From Harford County government:
On Tuesday, July 26, 2011, the Harford County Department of Community Services’ Office on Aging honored the one-year anniversary of the Veronica “Roni” Chenowith Activity Center in Fallston. 140 members enjoyed a cookout catered by Meals on Wheels and shared sentiments about what the center means to them on handcrafted anniversary cards. The cards are currently on display at the center.
Since opening in July 2010, the activity center has grown to nearly 2,000 members and counting. The Chenowith center offers an average of 45 classes each session (four, 10- week class sessions per year), from fitness and Yoga classes to computers and digital photography as well as arts and crafts. To date, the Center has held 4,200 individual classes, not including attendance at organized recreational activities such as pickleball, basketball, table tennis, cards, bingo and other games. The Center also opened its bocce court earlier this season, which despite the extreme heat, has been enjoyed by many.
Besides classes and recreational activities, the Chenowith Center also hosts 10-15 other events each month, from health education presentations to blood pressure screenings as well as music and cultural performances.
Mrs. Chenowith represented the Fallston, Upper Crossroads, and Emmorton areas on the Harford County Council from 1994 until 2009, when she passed away after a hard-fought battle with leukemia. Joe Chenowith, husband of the late Mrs. Chenowith recently completed and installed a beautiful display cabinet in the building’s lobby that is filled with mementos and awards representing Roni’s legacy.
“Roni would be so proud to see the success of her vision,” stated Joe Chenowith.
“This Center fulfills her wish for a place offering opportunities for people of all ages in the community to come together. Our senior activity centers are a hub of social, educational and cultural experiences,” stated County Executive David Craig.
“We are proud that Harford County has so much to offer our residents, particularly our seniors, who are the most rapidly increasing demographic in our county. We would like to thank the very dedicated and hard-working staff for the success of the Chenowith Center: Linda Reading, Sharon Mandas, and Cindy Rahll,” stated Elizabeth S. Hendrix, Director of the Department of Community Services.
“Additionally, this wouldn’t have been possible without our wonderful volunteers, dedicated instructors and a wonderful partnership with the Department of Parks and Recreation,” Hendrix remarked. “Also, Karen Winkowski, Office on Aging Administrator and Suzanne Streeter, Senior Center Division Manager, have been instrumental in the accomplishments of our senior programs and centers throughout the county,” Hendrix stated.
The facility is operated through a partnership between the Harford County Department of Community Services’ Office on Aging and the Department of Parks and Recreation. The center has a wide variety of facilities available, including a gymnasium, fitness room, billiards, a computer lab, meeting spaces, and lounge areas, as well as a bocce court and other outdoor recreation areas.
For more information on the programs available at the facility, call the Veronica “Roni” Chenowith Activity Center at 410-638-3260 or visit http://www.harfordcountymd.gov/services/aging/ActivitiesFallston.cfm.
Roni Chenowith was an amazing woman and a caring and compasionate person and those of us who knew her knew that her passion and that of her husband, Joe was always about people of all ages.
Both were staunch supporters of public recreation and particularly Parks and Recreation. She loved children and whenever possible shared embraces with many of them. She took great pride in the fact that the Center would house not only senior programs but also programs for youth. The Center bearing her name has given the youth of Fallston what they have needed for so long, a place to particpate because capacity had long ago been reached at the schools and far too many were placed on waiting lists.
I have been fortunate to have met and talked with the P&R staff at this building, Mike Getz and Debbie Grabowski and have found them to also be caring people who try to do things in a manner that would have made Roni proud.
Congratulations Joe for your contributions and for continuing with the mission you and Roni undertook together.