Pendleton Community Connections

Seniors 55+, lunch will be served at 1130 on Tuesday, March 31st at Peace Lutheran Church. Open at 10 for socializing and game playing. Menu: fried/baked chicken, potatoes, green beans and soda bread muffins. Hope to see you there! 🐓🐔🍗🥔

Senior lunch bunch gathered on St. PATRICKS day for a traditional meal. Wearing of the green was everywhere. A very fun event. Tuesday March 24th will be Taco Tuesday. Meal is for people 55+ and we meet at Peace Lutheran Church. Social from 10 to 1, with lunch served at 11:30.

Attention Seniors 55+ who attend lunch on Tuesdays at Peace Lutheran Church :
If school is closed because of icy or snowy roads we will also be closed. We want to keep our patrons safe!

The lunch bunch is meeting each Tuesday at Peace Lutheran Church for seniors 55+. 10 am to 1 pm. Lunch served at 1130. Menu for Tuesday February 10th is baked chicken and sides. A valentine surprise for dessert. ❤️

Steak Feed!!!
Get your tickets at the Chamber or
on-line😋

Senior lunches previously at BackFire is now at Peace Lutheran Church, 210 NW 9th St. From 10 to 1 with lunch being served at 11:30. Lunch is free to seniors 55+. Donations are welcome. Menu for January:
6th baked croissant sandwiches and tortellini soup
13th baked potato bar
20th sweet n sour meatballs over rice and green beans
27th salad bar
Please come and see us!

In honor of Veteran's day, senior lunch at the Backfire Statiin is being canceled on November 11th. Also because of renovations being done at BackFire Station the building is closed which means senior lunches can not currently be held there. We are looking for a new location so we can hopefully resume on November 18th. Please continue to check this site for updates. Thank you for your understanding!

Letter from our President:

Dear Board Members and Community,

After much reflection, I am writing to formally resign from my position on the Board of Directors for Pendleton Community Connections, effective immediately. Earlier this week, Heather Oleson reached out and shared that the board had discussed the idea of me stepping down and allowing her to serve as interim until a longer-term fit could be found. While difficult to hear, I want you to know that I receive this not as a rejection, but as a sincere and needed redirection—for me, and for the organization.

The truth is, I care deeply about this mission. Pendleton needs this. When I founded PCC, it was in direct response to the closure of the Pendleton Senior Center. That closure left a vacuum—a loss of identity, connection, and community for so many of our elders. We knew someone had to step in. It began as a vision for four low-cost, community-building events each year. But to see where it's grown—to see 60 to 80 seniors gathering every week at Backfire Station—is nothing short of miraculous. What Carol and her “senior lunch bunch” have done is exactly what I always hoped would happen: build something bigger than any one of us.

I’ve worked tirelessly to help build the foundation. But the reality is: I’m no longer doing the organization justice. My workload has increased significantly over the past six months. I’ve wrestled with stepping down for quite a while—not out of ego or reluctance, but because I didn’t want to risk the work fading away. I saw myself as a kind of life support, just trying to hold things together until the right team was in place.

And now, you are. Knowing that the board has the courage and unity to ask for what PCC truly needs confirms for me that the team I hoped to build has, in fact, been built.
So it’s time to pass the torch.

Please don’t forget me. And please stay true to our mission:

"...to empower, engage, and uplift our senior community by bringing meaningful opportunities for engagement, support, socialization and connections. We are committed to breaking the cycle of isolation by creating welcoming spaces where seniors can build relationships, share experiences, and rediscover their place in our community."

I’m grateful for your honesty, your grace, and your continued commitment to the mission. If there are behind-the-scenes tasks I can support, you have only to ask.

And one request of my own: I’d love to continue serving as Emcee for your events. It’s where my heart is, and I’d be honored to help when you need a voice.

I am proud of every one of you—and I can’t wait to see what you do next.

With heartfelt appreciation,

James Turk

Tuesday, August 12-lunch for seniors 55+ at BackFire Station will be pizza, watermelon and dessert. Social time from 10 am to 1 pm, lunch is served at 11:30.