The Worthington Times

The Worthington Park will be getting a clean-up boost during Pride Week in Worthington when Worthington Town Marshal Conaway will be overseeing some work to be done by a crew from Community Corrections. The Park Board is appreciative and says they can always use another helping hand, now and throughout the summer season. If you might be interested in doing a little “extra exercise” out at the Park, contact any member of the Board.

Pitch-In Dinner Day will be next Wednesday at the Worthington Senior Citizens Center. Lunch will be served around 12 noon followed by Bingo at 1:00 p.m. Bring table service and a covered dish. Free blood-pressure checking and blood-sugar ($1.00 charge) screening will be offered from 11:00 a.m. until 12 noon. Come and enjoy good food and good company every last Wednesday of the month.

Worthington’s Senior Center provides several important services for our community including nutritious lunches served Monday through Friday, hot “Meals on Wheels” delivered to the door of our homebound folks, computer access, exercise equipment, free blood-pressure and blood-sugar check-ups, pitch-in dinners, a downtown place to visit with friends, information about services for seniors, and a place to play cards.

They’ve been doing this for a long time but some things about the lunch program have changed since the last Times report. The food is much better, the atmosphere in the lunch corner has improved—every day, it looks like there’s some kind of holiday going on in there, there’s a new reservation procedure and the kitchen crew has changed too. (Read about Meal Site Director Jennifer under on Page One.)

Seniors are always welcome to eat lunch at the center every weekday, Mondays through Fridays, but a reservation needs to be made. Since the food comes from afar, the Center needs to know how much to order. If you want to eat lunch at the Center, just call 875-2525 sometime before noon the day ahead and let Mary Louise know you’ll be there for good food and good company.

How much does it cost? The meal program is operated under the auspices of Generations and they urge donations to help keep the program going. Their suggested donation amount is based on one’s monthly income. For those over 60 with monthly income of $300 or less, the suggested contribution is $.75 per meal; for $301-500 monthly, $1.25; for $501-700, $1.75; for $701-900, $2.50; and for monthly incomes over $901, $3.00. For those under 60 years of age, the suggested donation is $4.00 to eat at the center or $4.50 for a Meals on Wheels lunch. But these are just suggested amounts.

In reality, the Center does not want anyone to miss lunch due to lack of funds. So there is no cash register, no place to “checkout,” and no waiter that comes around to take your money. There’s just a donation can sitting on a table near the front door. Come, eat lunch, and on your way out, drop a donation in the can — whatever you can spare. It is believed some drop in the exact amount, some drop more, some less. It’s a great system — and another reason why Worthington is a great place to be.

For folks who are homebound and need a good, hot meal delivered to their door, the local Meals on Wheels program is run through the Center.

The menu for Meals on Wheels meals is the same as for meals served in the center. The meals are prepared by Jennifer in the center’s kitchen, packed in insulated bags and delivered by Marsha Rawley.

The donation system for Meals on Wheels is also basically the same and meals are never discontinued for lack of a contribution.

At any one time, the Meals on Wheels program in Worthington is delivering to an average of 15 local folks who are homebound.

If you or a family member are in need of Meals on Wheels services, call Generations toll-free at 800-472-9002. For all other information about the nutrition program, call the center at 875-2525.

The Worthington Park Board is very proud of the beautiful shade trees that make our park such an oasis on hot summer days. But they’ve also been faced with the hard fact that a few need to be removed for safety’s sake, mainly behind the Community Building. A few others are in need of a trim. They want tree-lovers to know this maintenance will be as minimal as possible and they would welcome contributions for new trees. A donation to the park is tax-deductible and one could earmark a monetary contribution for tree planting. Another great idea would be to plant a tree in memory of a special someone. If interested, contact the Park Board at 875-3209 or talk to any member of the board which includes Lyle Sloan, Marilyn Wright, Jr Calvert and Delores Calvert.

Today is the last day to order Spring Flowers from Worthington Tri Kappa. Members have been taking orders for geraniums, begonias, ferns and wave petunias, but today is the deadline to get your name in for flowers to be delivered next Saturday, April 28. The cost for a 6” pot of geraniums is $4.00; for a 10” pot of hanging begonias, $11.00; for a 10” pot of hanging fern, $12.00; and for a 10” pot of hanging wave petunias, $12.00. Geraniums are available in your choice of red, fuchsia, salmon or white; begonias in red, pink or white; and petunias in purple/fuchsia, pink or blue/purple. To order your spring flowers, call Mindy Lent at 875-2758 or Andrea Fuller at the WJ Library at 875-3815.

A Revival at the Worthington Christian Church will be held Sunday through Wednesday, April 22-25. Keith and Nancy Crowe of Taylorville, Illinois will be the featured speakers for services at 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday and at 7:00 p.m. Monday-Wednesday. A nursery for children aged two and under will be available. The Crowes have evangelized for over 30 years in 49 states and many foreign countries. Young and old alike are invited to enjoy puppets and special music from the Greene County area.

The Worthington Park will be welcoming lots of visitors now that the weather is warming and the Park Board has been busy with the spring clean-up.

They’ve added colorful new trash cans, replaced all the tables in the Hinchman Shelterhouse, repainted an outside restroom and put in new horseshoe pits.

Volunteers would be welcome to help with spring lawn work—just take a rake or broom and go enjoy the season, and get some exercise!

Watch for more park news next week — news to know now is the park is closed to vehicular traffic from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m. Walkers are still welcome during these hours.

Worthington’s Pride Week, also known as Clean-Up Week, will be Monday through Friday, May 7-11.

During this week, the Town of Worthington will provide a place for residents to dump trash for free. It’s a public service and encourages us all to clean-up our properties.

The dumping area will be south of Worthington on the town’s sewage treatment plant property. To get there, travel south past the Worthington Cemetery, over Vinegar Hill, and keep going—it will be on your left.

Street Department personnel will be monitoring the area and only residents who live within the town limits will be allowed in. Others will be turned away.

Street Superintendent David Dyer said the area will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Friday.

Town Council President Hal Harp said most all kinds of trash will be accepted including furniture, TVs, electronics, appliances and regular sizes of passenger tires, at no charge! However, they cannot take larger sized tires like tractor tires or big-truck tires.

For people who do not have a way to transport their trash to this site, there will be a pick-up service, also at no charge. WPD Town Marshal Dennis Conaway will be organizing this effort assisted by Community Corrections workers and Hal Harp. To request a pick-up, residents should call the Town Hall at 875-2641.

Spruce up with some special Spring Flowers from Worthington Tri Kappa… Members are taking orders now for geraniums, begonias, ferns and wave petunias.

The deadline to order is Friday, April 20. Flowers will be ready for delivery on Saturday, April 28.

The cost for a 6” pot of geraniums is $4.00; for a 10” pot of hanging begonias, $11.00; for a 10” pot of hanging fern, $12.00; and for a 10” pot of hanging wave petunias, $12.00.

Geraniums are available in your choice of red, fuchsia, salmon or white; begonias in red, pink or white; and petunias in purple/fuchsia, pink or blue/purple.

To order your spring flowers, call Mindy Lent at 875-2758 or Andrea Fuller at the WJ Library at 875-3815.

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

Albert Einstein