By Laura Bilson
For HDMedia
More than 25 seniors, many dressed in bright colors and wide-brimmed hats, attended the East End Resource Center’s annual Easter luncheon Thursday in Charleston.
This year’s theme was “Pretty in Pastels.” In addition to eating lunch and socializing, seniors assembled Easter baskets full of candy and eggs they dyed by hand. These would later be delivered to friends and neighbors unable to attend the center’s activities.
East End Resource Center Coordinator Karen Williams, dressed in a pink blazer with a matching pink wide-brimmed hat, greeted seniors and helped pass out Easter baskets, candy and egg-dyeing supplies.
Williams said this is their first year making baskets, and the seniors will be distributing them to “whomever they feel needs one.”
She named affordability and isolation as two main obstacles facing seniors that the center tries to counteract.
“What we’re trying to do right now is to create an outreach program, because so many times seniors will not come out of their house, and so that’s why we’re making the baskets,” Williams said.
Charleston resident Martha Ross has attended the center for three years and sees their cohort as family. She wore a pink hat she bought on Temu and a blue floral dress. She chatted with fellow seniors as they passed eggs and cups of dye between each other, slowly filling their baskets.
“Doesn’t matter if we’re 1 or 99, we’re still kids,” Ross said. “We got it all today; we’re having the best time.”
Read more from HDMedia, here.
![Charleston’s Kanawha City neighborhood may soon receive a facelift, as plans are being developed for a new travel plaza. GoMart Inc., based in Gassaway, Braxton County, reportedly purchased the former Kmart shopping center, located in the 6000 block of MacCorkle Avenue SE, at a private online auction. The property has remained vacant since the store’s closing in February 2020. According to WCHS-TV, which initially reported this on Monday, the existing building will be demolished to make way for a travel plaza-style truck stop. Although confirming the purchase of the location to the Gazette-Mail on Thursday, and noting that additional information would be announced in the near future, representatives of GoMart declined to discuss additional details at this stage of the project. However, Charleston City Councilmember Chad Robinson said that residents should withhold judgment of the project until those details are available. “The city [of Charleston] knows very little about the project, other than the location has been acquired through a business-to-business purchase,” Robinson said. “One of our council people posted it on social media on Monday, and that brought negative attention to the sale.” Robinson further noted that as the property was purchased through a private sale between GoMart and the previous owners, the city had no involvement with the transaction. Robinson did, however, confirm that the zoning permits are current and would be applicable to a travel plaza. “The city does not have a say in these types of purchases, unless the products or services they would be providing are not within the zoning of the property, which they are in this case,” he said. “There are individuals there working. We’ve been told that they’re doing an asbestos review. Once that is complete, they will demolish the building.” What’s next According to Robinson, the close proximity and current lease agreement of GoMart’s other Kanawha City locations creates numerous possibilities for the future of the site. “The current GoMart [across MacCorkle Avenue from the Kmart site] is so outdated,” Robinson said. “That’ll be closed. It’ll be demolished, and the leases can be purchased for another development that can enhance that part of Kanawha City as well. “The city has always had a good relationship with GoMart,” Robinson added. “GoMart is planning to put another one of these travel plazas at the other end of the turnpike, is what I’ve been told. They want to butt the ends of the turnpike with two plazas.” There is no timeline regarding the release of GoMart’s plans, completion of the asbestos review or demolition of the building, but dumpsters are now on site, and new security fencing has been installed around the property. Read more from HDMedia, here](https://storage.googleapis.com/stateless-mountainmedianews-co/sites/13/2026/04/Former-Kanawha-City-Kmart-to-be-demolished-new-GoMart-travel-plaza-in-the-works.png)
