Senior centers to begin reopening

Senior centers across the state are reopening on July 1, according to a release from the New Mexico Aging & Long-Term Services Department.

Barbara Riggan, director of city of Clovis Senior Services, said the state has directed them to review the reopening guidance and formulate their own plan for the Friendship Senior Center.

“We are working with city officials to put a plan into place,” Riggan said.

She hopes to meet with the city today and then bring the plan before the city commission on Thursday for approval, she said.

Cherie Davis, director of Curry Residents Senior Meals Association CRSMA in Clovis, said their organization is a separate non-profit from the Friendship Center.

Davis said they “already have a plan in place.” In May when the county color code turned turquoise, they developed the plan.

The tables are 10 feet apart and residents sit six feet apart at the tables, she said. Additionally, they display signage directing people to wash their hands in the restrooms.

The meals room is inside the Friendship Center, which has a MySeniorCenter app that monitors contact tracing, she said. Everyone entering the building must go through the app. The southeast door to the Friendship Center will still be the only entrance.

She said the meal association facility is under the strict guidelines of the state Area Agency on Aging.

The Portales Senior Center is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 am to 9 am for an exercise class, said the center secretary Judy Bartl in an email. Following the exercise class, visitors may play cards until noon.

“Tuesday the bridge club meets at 8 until 2,” Bartl said. “Pool and quilting are open during these times also. The center is closed on Thursday.”