Barbara Keplinger greets all of the seniors. During nearly two decades, she has made Christmas brighter for thousands of people in South Hillsborough. Mitch Traphagen photos.
Barbara Keplinger was exhausted. But being tired wasn’t enough to keep tears from forming in her eyes as she told heartfelt stories from the Senior Dinner the night before. In the stories were both sadness and joy. But in the end, it was joy.
For the past 18 years, Barbara Keplinger has been the foundation, the very heart, of the annual Riverview Senior Dinner, held in the weeks before Christmas. This year, Keplinger, along with a team of volunteers and with the support of local organizations and businesses, served dinner and gifts to 640 seniors, including Alzheimer’s patients who rarely have the opportunity to see the world anymore, as well as homeless veterans, who were gifted with backpacks containing personal items they truly needed — items that most of us take for granted but allowed the veterans a modicum of dignity.
During the past 18 years, Keplinger has made Christmas into something magical and memorable for thousands of area seniors. It is an event that creates a family for those who might otherwise not have or can’t see their families. People chat and laugh, and they remember. Keplinger, however, refuses to take credit for it.
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The day after this year’s dinner, held on Dec. 11, Keplinger was exhausted but back at work in the Riverview HCSO community office. Her stories were of sadness and joy, but ended with joy.
It’s not my event,” she said. “This is a community event. There is every facet of the community in this — from law enforcement to kids in high school to the local businesses and even organizations like the Woman’s Club. No one had to do any of that, but they did — they did it for the community.”
But even a community event, like all good things, needs a heart. Keplinger is that heart. For some area seniors, Christmas might not exist at all without the dinner that she first organized nearly two decades ago. It has become a place where memories are made.
“We had a lot of people who lost their spouses this year,” Keplinger said. “One couple had been to every single dinner. This year, the woman was alone. She knew it would be hard to go, but she wanted to. She needed to.”
The widow’s “family” of other seniors was there; Keplinger was there. Her memories were there, happy memories. For her and many of the seniors, it is like coming home.
“One woman told me how much it meant to her, just to be able to see people,” Keplinger said. “So many people say how much it means to them.”
For the past 18 years, Barbara Keplinger has been the heart of a community’s Christmas, organizing the annual Riverview Senior Dinner. This year 640 seniors came together to celebrate. For many, the event is a place where memories are made. The gratitude can be seen in photos from over the years.
She told the story of another woman; her daughter checked her out of hospice to take her to the dinner. The entertainer that evening sang directly to her.
“I got a letter from her daughter a short while later,” Keplinger said. “She said we have no idea how much that evening meant to her mom. It was all she talked about for the last eight days of her life.”
It is not just the seniors who gain from the annual event; the volunteers also go home with something intangible but meaningful beyond description.
“Deputies in training were here this year, and it was incredible,” Keplinger said. “A lot of deputies see all of the bad things, but here they saw the good.”
She said the dinner allowed them to see a different side of the community than what their jobs often allow.
Keplinger is a longtime employee in the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Riverview community office. She is grateful to the sheriff’s office and her co-workers.
“The Sheriff’s Office really came through,” she said. “Deputy [Cliff] Fletcher really came through. The deputies work all day long, and then they come to things like this on their own time. They really work for the community.”
Other officers from the HCSO also arrived to sing Christmas carols.
“The Target employees that come to help — it really gets to them,” she continued. “To see the people get teary-eyed … when you see that happen, it means something. To see grown men get teary-eyed. They really made a difference.”
The day after the dinner, Keplinger was exhausted. Her feet were so swollen from going from table to table, greeting people and spending time with them, that she couldn’t get into her shoes. Tears welled up in her eyes when she talked about the seniors and the many people who turned out to make the dinner possible.
She has been going to yard sales since June to find things for the dinner. Each table was decorated with a cigar box filled with bits of jewelry. The seniors were able to keep the treasures.
“When you have a budget of … zero, you have to get creative,” she said with a laugh.
Thanks to the generosity of the community and her commitment, each senior received a gift. Many of us can be overwhelmed with hosting our families over the holidays. Keplinger hosted her family, too. Every one of them, seniors and volunteers, were family to her.
“There were 640 people last night,” she said. “Five nursing homes brought people. There were eight Alzheimer’s patients — their enthusiasm … they just glowed! The joy in their faces…that made the whole night. There were homeless veterans there….”
She trailed off, with tears welling up and a smile on her face. Although she won’t take credit, Keplinger is the heart of Christmas; she serves up the meaning of Christmas. It is a place where memories are made.
According to Keplinger, thanking everyone involved in making the dinner possible would “take a book.” The following is a list of the major contributors, individuals and businesses that chose to participate, not to promote themselves but simply to help:
Target, Mosaic, Bud Conover & Voices of Bud, Riverview and East Bay high schools’ culinary classes, Bookworm, Cottage Florist, Sunshine State Bank – Riverview Branch, C1 Bank, CenterState Bank, Women’s Club, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, who gave gifts and volunteered their time, members of the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce, American Legion Post 148, Wawa, and Lowes for donating the Christmas tree. Keplinger also wanted to thank “tons of volunteers” and her family.
