New Sr. Ctr. Director Full of Ideas

Ann Brandon is the new director of the Randolph Senior Center. (Herald / Tim Calabro)

By Martha Slater

In her new role as executive director of the Randolph Senior Center, South Randolph resident Ann Brandon is bursting with ideas to make the center a welcoming, homey place, where both the food and the décor are attractive.

Brandon, who moved to the Randolph area 16 years ago, became involved with the center through her friendship with Bill Markle, the center’s VP of the board of directors. She acted as a consultant for several months prior to taking over the administrative position Oct. 30. Her previous administrative experience includes working as a manager for IIT Research Institute outside of Washington, D.C. Before that, she was a newspaper PR executive for UPI, and editor-in-chief of a trade magazine in Rome, Italy.

Brandon is also a published author. Her book, "Artful Italy: The Hidden Treasures" published by Invisible Cities Press in Montpelier, is available locally at Cover to Cover.

"I’ve never managed a restaurant before, but now I’m basically managing a restaurant," Brandon notes. "Any organization that is feeding seniors at this point is at a crossroads. We have the crowd that became adults in 1950s, which is our loyal base, who like one particular kind of menu, and we’ve also got the ones who became adults in the 1960s coming along, who don’t like the same type of food. It’s a real problem. I’ve been talking with Chef Ed over at Gifford and I’ve also consulted with the Council on Aging who have let me know that this is a factor at senior centers nationwide."

Brandon adds that, "There was a revolution in cuisine over the past few decades, going from standard American cuisine to a more international type of menu, drawing from many cultures. We have very good food at the center, and much of it is homemade, such as fresh whole wheat bread at each meal. I’m planning to have a soup and salad day, where people who come in can count on that. I’m also hoping to coordinate a salad bar with Gifford."

People over 60 who eat meals at the center pay a "suggested donation," but the center will not turn anyone away. People under 60 pay a flat rate of $5.

Brandon is enthusiastic about a program in Chittenden County, where seniors get free vouchers to go to a restaurant with an advertised special and pay no more than $4. The restaurant turns that voucher in to the Central Vt. Council on Aging to get reimbursed at a set rate.

"I’d like to institute something like that in this area," she says. "It would get seniors out of the house and socializing, and promote local restaurants. It’s a win-win situation. Eating alone when you’re older, usually you’re eating something canned or cold. This program would encourage people to go out together and they’d know ahead of time what the price would be."

Brandon says that when Linda Minsinger interviewed her for the job, "the first thing she asked me was what I wanted to do, and I said I’d like to redecorate to make it look brighter and more welcoming. Our motto is that we’re ‘a home away from home’ and it has to look like a home! I’ve already taken steps to make the place more energy efficient, such as replacing the light bulbs with more energy efficient ones and replacing the thermostat with a computerized one."

The outside of the center is getting an improved appearance as well, thanks to the volunteer efforts of Vana Raj Ganaparthy from India, who has put in a spring bulb landscape garden, with plants donated by the Randolph Garden Club, and also scraped and primed the garage. On Dec. 4, he’ll prepare an authentic southern Indian meal with a coconut chicken dish and a honey apple dessert, which will be served starting a 12 noon. Brandon hopes many people will stop by that day to enjoy the meal and thank Ganaparthy for his work

Brandon and her husband, Carl, who teaches physics at VTC, have a two-year-old son named Jack. She recently got accepted into Bennington College’s MFA program in writing, which starts in January, and is also an adjunct professor at VTC, where she will start teaching a music course at nights this winter and teach a course in basic Italian next fall.

"All of this will keep me quite busy, so I’m very open to having a lot of volunteer help at the center," Brandon said. "We need donations to help us pay for the redecorating and I’ll be turning to the community for help with that project. We might change the name of the center, too. Some of the ideas suggested have been SAAC (Senior Active Adult Center) or Randolph Community Center for Seniors. I’m also going to try foreign language tables at lunch and will give beginning Italian lessons to the members. We have a beautiful kitchen that’s big enough for cooking classes, etc. and I hope to begin having those, as well."

"The people here are the best part of my job, of course!" Brandon concludes. "Since I’m active in the community, when I walked in here I knew three quarters of the people already. It was like homecoming week! After so many years of working alone out in the country, I’m enjoying being right in the hub of Randolph."

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