It was a full on Fourth of July celebration at the Medford Council of Aging
Seniors rocked the red, white and blue during their holiday party July 2, 2026 at the Medford Senior Center
By Ryan Fiore
More than 70 seniors packed the Medford Senior Center’s auditorium Thursday July 2, for a Fourth of July celebration that focused on commemorating America's 250th anniversary.
Hosted by the city's Council on Aging, the party was complete with catered food, drink, live music and what appeared to be a lot of fun. The celebration was especially notable because it was one of the Senior Center’s first Fourth of July parties.
“We normally don’t do a 4th of July party just because of the way 4th of July falls,” said Pam Kelly, director of elder affairs for Medford’s Council on Aging. “It’s hard to get these things planned. You never know if it’s going to be on a Tuesday or a Wednesday— things like that.”
Kelly said this year’s celebration was made possible by a generous sponsor who is also an active participant at the center.
“We had an anonymous donor who wanted to do a special party for this year,” she said. “This person actually paid for almost 90% of the party, so we wanted to make it a really big festival of people enjoying themselves for things that normally they can’t do.”
Barbecue was served for lunch, followed by watermelon and snow cones. Live music accompanied the festivities, with the Boston Saxophone Quartet performing patriotic classics, old-school swing tunes and a tap-dancing anthem to close the afternoon that had attendees on their feet.
The Senior Center also held a 50/50 raffle, where the winner took home $150.
Kelly said events like this one are important for maintaining community among Medford seniors and keeping them engaged, especially amid the extreme heat that's been sweeping the city over the past week.
“Honestly ... think about this— if we didn’t have today’s event, a lot of those people would have been staying home and not doing anything because it would have been too hot to go out,” Kelley said.
Kelley said they try and have at least one theme party every month— to get people to come out, to be together, and to celebrate together and socialize.
“Socializing is one of the most important things as people age to keep them healthy, comfortable and safe in their own environment," she said. "If they don’t socialize, we see that people age, and illnesses come on quicker, so having these different themed parties is important.”
The Senior Center will host their next themed party on Friday, July 24. It will be Tex-Mex themed, with authentic Mexican food and feature live music from DJ George. Tickets are $3 per person and will be available to purchase at the Medford Senior Center starting July 7.
