Over the summer, the Older Adult Connections Club (OAC) interviewed and found a new club sponsor, Kristen Sisto, a counselor at LT. Peter Geddeis, director of student activities, student leaders, and the previous club sponsor interviewed Sisto to ensure OAC would be a good fit, Sisto said. 

“We’ve been looking for someone for a really long time,” Anna Pansing ‘26 club leader, said. “We wanted it to be the perfect person.” 

During the interview, Sisto discussed her time commitment, past experiences, and what she would bring to the club, Sisto said. She wanted to make sure she was joining a club with which she had passion and value.

“My past experiences as a sponsor were coaching Spirit Cheer for three years and doing clubs in college similar to clubs such as OAC,” Sisto said. “We worked with the older adult community to [organize] events such as the Buddy Ball. I really enjoyed being a part of that and thought OAC was a great way to do that again.”

The club leaders are also an important part of maintaining OAC. They lead the club meetings, plan events, and keep everyone organized, Sisto said.

“The leader’s roles include communicating and coordinating events at the senior living communities, planning fundraisers, co-leading meetings, and posting on social media about upcoming events and meetings,” Sisto said. 

On the second Wednesday of each month, the club meets for an hour at NC. The members and leaders then plan events for older citizens at retirement homes. They host their events on Sunday afternoons, Pansing said. 

Although the next event isn’t completely planned yet, they are going to have a costume party at the end of Oct. with one of their senior living programs. Their main goal is to make the senior living community more fun each time they partner up, Pansing said. 

“Currently, we are planning on decorating gingerbread houses at Bethlehem Woods for the holidays or combining with the choir because they love to sing,” Pansing said. 

Pansing initially joined the club because it was of interest to her at the LT clubs fair. After learning about what the club has to offer, she joined and started going to meetings. Now, she is one of the eight leaders the club has. 

“I love making other people happy and doing stuff for the community,” Pansing said.