Board of Aldermen 11-09-2021 Page 24
Back in 1970, the Recreation Director at that time felt that the city should do something to honor and thank our Nashua
seniors for their constant and continued support of the youth programs that the city offered and also to create an event for
this often overlooked population. So the annual senior outing was created. At first, the event took place at the Alpine
Grove in Hollis because their facility could host up to 600 people. There was no charge to participate but you had to be a
resident of the city and also to be 60 years of age or older to attend. The department received many gifts and donations to
provide to the seniors at this inaugural event and those gifts and donations in support of this event for our eldest residents
continue to this day.
The event eventually moved to Nashua High School North when the culinary arts program became involved and they
provided the sit down meal as well as the students being able to interact with many seniors who were in attendance. The
number of participants was reduced to 250 seniors. When that program changed, it was moved to the Marriot Conference
Center.
Since COVID, started, the Parks and Recreation Department did not want to stop the event. So they came up with the
idea to do a drive by event so that the community could still know that our seniors were not forgotten. This event took
place at Stellos Stadium and we'll again this year. It is important to remember that the Park and Recreation Department
does not exist to serve only our youngest residents. It exists to serve all of our wonderful community members. The City
of Nashua provides activities for all ages in our community and this program, like many city programs, is funded through
the city budget. Many seniors have been attending this event for a great many years and a good number of them are now
in their 80s and 90s. They see old friends, and meet new ones, and have a great time.
To say this is not needed shows just how uninformed you are. Attacking an event such as a senior outing shows a lack of
respect and understanding for our senior population and are short sightedness regarding the value of this kind of event.
There are so many more important things you should be worrying about than to be attacking an important event like this
one. Seniors are a big part of our community and to provide one event a year to say thank you is something we should all
take pride in that Nashua has stepped up to the plate.
And as for the senior center, the city provides funds for them to put away for reserve and to do maintenance to the
building every year. They are a nonprofit agency that does not get fully funded from the city to run the center. So to
accuse them of not doing enough for the seniors is really not acceptable and | apologize for making this very long. But this
really hurts my heart.
President Wilshire
Thank you Alderman Caron.
Alderman Lopez
| wanted to thank everybody who supported me as Alderman and for re-electing me, but also everybody who worked at
the polls as well. Barry Cardin who | believe the President (inaudible), Fred, all of the people there | really very much
appreciated. But | also wanted to thank Mayor Donchess for his recognition and comments regarding Kathy Belknap. |
know she was a major part of poll working every year. She was missed but they were able to with your recognition make
a little bit of a memorial for her and it meant a lot to people who saw it and cared deeply for her. So | just wanted to thank
you for helping make that something special.
Additionally, | wanted to comment on a situation that | think we've heard about over the summer repeatedly. There's a
larger number of people sleeping unsheltered outdoors than we've seen traditionally. There are groups that are starting to
move more close to downtown because it's getting colder and they need access to resources that | don't feel that we were
able to adequately address the needs of during the COVID pandemic. | know | was a little bit outspoken last year about
our decision to instead of having adequate decompression shelters throughout the State, give them tents that we would
later on in some cities they would just tear down as soon as they were on State property. So | feel like we have a lot of as
a region, a lot of people whose needs are not being met.
As was commented earlier and reflected by the grant that we're receiving, the opioid crisis hasn't fully gone away. If
anything, we've seen a surge in numbers during the COVID epidemic and more recently as time goes on. And there are a
lot of recovery programs and people working in the recovery community trying to make a difference and to combat that.
One of our most essential tools for doing that safe station was reorganize into different types of programs that don't meet
the same needs. One of the things that set our safe station apart from others was that we also worked with people who
are struggling with alcohol addiction. So as the weather gets colder and has people struggle with those addictions and
the restrictions of some of the emergency shelter programs, we're seeing people who don't, who can't fit them in that gap.
And we're also seeing shelters at near or preparing to get ready for overflow capacity and these are issues that are going
