When a senior citizen service levy narrowly failed at the polls in 2011, there was a worry seniors in the eastern end of the county wouldn’t have anywhere to go for daily meals and activities.

The Sybene Senior Center was, in turn, closed by the Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization due to lack of state and federal funding that would have kept the facility running five days a week had the levy passed.

The Ironton senior center is still operational, but for most elderly residents on the opposite side of the county, that distance might as well have been from here to California.

Nearly three years since the levy failed, a little hope is on the horizon as the Chesapeake school district is allowing the CAO to use one of its modular units for a new senior center at the Chesapeake Community Center.

Although the new site will be limited to 3 days a week, this is certainly a vital service for senior citizens in Lawrence County.

Not only can seniors get nutritious, low-cost lunches, but they can also exercise their minds with a variety of activities, crafts and fellowship with others.

A great injustice was done to our county’s elderly residents when the levy failed in 2011, but we couldn’t be happier that the Chesapeake schools and CAO are working together to bring back a senior center to the eastern end of the county.