Ledyard — Another year older just means another year to celebrate, or at least that's the philosophy at the Ledyard Senior Center.

The center hopes to bring out friends old and new to celebrate its 25th anniversary Saturday, with a party from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The celebration will feature a DJ, dancing, karaoke and plenty of food.

For decades the Ledyard Senior Center has been a fixture in town, offering a place for seniors to stay active, have fun and socialize.

"Even though I have family right next door to me, I still have a lot of hours alone, a lot of hours to fill and it's lonesome," said Mary Jane Peterson, chair of the Commission for Senior Citizens. "But I have this time here at the center that fills that."

"It's a home away from home," she said, adding that for more than a decade the center has helped her cultivate so many friendships.

Before the center was established, programs for seniors were scattered throughout town and sponsored by various civic, church and town organizations. The majority of senior-centric programs came from the then-Senior Citizens' Drop-In-Center. The Drop-In-Center provided a weekly exercise and nutrition program, along with various other activities. However, it was only open two days a week in a space the town rented from St. Luke's Church Hall.

After receiving a $300,000 community block grant in the fall of 1989, the Town Council appointed seven residents to a building committee, which developed a plan for the town's first-ever senior citizens' center. Several years later, after residents approved the project, the new building was completed and opened its doors on March 10, 1993, providing for the first time a single, centralized place to provide programming for seniors.

Since then, the center has grown. It receives about 500 visits a month and has expanded the variety of its classes to yoga, quelling, tai chi, bridge, mahjong and line dancing, among many other things. It also has continued to hold weekly luncheons — a fixture of previous senior programs — in which other groups throughout town, including various churches and the Navy Officers' Wives, come and join the Senior Club for lunch.

The center also has a daily transportation service and salon, and it hopes to add a bereavement support group in the future.

Pamela Cadro, director of the senior center, said it is a community where vivacious seniors come together, build friendships and don't get stuck at home.

"Above and beyond my relationship with the seniors, they have relationships with each other," Cadro said. "Come and make new friends and give the gift of yourself."

c.clark@theday.com