When Joyce Rosewag started as the new director of the Lansdowne-Baltimore Highlands Senior Center at the beginning of last month, one of the first things she noticed was the center's shuffleboard table.

It brought back memories.

Rosewag, who has worked for Baltimore County's Department of Aging for the last 22 years, ordered the table for the Third Avenue center during her last stint as director there in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

She still has a vivid memory of the table being delivered and having no one to carry it into the building for her.

"I was in such a panic," Rosewag said last week, laughing at the memory.

She eventually solicited help from several Recreation and Parks landscapers working nearby, and still considers the incident a lesson in center management, she said.

"Those are the kinds of things you learn from experience," she said.

According to Terry Almon, Rosewag's predecessor and now assistant director of the county's Seven Oaks Senior Center, in Perry Hall, experience is something Rosewag has in spades.

"She knows the ropes, and she's very familiar with the situation in the community," Almon said.

She also knows many of the residents already, including Will Clark, a member of the center for the last 15 years who said Rosewag's return has been fantastic.

Were it not for her, he may not be a member at all, he said.

"She's the one who signed me up," said Clark, who has since become extremely active at the center, serving as the president or vice president of its board of directors in nine of the last 15 years.

Clark said Rosewag is "a great person and a great leader" whose outlook on the senior center convinced him to join.

"She told me it was my center when I joined, and I believed her," Clark said.

"She's still got that attitude, and I think that's the way centers should be."

Over the years, Rosewag has worked in many of the county's 19 senior centers. She most recently worked at the Liberty Senior Center off Liberty Road, once served a short stint in the Catonsville Senior Center, and has also worked in the Seven Oaks and Cockeysville centers.

But she began her career with the county as director of the local center, when it was still housed in the Lansdowne United Methodist Church.

Almon, who lives in Lutherville and said his move to Seven Oaks has eased his daily commute, said he already misses the Lansdowne and Baltimore Highlands seniors but was happy Rosewag could replace him.

"I was glad, very happy, that she had been there before," Almon said.

"I think it made the transition much easier for the members, knowing that she was there, she knew the place and was excited about coming."

Rosewag said her knowledge of the center -- and her existing friendship with some of its longtime members -- has been extremely helpful.

"It's nice to be back," she said. "It's good to see some of the members I worked with when I started here -- they're a nice group of people."

Since taking over, Rosewag said she has heard a lot of interest among members in starting a fitness program at the center.

She said she has contacted Tammy Reisler, a fitness instructor at the Liberty center in Randallstown to see if she will come to the Lansdowne-Baltimore Highlands center as well.

Rosewag said she has also heard talk among members about the new Arbutus Senior Center being built on Selford and Sulphur Spring roads, and the competition it might mean for the center.

"The members here are concerned about it, because we do have a lot of members who come from the Arbutus area," Rosewag said.

Still, Rosewag noted that close friendships at the existing center will likely keep the its membership intact.

If planned right, the new center will also afford more opportunities for senior citizens in the area, who will be able to use both centers, Rosewag said.

"If we all vary our programs and not duplicate too much at the centers, I think the members can use both," she said.

"I don't think that we'll lose (members), they may just take the opportunity to use the Arbutus Senior Center as well."

A native of College Park and current resident of Owings Mills, Rosewag said she has enjoyed getting reacquainted with the area this past month.

She wants to continue to get to know the center's members, she said, and eventually plans to host joint events with the Lansdowne Library next door -- possibly a car show.

"I just enjoy my work, and have just connected with the seniors wherever I've been," she said.

"I try to make it a point to get out of my office a few times a day," she said. "You can't manage a senior center from your office."

Outside her office, memories abound -- some not so happy.

The center has a board where it posts the names of members who have died, and when Rosewag returned as director on Oct. 5, she saw many names she recognized.

"That was kind of sad to read about," she said.

Still, a full game on the shuffleboard table always gets her smiling, she said.

---

user comments (0)