Faces of the Valley: Plum Community Center's new activities coordinator well-suited for job

Diana Kelly’s father says she can strike up a conversation and make friends with anyone, anywhere.

“My father says I’m a people person because I love to talk with people,” she said.

So Kelly’s father, Paul Nye, 82, thought it was great when she took a job as the activities coordinator at the Plum Community Center.

“You can’t be shy in a job like this,” she said. “There’s not a shy bone in me.”

Established in the early 1980s, the Plum Community Center is a nonprofit operated by a volunteer board separate from the borough, Executive Director Karen Hochberg said. With a staff of seven, it’s located in a building rented from the borough on New Texas Road next to the Plum Borough Community Library.

A significant expansion 10 years ago added a fitness center, exercise room and commercial kitchen, Hochberg said. Fresh paint and new LED lighting have further enhanced it.

While formally incorporated as the Plum Senior Community Center and primarily serving seniors, its programs, activities and services are open to all ages from within and outside Plum.

“Our goal is to reduce loneliness and keep people healthy,” Hochberg said. “The evidence is there. The more active you are and the more you stay connected to community, family and friends, the healthier you stay and the longer you live.”

Kelly, 58, started at the center in September. A native of Washington Township and 1982 graduate of Kiski Area High School, she moved from Kiski Township to Penn Hills about a year ago to be closer to her daughter, Danielle Kallquist. She also has a son, David Round, who lives in Texas, and six grandchildren.

A stay-at-home mom, Kelly had done almost the same work at Beatty Pointe Village, a UPMC independent living facility in Monroeville, for about three years. She most recently was helping to care for her daughter’s three children.

The activities coordinator job opened up when Samantha Lamorte became head of the Meals on Wheels program.

“This is something that I love to do,” Kelly said. “I love to work with people, especially the older people. They tell the nicest stories.”

Hochberg said they’ve been very pleased with Kelly’s work so far.

“She’s bringing great energy and new ideas to the job,” she said. “We’re looking forward to great things from her.”

Activities at the center include card playing, bingo and line dancing. Kelly also is organizing trips near and far, such as dinner cruises on the Gateway Clipper Fleet and outings to the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh and to Horseshoe Curve in Altoona.

Kelly said seeing Horseshoe Curve had been on a participant’s bucket list.

“We’re always looking for someplace to go,” she said. “I get most of my ideas from talking with everybody here. I think of things I would like to see.”

A daily lunch, cooked in the center’s full kitchen and served weekdays in the large dining area featuring a fireplace, costs only $3.

Beginning in January, Kelly will teach some craft classes as well as some baking classes in pretzel making and cookie decorating.

“Everything that’s done here is done for the community,” Kelly said.