Every Thursday at high noon the old Boyd School is filled with seniors—a group that refers to each other as the “old schoolers.”
After a prayer and the pledge, it's time to eat.
And right in the middle of it all, you will find a busy Donn Lorash dishing out meatloaf and mashed potatoes.
“I just can’t tell people enough about how important these programs are and who they benefit,” says Lorash.
Donn helped form the weekly dinner for Boyd’s seniors about 15 years ago. At the time, no one thought it would become as popular as it has.
“We always cook for 50, and it’s like eating at grandma’s,” he says.
The old schoolers have done their best to preserve the charm of the school that Donn and several others in the group once attended.
The old school has quite the history itself, having stood in Boyd for almost 100 years after being moved by teams of horses from the now ghost town of Carbonado.
Donn serves as general manager of the old schoolhouse turned Boyd Community Senior Center.
“That’s the main reason that I got involved before the senior meals program even came in was to try and preserve this facility for community use, and the meals program has given us that opportunity. It’s a nice facility and we’ve put a lot of work into it,” Lorash says.
The seniors come here for more than just the food.
“It gives them a chance to get out and visit,” says Bob Hull. “He (Donn) is the one who made this happen. It takes a lot of leadership to have lunch every week for a large group of people. It takes a lot of planning.”
There’s also a wall of honor remembering those from this part of Carbon County who served. Donn’s picture is on that wall. He was in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War.
But these days you will find him happily serving up whatever is on the menu—when seniors meet at this old schoolhouse every Thursday.
“That’s the main thing that I try to emphasize any time I talk to anybody is about what a wonderful program these senior meal programs are and the good that they do-- not necessarily for your belly, but for your mind as well. It’s a getaway. They are a getaway from home. They come and visit and it’s just a wonderful program,” he says.
