BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS OWNER
On Friday morning, the Millbrook Senior Center was bustling with activity. The aroma of wonderful food lingered, and Christmas music was playing.
Director Olivia Venable was preparing to call the Bingo game. Cooks in the kitchen were finishing up on lunch preparations. The Memorial Center was decorated beautifully for the Christmas season, and seniors sat around talking about grandkids and children coming home to visit soon.
Venable was kind enough to invite the EAN to come for the event, so I took the opportunity to talk to a few of the seniors about their favorite Christmas memories.
Alberta McCall, 74, was the first to step up to the plate. She grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, but today is a regular attendee at the Senior Center.
“Christmas Eve was everyone preparing food. There were 12 sisters and brothers. My dish was always potato salad. Mother never let anyone make the potato salad except me because she taught me how to do it,” she said.
McCall’s mother was a caterer in Montgomery at the First Baptist Church.
“At Christmas we would all sit around visiting. There weren’t a lot of gifts. But we would all get something that we liked. I liked roller skates, and cowboy hats. So on Christmas morning we would go to the Alabama State University campus and we would skate up and down the hill all day. Those were our joyous times,” she said.
Alberta said her grandfather didn’t have a lot of money, but he did own a store.
“So he gave us a big peppermint stick and an apple every Christmas. That was his gift to us,” she remembered. “We didn’t have a lot of money, but we did have a lot of fun.”
Eventually the family moved to Millbrook, and she attended Sandtown School from the ninth grade on. It is there that she met her now husband, Johnny. “He was a football star at Sandtown High School,” she said with a huge smile. :I was a cheerleader and he was a football player. We met when I was 14 and married at 18,” she said.
The couple retired several years ago, but they visit the Senior Center whenever it opens most days. She said the Senior Center members have become extended family, and sang the praises of Director Olivia Venable.
Her Christmas wish is for the Senior Center as it prepares to move into the new building on Grandview Road, across from the Millbrook Fire Station.
“I would wish that this community really continues to support the Senior Center,” she said. “If we can keep the community centered, and visiting that is what I wish for. If they would come in and visit with the Seniors. We live this long for a reason. If the community would become more involved, come and visit. We want to open it up to more people, and have it filled with family and grandchildren. My parents are dead, my children live away, but they are coming home for Christmas. But this Senior Center is a wonderful thing. I am praying for the opening of the new building.” She said her wish is that more seniors sign up to come be a part of the family and get more involved in the community in general.
Ken Ostrye, 74, lives in Millbrook but says he grew up “Everywhere” as part of an Air Force family. He was born in Boca Raton, Florida on Sept. 18, 1947. It was the day the Army Air Corps became the U.S. Air Force. It was also a day when a hurricane was ravaging the base.
His father was later in communications and was a bomber pilot and flight instructor in Biloxi. Interestingly, his father created a device that eliminated “snow” from radar during this time. Another interesting thing…his father and my father were at Biloxi at the exact same time. No doubt, they knew each other as both were bomber pilots and flight instructors.
As for his favorite Christmas memories? He remembers traveling with the Air Force internationally and seeing how Christmas is celebrated in other countries. “They had real snow,” he said with a laugh. “We only had cold water where we were staying at one particular time. And it was my job to carry four buckets of coal every day for heat.”
The family landed in Prattville when he was in the sixth grade. “I loved it here. I was in Mrs. Donovan’s class at Prattville Primary. We lived on Martin Boulevard which is now Cobbs Ford Road.”
He said that both of his parents had lived through the depression. Their family was “thrifty” because of that, but there were presents at Christmas time.
In 1966, Ken was drafted into the Army just before Christmas. He was sent to Fort Lewis in Washington, and soon was given leave to go home for Christmas. But he couldn’t get a military flight to Anchorage, Alaska where his father was stationed at that time. Through several days of trying to get different flights closer to his parents, he ended up in Sacramento. He managed to find a military flight to Seattle, and saw his name on the board to see the base commander.
“I thought I was in trouble. But it turned out the base commander was a friend of my father, and my father had been calling around everywhere to find me,” he said.
The base commander invited Ken to spend the night at his home and have a real meal. The next day he arranged a flight home for Ken.
“I had to travel in Class As and I have a photo with me and my father in uniform, and my mother with her stole in the snow.”
That was his most memorable Christmas, saying that most of the others had been routine. But that one stood out, as he finally made it home to his family, but it took a few adventures to get him there.
Ken was a longtime employee with the Millbrook Police Department as a dispatcher. He also worked as a court bailiff. He is retired now.
This Christmas will be the first in 16 years without his wife, Faith. She passed three months ago, and admittedly there are difficult days ahead through the holidays. Being able to visit with others at the Senior Center is a bright spot. At bottom, make sure to see the photo of Ken with his parents back in 1966 after a week of trying to find military flights to see them for Christmas in Anchorage, Alaska.
Jean Brasher, 78, grew up in Mississippi. “I had wonderful parents, good Christian people who taught us right from wrong. If we did wrong, we were corrected.”
She said she was blessed with a good family. Today she has family but many of them are scattered around.
“At Christmas, we knew that our family was not wealthy. We just learned to thank God. We said the blessing every time we went to the table, and we knew where the blessings came from.”
Her Christmas wish for this year is simple. “Let me live at least one or two more years. I am not young anymore. But I would hope that He would let me live a little longer to see my grandchildren grow up.”
She has lived in Millbrook off and on for most of her life.
She said the senior center is a huge blessing in her life.
“I love coming down here. I get up and get ready. When that bus comes out to get me, I am out there! I think it is because the people are nice. No one thinks they are better than anyone else. I love that part. As a Christian, there are a lot of things where I can participate.”
As for Director Venable, she is so excited about the future of the Senior Center. It has been a long time coming. The opening has not been set, but she said it will be one of the greatest days of her life. She can envision the future, the potential expansion of more seniors attending and more activities.
She echoed the point that the group of seniors are family. They have come to rely on their visits during the week and the interaction. “I have been so incredibly blessed to work with our people here, and get to know them. I just love them and am so blessed,” she said.
She was so thankful to Mayor Al Kelley and his wife, Brenda, for their visit on Friday. “And I want to thank Councilmen Jimmy Harris and Hal Hodge for delivering Christmas presents to our homebound seniors.”
Venable said that Mayor Kelley was the one that worked to have a senior center in Millbrook. “This is absolutely a lasting part of his legacy and he has always been so supportive. We thank all of the city officials so much.”
“If there is anyone out there that is just sitting at home, sad or depressed, I want them to know we have a place for them. There is no reason for you to feel alone. Please come join us!” Venable said.
If you, or someone you know, is at least 60 and would like to join the Senior Center, please call Olivia Venable at 334-314-9881. The number to the Senior Center is 334-290-5049. It is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Center has transportation as well if needed. The address is 3170 Park Circle in Millbrook and it is the Memorial Center behind Village Green Park, next to the Millbrook Civic Center.
As is often the case, I had several more stops to make in the day and had to leave earlier than I would have preferred. I could have sat all day listening to the stories and learning more about the individuals. But I promise, I will be back.
The cooks made up a to-go plate for me as I hustled out the door on to my next stop.
I, too, hope that more people will take part in this amazing opportunity with the Millbrook Senior Center. There is so much knowledge and love among the seniors, and they are happy to share both.
We at the EAN would like to wish all of the seniors a very Merry Christmas, and pray they have many more.
