Patricia Matarese has only been on the job for a little while, but as the director of the Hanahan Senior Center, she is full steam ahead.
Matarese and her husband moved to the Lowcountry two years ago from Connecticut. She had just retired from Connecticut state government when her husband found a job here. While they love living here, she soon found she was not quite ready to stop working.
“I decided pretty quickly that real retirement wasn’t for me,” Matarese said. “I really like working with people and have always been sort of the social director everywhere I go.”
When her husband, like so many in recent times, was laid off from his job, she decided to start looking in earnest. With a background in counseling and program work, she was not sure what might be available. Then she ran across a posting for this position.
“I saw this posting on the Internet and applied, and got it,” she said. “I sort of fell into it, really.”
Thus far it seems to have been a happy meeting.
“It’s wonderful. I get to do fun stuff all day – and they pay me,” she said with a laugh.
More importantly, the people who are part of the center, participants and staff alike, are truly like a big family, she said.  
“They just could not have been nicer,” she said. “I like being part of the family. I like being part of this. There’s such great camaraderie here. Some of them have lost loved ones. Many of them tell me this is where they find support.”
As the new director, there are a couple of messages she wants to get out to the public. One, the center welcomes people from all over the tri-county area, not necessarily just the city of Hanahan.
“I want folks out there to know we are here and are available,” she said. “There is so much going on here, so much to do.”
Another important point she wants to highlight is the fact that the senior center caters to people 54 years and older – but that does not mean those who come to the center are old. Far from it, she said.
“There seems to be this myth,” she said. “When you ask someone why they don’t come to the center, and they say, ‘because there’s old people there,’ that’s just a myth. These people are not old. They may be experienced, but they’re not old.
“This is not a nursing home, it’s a recreation facility. These people are involved and interested.”
One way Matarese plans to get the word out about the center is through an open house she’s planning to host in October. The open house will not only give the public a closer look at what the center offers, it will allow people to try some of the classes for free.
In addition, the center will probably debut some new programs as well, she said.
Ultimately, Matarese would like to make the center an even more integral part of the community. One avenue she would like to explore is to involve youth in some way, she said.
“I would like to get seniors and kids involved in things together,” she said. “There are a lot of community service opportunities out there, and the seniors have a lot to offer – kids can learn a lot from these people.”
The open house will be held Oct.12-15, she said. For more information call 266-0958 or visit www.cityofhanahan.com.