“No Seniors Eating Alone” Day lasts almost a week and ends today

As county executive, Johnny Olszewski is used to running things. But when Baltimore County’s top official walked into the kitchen at the Bykota Senior Center, he knew he had to step back and let the assembly line of paper plates and diced carrots go ahead without his signature.

“I don’t want to complicate what is already a well-oiled machine,” Olszewski said as he and his communications director, Erica Palmisano, pushed a silver cart loaded with a lunch of chicken and gravy before an adoring crowd earlier this week to mark Seniors Don’t Eat Alone Day.

The annual event, which began on September 9 and continues today, aims to encourage seniors to get out of their homes, offering them company, entertainment and a bit of education about nutrition, mental and physical health.

About 212,000 seniors — defined as residents 60 and older — live in Baltimore County. That’s about a quarter of the county’s population. Many of them are active in local senior centers — and, it should be noted, they are reliable voters. Olszewski knows this, and he has devoted energy and funds to listening to their needs and meeting them, adding state-of-the-art exercise equipment, modernizing senior centers and advocating for more senior housing.

But it’s not just about politics. Olszewski, who turned 42 this week, has fond memories of spending time with his grandmother at the Edgemere Senior Center in Sparrows Point, where she played bingo. Today’s seniors, he notes, have a lot more options. Zumba classes, bus trips to the Philadelphia Flower Show, spirited pickleball games and singing groups.

“I got my ass kicked once playing basketball here,” the 6-foot-7 county executive said. “There are some 80-something seniors playing really good basketball.”

Friendly rivalries aside, the problems facing older adults are serious. Nationwide, a quarter of adults 65 and older are considered socially isolated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That isolation can lead to loneliness and increase risk factors for chronic disease, as well as hearing loss. Getting out on the court to play basketball or bingo or just socialize can clear your mind.

Olszewski ran the room like a retail politician, which he has been since his early 20s, when he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates to represent Eastern Baltimore County. He grew up watching his father, John Olszewski Sr., shake a lot of hands and eat a lot of chicken dinners as a county councilman from 1998 to 2014. All of that will be good practice if he wins re-election to Congress in November to replace the retiring Dutch Ruppersberger.

The Bykot audience ate it up, along with the meals he served. One woman showed him her wooden bird carvings, and the district manager asked her about her carving technique. As the Bykot on Stage singing group danced in poodle skirts and matching suits to classics like Put Another Nickel In, Olszewski shook his hips. “Closer, my dear, come closer,” he crooned, going into the kitchen for another cart of meals.

His security watched him carefully as he moved around the room before quietly leaving for the next event. His staff remained. There was still chocolate cake to be served.

About 225 guests attended the Bykot event, according to Michelle Mills, deputy director of the Baltimore County Department of Aging. Senior centers across the county are hosting events that end today. But she said the centers are always open and full of opportunities.

“We really want our senior centers to be full-service,” she said.