LOCAL Colleen McMahon has been informing the readers of The Singleton Argus for the past five years with the Seniors Voice – and has no plans to quit.
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“It’s about telling people what’s happening here (Singleton Senior Citizen’s Centre), letting them know what services are available such as help during tax time,” she said.
“I try to take a different slant in the column and give it a humorous edge when I can.”
She must be doing something right with a cohort of loyal readers from inside and outside the senior centre looking forward to it every two-to-three weeks.
Colleen took over the Seniors Column from Alice Downe and said it was very important the
seniors of Singleton have a voice.
“I was on the executive committee and I was approached to take on the role and I haven’t looked back since,” she said.
Colleen now signs off as “Colleen Mac” to avoid confusion with the other Colleens at the Singleton Senior Citizens Centre after her initial “Colleen” was too vague for the community.
“I was confused with Colleen Sales so I changed my sign off to ‘Colleen.M’ but then people thought I was Colleen Maskey,” she said.
“I finally settled on ‘Colleen Mac’.”
She said a lot of her material comes from
medical experts or transport authorities that ask her to address her audience, even Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon has featured in her column.
Social events such as country shows around the region are also a big focus of Seniors Voice and, most recently, the new renovations of the Singleton Senior Citizen’s Centre.
“The centre users are really enjoying the easy access it’s providing, especially the automatic doors,” she said about the renovations.
“It’s definitely more inviting to the public.”
Singleton’s senior citizens have just finished National Seniors Week and celebrated with social and active games and a visit to the village of Broke.
“It’s a good group of people here at the centre, you find friendship and I always look forward to coming here and that’s part of message from the week to get out and be social,” Colleen said.
“I don’t like the stigma associated at seniors that they’re not old enough for the centre but that’s not true, we start from over 50.”
She said she was happy to continue on her scribe role because the thought process behind writing keeps her mind busy.
“I’ve always got my thesaurus nearby if I’m struggling for a different word and it’s a good challenge to find something new to write about,” she said.
