A public transit bus trip has been set up for Saturday, Aug. 15, to Topeka. Lunch at McFarland’s Restaurant will be the first stop, and then we will get a tour of the Air Combat Museum at Forbes Field. The requested donation for this trip is $9, which would cover transit and entry fees. This trip is limited to the first 14 riders to sign up.

Later in August we are planning an evening trip to the Perkins Restaurant, in Topeka. We will publish more info on that trip next week.

At 10 a.m., Friday, Aug. 7, we will have our regular bingo games, however the prizes brought in by each player will be donated to Help House in Lyndon. The senior center will then provide prizes for the games. So, if you usually play, or just want to play for the benefit of Help House, make sure you bring a prize with a value of at least $2, and that you know will be useful to the patrons of Help House.

For more information, contact the Osage County Senior Center at 785-528-4906, or stop by 604 Market St., Osage City.

The ice cream social being put on by the nutrition site the evening of July 30 is a very important part of their fund raising obligations to the Mid-America Nutrition Program. It starts at 5 p.m. and runs until the ice cream is gone. Besides the wonderful desserts being served that night, the nutrition program will raffle off two very fine art prints during this event. If you haven’t got your raffle tickets yet, please stop by any time right up until the raffle itself to purchase some.

For those who come or want to come to play bingo on Fridays at the senior center, we are setting up a special game day that will benefit Help House. The bingo games will be run in our normal fashion, but the prizes will be completely different. We will publish more details on this next week. And, remember, our general public transit service is available to bring folks to the center for bingo every Friday morning.

For those who pay attention to the Osage County Senior Center newsletter, please note the Stroke Detection Plus service scheduled for July 30 has been cancelled. We have been informed that it will be rescheduled later in the fall.

There are a few seats left on the July 18 lunch trip to Cook’s American Grill, and the July 29 meal and a movie trip to Topeka. These are great family oriented destinations. And remember all public transit trips are open to Osage County citizens of all ages.

For more information, stop by the senior center at 604 Market St., Osage City, or call 785-528-4906.

Osage County General Public Transportation has added one more rider appreciation trip in July.  On Wednesday, July 29, we will take a bus to Topeka for a meal and a movie. The transit donation requested for this trip is $3 per person, as is the donation for the July 18 trip to Cook’s American Grill and the July 23 evening bus trip to Jose Peppers Mexican Restaurant.

Sign-up sheets will fill up quickly, so please call 785-528-4906 or stop by the Osage County Senior Center soon to reserve your seat on the bus.

We are starting to look at destinations for our rider appreciation trips in July. The Osage County General Public Transportation bus will probably go to Topeka’s Jose Pepper’s Mexican restaurant the evening of July 23, but that’s about all we have considered so far. We will have more information available next week. If anybody wants to suggest destinations for the next few months, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at the Osage County Senior Center, 785-528-4906. Riders should be Osage County residents, but otherwise there are no other restrictions to ride.

I want to acknowledge the fine job Roger Schmitendorf has done as a part-time bus driver for our public transit program. Roger is moving on to bigger and better things, but we sure enjoyed having him here these last several months, and we wish him the very best.

Looking ahead, all of our patrons should note that the senior center will be closed Friday, July 3, in observance of Independence Day. Those who enjoy the nutrition site’s services should talk to Pat Oelke at 785-528-4170 regarding the sack lunch meal that will be available to help cover that day.

The Osage County Council on Aging is one part of three governing authorities over the Osage County Senior Center operations and the public transit program. The other governing authorities are the Osage County Commission and the Kansas Department of Transportation. The local council on aging meets at 9 a.m. on the second Wednesday of each month at the center at 604 Market Street in Osage City. The meeting is open to the public.

Currently the council on aging has up to three openings on the board, and would like to hear from citizens interested in filling these posts. The council is especially interested in recruiting representatives from Overbrook, Melvern and Quenemo. However, any resident living in Osage County will be equally considered. Please call 785-528-4906 or stop by the center for more information.

