THE Frankston Senior Citizens Club is closing down after 65 years.
The club was founded by James Servan in 1957. After six decades, five homes, and countless memories, it has held its final event.
Frankston Senior Citizens Club president Josie Underwood said that dwindling membership numbers and piling responsibilities had made the future of the club “untenable”.
“It was a lovely club, a friendly club,” she said. “There are lots of reasons for closing down. Some of our members had to get two buses from Seaford, and a lot of them had dropped out due to age or gone into nursing homes. It became too much for me, and with the decline in members it was untenable. Every year we said we would do one more year, and this year we decided it wouldn’t go on any longer.”
Underwood said some of her fondest memories involved the club’s Songbirds group. The group would perform for people in aged care, who would come in on buses for a fun day out.
“The Songbirds became a really good show,” Underwood said. “A few years back an aged care group came down to see how we are going and the lady said it was lovely entertainment. She suggested bringing a bus of people to the show, and from then on it was really good. They put it on their noticeboard and the visitors would get afternoon tea, a show, and a raffle ticket for four dollars. I remember lovely people who couldn’t usually get out much who came because they were picked up at the door.”
The club held a farewell event last week to thank past members and share memories. The lunch was well attended, and flowers were exchanged to thank those running the club for their years of service.