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September
2019
VOLUME 1 | NO. 13
Senior Connections HJ.COM
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Trippin’ with the Delano Senior Center
AMY JOHNSON
Correspondent
It’s 7:30 a.m. Friday morning as Pete Johnson pulls
up to the Delano Public Works building.
After parking his car, Pete goes inside to grab
the keys and walks back to the bus to begin his pre-
trip inspection. Pete conducts a visual inspection of
the bus, checking the fl uids, testing the lights, and
kicking the tires. After completing the inspection,
he drives to the Delano Senior Center to pick up his
passengers for the day.
Upon arriving at the senior center, Pete heads
inside to get his passenger list and trip details from
Nick Neaton, the senior center coordinator. They
chat for a few minutes about the day’s schedule. Once
everything is set, Pete heads back to the bus and gets
everyone checked in. He gets a few laughs from the
group when he announces, “The seatbelt sign has
been turned off and you are now free to roam about
the cabin.” Once everyone is settled in, they head off
towards today’s destination, the Fox 9 studios in Eden
Prairie to attend a live taping of The Jason Show.
The group arrives at the station about 9 a.m., goes
through a security check, and gets escorted into
the studio. The next 90 minutes are spent clapping,
laughing, participating in a trivia contest, and
enjoying the show. Once the cameras are off, Jason
spends 15 minutes talking with the audience and
answering questions.
Pete heads out of the studio fi rst to retrieve the bus
and parks it by the entrance for pickup. The group
heads over to Baker’s Square for lunch before driving
back to Delano. The passengers thank Pete for getting
them safely to and from their destination as they exit
the bus. Once everyone departs, Pete closes the doors
and drives the bus back to the city garage.
Senior Center bus trip history
Nick Neaton has been the senior center coordinator
since 2014. During his fi ve years as coordinator,
Neaton has expanded the frequency and diversity of
the bus trips. Neaton stated, “This is a new generation
A group of 12 from the Delano Senior attended the Jason Show at Fox 9 on Aug. 9. Front – Nancy Nelson, Sharon
Weber, Sharon Haff ten, Dee Kosek; middle – Kim Harris, Carolyn Goble, Brooke Ortiz, Alice Leuer, Pete Johnson; back
– Sandy Stockler, Louise Kiscaden, Jane Lewis, Siiri Burmeister.
PHOTO BY AMY JOHNSON
of seniors who want to get out. While our numbers
for cards and games are down, the numbers for trips
have gone up.”
The Delano Senior Center has had a transportation
system in place since the 1980s. The Delano drivers
Senior
Connections
used to pick people up at their homes in Delano
until Trailblazer Transit was awarded public transit
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