is delivering programs and services, across the spectrum of ages and abilities, to meet human/social service needs of no transportation, food insecurity, and senior isolation county-wide.

Other than transportation and the lunch program, our programs rely on donations to exist and flourish. Your tax deductible gift is an investment in more than the bricks and mortar of the Senior Center. Your gift helps one in four Wabash County residents to live a better life and as a result, makes our community stronger.

In 1968 the Wabash County Senior Citizens Association was established. There were fourteen members on the original board of directors and thirty-three charter members. Sponsors were Mr. and Mrs. William A. Quinn. Charter Partners were Mr. and Mrs. Paul Gackenheimer, Father Robert J. Zahn and Mr. and Mrs. Jack Francis. The organization had an office in what was the Red Apple Inn, and now Charley Creek Inn.

In 1974 Wabash County Council on the Aged and Aging, Inc. was established through national and state-wide efforts to address the needs of senior citizens in every county. Don Knapp, Executive Director of the Honeywell Center was instrumental in getting the organization up and running, including applying to the Indiana Secretary of State for the designation of a “non-profit” eligible for donations. The first order of business in 1974 was to request help from United Fund of Wabash County to purchase a vehicle to provide senior transportation.

The newly formed council on aging established itself in the Beacon House on Carroll Street (across the street from the Honeywell Gym which is now Legacy Hall). The CoA utilized the Honeywell Center gym for the original government commodities, most notably the large blocks of cheese, for anyone age 60 and older. Nancy Christie was hired to be the secretary while the group was at the Beacon House. Within one week of beginning she was given the position of Executive Director, one she held for twenty-two years.

The Council on Aging relocated to the bottom of the Women’s Clubhouse on the southeast end of Wabash City Park on Hill Street. Nancy Christie started as the secretary and within a week was promoted to the position of Executive Director of Wabash County Council on the Aged and the Aging. The activities and services provided there included potlucks, bingo, euchre, senior transportation, and a food pantry for ages sixty and older. Conditions were not ideal. When Dallas L. Winchester ran for Mayor of the City of Wabash one campaign promise was to build a new senior center in Wabash.

Upon winning election, Mayor Winchester appointed City Council Member Pat Lynn to “make it happen.”  Together, Nancy Christie and Pat Lynn did make it happen and under this new administration, the City provided the local matching funds for the new building to be located at 239 Bond Street in Wabash, on the northwest corner of Wabash City Park.

At that time, the euchre players who have been meeting at the Church of the Brethren on Bond Street in Wabash, the local AARP chapter, the Wabash County Senior Citizen Association and the CoA all came together. These groups continued to operate within the new senior center. The euchre club evolved to become an activity at the new senior center and continues today.

AARP Chapters disbanded across the country, including the Wabash County chapter. The era of the monthly meeting was ending. The Wabash County Senior Citizen Association continued to hold meetings at the center until it too closed. There were leaders from both groups who were COA board members when Winchester Senior Center was built. Those members served for more than thirty years. These included Ira McClure, Dr. Wilbur McFadden, Ruth Lawson, Bill and Louise Friermood, and Bill and Dorothy Holton.

Nancy Christie and Pat Lynn wrote the initial grant that established public transportation in Wabash County operated by this agency. Like the Community Cupboard Pantry, transportation funding evolved from ages sixty and older only to all ages, providing more resources for everyone, including seniors.

On Wednesday, September 25, 2019, Nancy Christie, who was Executive Director for twenty-two years and was the director during the construction and opening of the senior center in 1994 was honored. Her health prohibited attendance and she was represented by her youngest daughter, Cathy Gatchel. Mayor Scott Long read a proclamation recognizing Christie’s contributions to the seniors of Wabash and Wabash County. Presenting two dozen red roses to Nancy’s daughter, Beverly Ferry of CEO of Living Well in Wabash County which operates the senior center expressed her admiration for Nancy Christie’s vision, saying that she laid the groundwork for everything that has been done in the last two and a half decades.

