FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Community Center is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023, and to celebrate its board is inviting residents to a free lunch.

The center, located at 209 S. Court St., will host the free lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 2. The board of directors is supplying the meal, which will be cheeseburger pie, salad bar, roll and “birthday cake.” Those who plan to attend the lunch are asked to RSVP by Friday, Dec. 29 by calling the center at 641-472-4403.

Kathy Horn, a member of the board who is in charge of rentals, will give a presentation on the center’s 50-year history. This year also marks the organization’s 40th year in its home on South Court Street. It was previously in a building behind the Carnegie Historical Museum.

The Fairfield Community Center would not be able to do what it does without its generous donors, and those donors will be recognized during Tuesday’s ceremony.

The center, previously known as the Fairfield Senior Citizens Center until it was required to change its name, is a popular place for clubs and civic organizations to meet. It’s perhaps best known as the site of the weekday meals that are made in its kitchen are served by Milestones Area Agency on Aging, which not only feed seniors in the FCC’s dining room but are delivered to seniors in other towns such as Mt. Pleasant.

Horn said the center is available to rent for parties such as birthdays, reunions and graduations, and in fact it’s already booked a few graduations for 2024.

“Our rentals are going well,” Horn said. “We have two card clubs that meet weekly in the center. A quilting club is there all day on Tuesday, and we have a church that comes for a prayer session once a month.”

Horn mentioned that PEO and Lions Club frequently meet at the center, too. Bingo meets every Wednesday, and Jefferson County Public Health comes about once a month to give presentations during lunch.

In addition to its dining room upstairs, the center leases long-term rental space to businesses, too, such as a couple of offices on the second floor and to R&R Counseling Solutions in the basement.

A few years ago, the center underwent a renovation to its kitchen area and added a couch and plush chairs on both floors.

“People walk in now and say ‘Wow!’” Horn said.

Horn said the Fairfield Community Center has received some funding from the City of Fairfield and Jefferson County Board of Supervisors, but its members have been told to prepare for that funding to go away next year. Horn said the center is a 501c3 nonprofit, and always appreciates donations from the public.

“When you have a monthly electric bill, you need donations,” Horn said. “Our mission is to benefit the seniors and other people in town, so we have a nice place to rent. We have a great board, too. Everybody on it is just terrific.”

The board president is Horn’s husband Francis Horn, while the other officers are Vice President Max Giles, Secretary Janice Giles, and Treasurer Tom Thompson. The other board members are Jeff Johnson, Willis Deuser, Greg Dorrell, Alice Merrill, Roseann Karbacka, Cheryl Rogers, Ginny Hughes, Kathy Horn and Karen Krumboltz.