Brewster COA Celebrates Five Decades

BREWSTER – It’s old enough to join the American Association of Retired People, but not yet old enough to take advantage of most of its own programs.

On Saturday the council on aging celebrated 50 years of providing services to Brewster seniors with a bash at the Bay Property.

Cars parked upon the lawn and residents of all ages headed uphill to the big tent for brownies, cookies, hamburgers and cheeseburgers, music, games, socializing at tables outside and inside and more.

“Six hundred and ten people signed up, maybe 350 to 400 came,” COA Director Elton Cutler said. “We had a living legacy as a way of connecting with Brewster’s past with 10 seniors from the community who told about what Brewster meant to them. We had a Wampanoag elder — after all they were here long before we arrived. It was a community town-wide event, we didn’t want to make it just for adults. We had games for kids. We wanted to make it a party for the whole town.”

The party featured music by the Schuyler Grant Trio and Brother Phil. The recreation department ran the games echoing the property’s past as the Cape Cod Sea Camps.

Cutler said that the federal government began a grant program to encourage towns to create council on agings in the early 1970s, and the state created enabling legislation for the agencies in 1972. Brewster created theirs in 1974.

“Originally there were 84 people we were supporting in 1974,” said Cutler. “Now we have 53 percent of the population (at age 60 or more) that can get services if they want it. As they age it is our job to provide positive support with the goal of keeping them at home. So it was not as actively utilized as it is now.”

Last year the COA used a $25,000 grant to hire the University of Massachusetts Boston Gerontology Institute to conduct a survey and create a needs assessment for Brewster seniors. They reported back this year and the COA has shared the data on how many want to age at home and what services they will require.

“So we are on the pulse of what seniors need,” Cutler said. “All the directors of councils on aging meet monthly to stay on top of new developments and to make sure residents get the services they need. The Massachusetts Councils on Aging works with us.”

The COA has a host of activities ranging from providing needed support and services to just doing things for fun.

“We have a walking club, tai chi, an art club, chair yoga, keep moving, senior dining on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Meals on Wheels Monday through Friday, pedicures on Friday, on Mondays and Wednesdays we offer grocery shopping, transport to medical appointments Monday through Friday with our van,” Cutler said.

The COA has 97 volunteers helping out with driving, but Cutler said it is harder and harder to find recruits. People used to retire at 65 and volunteer, but now they are working longer, into their 70s, which reduces the pool of volunteers.

Next week the COA will be celebrating Juneteenth on June 19 at Drummer Boy Park, along with the Brewster Ladies’ Library and the town’s cultural council.

One of the COA’s prime function today is to guide seniors through the Medicare maze as they hit age 65 with aid from SHINE (Serving the Health Insurance Needs of Everyone). They’ll also help with retirement planning, food stamps, obtaining home care, making out a will and more.

“What is you health care plan when you can no longer sustain yourself?” Cutler asked. “What can you afford and where do you want to be? A lot of people move away and sell their homes.”

The COA itself may be one of those.

“We’ve outgrown our building,” Cutler said. “In the next year or two we want to add another outreach worker and an assistant program coordinator and that will take away two rooms we program in to make offices. We’re at that threshold now. The building is not senior friendly. There are a lot of stairs and the elevator is slow.”

The COA is located in Brewster’s Historic three-story old town hall. Fifteen years ago there was a plan to move into the Eddy School (along with the town hall staff) and have the historic society move into what is now the COA. Now there are plans for a community center on the bay property that would include senior center functions, but that is at least a decade off.

“We have two bigger rooms and that’s it. We need a bigger space to serve more people,” Cutler said.

The COA has upgraded its bathrooms with comfort toilets and easier-to-use faucet handles. Cutler would like to upgrade the kitchen so they could create a senior cafe as some other towns have. Cutler also wants to implement the actions recommended by the Gerontology Institute’s report starting July 1.

“The plan is a direct response to the study,” he said. “There are 10 domains, one is increasing staff. These needs are vital. We’ll chip away and work on it through the five-year plan.”