Lauritzen starts as Golden Hour Senior Center's new director

By HANNAH ROMERO

Staff Writer

When Golden Hour Senior Center celebrated Saint Patrick's Day last week, one of the smiling faces helping hand out bread pudding belonged to Ruth Lauritzen. The festive party was Lauritzen's first big event as GHSC's new director after she started March 9.

"The job has been a steep learning curve, lots to learn, lots to know," Lauritzen said. "But I think I'm doing all right on it and getting there."

Working at the senior center is Lauritzen's way of getting back to her "first love," which is nonprofit administration. Lauritzen worked at the Sweetwater County Historical Museum for 30 years, which provided her background in and love for nonprofit administration. Her work at the museum also helped prepare her for working with seniors. She remembers working with the Historical Society, which is mostly comprised of seniors, and said "they're a great group and a lot of fun."

Lauritzen knows being GHSC's director will bring its own challenges, particularly related to the ever-present difficulties surrounding the budget.

"We're right in the middle of the cycle of asking for both city and county assistance," she explained. "In past years they've been very generous in helping the center, but they also are presented with a budget crisis of their own, so that is always an ongoing thing."

However, despite the challenges, Lauritzen is excited for the opportunities the job will bring.

"I'm looking forward mostly to getting to know all the seniors and spending some fun time with them," she said, "but also working on programs that would benefit them."

Another thing Lauritzen is excited about is the programs coming back to the center which were previously canceled because of COVID-19. While many things at the center have gone back to the way they were before the pandemic, the last few programs are still making their way back. County Health previously did twice monthly health check clinics at GHSC which were discontinued due to COVID-19 but will be restarting in May. Mayor's Coffee with Mayor Pete Rust is another program that is coming back as well.

"I'm looking forward to returning to more normal times," Lauritzen said.

As GHSC continues to serve seniors in the community through its programs, meals and activities, Lauritzen believes the center will play an even more important role in the future.

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"As the famous Baby Boomer generation is aging we're getting to be an older community," Lauritzen said. She noted reading statistics which said the over-60 population is the fastest growing population in Wyoming.

"Wyoming is skewing to an older state," Lautizen said. "[The senior center] is going to be serving a larger percentage of the population and therefore is a growing importance."