[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 98 (Tuesday, July 13, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1527]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO WINSTON BLEDSOE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ROY BLUNT

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 13, 1999

  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, senior citizen centers are fairly recent to 
our culture. Many of the centers that exist today were created in the 
early 1970's with the help of federal grants. Strong local leadership 
transform these centers into places many older citizens now depend on 
for warm wholesome meals, fellowship and recreation and a way to 
support the maintenance of an independent life style.
  Twenty-seven years ago, using a $25,000 budget provided by a ``model 
grant,'' Winston Bledsoe started the first agency in Southwest Missouri 
to organize and open senior centers. The Southwest Missouri Office on 
Aging grew out of that effort and opened nine senior centers in six 
weeks in 1973.
  Today, the agency that Bledsoe helped create provides services and a 
daily meeting place for more than 40,000 seniors a year. The Southwest 
Missouri Office on Aging has 38 centers and a budget of more than $6.8 
million providing individual social services, transportation, meals, 
recreation and homemaker care. Bledsoe encouraged seniors at each 
center to own their own building, thereby reducing the government's 
role in the future of the facilities in case federal aid was ever 
curbed or interrupted.
  Dorothy Knowles, who was Bledsoe's chief lieutenant over the last 
quarter century and the new agency director, calls Winston a visionary, 
who was ``dedicated to the lowest cost of keeping older people 
independent.'' For most people, quality of life is defined by their 
degree of independence.
  Bledsoe has been a tireless advocate for seniors and group who serve 
them. He has often battled bureaucrats, politicians, and local 
opponents. He has not always been diplomatic but he has never forgotten 
who he serves. The interest of older Southwest Missourians are always 
foremost in his efforts.
  Winston, at age 70, retired as the director of the agency this year. 
A former insurance salesman and football coach, his third career will 
leave a legacy cherished by every senior in Southwest Missouri who 
finds friends, support and nourishing meals at one of the centers that 
Bledsoe nurtured.

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