After five years of living in her home city, Brookhaven’s BessieOliver is leaving town and returning to Ohio to be near herchildren and grandchildren.

The 73-year-old matriarch is departing the city this spring atthe end of a very good year, a year that saw her spend hour afterhour learning new skills and fellowshipping with her friends at theJimmy Furlow Senior Citizen Center.

“I’m sure going to miss it so bad when I’m gone. All of myfriends come in here and we’re all together,” Oliver said. “It dida lot for me. I don’t have time to be lonely anymore, to sit athome like I used to. We’re too busy now.”

Oliver was busy again Tuesday, eating casserole and drinkingsweet tea at a table with her friends at a luncheon for the seniorcenter’s one-year anniversary. Opened the last week of January2010, the new center for old folks has made an impression during a12-month growth spurt that has seen 45 seniors attend programsregularly.

And that number is growing all the time.

“They have a lot of things I’d like to do,” said Mary Smith, 61,a new face at the center who is just now getting involved in itsprograms. “It’s a good place for seniors to come and be active. Alot of older people tend to get isolated and alone. They shouldcome see what they’re missing.”

Seniors who don’t use the Jimmy Furlow center are missingseveral programs that are always changing. The center holds classesand training sessions for computer use, crochet, fitness, Yoga andmore, and serves as the primary meeting place for several groupsand clubs, like AARP. New programs are added and unpopular programsremoved often, and the seniors who use the facility make thosedecisions.

“We are always open to suggestions by the public,” said centerdirector Nancy Ray. “We’ve progressed a lot in the first year.We’ve found programs that did work and programs that did not.”

One program working well at the senior center is the computerclass offered by Copiah-Lincoln Community College. Teacher BonnieBrown said the program has had excellent results for theapproximately 100 students enrolled.

“It’s the most amazing thing to see a 91-year-old person come inhere and learn how to e-mail and use the Internet,” she said. “Thesenior center is important – we’re seeing this more and more everyday. It’s been worth everything for seniors to be able to comesomewhere.”

Hearing about the $800,000 facility’s worth is encouraging tocity leaders.

“It’s been a great first year,” said Brookhaven Mayor LesBumgarner. “A good foundation has been laid, and it’s working outas planned. We just want more people to take advantage of thefacility.”

Active senior center supporter Carolyn Reed, 73, is alreadylooking to knock out a wall and build a new room after oneyear.

“I’m encouraged we’re going to have to add on. We aren’t goingto be able to hold everybody,” she said.

Any senior citizens interested in participating in the center’sactivities may visit the facility at 201 South First St. or call at601-835-5076 to sign up for the newsletter or join the mailinglist.