Members volunteer with over 15 other community, volunteer organizations
From cutting hair at the nursing home to cleaning their church and weeding the community garden, Pat and Erick St. Amant are very involved with the St. Charles Parish community.
Together, the two volunteer with 10 different activities around the parish, including the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, La Belle Fleur Garden Club and assisting the elderly.
In 2006, the couple wanted to provide a setting for others in the local senior population to spend a Sunday afternoon so they began the Oldies But Goodies Dance and Social Club.
“My wife and I were sitting here one day and we decided that there was no place for older people to go and dance on a Sunday afternoon,” Mr. St. Amant said. “Sunday afternoons are a very lonesome time for widowers and widows, so we decided to try to put a little club together to give people somewhere to go.”
About 37 people attended the first dance, now that number has more than doubled with community members, members of other dance clubs and dance instructors attending.
The club has grown to one of the largest seniors organizations in the area.
But the group does not just meet to cut a rug. Members can be seen around the parish at almost every volunteer event, including the Trash Bash and the Special Olympics of Louisiana. All of the club’s board members are also active in RSVP.
“We volunteer to play music at the nursing home in Ormond once a month, we play music at a veterans’ home in St. John Parish and we have donated our time to the Special Olympics in St. Charles and St. John parishes,” Mr. St. Amant said. “On several occasions, we have raised money for people in need who have had cancer, too.”
One such person that the club helped is Mike Phillips.
Phillips had been diagnosed with both lung and liver cancer and said the club has been very generous in helping him raise money for treatment.
“They helped me out tremendously,” Phillips said. “They put on a function for me and everything went well.”
The club put on a special dance for Phillips, like they have for other cancer patients, with all of the proceeds going towards his treatment.
“We just want to help the community with whatever it needs,” Mr. St. Amant said.
Gary Matherne, called “Dr. Music” because he is the DJ at each dance, said that the members give back to the community because it makes them feel good.
“You get an inner reward,” Matherne said.
Mr. St. Amant and Matherne said they hope that when they are in a nursing home, people will come do similar activities with them.
The club also published a cookbook in 2009 full of traditional recipes from the river parishes called “From Our Mamas an ‘nem…” that is available for sale at oldiescookbook.com.
To find out more about the Oldies But Goodies club, visit www.oldiesbutgoodies.zoomshare.com or attend their upcoming dance on July 18 for $5 per person. The theme of the dance is “Spirit of America” and will take place at the Knights of Columbus Home, 375 Spruce St. in Norco, from 3-7 p.m., with line dancing instruction from 3-4 p.m. A potluck meal will also be served.
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