Our rider appreciation trips in June are pretty much full. So those who have signed up, please remember: The June 10 trip to Williamsburg leaves at 5:30 p.m., the Ottawa trip on June 20 leaves the center at 10:20 a.m., and the trip to Leavenworth and Bonner Springs on the 25th leaves at 8:30 a.m. And, this is a good time to remind the citizens of Osage County that our public transit service caters to all ages. There is absolutely no discrimination of any kind to ride on our bus trips to shopping centers, events and health care destinations.

Also, please consider donating at the Community Blood Center blood drive from noon to 4 p.m.  June 11 at the Osage County Senior Center.

On that same day, Osage Nursing Center will be putting on its monthly Biscuits and Gravy Extravaganza at 8:30 a.m. This will be followed by Wayne’s Tech Assist at 9 a.m. If you have any questions about the use of your cell phone, iPad, computer, or other device, this is a great way to learn neat stuff they can do, and it’s free.

We appreciate your patronage and always look forward to seeing you at the senior center. Stop by 604 Market St., Osage City, or call 785-528-4906 for more information about the center or the public transit trips.

The Community Blood Center’s blood drive will be at the Osage County Senior Center on June 11. Please note the time frame has been adjusted to noon to 4 p.m. This is obviously a very important community service and your donations are greatly appreciated.

The senior center is once again a distribution site for the Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers. The applications for the vouchers are limited, and applicants must meet the income guidelines set forth by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The only Osage County farmer’s market to accept the checks is in Burlingame.

Our next rider appreciation trip will be June 25 to the Leavenworth and Bonner Springs area. We will take a driving tour of Leavenworth, which will include historical home sites and views of the Missouri River valley. We will have a leisurely lunch at Pullman Place in downtown Leavenworth. And then we will head for Bonner Springs to the wonderful Moon Marble Company. The suggested donation will be $7 per rider, which will cover transit and the demonstration donation. This trip is limited to 12 riders, so stop by or call to reserve your seat on the bus as soon as possible.

The signup sheets are out for the two Osage County Public Transportation rider appreciation trips in June. The evening of June 10 we are going to Guy & Mae’s Tavern in Williamsburg. The bus will leave Osage County Senior Center, 604 Market St., Osage City, at 5:30 p.m. And on Saturday, June 20, we will visit the farmer’s market in Ottawa and then have lunch at the Keim Bakery. We will leave the senior center at 10:20 a.m. Both trips are limited to the first 14 folks that sign up, and a $3 donation to help cover transit is requested upon signing up.

Our public transit buses run on a monthly schedule that includes several trips for shopping or activities. Those trips are listed in this section weekly, and a bus schedule also appears in the senior center’s monthly newsletter (or see monthly bus schedule below). In between and even during scheduled trips we try to fulfill all the requests for transportation to medical appointments. However, since this service is based on a first call-first serve basis, and, we only have two buses, we unfortunately are unable to fulfill every request.

Osage County General Public Transportation still has a couple of seats left on the bus trip to the KU campus in Lawrence, set for Wednesday, May 27. Stops will be made at the Dole Institute of Politics and the KU Museum of Natural History, with lunch in between at McAlister’s Restaurant. These are very interesting destinations. Call 785-528-4906 or stop by the Osage County Senior Center at 604 Market St., Osage City, for more information.

Please consider joining us at 8:30 a.m. this Thursday, May 14, for biscuits and gravy prepared by Osage Nursing Center. At 9 a.m. Wayne White will conduct a free presentation on making video calls with computer or cell phone.

A representative from Gibson TrueCare Pharmacy will present a free informative seminar on myths associated with diabetes after lunch on Friday, May 22.

We thank all those folks who attended the 10th Annual Senior Health Fair at the Osage County Senior Center last Thursday. There were more than 30 vendors providing information and services relevant to senior citizens, their families and caregivers. Jan White, of Osage City, won the raffle grand prize.

We are tentatively planning a day-bus-trip to the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence on May 27. Destinations most likely will be the Bob Dole Institute of Politics and the KU Museum of Natural History, with a lunch stop in between at McAlister’s Restaurant. More details will be available soon.

For those who have signed up for the bus trip to Wamego for the Kansas Sampler Festival on Saturday, May 2, make sure you arrive at the senior center a few minutes before our departure time of 9 a.m. Thank to all those local citizens who take advantage of our convenient and efficient general public transportation service.