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Austintown Senior Center dedicates its garden to late members
By BILLY LUDT
AUSTINTOWN
Two senior citizens who were crucial in the growth of the Austintown Senior Center were honored in a ceremony.
The center, on Westchester Drive, dedicated its Memorial Garden on Monday to late members John Serenko and Alan Bayowski.
“They need to be honored,” said Jim Henshaw, executive director. “They were the ones who made the senior center what it is today, and hopefully the people we have here and the people who come in the future will continue to make it grow more and more.”
Bayowski, who died May 9, was a member, treasurer and, oftentimes, a financial contributor. Henshaw said if the seniors wanted to do something, Bayowski made sure it happened.
He taught gerontology courses at Youngstown State University and was responsible for helping start the first FM educational radio station to be licensed to a retirement community at WMKV in a Cincinnati suburb.
Serenko, who died Dec. 25, 2014, was a lifelong Austintown resident and served on the center’s board for years.
“He felt strongly about the senior center, even when he was deathly ill,” said his son, Jim Serenko.
Jim said his father had three loves in his life: God and church, his family and the center.
Henshaw said Serenko always knew what seniors appreciated and what was needed at the center.
“All things considered, he was probably the best bingo caller we ever had,” Henshaw said.
Flowers grow outside the center’s entrance, and Henshaw said members were asking if they could start growing vegetables as well.
The handicapped-accessible garden, designed by township employee Fred Marsch, is home to a variety of vegetables raised by center members.
Its design permits members with walkers and wheelchairs to tend to plants without bending over too much. The garden is divided by square-foot plots where members can plant anything within their space from an approved list of fruits, herbs and vegetables.
“We’re trying to put more fruits and vegetables in our seniors’ diets,” said center member Lynn Best.
Plants grown in the garden are used in center meals, and Best said many of the vegetables are new to members.
“Today, I think it’s wonderful that we have gardens,” said township Trustee Ken Carano. “Those of us our age grew up with gardens. We were always going in picking tomatoes in somebody else’s yard.”
Carano said the center has garnered statewide attention.