Commitment, reliability, effectiveness, maturity, and a fun-loving zest for life are words that best describe the senior volunteers recognized at the annual Jefferson County Senior Heroes Celebration on Thursday, May 12th.
Over 160 people gathered at Mountain Vista Senior Living Community, Wheat Ridge, to recognize 8 Senior Heroes and the annual Elected Official of the Year.
Honored this year were senior heroes Howard Bagdad, Kay Bailey, Helen Card, Gail Hussin, Richard Markley, Loretta Quigley, Ted Rains and Dar Vriesman.
“This year’s honorees truly represent the enduring spirit of thousands of senior volunteers throughout our community” noted Deborah Brackney, Seniors’ Resource Center Board Chair.
Brackney observed that, “there is no limit as to what senior volunteers can achieve within our community, just look to Senior Hero honoree Ted Rains and his accomplishments”. Rains saw the need to provide bikes to kids whose parents could not afford bicycles for their children. He, and the Golden Optimists Club, began the Bicycle Recycling program that now provides over 400 recycled bikes annually.
SRC and JCCoA annually recognize an elected official who, by their actions, has made senior issues a focus. “A passion for seniors is a gift that is embraced by many elected officials. Jefferson County and all of Colorado is fortunate to have State Representative Jessie Danielson speaking up for the needs and challenges of our senior population” according to Cary Johnson, Chair of the Jefferson County Council on Aging. Representative Danielson was recognized at the Senior Heroes Celebration as the 2016 Elected Official of the Year.
The Senior Heroes Celebration continues to be a success year after year. The population of older adults is growing along the Front Range and events like these recognize the ways older adults make their communities a better place to live for everyone.
~ Submitted by John Walsh, 2016 Senior Heroes Celebration. Contact: j-mwalsh@q.com or 303-475-0351. Info: Seniors’ Resource Center, 303- 235-8151, www.SRCAging.org/, Jefferson County Council on Aging, 303-271-3487,
www.jeffcocouncilonaging.org/
Picutred: 2016 Jefferson County Senior Heroes award recipients took a moment to celebrate with CBS4 Meteorologist and event emcee Dave Aguilera. Pictured l-r: Ted Rains, Kay Bailey (award accepted by her daughter Lynn Gates in photo), Howard Bagdad, Dar Vriesman, Richard Markley (award accepted by his wife Candy Markley in photo), Gail Hussin, Dave Aguilera, Helen Card and Loretta Quigley. Photo credit: Felix Ortiz.”