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Farmington seniors celebrate a challenge met

Richard Sennott, Star Tribune

A group of men get together over coffee every morning at the Rambling River Center and play dice to see who buys the coffee.

Rambling River Center opens after renovations to former Farmington city hall.

By KATIE HUMPHREY, Star Tribune

Last update: October 20, 2009 - 4:40 PM

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RAMBLING RIVER CENTER

The Rambling River Center is open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 7:30 a.m. to noon on Friday. For more information on membership and programs for people age 50 and older, call 651-280-6970 or stop by the center at 325 Oak Street.

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The Farmington City Council issued a challenge to senior citizens in March before approving plans to move the Rambling River Center to the former city hall.

The seniors would need to drum up volunteers to help with renovations and raise $90,000 over five years to pay for the $265,000 project.

On Monday, after months of renovations, 2,243 hours of volunteer work and a fundraising blitz that has so far netted more than $45,600, the community was set to mark the grand opening of the new Rambling River Center.

"We're all just really excited and happy," said Missie Kohlbeck, the senior center coordinator for the city of Farmington. "We're all still in Christmas morning mode."

Backers of the center have raised money for the project through traditional community fundraisers -- omelet breakfasts, garage sales and the like -- and by selling the naming rights to rooms in the building.

The library, for example, bears the name of Jerry Ristow, a former mayor and council member who donated $3,000 with his wife, Denise.

The new Oak Street location, which still smells of fresh paint, is more than twice the size of the center's old home on 3rd Street. That building, built in the 1920s, was in need of repairs and had mold near the furnace.

Seniors can now hop on elliptical machines and treadmills to get a workout in the former city council chambers. Down the hall, rooms once filled with cubicles for city employees now offer space for seniors to do arts and crafts, gather for coffee, play the organ and even practice yoga.

"It's very nice," said Marvalene James, a member who volunteers to sort through donated books for the center's library. "It's more spacious and they'll have more room for any kind of activities they'll have."

Kohlbeck said there are plans to institute more classes and programs at the senior center, which has about 500 members. So far, visitors tell her they enjoy the new space and amenities.

Everyone who comes will fit in the "crown jewel" banquet hall, and quiet activities, such as reading and yoga, have separated spaces from the busier rooms at the center.

"The guys don't worry about being loud and laughing," Kohlbeck said.

The city is paying for much of the renovation through a five-year, $105,000 levy that will cost taxpayers about $2.50 a year and the money collected from a company that has a cell phone tower in a local park.

But Kohlbeck and others said volunteers and the community have really been the driving force behind the Rambling River Center project.

"You just feel the excitement from everybody. I love going there," Denise Ristow said. "It says a lot about our community."

Jerry Ristow agreed that the project's success goes to the volunteers.

"They set a goal, a challenge from the council," he said. "They've worked hard to meet those goals."

One volunteer whose name always comes up is Charlie Webber. He's put in more than 500 hours at the Rambling River Center and carries around a flash drive with digital pictures of the renovation process, ready to pop it into the nearest computer.

Too humble to tout his status as Dakota County Volunteer of the Year this year until another senior pointed it out, Weber is obviously excited about the finished product.

"The people who were in here before can't believe the difference," Weber said. "It's beautiful."

Katie Humphrey • 952-882-9056

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