Photo Gallery: Rotarians Serve a Sweetheart Dinner

Seniors filled every seat at the Pleasanton Gardens meeting hall Jan. 11 for the annual Sweetheart Dinner. 

The event, now in its 16th year, was organized by the Pleasanton North Rotary with the help of volunteers, including students from Foothill High School's Interact Club. 

About 70 seniors from Pleasanton Gardens and Kottinger Place Apartments attended the event to visit with friends, enjoy a three-course dinner and listen to live music.  

Ronald Hyde, a member of Pleasanton North Rotary club who organized the dinner, said his group started volunteering at the housing complex for low-income seniors in 1995. 

"We've just had a special relationship with [the seniors]," he said. 

Hyde said that seniors tell him that the Valentine's Day-themed dinner is their favorite night of the year.

Mary Harrison, a resident of the complex for eight years, was all smiles during the dinner. 

"I like to meet nice people," she said when asked how she was enjoying the night. "Plus, I don't have to cook." 

Bruce Fiedler, manager of Pleasanton Gardens, said the volunteer-run event lets seniors know that the community hasn't forgotten about them. 

"They enjoy [the dinner] a whole lot," he said. "If one has outlived many of their friends, siblings, spouses ...  it's hard. In many ways, the people that live here become family."

The average age at the Pleasanton Gardens is 75 years old. Residents of Kottinger Place, a similar complex just across the street, also were invited to the event this year.