In a nondescript building in the center of Clinton, Miss., Anne Lovelady walks in to hear the lively chatter of a group of retirees from the Living Young program engaging in fellowship. She continues walking into the center of a bright wide open room with beige brick walls, wooden floors and many windows letting in the morning sunlight. Taking a stroll about the many amenities provided for the 150th Kentucky Derby party held in May 2024, Lovelady passes many chairs filling up the usually open space, ready for the Best Dressed and Most Fabulous Hat competition later.
She glances over the red, white and blue decorations on the way to her first stop, a table against the wall that holds snack trays filled with food and a plastic horse, nicknamed Big Red, standing watch. She stops to fill up a plate with fruits and cookies before moving on. As she walks, she stops at each table to greet groups of people playing board and card games. The decorations, the food, the camaraderie at this event combine to create the highlight of Lovelady’s week.
Her destination is the line of chairs across the room spread out for a group photo. She takes her seat amongst the many women in their best Sunday dresses, all different kinds of over the top hats on their heads. Lovelady feels a sense of belonging here that makes this a core memory she will cherish forever.
“What I really appreciate about Chandra and her team is that you can do a job—anybody can do a job—but to do a job from your heart and to put out extra effort because you love what you do, that’s a feeling that comes through when you walk through those doors,” Lovelady told the Mississippi Free Press. “You get that feeling of ‘We’re happy that you are here. We’re doing these things for you. And we want you to participate.’”
Lovelady has been a member of the Living Young senior-adult program in Clinton for nearly 13 years. A friend recommended that she attend a line-dancing class hosted at the Baptist Healthplex at the time. As the location moved over the years, Lovelady stayed loyal to the program, and as it expanded, she attended more and more of the classes offered to senior adults.
“It’s a treasure, and a lot of people are aware because I’m always talking about it,” she said.. “You can see I’m a big fan, but it’s sort of a hidden treasure in a way. People see it, and (when) they see ‘therapeutic recreation,’ they say, ‘Oh, that’s not for me. I’m not in therapy. I don’t need that.’ But that term is really, it’s therapeutic on so many levels.”
“It provides us with social connections; it provides us physical activities; it provides us mental positivity; it provides us a way to interact,” Lovelady continued. “So it’s therapeutic—not just medically in that narrow sense of the definition—but therapeutic in every way.”
‘Our Folks Are a Trip’
The Wood Activity and Therapeutic Center opened in February of 2013 with many events for veterans, disabled residents, senior adults (people above the age of 50, in this case), and people with special needs. The Clinton Therapeutic and Recreation Department, founded in 2015, runs and operates the center. Ray Holloway first created the senior-adult program in Tupelo, Miss., working with Tupelo Parks and Recreation. He then moved to Clinton to expand the program and accomplish the same feat.
Working with Clinton Parks and Recreation, Holloway took over the Living Young program, which was originally just a small group of older adults meeting in different restaurants to play cards and to gain a sense of community, something that can be harder to find the older a person gets. After Holloway hired Britney Booth, the two developed the Challenger League through which people with disabilities in the area could collaborate and compete in sports like basketball, soccer, softball, kickball and more. The Wood Center still hosts those organized sports opportunities today.
“Recreation is actually divided into traditional and nontraditional, more or less, activities. … When you get into your traditionals, it’s more or less your baseball, softball, special events, free play—which is playground exercise—kickball, things of that nature,” Holloway told the Mississippi Free Press. “And then when you get into the nontraditional activities, kind of like seasonal, it’s more involved like in arts and crafts, going on trips and (so on).”
The therapeutic side grew substantially when Holloway hired Chandra Fontenot and opened offices in Brighton Park in 2007. When Fontenot was in high school, she was the person asked to bring children with autism or Down syndrome into class with her and to work with them. She developed a passion for engaging with her community in that way, influencing her decision to earn a degree in recreational therapy. In college at the University of Southern Mississippi, working with senior adults came into the fold and from there she got her Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist, or CTRS, certification.
