Senior tours offer more than many realize
Trips bettering the lives of area residents

TRIPS OF A LIFETIME — Members of various local senior clubs, along with other area residents, visited Station Squre in Pittsburgh as part of the senior tours which are offered through the help and hard work of Regina Truax, front, fourth from right. Truax is a member of six area senior clubs and organizes the trips that are held in various locations throughout the year. -- Contributed
WEIRTON — Human beings. Our brains are wired to connect with others. Having friendships, family and love interests in our lives has been known to lengthen our life expectancy.
Why? Because socialization can directly effect our health.
Perhaps that is one of the reasons why more Americans are living, on average, to the age of 78.4, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Senior citizens are improving their health and cognitive function by forming more friendships, more bonds.
How are they doing this?

MASSACHUSETTS BOUND — A trip to Cape Cod was among the places visited by area seniors and interested residents as part of the senior tours offered through the work of Weirton resident Regina Truax. Truax organizes the events and prepares much or all of the work involved in visiting various cities and events. -- Contributed
By joining a club. Not a health club or a gym, but rather, a senior club. A place for men and women who are around the age of 50 to 55 and older, who can get together and simply enjoy each others’ company.
These groups are getting out more. They are taking part in activities, playing games, traveling and interacting. They are sharing life stories, reminiscing about significant moments in their lives and forming connections.
And sometimes connections can make all the difference.
According to the National Library of Medicine’s National Center for Biotechnology Information, there has been “significant evidence that social support and feeling connected can help people maintain a healthy body mass index, control blood sugars, improve cancer survival, decrease cardiovascular mortality, decrease depressive symptoms, mitigate post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and improve overall mental health.”
The center then notes how the opposite of connecting with others can result in isolation from society, thus having a negative effect on our health.

