Club for Seniors Celebrates Tenth Anniversary

The Secret Pals club at Overlea-Fullerton Senior center has been going strong since it was founded 10 years ago and, to date, its members show no signs of stopping.

Founder Catherine “Kitty” Peak, 63, was the treasurer at the senior center when she founded the club in 2001.  The club still has 23 members, although the roster has changed over the years.

“Secret Pals is a club where women meet once every month and exchange gifts for birthdays and Christmas,” Peak said.

Peak said she decided to start the club when the director of the senior center approached her with the idea.  "We just wanted to have something different at the center," she said.

Five of the group’s original members were present for the Monday morning luncheon at a Bob Evans restaurant on Bel Air Road in Fullerton. 

Anna Vanik has the triple distinction of being a founding member, the group’s oldest member and also Peak’s mother.  At 97 years old, she is in excellent health.  Margaret Puelzt, 62, grew up in Fullerton and has been Peak’s friend since childhood.  Senior center president Mafi Zacharko and Alma Bluff round out the list of founding members present at the anniversary gathering.

The women trade gossip and share stories over a meal for about two hours.  Marsha Weidenhamer of Parkville tells a joke too inappropriate to be reprinted on a certain news website.

Occasionally a woman calls out, “Thank you, Secret Pal!” after receiving a gift—all of the women in the room respond in unison with a “you’re welcome!” to protect the giver's identity until the end of the year.

For the tenth anniversary get-together, a representative from Senator Kathy Klausmeier’s office stopped by to congratulate the women and present them with a certificate commemorating their decade-long history.

Later, over e-mail, Klausmeier told Patch: “Overlea-Fullerton Senior Center is a great place because of the warmth, friendship and kindness they show. They respect and enjoy each other.  I think this is what makes the Secret Pals so successful.”

Peak, for her part, agrees.  “Everybody likes each other—it’s a group of friendly ladies—a lot of them live by themselves so it’s a great way to get out.”