The proclamation by Wabash Mayor Scott Long stated, “Nancy Christie was instrumental in establishing the Winchester Senior Center and developing the signature programs and services of the Winchester Senior Center for the benefit of all senior citizens, especially in the City of Wabash. The Winchester Senior Center has touched the lives of countless senior citizens providing food, Medicare counseling, socialization, purpose and transportation enriching the lives of senior citizens then and for decades to follow; and as part of the celebration of the twenty fifth Anniversary of the Winchester Senior Center and the programs and services she envisioned, it is appropriate to recognize her leadership, vision, determination and dedication to the senior citizens of the City of Wabash and the County of Wabash.”

Mayor Long concluded by proclaiming September 26, 2019, Nancy Christie Day in Wabash, Indiana and that Nancy Christie shall always be an honorary citizen of the City of Wabash. Nancy is a resident of Wabash.

Aging and our understanding of the aging process has evolved dramatically since 1968 and even since 1974. Medical advancements and a better understanding of the aging process in the Twentieth Century extended the average lifespan. The Twenty First Century will be about improving the quality of that lifespan.

In 2011 we changed our name to Living Well in Wabash County CoA, Inc. to better describe our approach to aging, as well as how Baby Boomers saw the last third of their lives. It is all about living well. The programs and services evolve as the needs of seniors evolve.

Living Well Winchester Senior Center Supporters are Worth Their Weight in Gold
Living Well in Wabash County CoA operates the Community Cupboard, Living Well Winchester Senior Center, and Living Well Downtown with donations from individuals, local organizations, and foundations. Operated by Living Well in Wabash County CoA, the facility is owned by the City of Wabash which provides mowing and snow removal, $10,000 toward the operating budget and $5,000 toward a building maintenance fund annually. Living Well has no other government sources for funding the actual senior center operation. There are no state or federal government funds available for a senior center. Operational grants are rare.

Living Well in Wabash County CoA relies on the generosity of the community to provide the center and programs for seniors. There is an increasing need for a variety of services and information and yet no funding. Living Well in Wabash County focuses on fostering the independence of seniors wanting to remain living independently in Wabash County. Winchester Senior Center focuses on senior economic security, falls prevention, safety at home and the seven dimensions of wellness. Living Well Downtown located at 35 East Market Street in Wabash is an extension of that.

The Heart of it All ~It is Like Coming Home
The participants of all ages are the heart of Living Well Winchester Senior Center. “It is like coming home,” said one gentleman. Here participants and volunteers find fellowship with peers, purpose and program offerings designed around the seven dimensions of wellness:  physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, occupational and environmental. This is a community made up of sub-groups which become family” said another senior center participant and volunteer.

Community Impact/Outreach ~ Time and Talents, Fellowship, Purpose
Winchester Senior Center has always had a county-wide presence by virtue of being the home of Living Well’s programs and services as well as attracting Wabash County residents of all ages for both programs, services and volunteering.

In 2010 Living Well CEO Beverly Ferry sat down with a focus group at Winchester Center and asked how the Center could expand its impact on the community. Norma McVicker and Linda Snapp were two of the women at that table. Norma talked about the Access Center and the kids who attended. Everyone started talking about how things had changed since they were raising their children. Norma then piped up with, “They need us.”  That started a discussion of what could be done, and the cookie program was born. Known as the Senior Center Access Team, ladies made homemade goodies every Wednesday for almost ten years.

Carolyn Kellam had a dream of not for profits working together to better the community. After brainstorming, Blanket Binders was born. Every other month, women of all ages arrive carrying fabric squares, sewing machines and covered dish to share for lunch. Built around the love of sewing and the desire to help others, these women have made extraordinary quilts which have been donated to the Lighthouse Mission. Mission clients can earn quilts. As one recipient, who was just out of jail said, “This is the most beautiful thing I have ever owned.”

Living Well in Wabash County CoA is what it is today because of resolute individuals who believed in the goodness of aging with purpose.

If the price of helping someone is a person’s dignity, the price is too high. If we ever fail to reflect that philosophy in any way, we ask that you contact our CEO, Beverly Ferry at info@livingwellinwabashcounty.org or at 260-563-4475. We also ask that if a member of our team or any of our programs and services exemplify that and touched your life we would appreciate hearing that as well. Living Well in Wabash County CoA, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and service provider.