News Photo by Julie Riddle Annie Hepburn, director of the Alpena Senior Citizens Center, hands a to-go Christmas dinner to Sylvia Schalk on Wednesday.

ALPENA — To make a senior citizen’s holiday brighter, pick up a phone, leaders of local senior centers say.

For the most part, holidays are business as usual at local senior centers, where seniors gather to play cards, see friends, and find togetherness all year.

Special meals and small events mark the season, but no large gatherings are planned at the centers this year.

Some seniors say they’re nervous about being around other people or experiencing the same stress of the season that can befall anyone during December’s extra hubbub, said BJ Sander, program manager at the Alpena Senior Citizens Center.

Family, friends, and acquaintances can help boost seniors’ spirits by asking about their Christmas stories, offering support if they’re down, and giving them the gift of time, even if only a few minutes, senior center leaders said.

The Alpena center celebrated Christmas early with a Christmas dinner on Wednesday.

In place of the center’s usual sit-down meal, which usually serves about 300 people, center workers packaged 600 meals in plastic bags, cheerfully handing them through car windows for a curbside meal-to-go.

The ham and mashed potato dinner with all the fixin’s was a big hit, said Annie Hepburn, the center’s director.

No other Christmas festivities are planned for the season, but patrons are most interested in the exercise classes, book clubs, card games, and other activities that are a regular part of their time at the center, she said.

Most seniors she’s talked to feel safe being in public and gathering at the center, she said. Some have expressed concerns about their health or said they feel sad.

Depression can creep up on anyone, she said, even during a season when everyone else seems to be happy and enjoying the festivities.

Check-ins on seniors could help them handle such sadness, and asking questions about Christmases past — especially evoking the senses with references to the taste of peppermint, the smell of a fresh-cut tree, and the like — can stir pleasurable memories from the past, she suggested.

The Presque Isle County Council on Aging this year offers seniors the chance to decorate cookies with their grandchildren and paint ceramic Christmas ornaments and will serve a holiday dinner at its Posen and Onaway centers.

PICCOA Director Christine Schleben is pleased to be offering an in-person meal to help make sure seniors don’t have to be alone at Christmastime.

Some older folks don’t have family to come home for the holidays, and senior centers can help fill that void, she said.

Some seniors who are regulars at the Rogers City Area Senior and Community Center ventured to faraway families’ homes for Thanksgiving, but winter weather may keep them home for Christmas, said center Manager Jennifer Mansfield.

The center sometimes hosts a holiday celebration, but this year, “We’re still laying low,” Mansfield said.

Many of her seniors aren’t comfortable with large gatherings, although they love being with someone they know when they can, said Mansfield, with a cheerful card game going on in the next room at the center on Tuesday afternoon.

Other members of the community can make all the difference for a senior reluctant to leave home but trying to join in on the joy of the holidays, she suggested.

“At least make a phone call,” Mansfield said. “Even if it’s a little bit out of your day, it can make a person’s whole day for you to take a few minutes just to call.”