by Karen Mead-Elford, staff writer
EUGENE DEPEAL (Santa hat) and Leonard D. Rosa enjoyed their breakfast in the OHS cafeteria during the Annual Senior Citizen Holiday Breakfast last Friday. Both men are from Owosso. (Independent Photo/Karen Mead-Elford)
The doors to the Owosso High School cafeteria were opened Friday, Dec. 9 and a new record of approximately 390 community members were welcomed to the 11th Annual Senior Citizen Holiday Breakfast. School administrators, staff, board members, Owosso police officers, and students were on hand tohelp the seniors enjoy a warm breakfast, pleasant companionship, a festive atmosphere, and musical entertainment showcasing the diverse talents of the OHS Madrigals and band members.
This is Owosso Public School’s way of giving back to the community by inviting senior citizens to enjoy time together during a season that, because of the cold and other contributing factors, sometimes forces individuals into situations where they are alone too often. “Anytime we can bring the community members into our school and highlight our students, we seize that opportunity,” shared Community Education Director Jessica Thompson. She also noted that only 32 people had shown up for the first annual breakfast eleven years ago, and that number has now grown close to 400 making it a very popular event at the school.
Students in the OHS Culinary Arts program and food service staff led by Food Service Director John Klapko and Assistant Director Michele Prince, dutifully worked to provide the enormous crowd with an appetizing assortment of fresh, homemade breakfast foods. People certainly did not go hungry. Thompson stated, “It is really important to give the seniors a really nice, quality breakfast.”
The important role that OHS students played should not be overlooked either. Students were involved at every level of this event, including table set-up, serving coffee, or just mingling with the senior guests. It is a unique opportunity for community seniors to be able to enjoy interacting with high school students. Even the holiday placemats were individually drawn or crafted by younger school children.
Directly following the breakfast, the OHS Jazz Band, the Madrigals, and the OHS Symphonic Band performed a variety of Christmas music in the auditorium. The Madrigals were guided by Jessica Nieuwkoop. Jordan Sterk led the jazz band while Jillian Schlegel directed the symphonic band.
