Ping Pong Group Lives on at Eastmont

Members of the Ping Pong Group patiently await the day when they can return to the Senior Center. Many of the members have been part of the group for years, including Mary Jinneman (second from left), who started the group at the Senior Center. Donate to the Building Fund at wvsac.link/buildingfund

by Russ Alman
Director of Communications & Development

​The Wenatchee Valley Senior Activity Center Ping Pong Group lives on at the Eastmont Community Center while they wait… and wait… for our building expansion project to be completed.

The Golden Apple Room served the Senior Center for many years as a recreation room for ping pong, Wii Bowling, and other group activities. Due to necessary expansion of the thrift shop, the room now serves as the men’s department.

It’s been over five years now since the ping pong group has been displaced from the Senior Center. Ping pong was one of the popular activities that met in our Golden Apple Room. That room used to function as a recreation room for seniors involved in ping pong and other activities like Wii Bowling, card games and watching sports on TV.

However, all that came to a halt in 2020 when the Senior Center shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the high risk to our members, the center closed in March 2020 and didn’t open again for over two years.

Fortunately, while the center was closed, the Second Chance Thrift Shop was able to reopen and support the ongoing costs of operations. The thrift shop reopened in June 2020 and remained open throughout the duration of the pandemic. However, in order to provide sufficient income to pay the bills, the thrift shop continued to expand through the back half of the building. The thrift shop had already expanded over the years to engulf three activity rooms and two conference rooms, but during the pandemic also expanded into the Golden Apple Room. The room is still being used as the men’s department.

The Senior Center has become heavily reliant on income from the thrift shop. In fact, the thrift shop now generates over two-thirds of the revenue needed to pay for operations.

Meanwhile, our membership and need for activity rooms continues to grow.

Once the 6,500 sq. ft. expansion project is completed, the existing rooms will be renovated and those that were annexed by the thrift shop will be turned back into activity rooms. In all, the number of available activity rooms will increase from three to nine. The hope is that renovations will be completed sometime in late 2026.
Meanwhile, the ping pong group continues to patiently wait. They have purchased a new table to add to their existing tables and have found a temporary home at the Eastmont Community Center.

Ping pong is a great way to stay fit and maintain balance and coordination. All Senior Center members are welcome to play at the Community Center on Friday mornings from 9 - 11 a.m.  The Community Center is located at 230 N. Georgia Ave. across the street from Eastmont Park.