LINCOLN PARK FOR THE HOLIDAYS — A trip to Lincoln Park was among the destinations area seniors visited through tours offered with Regina Truax. Those stopping for a holiday photo included, from left, Carla Stevens, Ruth Ann Foutty, Truax and Nancy Summers. -- Contributed
Center officials stated that feeling connected with others can help add years to our lives, including improving our health and well-being throughout those years.
The number of area senior groups has grown during the past decade.
Perhaps no one knows this better than Weirton resident Regina Truax.
Truax currently belongs to six senior clubs. She is president of two and a member of Weirton’s International Seniors Club, Funseekers Club, Three Score Club, Four Seasons Senior Club, and Steubenville’s Prime Time Center and Our Place of Jefferson County.
While some of the groups meet monthly, a couple gather several times each week, she explained, with each offering their own unique experiences. For example, Prime Time meets Monday through Friday, serving lunch at 11:30 a.m. daily at the cost of $1 for members. Daily bingo games are played and celebrations are held for holidays, including Christmas and Valentine’s Day. The cost to join is $25 annually.
Members who are a part of the senior group at Our Place are given the chance to play bingo, line dance and on Wednesdays, make crafts. Its members meet Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, with a homemade lunch being served at 11:30 a.m. at the cost of $3 for members. Membership is $25 annually.
In the clubs where she serves as president, Truax does her best to ensure that everyone who attends the meetings has a nice time and enjoys themselves.
She tries to hold various activities each month. Dinners, different styles of entertainment, bingo, door prizes, picnics and card games for prizes are among the activities she plans.
Truax noted she is appreciative of those who contribute toward the purchase or donation of gifts that are awarded during drawings, games and holiday events.
Among those she wanted to show her gratefulness to was those who donated gift cards or baskets, including Doug Boniti from Home Plate cafe, Gio’s restaurant, First Choice America Community Federal Credit Union and Rodney Boniti.
By her becoming a member of these clubs, Truax has been able to form new friendships. She has even had the pleasure of introducing individuals who later became couples.
While each club may have its own identity, its own itinerary of enjoyment for members, there is a common thread among all of Truax’s groups.
That is having the opportunity to attend carefully planned and eventful senior tours. For decades, Truax has put together a vast selection of places throughout the country for club members to travel.
She also makes the trips public knowledge through media outlets to encourage members of the public to attend, if they so choose.
Truax hadn’t planned on becoming the director for the area’s mini trips, but years ago, she was in a club that had wanted to take trips but no one wanted to step up and lead the project.
So she tried filling the position herself. She succeeded.
She explained how she was never a person who would tell anyone “no,” when asked to do something.
Her heart is that big.
Truax creates a list of places the groups will visit and prints all of the materials and mailings out of her own pocket. She pays for the paper, ink, name tags and stamps to cover the costs.
She understands the importance of seniors having an option to experience cities and places they may never have been.
Most people who live locally will agree one usually has to go out of town to do something. Plays, shows, museums, art galleries, shopping, theme parks, zoos, notable restaurants, sporting events, concerts … these forms of entertainment are situated outside of the area.
Truax does her best to provide many options for residents.
“My favorite location was Nashville,” she recalled. “It was so nice. We stayed at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, which was super nice. It was one of my best trips.”
She explained how everyone who attended the Nashville trip went to see a show together, took a boat ride and ate dinner with one another, visited the theater, went to four shows and had nice breakfasts and dinners.
Another of her favorites is Canada’s Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino in Niagara Falls. She noted this is a trip that is planned each September. It is one in which everyone who signs up comments how they enjoyed the visit, Truax remarked.
Another popular tour the seniors took part in was a trip to the Capitol Theater in Wheeling to see A Motown Christmas.
“Everyone loved that show,” Truax stated, noting Motown members were very amicable to guests, shaking hands and signing autographs for fans.
“We had dinner at Mehlman’s Cafeteria, too,” she added. “It was a nice day out.”
Additional noteworthy trips mentioned included Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Myrtle Beach in South Carolina and Station Square in Pittsburgh, where the group went to dinner and then stopped by the Benedum Center to see a performance of “Mama Mia!”
Oglebay Park is another place Truax plans on her tour list. She said she loves taking a trip to see the Christmas lights every other year.
“I will come up with an idea for a trip or a customer may suggest somewhere to go,” she said on how the concepts are decided upon, adding popular suggestions often include Hartsville and Sugarcreek.
Truax stated one of the best parts of the trips is the convenience of being dropped off and picked up in front of the entrance or exit by the bus driver. Not having to walk through the parking lot or walk a long distance is important for many of the seniors.
Truax said some of the tours feature additional forms of transportation, such as a train ride that was taken through Maryland.
This type of larger trip, including visits to New York, are done through an agent, Truax explained, saying she pays them what they charge for their planning services.
Smaller trips such as Sugarcreek, Hartsville or a recent trip to Lincoln Park to see the “Nutcracker,” are all done through her preparations and work. These trips cost approximately $45 to $60, as she tries to keep the cost as minimal as possible for people. Meals are sometimes, but not always, included in the cost, she added.
Truax realizes many seniors live on a fixed income. Few usually have funds that make it possible to take brief trips or extended vacations whenever they would like. The larger trips through agents cost what the agent charges, which can usually be around $700 or less, depending on the tour.
Still, the cost is a pretty good deal, as the trip includes breakfasts and dinners, the boat ride, shows, the hotel.
When asked if there is a minimum amount of people who need to sign up for the trips, Truax commented if at least 40 people do not attend, it is difficult to cover the cost for the bus, as the price has greatly increased during the past couple of years. She said she tries to plan and announce the trips ahead of time and in enough of advance that she can have as close to a full bus as possible. Truax stressed these tours are open to the public. Anyone who is interested in going on any of the trips can contact her for details.
She noted she receives requests from residents who are not members of seniors clubs who want to accompany the group on its trips, including a woman from New York.
Truax said the woman mentioned she could never go on a trip that was as inexpensive as hers, and travels to the area in order to go on the tours.
“I have people who come from all over the country who come here to go on these tours because they are cheaper than other places,” she said. “I am not here to make any money. I am here for the seniors.”
She announced anyone interested in attending any of the following trips, can reach out to her and express their interest.
Trips for 2025 include: “Dirty Dancing,” 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13, Capitol Theater, and Mehlman’s Cafeteria, dinner at own cost; Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show, 4 p.m. March 9, Capitol Theater, and Mehlman’s Cafeteria, dinner at own cost; Rock and Roll Doo Wop Vol. 26, 7 p.m. April 5, Capitol Theater, Mehlman’s Cafeteria, dinner at own cost; Hollywood Meadows Casino, April 9, transportation and bonus $20 for casino; Bally’s Atlantic City Casino Resort, May 18-21, $40 for casino, four meals, transportation; Sugarcreek, transportation, June 27; “Sister Act,” Lincoln Park, 2 p.m. June 29, dinner at Connie’s Corner at own cost, transportation; Hartville, transportation, July 18; Everett Railroad and Western Maryland Scenic Railroad and more, July 23-25; Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino in Niagara Falls, $100 bonus, $40 food, baggage handling and transportation, Sept. 24-26; Christmas in New York, Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, featuring Rockefeller Center, 9/11 memorial and more, Nov. 17-20; and Oglebay Festival of Lights, dinner at Wilson Lodge, guide and transportation, Nov. 14.
For information or to make a reservation, contact Truax at (304) 723-0419.
Those interested in joining any of the clubs of which she is a member, can contact her for information. She noted the International Seniors meet on the second Tuesday of the month at Undo’s Restaurant; Funseekers meet the first Wednesday of the month, meeting in Weirton and Steubenville; Four Seasons meet the third Wednesday of the month; and Three Score Seniors get together on the fourth Thursday of the month.
All are welcome.
- TRIPS OF A LIFETIME — Members of various local senior clubs, along with other area residents, visited Station Squre in Pittsburgh as part of the senior tours which are offered through the help and hard work of Regina Truax, front, fourth from right. Truax is a member of six area senior clubs and organizes the trips that are held in various locations throughout the year. — Contributed
- MASSACHUSETTS BOUND — A trip to Cape Cod was among the places visited by area seniors and interested residents as part of the senior tours offered through the work of Weirton resident Regina Truax. Truax organizes the events and prepares much or all of the work involved in visiting various cities and events. — Contributed
- LINCOLN PARK FOR THE HOLIDAYS — A trip to Lincoln Park was among the destinations area seniors visited through tours offered with Regina Truax. Those stopping for a holiday photo included, from left, Carla Stevens, Ruth Ann Foutty, Truax and Nancy Summers. — Contributed