For the past several years, Clinton resident Jan Emack hasn't just participated at the Westbrook Senior Center; she's also helped organize many of the highly attended events.

"Jan is great-she's always working on events here at the Senior Center and is already planning something for August," says Westbrook Senior Center Director Courtney Burks, who often works alongside Jan. "She does so much."

The Clinton resident of 50 years was born in Maine and, in 1957, came to Clinton, where she met her husband Robert and had two sons, Jeffrey and Joseph. Now that she has some free time, she enjoys spending her hours volunteering wherever she can, especially at the Senior Center.

Jan's dedication to the center began with a once-a-week commitment to help and has grown from there.

"I came here about five years ago...I started because I love to do this. They first asked me to volunteer at the front desk answering phones once a week and it just escalated from there. You should get involved for your own piece of mind and body and to keep yourself active," says Jan. "I've gotten to know a lot of good people here and a lot of interesting people. It's so much fun and we get a lot of people who come in these doors.

"Being able to listen to all the stories, all their life stories I think is really nice," she says.

The Westbrook Senior Center, located at the Town Hall, offers several daily events and activities, including exercise programs, line dancing, pool, dominos, and card playing. A popular weekly activity is the center's social hour, which Jan often attends and helps out with.

An event Jan and Burks organized recently was the Wild, Wild Westbrook Senior Hoe Down on March 20. Dozens of residents of all ages attended the event, including First Selectman Noel Bishop. Jan took her volunteer efforts to a whole new level, displaying her craft skills and transforming the senior center into something truly out of the Wild West.

"We made the center into a town?I went to the appliance place and got the big appliance cardboard boxes and brought them in and cut them out?for the hotel, post office...We made a jail and made cactus," Jan says.

Of all the events she's participated in and helped organize, this was by far her favorite, she says.

With crafting as a big hobby, Jan often makes items to be displayed at the senior center, including decorations for the Christmas tree. She is also on a Craft Committee in Westbrook, meeting with other members twice a month.

Jan volunteers in other areas of the community, including Meals on Wheels, to which she lends her time once a week and says is "very rewarding," and the Clinton Leisure Club, for which she serves on the refreshments committee.

Besides organizing events and donating countless hours to the senior center, Jan says it's always fun to participate in the many activities. She often enjoys taking bus trips with the other seniors in the community, and went on last year's seven-day trip to Michigan.

With the warmer weather approaching, Jan is excited to start the twice-a-month Senior Center "patio picnics," which begin next month. She says she is also busy planning an Aug. 15 event, which she says is her next big project.

"It's going to be a luau coming in August. It's a Hawaiian theme event with tikis and the grass skirts," she says. "I'll be getting a lot of those decorations to put together ourselves...I'm really excited about it.

To learn more about the Westbrook Senior Center and the programs offered, call 860-

399-2029.