The St Charles Council on Aging is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a gala event on Dec. 10, from 2 to 4 p.m., at the Hahnville Senior Citizens Activity Center.

The Council’s charter to provide services to the senior citizens 60 years or older in St Charles Parish was issued by Governor Edwin Edwards in 1974.

Highlights of the 30th anniversary celebration will be an address by Godfrey P. White, Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Elderly Affairs, entitled “Elderly Affairs in Louisiana 30 Years Later”; a new routine performed by the Council’s Young at Heart Dancing Grannies, Silver Medal winners at the 2004 Senior Olympics; and a giant decorated birthday cake.

In 1974, the St Charles Council on Aging and its first executive director, Nancy Wilson, began by providing vouchers to senior citizens for hot lunches in school cafeterias.

Today, services for the parish’s 5,000 senior citizens include congregate meals every weekday at the four senior citizens activity centers in Hahnville, Luling, New Sarpy, and Norco; delivered meals for homebound seniors; transportation in and outside the parish for medical, personal, and social activities; in-home personal care and homemaker services; home repairs and modifications; legal assistance; recreational and social activities; and respite services for family members.

According to Margaret Powe, the Council on Aging’s Executive Director since 1984, “The goal of the St Charles Council on Aging is to provide as many services as possible in the most efficient and effective manner, in order to help as many senior citizens as possible enjoy independent, satisfying lives with dignity and self-determination, so that they can remain in their homes for as long as they want to.”

For more information about the 30th anniversary celebration and to RSVP, call the St Charles Council on Aging at 783-6683 and ask for Doretha or Dorothy.