Who's The Boss?

It might be the best job she ever had.

And she doesn’t even get paid for it.

Jeannette Hans0n makes the 27-mile round trip from her home in Elberta to The Gathering Place in Honor six days a week. On Monday through Friday, she comes to volunteer. On Saturday, she comes as a guest, for breakfast.

The Gathering Place is the Benzie County Council on Aging’s senior center and meal site. Located in a shopping center in what used to be a restaurant, The Gathering Place hosts as many as 130 older adults on weekdays who come for fun, activities, meals and camaraderie.

A 15-year RSVP member and volunteer, Jeannette sits at the welcome desk, greeting people and collecting money (seniors make voluntary donations of $3 for lunch). She does secretarial work, helps with the newsletter and does just about anything else that is needed. “They call me the boss,” she laughs.

Before she retired, Jeannette worked in a bar, and in a sewing factory. She likes what she does now the best. “If I didn’t do this, I’d just sit at home,” she says. “I wouldn’t get out at all. We have a lot of fun here."