senior programming in Newton involves transportation. Not everyone has been
happy with GoGoNewton, which replaced NewMo as the door-to-door transportation service.
Public transportation can be limited and often requires a lot of additional walking. One way Scammon has been trying to deal with this is by bringing programming into senior housing like Haywood House. She’s had a volunteer offer sessions on neurographic art, which is intended to help reduce anxiety. She’s also added a new bingo session in Nonantum.
“People couldn’t access bingo on the other side of the city,” she said.
Those who would like to sign up for a class or program can do so on the Newton Parks, Rec & Culture website.