With temperatures rising, senior center provides activities for its members to cool off

As the temperatures rise and the heat makes it nearly impossible for anyone to do anything, Socorro’s Senior Center has plenty of activities for community members.

Director Lewis Auerbach said the center keeps seniors cool with plenty of air conditioning. The center also serves meals and keeps them hydrated with ample liquids, such as orange juice, punch, coffee and water.

The center also provides lots of activities for members to have fun, such as a pool table, jigsaw puzzles, sewing club and water aerobics at New Mexico Tech’s swimming pool at 7:30 a.m. every day.

“At the beginning, we had expressed concern with the seniors and the heat to keep themselves hydrated,” Auerbach said.

The pool table is a huge favorite among many of the center’s members. Larry Montoya likes to play pool when he has the time to stay cool. He also stays busy with other activities not associated with the center.

Montoya works for New Mexico Midwest Community Action Program and does a little bit of everything, such as distributing food for the elderly.

Johnny Adams also likes to play pool. He’s at the center almost every day for lunch, but he can’t drink too much water, he said.

“I like to play pool and drink coffee — the heat doesn’t bother me any,” said senior center member Bryce Dixon.

The center also competes in pool tournaments against the northern senior center in Veguita every third Thursday.

“I like hanging out with the guys at the center because it has pool tournaments once a month,” said Toby Jaramillo. “We’ve won quite a few — everyone enjoys it.”