Lloyd senior citizens came out to the Highland Landing Park last Tuesday to enjoy a nice breeze and a view of the Hudson River at the eighth annual Town of Lloyd Senior Citizen Breakfast.

The town of Lloyd puts on the breakfast, with Supervisor Paul Hansut, the organizer. Hansut has been organizing the event for eight years, and plans to continue supporting the event once he leaves office at the end of the year.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Hansut said. “I want to make sure it continues because it’s important.” It’s just simple recognition of our senior citizens who do so much for our community.”

The breakfast took place at the gazebo in the park, which became the staple location when it was built two years ago. Before the gazebo was an option, the breakfast was still held in the park, just under portable tents. The biggest benefit of the location is the view of the Hudson, as the park is almost directly underneath the Walkway Over the Hudson.
Attendance has skyrocketed since the first year, and continues to skyrocket. Last year 120 residents attended, and this year that number boosted to 165. The weather on Tuesday was clear skies and a warm 85 degrees.

“The one thing is that for eight years we’ve always had perfect weather,” Hansut said.

Hansut was easily recognizable to every attendee, and walked around, table to table greeting and catching up with all his guests. Other attendees were being greeted by everyone as well, as they all recognized each other from events around town, or were just old friends. One couple, Judy and Lou Dubois, are part of one of the oldest families in town, and were pretty popular at the breakfast.

“This is a great event, you can be a part of a couple of clubs in town but is something that encompasses the whole township,” Lou said. “We know a lot of people, everybody comes by and says hello. We look forward to this every year.”

Breakfast was served buffet-style with kids from the local high school volunteering to help out. Bagels, eggs, pancakes, bacon, coffee, and muffins were all on the menu.

“It’s wonderful, it is so nice that they do this for the senior,” Jackie Monaco, a Highland resident, said.

The Ulster County Office of Aging was in attendance as well, and gave a little talk at the end of the meal about the services they offer and what they can do to help make the attendee’s lives a little easier.

“We like to be here so they can make friends with us in case something ever happens,” Gloria Ferraro, Senior Services Aide/NY Connects Staff Person, said.

With new resources and full stomachs the senior citizens of Lloyd said goodbye to one another and are looking forward to seeing each other next year. Hansut says when he becomes a senior citizen he can’t wait to attend the breakfasts as a guest, but until then is happy to have something that makes their senior citizens feel appreciated.