A taste of Hawaii at the Charles City Senior Center

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

About 40 Charles City residents took a little trip to Hawaii Wednesday.

They all dressed for the journey — wearing colorful shirts — and Rose Lamprecht made sure all were greeted with Hawaiian leis.

“We just decided we need to do a fun thing once in a while,” said Lamprecht, who is site manager for the congregate meals at the Charles City Senior Center. “We used to do one special big thing a year, then we kind of got away from it. We decided this was a year we better do it.”

The center hosted a Hawaiian-themed luau on Wednesday, complete with tropical decor, table settings, and Hawaiian music provided by Dick Knight.

Cheryl Warner prepared the feast, which included ham loaf, sweet potatoes, fresh fruit, rolls, coconut cream pie and non-alcoholic pina coladas.

Some of the guests accentuated their Hawaiian shirts with grass skirts and some strategically-place coconuts.

The Charles City Senior Center provides a number of resources and activities for senior citizens, including blood pressure clinics, fitness classes, income tax counseling, congregate meals, holiday get-togethers and other programs.

Lamprecht said that Julie Miller came in early to help decorate Wednesday morning. The table decorations were given away at the end of the day, and there were a few vacationers who tried to recall some hula-dance moves.