EATON — The Preble County Chamber of Commerce hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday, March 23, for the new Preble County Council on Aging’s Senior Center expansion. The event was well attended and featured three speakers: Eaton City Manager Brad Collins, State Representative Rodney Creech, and COA Executive Director Shelley Ratliff.

“I’d like to thank everybody for being here today, and to start off by congratulating the Council on Aging for 50 years. This is their fiftieth year,” Collins began.

“The mission of the Preble County Council on Aging is ‘We will partner with our community with assuring the best quality of life for our seniors, now and into the future.’ The vision for the Preble County Council on Aging is to advocate and provide resources for seniors to remain healthy and independent.

“We know that our senior population continues to grow, and we know that Preble County Council on Aging services are vital to the health and wellbeing of our seniors. In order to maintain this high level of service, we’re going to have to grow,” concluded Collins.

Collins also thanked past and present board members, presidents of the Council on Aging, Jim Thomas, Mary Bullen, and Ratliff for their contributions and support for the expansion.

“What a great day,” remarked Creech.

“This is something that’s been in the sights of the Preble County Senior Center for quite a while. This all started around 2015, I got on the board in 2015 and I think it started right after that. We started looking around at what we had here on the property — what were the possibilities in the future.

“We put a committee together and had a great plan in place. We were able and ready to pull the trigger and then Covid hit. So today is super special because we had to wait an extra three years to see this dream come true for our Preble County Senior Center,” Creech continued.

“It’s amazing. It’s great to see so many faces that spent so much time here.”

Creech added, the expansion is because of the “vision” of Ratliff and those on the original committee.

“Thank you for all you’ve done. Looking forward to future groundbreakings here,” Creech concluded.

Ratliff closed remarks by saying, “Thank you to our board for your vision and dedication to making Preble County the best place for people to age in place.”

Ratliff thanked volunteers, staff, and all those involved in making the expansion possible.

Executive Director of the Preble County Chamber of Commerce Karen Moss, added, “The Chamber of Commerce is really excited to be apart of the expansion. The Council on Aging is a long-time member of the chamber, so we’re happy to be able to celebrate with them today.”

Reach Nathan Hoskins at 937-683-4057.