Yucca Valley Senior Center sets date for reopening and decides on a new name
For the last year the Yucca Valley Senior Center has been located in the Town Hall building, which itself was the old Yucca Valley library branch. Senior lunches, classes, rummage sales and other activities have all taken place in the temporary space while the actual Senior Center has gone under two different construction phases in a three million dollar modernization and revitalization project.
The sidewalks have been updated to American with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards with a new sidewalk connecting to the Dumosa Senior Village . A new roof has been installed and there has been a remodel of the bathrooms, lobby, reception area, staff offices and classrooms amongst other changes.
While senior center programming has mostly been unchanged since the project began last year, there will be a short interruption from March 30 to April 3 as all operations move back to the newly revitalized Senior Center.
Community Services Manger Sue Earnest gave the Yucca Valley Town Council the lowdown on the Senior Center at last night’s meeting. She says that after the short shutdown to move everything back, regular programming will resume on April 6 with an ribbon cutting and an official ceremony on April 14.
That ribbon cutting will include town dignitaries, the Family Service Association (FSA) and Senior Center Staff and of course: lunch and cake.
From Senior Center to Desert Willow Center for Seniors
It will also return with a new name. Last November the Town asked for suggestions for naming the Senior Center and suggested names inspired by local desert flora. If you’ve been inside the Yucca Valley Community Center you’ll recognize some native plant names in there such as the Mesquite, Cholla, Joshua Tree and Ocotillo rooms.
Keeping in line with the naming convention, the Yucca Valley Senior Center will now be officially renamed to the Desert Willow Center for Seniors. The name was narrowed down from over 80 that were submitted during the call for suggestions. While the Town Council eventually decided on the Desert Willow Center for Seniors, there was still some back-and-forth over the name and subtitle.
And there was also a little audible pushback from the audience during the presentation and public comments.
Tish Preboscki was first to speak, flanked with three others who use the senior center. She moved here 13 years ago and she says that the very first thing she looked up was the local senior center.
“I tell the community when I talk to them that to go to the senior center for lunches, I talk to many seniors, and I want to keep that name straight so people in the community would know where it is,” she explained to the Town Council.
Jerome Mann was there to speak for his 75 year-old mom and 91 year-old neighbor. He says they visit daily “and they were pretty much flabbergasted about changing the name of such a important building for them, for activities and things.”
Mayor Merl Abel and other council members said that they understood the concerns about the naming, and reassured folks that the building and the programming within it will always be listed under the heading of “senior center” on official town websites and calendars.
Searching for the “Yucca Valley Senior Center” on search engines isn’t expected to change once the official name is reflected online.
With the new name came a few examples of a desert willow logo and typeface, used for illustrative purposes only. While some suggestions and opinions were offered on the logo and typefaces, the name was the only thing decided on and was passed by all four councilmembers, with Councilmember Jim Schooler absent.
