The Town of Greeneville welcomes Nicole Rader as Director of the Roby Fitzgerald Senior Adult Center. Rader’s first day of employment was December 5, while her first day as director was January 1. Former director, Glenda Blazer, worked until December 31, allowing for a transition period. She retired after being with the Town for over 40 years.
Rader is responsible for administrative and supervisory work involving the planning and coordination of a wide variety of recreational, therapeutic, and social activities for individuals attending the Roby Center.
The Roby’s mission is to maintain seniors’ physical, educational, and spiritual independence. Rader adds that there is also a social component to what the Roby offers, since many members may live alone. Rader says, “The Roby is a saving grace for many.”
The Roby provides access to Meals on Wheels, Medicare assistance, legal assistance on wills or other matters, and educational programs, such as how to avoid fraud and abuse. It offers line dancing, tai chi, bingo, the Roby Band, billiards, art classes, card games, exercise classes, and computer classes. Membership is only $10 annually an open to those 55 and over.
Rader brings a varied and impressive career background to this position, including 22 years of auxiliary service for the Greeneville Police Department. She began as an auxiliary officer and worked her way up through the ranks to become Auxiliary Chief. She retired in August 2020 to spend more time with her family, but even then, she says that the Town was an amazing place to work with a family-oriented atmosphere.
About service, she remarked that this is the perfect job for her. She has a passion for working with older adults. She gained experience by working with the alumni of Holston United Methodist Home for Children, and later, Tusculum University.
Todd Smith, City Administrator for the Town of Greeneville, stated that, “Nicole has a very, very big heart for people and I think we’ll see that over the years. I’m very excited and look forward to seeing what she is going to do at the Roby Center.”
When asked about her passion, Rader credits her working with Reverend Dr. Charles Hutchins for 11 years at Holston Home. Through his mentorship, she saw his passion for working with his contemporaries, and that triggered her heart to do the same.
For the past six years, Rader was the Director of Alumni and Community Engagement at Tusculum University. The scope of the job was wide considering that Tusculum University has 24,000 alumni in 33 countries. In addition, she was responsible for procuring funding, planning campus and special events, and working closely with the President’s office.
Rader grew up in DeBusk, where she attended South Greene High School. She has earned a master’s degree in Organizational Training and Performance Management from Tusculum University, a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Tusculum College, and an associate degree in general studies from Walters State Community College.
Her family includes husband of 17 years, Jason Rader, and daughters, Keely Rader, and Logann Pierson. Logann is married to Tyler Pierson.
Rader has many goals for the Center, such as growing membership, adding devotion on Wednesdays, offering more computer classes, re-opening the woodshop, bringing back congregate meals to the Roby, having members attend more community events and trips, adding Friday events and cooking classes, and bringing back surveys of member satisfaction. Rader also has interest in visiting other senior centers to learn best practices and adding Instagram to the Center’s social media channels.
Rader said, “I look forward to continuing my career with the Town of Greeneville and seeing what is in store for the Roby Center.”
For more information about the Roby Center or to become a member, please reach out to Nicole Rader at 423-639-3128 or email her at [email protected].
