Senior citizens need a place to enjoy fellowship, activities and meals, older Mt. Pleasant residents Cliff Beckler and Warren Messer agree.

Such a place may not be the current Mt. Pleasant Senior Center much longer. The city has informed those who use the center, especially the hot meals program that serves as many as 130 daily, that within two years or less they will have to seek another location.

A special committee of older residents, including Beckler, Messer, Wanda Ford, Stan Hill and Traverce Harrison, will meet Monday to discuss possible new locations for the meals program. Southeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging formed the committee to help it determine a new location for its meals program, which serves up to 30 persons at the center, another 27 home delivered meals here, and 80 meals shipped to Salem and Burlington.

While some local individuals and entities are considering assistance, Beckler and Messer would like to keep the meals program where it is. They also note the center plays host to several other activities, including square dancing, game playing and a number of public and private activities ranging from baby showers to flu clinics.

"It's a social thing,' Messer said this week. "It gets (older residents) out of the house.

"You get to eat right ... and you've got to have fellowship."

The two agree that the center is in disrepair, however. They would like the city to commit to repairs to the structure, which fronts Jackson Street but actually is part of the Mt. Pleasant Police Station building that sits on the corner of Monroe and Jackson.

"The roof was leaking and the ceiling tiles were falling down," Messer said. "The community needs to step up and play ball."

For more, see our Feb. 6 print edition.