By Jeremy Brown
The Summiteer

If you’re a senior in the Hudson area and you’re looking for something to do, the Hudson Senior Network has you covered.

Twice a month, the Hudson Senior Network holds events for registered members, which includes wellness classes, luncheons, book clubs, mahjong, bi-monthly speakers, field trips and more.

In 2019, David Basil, then mayor of Hudson, saw the need for a senior center in the city, so he formed a committee to start the Hudson Senior Network. 

“It was the prior mayor. He had felt that there wasn’t really a presence for the elders in Hudson like there is in Stow or Twinsburg; some of those towns have good strong programs,” Hudson Senior Network Co-Chair Rich Piekarski said.

Piekarski has been involved in senior care for over 40 years and is currently the owner of Gardens of Western Reserve Home Care and Hospice in Cuyahoga Falls.

The Hudson Senior Network is a 501c3 organization that relies largely upon volunteer board members and donations to maintain the program, but Piekarksi said it’s enough for the organization to grow and continue to advance their offerings. It even has allowed for a quarterly newsletter with event information.  

“We still have zero budget unless people give to us,” Piekarski said. “It’s actually been miraculous what we’ve done with zero budget. With what we provide now on our schedule, on our City Hall newsletter, people can go to the website and see what activities or what seminars are coming up for the month.”

Much of the donations come from sponsorships.

 

“We have a minimum of anywhere from 30 in the winter to 100 people coming to our events,” Co-Chair Heidi Schweighoefer said. “That means there's a cost associated with that. We are entirely dependent on donations. We ask for sponsorships, which means from groups that serve adults, like home care agencies, nursing homes, residential living facilities, hospices, those types of places. That’s been the way we’ve been able to feed so many people every single month. The other extraneous costs are all ours, so we pay for everything else, sometimes out of our own pockets.”

Many of the Hudson Senior Network events take place in the basement of Hudson City Hall, such as mahjong classes, luncheons and parties, but sometimes the organization plans outdoor activities, like boating at Portage Lakes. 

Most of the members of the network are women, but men are welcome to take part in the fun, as well.

“We’ve been really surprised we’re getting more men, and generally our seniors are women, because their husbands have died or they don’t want to get involved with any of the things we’re doing,” Schweighoefer said. “But this year, we’ve had three men that have come in and said, ‘I’m retired. I’m bored to death. I don’t know what else to do. I’m going to start going to events.’ One guy is taking line dancing. We are always welcoming new people.” 

If you’d Iike to get involved in the Hudson Senior Network activities, you can visit their website at https://letstalk.hudson.oh.us/senior-activities.