Senior citizen clubs may face criteria to qualify for town funding

Four of the five clubs in Warwick have waiting lists for membership Warwick — Senior citizen clubs within the Town of Warwick that receive funds from the town may have to abide by new criteria if that funding is to continue. Vincent Poloniak, the town’s liaison to seniors, told the Town Board last week the numbers of seniors and clubs in the town are growing. “There are so many seniors and new clubs are forming,” said Poloniak. The suggestions he made to the Town Board to make a club eligible for town funding include limiting memberships for each individual to just one club. A club also must be open only to Town of Warwick residents, have elected officers and by-laws 45 days after formation, maintain a minimum of 40 voting members and submit a roster each year to the town. Currently, there are five clubs in the town that each receive $6,000 in town funds: Florida, Pine Island, Greenwood Lake, Warwick Seniors, and Golden Seniors. In addition, there is an AARP-sponsored group that does not receive funding. The Greenwood Lake senior club has open membership, according to Poloniak, so numbers are not available. Pine Island, Florida and the Warwick seniors each have more than 100 members, Poloniak said, and waiting lists. The Pine Island group has a waiting list of 35; Florida and Warwick have waiting lists of about 15. The Warwick Golden Seniors, he said, has about 50 members. About 11 percent of the population in the town of Warwick in the 2000 Census were 65 years or older. In people, not numbers, that’s more than 3,400. By comparison, more than 22 percent of the town’s population in the 2000 Census, or 7,042, were under the age of 15. Ironically, dual membership was a result of clubs not having enough members. Poloniak said that when clubs began to form years ago, very few people joined. In order to have enough members, seniors joined more than one club to fill the rosters. That circumstance has definitely changed and some clubs have adopted the provision into their by-laws. Jane Resch has lived in the Village of Florida for 30 years. She, along with a group of others, thought there was room for another senior group in the area, considering the Florida Senior Center holds 85 people, but the club has 115 members and a waiting list. “No one is leaving,” said Resch. “My neighbor has been on the waiting list for three years.” They are in the process of forming another group. At their first meeting early in March, Resch said 31 people showed up just by word of mouth. They began writing by-laws, which include the provision of only one membership per person. They were holding another meeting this past Wednesday, hoping to garner enough interest to move forward and become a bona fide club, complete with 40 members and officers. “We have lots to do before we hope to be up and running by the fall,” said Resch, inviting those on waiting lists to come take a look. Some members of Warwick clubs are grandfathered. They no longer live in Warwick, but because they were members of the clubs for a certain length of time, they remain as members. The criteria provided by Poloniak states that current members of clubs are grandfathered. Former residents who have lived in Warwick for 25 years or more are eligible for club membership. These former residents may make up 10 percent of the club enrollment. Senior clubs provide group trips, guest speakers, luncheons, parties, and other activities for residents aged 55 and older. Poloniak hopes to work out all of the glitches in the funding criteria and present it to the town for adoption at the March 23 Town Board meeting.