Helen Bortels looks over a quilt she received as a gift from the Be a Santa to a Senior program during a lunch sponsored by the Council on Aging of Central Oregon at the Moose Lodge in Bend on Wednesday.

Richard Bortels and his wife, Helen, smiled as they watched other retired couples and old friends swing each other around to ukulele music at a Christmas party inside the Moose Lodge in Bend.

Bortels, a 75-year-old retired window and door manufacturer, had a realization as he watched the dancing couples Wednesday afternoon. He hadn’t seen any of the two dozen seniors in person since the pandemic began in March 2020.

“Just today,” he said. “I met people here I haven’t seen in almost two years.”

The gathering was hosted by the Council on Aging of Central Oregon to deliver Christmas presents to the attendees through the Be a Santa to a Senior program. Before handing out presents, the seniors enjoyed a roast beef lunch with pie for dessert and live music inside the lodge. They all wore face masks but still shared conversations and dances.

“This is our first in-person meal in 21 months,” said Denise LaBuda, director of communications for the Council on Aging of Central Oregon.

LaBuda said her agency has seen a sharp increase in seniors feeling lonely and isolated during the pandemic. The Christmas gathering was one of several programs being offered to encourage socialization, LaBuda said.

“Isolation and loneliness are really big issues with our seniors,” LaBuda said. “We have spent the year trying to offset some of it because COVID has made it worse.”

Roger Cusick and his wife, Jessica Eaton, have felt the loneliness of the pandemic even with having family in Bend and a new puppy, a Yorkie and Chihuahua mix named Shnookums.

The retired couple danced together and felt a sense of relief being around other seniors.

“The main thing for us is to just get out and socialize,” said Eaton, a retired hairstylist and beauty school instructor.

Cusick and Eaton lit up when they received their gifts. Eaton received queen-sized bedsheets and blue hand towels, while Cusick received chocolates and a watch. Cusick couldn’t remember if he filled out the form for the Be a Santa to a Senior program, so he had low expectations.

“Maybe I’m getting coal,” he joked. “I don’t know.”

The Be a Santa to a Senior program is organized each year by Home Instead, an organization that provides care to seniors and their families.

Gloria Vloedman, director of community outreach for Home Instead, has coordinated the Santa program in Bend for the past 14 years. Vloedman said the program delivered gifts to 600 seniors across Central Oregon this holiday season.

Home Instead partners with the Council on Aging, Central Oregon Veterans Outreach and Hospice of Redmond to connect with local seniors. More than a dozen local businesses put up Christmas trees in November with ornaments that identified the seniors’ gift requests. Community members pick a senior’s request, buy the gift and put it by the tree.

Volunteers from the various agencies collected the gifts and held a gift-wrapping party Dec. 15 at 10 Barrel’s east Bend location. The volunteers delivered the wrapped gifts over the past week.

Vloedman said Wednesday’s gathering at the Moose Lodge was the grand finale. It was the final delivery of the year, just in time for Christmas.

The presents, which were mostly grocery gift cards, pajamas and socks, seemed more meaningful this holiday season, Vloedman said. It has been difficult for seniors who have felt isolated all year and are heading into the second Christmas affected by the pandemic, she said.

“I think especially this year, the fact that they were remembered,” Vloedman said. “They don’t even care what they get. They were remembered.”

Bortels and his wife didn’t fill out a request for gifts through the Santa program, but they had a surprise Wednesday at the Christmas gathering. The organizers brought extra presents and shared them with guests who showed up just for the togetherness.

Helen Bortels, who sat in her wheelchair, happily opened the surprise gifts. One felt heavy as she picked it up. It was a large quilt with red, green and white designs. The other gift was a 500-piece puzzle of two ducks dressed like tourists. Bortels said she loves quilts and puzzles, so she couldn’t believe the odds.

“It feels good,” she said. “It means a lot.”