Senior Connections, a social group for people age 60 and over, will meet on Thursday, Feb. 11, at Conestoga Mennonite Church, 2779 Main St. (Route 23), Morgantown. The program will include a free homemade meal at noon, followed by a Valentine's Day program.

Meetings of the group are held on the second Thursday of each month. Attendees are asked to practice social distancing and to wear a face covering.

"(People) come in and we greet them, and they can sit wherever they want. Masks are required and we only sit a few at a table," explained Lois Boyer of East Earl, who leads the group along with her husband, Wes. "Then we have the meal and then the program. People visit before and after (the program), too."

Boyer said that Senior Connections was a group within the church, but it was opened up to the community in 2019.

"Until Wes and I took over, it was only advertised in the church bulletin and by word of mouth," she said. "We wanted it to go further than that and open it up to the public. We wanted it to be a ministry."

She said those who attend meetings hail from Narvon, East Earl, Morgantown, New Holland and Reading. "When the weather is bad, we get around 27 people; when it's good, we get between 40 to 50 people," said Boyer, noting that the noontime meal is prepared by ladies from the church.

Guest speakers are from the community. "We try to get speakers that interest senior citizens, (but) we get all kinds of speakers," she said. "We had a harpist and speakers that talked about their trip on the Appalachian Trail, (and speakers) who presented programs about their trips to Africa and Antarctica. We had a speaker who talked about wheat carving."

Group members have also enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner, a program on beekeeping and a day trip to the historic Bowmansville Roller Mill in Narvon.

"In May, we are going to have the inventor of the VideoRay, an underwater camera," Boyer added.

For more information about Senior Connections, readers may email lwboyer@gmail.com. Those interested in volunteering as a guest speaker may also contact Boyer.