“When Britney left, she moved to Nashville; that’s when I hired Chandra,” Holloway said. “Also, I was looking for a CTRS person for that field. When I hired Chandra, we obviously developed the senior program—or actually she did everything, and I assisted whenever I could—and then we grew, and the therapeutic part actually grew substantially, you know, because she emphasized that a great deal.”
Holloway and Fontenot’s therapeutic recreation programs moved to the Wood Center when the City of Clinton created the Department of Therapeutic Creation in 2013 and provided the program with the space. Fontenot adopted the role of director, and the City has helped fund Living Young for more than a decade. The first and main room in the center is a big open space, the floor in the middle empty to host line dancing every week and dance fitness every other week.
To the left of the entrance is a set of chairs and a TV that visitors use to play Wii bowling, a newly added class. To the right are a pool table and exercise machines for solo workouts. Additional classes are resistance band “flexercise” once a week and “chairobics” twice a week. The Living Young senior-adult programs go on during the day with special-needs Challenger League programs in the evening.
“For Living Young, you have to be over 50. It’s not something necessarily catered to their age. It’s just an event specifically for them. But we have a lively group. Our folks are a trip. They like to have fun; they like to cut up and joke around and things like that,” Fontenot said.
Down the hallway is a smaller carpeted room, art on the walls, with chairs and tables set up for arts and crafts like painting and quilting, for example. The Wood Center also hosts potlucks, “lunch and learns” where different groups of people come in and present on resources in the community, Baptist Hospice-sponsored “vet to vet cafés” offering resources for veterans, and annual talent shows. Fontenot said she will use any excuse to throw a holiday-themed party like the center’s Derby Day, a Valentine’s Day dance, and a Mardi Gras celebration with food, live bands and other activities.
“Our mission is to provide increased quality of life for individuals 50 or older. We understand that senior adults, typically when you retire, if you don’t have a purpose or something to go to every day, you’re used to going to work or a social life.” Fontenot told the Mississippi Free Press. “And the older you get, the fewer friends you have that are still around, and it’s likely for you to stay at home and do nothing. And we know that once that happens, it goes downhill. So we try to keep our folks active, and it’s really good for the soul to have that social interaction every day and to have a purpose and something to come to, especially if your family has moved away.”
Fontenot’s future plans revolve around continuing to grow the Living Young program, including its facility. One day in the far future, Fontenot hopes to have a bigger facility with multiple rooms to host a wider range of activities to reach those people who have specific or niche interests. Currently, Fontenot mainly hosts popular programs in the big open room of the Wood Center and smaller groups in the second room. However, her goal would be to eventually have multiple small rooms to host smaller groups at the same times that are more inclusive.
The 20th anniversary celebration of the Living Young program in 2022 was a moment for Fontenot when she could really see the growth and all she had accomplished. All of her past interns came back, all of the senior adults attended, as well as all of the abilities program participants. This program that started off 20 years ago with only 10 or so senior adults now hosts up to 70 in their biggest exercise class.
“So that was my memorable experience because I got to see the progression. People who hadn’t been here in probably five or six years came back just to celebrate where we’ve come from. So that was nice,” Fontenot said. “The room we had at Brighton was very small. We used to be excited to get 10 people to come to exercise. And now if we don’t have 50 we’re like, ‘Where everybody at?’ So it’s nice just to see the progression grow. To see that we have a consistent, busy schedule for our senior program is something to be proud of, for me anyway.”
To receive emails about Challenger League events and programs, email Chandra Fontenot at cbroomfield@clintonms.org. Sign up to receive the Living Young Quarterly Newsletter by emailing Fontenot with the subject “PAPERLESS.” To receive senior program updates, text @liveyoung81010 or email liveyoung@mail.remind.com. For more information about the Wood Activity and Therapeutic Center (111 Clinton Blvd., Clinton), visit clintonms.org.
