The Bob Shepard Highland Landing park was flooded with friendly, familiar faces wishing to greet one another on Thursday.

Many members of the local community gathered for the senior barbecue on May 27, presented by the Town of Lloyd Programs for the Aging. Taconic Healthcare and Ulster County Office for the Aging were also there, tabling under the Leonard M. Auchmoody Pavilion and speaking to residents about the services and events they offer for seniors in the area. Attendees enjoyed their food and conversed with others as the open water flowed beside them.

“I’m a senior now, and you tend to stay home more, you tend to not get out,” said Town of Lloyd Supervisor David Plavchak. “This gets them out at least. It’s a gorgeous site; you’re right on a river. The social aspect of it is important. They meet other seniors, they talk about things they have in common and things they have done.”

Plavchak said events like these allow members of the local senior community to avoid sitting idle and form connections with other people, fostering meaningful interactions. Some of the over 200 people that typically attend these events are new to Highland while others have lived in the area their whole lives, he added. After the COVID 19 pandemic forced them to stay inside, many seniors became isolated, lacking these kinds of formative relationships with other people.

Gloria Ferraro, a senior service aide at the office for the aging who was speaking with those attending the event, said their main goal is to keep everybody living independently for as long as possible. They offer a variety of services for seniors to help them remain active and social ranging from greater transportation access to legal services to exercise programs.

“Right now the biggest thing I think with seniors that we found from COVID is isolation and what isolation can do to your health,” Ferraro said. “It’s worse than smoking right now. One of our main purposes now is when we come out here, we want to meet with seniors, we want to engage them.”

Throughout the early afternoon, seniors sat under white tents, continuing to enjoy the food and speak with one another. Joy Erreich, a Highland resident who has been here for the past five years, said she loves living in the area because there is so much to do, and she has made a lot of connections already.

“You get to know people that you haven’t met before,” Erreich said. “It’s interesting to see who comes out to go to these events.”

Tony Prizzia, who has lived in Highland for the majority of his life, highlighted the close-knit nature of the community. He reflected on a time growing up in the area where his farmhouse was always open to anybody walking by. His grandmother would always set the table for more people than necessary because “you never know who was going to stop.”

Even today, the community has an inviting presence, where people are always willing to say hello despite the fact that they may not know everybody, Prizzia said. He mentioned that gatherings like this one reflect the place’s small-town charm, a community full of people who unconditionally support one another.

“It’s a compliment to say thank you for all that you’ve done over the years and how you’ve contributed to this community,” Prizzia said. “In one way or another to the children, to the grandchildren and to the senior citizens that were there before you.”