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Valpo Parks’ Banta Team works to create community for city seniors

Valpo Parks’ Banta Team works to create community for city seniors

Wendy Riggle is the senior activity center director at the Banta Center. She helps bring activities to the center and plans them for the seniors to make sure that they enjoy the activities.

“I coordinate through the newsletter to get activities brought into the center for the seniors,” said Riggle. “We go through it monthly and make sure that the games and activities they're doing are still things they like to do. We've also brought on new activities in the last year such as chair volleyball, ball drumming, beginner Pinnacle classes, a couple of card games, and then we just keep those activities going as long as they're still interested. I get those all planned for them. I just hang out with them and have fun.”

Riggle has been with the Valparaiso Parks Department for two years working alongside Helen Ramones who has been there for eight years.

“Ramones is my right hand man,” said Riggle. “I could not do this job without her. She sits at the front desk and greets all of our members. She also helps with membership, and she does the lunch schedules and gets the seniors all organized for lunch daily. Basically anything that I need, she's right there to help me.”

Ramones and Riggle work behind the scenes to get the activities and events at the center. Ramones is in charge of getting all of the bingo callers each month.

“She has to reach out to other centers like Dunes Hospice or Life Care Center of Valparaiso. Both are really big with us,” said Riggle.  Valparaiso Senior village is also really big with us. They're huge, big volunteers that help us make things possible in the center.”

As Riggle’s right hand man, she could not run the center without Ramones.

“I could not do this without Ramones,” said Riggle. “When I started here, I knew nothing about what a senior center was. She just led me in so many different directions. This girl can run this center all by herself, and she did for a while. She's the cream of the crop and everybody here loves her. Even when she's on her Friday off they will ask where she is, and they will get very upset when she is not here.”

The Banta Center also has a volunteer named Cheryl Kolic who serves lunch from the Pines Village Retirement community.

For Riggle, it is the most rewarding position that she has had. The Banta Center helps keep the seniors active and get them out of the house.

“I would say that this job is probably the most rewarding position I’ve ever had in my entire life,” said Riggle. “That is some pretty big shoes to fill considering I worked in finance for a long time. You do not get to touch lives there like you get to do here. You get to become part of them. I share my life with them, and they share their lives with me. You get very close very quickly. It's been humbling and rewarding for me. They've become my family. Helen adores them as well. She's like, ‘I don't know what to do without them sometimes.’ We’re just very tight- knit here.”

To learn more about the Banta Center, visit its website here.