Dodey Brown, right, shares a laugh with Ronda Krouch at the Sagebrush Senior Center. Brown is retiring in February and Krouch is training to become the new site manager.
At home, Ronda Krouch’s favorite meals are the ones her husband cooks, because she doesn’t have to.
At work, though, Krouch likes to cook and will get the chance to do just that in her new role as the site manager of the Sagebrush Senior Center in Encampment.
Krouch officially started on Jan. 2 and she’ll have the previous site manager, Dodey Brown on hand to show her the ropes until the end of January. Brown is retiring after seven years with the Senior Center.
“This is something that I had my eye on for a long time - I’ll be staying till I retire,” Krouch said.
Krouch is a certified dietary manager and worked at the nursing home for five years as the director of food services.
In February of last year, she took a position at the Wyoming State Penitentiary as a kitchen supervisor and didn’t mind it when she worked days, but then her shift changed.
“A 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. shift is not a Ronda thing, so I started looking,” Krouch said.
Krouch doesn’t have to get up as early now and gets satisfaction from cooking for seniors instead of the stress she felt at the Penitentiary.
“I went from serving 700 people to serving from 25 to 40,” Krouch said.
Along with the shorter commute (Krouch plans on walking to work in the summer) and the lack of stress, Krouch gets something else out of her role at the center.
“I get to hear the history of the place and the stories the elders have to tell,” Krouch said. “Their knowledge is important, and I am cooking one meal for people I care a lot more about.”
As for Brown, she plans on continuing to go to the senior center for the meals.
“I’m just going to change the side of the counter I’m on,” Brown said. “I get to be the one that says ‘no rice’.”
Krouch enjoys cooking more than baking, but the center makes its own bread from scratch and Krouch is becoming more comfortable wearing a baker’s apron.
“I made my first loaves of bread (last Tuesday) and they came out great,” Krouch said.
The center offers a noon meal every day and an evening meal on the third Friday of every month. To make up for holidays when the center is closed, the staff offers breakfast at noon on some Saturdays throughout the year.
The center also delivers meals to seniors’ homes to assist them with independent living.
The meals come at a good value with a suggested donation of $3 for seniors and a cost of $6 for those 59 and under.
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