Scepurek, Waytashek named Volunteers of the Year

With hearts for serving people and their community, Linda Scepurek, 73, and Michael Waytashek, 71, continue to show up at the Little Falls Senior Center to make a difference. As a result, the Center recently named the two Volunteers of the Year.

Waytashek and Scepurek said while they feel honored and the recognition mean a lot to them, there are others whom they feel are just as deserving of the award.

For the last 20 years, Scepurek has been volunteering to make doughnuts at the Little Falls Senior Center. At first, she started out by volunteering every other week after she was asked if she could help out. However, eventually she started doing it every week and that is how it’s been ever since, she said.

Exactly how many doughnuts she makes each week varies. It depends on how many orders the Center has received, as well as how many boxes they anticipate people in the community will purchase.

“The least we can make is seven batches,” she said.

Scepurek said one batch equals 22 dozen doughnuts. With a minimum bake of seven batches, that equals 1,848 doughnuts.

“It’s a lot of doughnuts,” she said.

Looking back, Scepurek said that when she first started making doughnuts, she’d be doing it for 20 years. When she first started, she worked as a licensed practical nurse at Lutheran Care Center and nearly 10 years at the St. Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls before she retired in 2022.

Working the night shift at the St. Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Scepurek said she was off on Wednesdays. It allowed her the time to volunteer making doughnuts at the Little Falls Senior Center.

There is a lot of work to make the doughnuts. The process begins with her and another volunteer, Ray Manlick, arriving at the Center at about 2 a.m. While she’s setting the boxes up, he gets oil for frying and the frosting for the doughnuts ready.

By the time the rest of the doughnut volunteers come in at about 4 a.m., the equipment and other products are warmed. Each volunteer has his and her task assigned. While one volunteer is running the mixer and another pours the batter into a hamper, two others pick up the doughnuts. One person also runs back and forth to place the doughnuts in the refrigerator after they are made, she said.

As the doughnuts are decorated with various flavors of frosting, such as chocolate, maple and vanilla. In addition, some doughnuts are dipped in sugar or cinnamon sugar. Plain doughnuts are sold, as well.

Altogether, Scepurek said, making the doughnuts is a joint effort by 12 to 13 people. Once they are done making the doughnuts, another crew of volunteers come in to clean up — an endeavor they are very thankful for, she said.

Of all the different doughnuts, Scepurek said her favorite is the one with cinnamon sugar.

“They’re not very good when they first get out, when they’re hot, but when they have cooled down, they are really good,” she said.

Besides volunteering at the Little Falls Senior Center, Scepurek enjoys volunteering with Meals on Wheels. It is something she has done for many years. The rest of her time now that she is retired is filled with other volunteer opportunities, attending church and more.

Kathy Burgardt with the Little Falls Senior Center said that beginning from October 2013 to June 2024, Scepurek had volunteered a total of 921 hours.

Scepurek said recipients of the Volunteer of the Year Award are selected by having the high number of volunteer hours. Recipients are also only eligible to receive the award once.

Records show, Burgardt said, that from March 2022 to June 2024, Waytashek has volunteered a total of 213 hours. He and his wife, Catherine, volunteer by selling the doughnuts to the public and helping out at a monthly pancake breakfast.

Waytashek said he enjoys volunteering for the Little Falls Senior Center as it is for a good cause. By being active at the Center, he has also made many new friends — people he otherwise would not have met, he said.

Waytashek said one detail he has noticed that many of those attending the senior center are not originally from Little Falls, but have moved to the area. He encourages people to get involved, whether it is by volunteering or by simply attending. He is also a member of the Lone Eagle Auto Club.

Growing up in the Center Valley area (between Hillman and Pierz) and later dairy farming himself for 42 years, Waytashek said there wasn’t a lot of time to volunteer. However, it is something he enjoys doing now that he has the time. The cows were sold about three years ago.

The doughnuts at the Little Falls Senior Center are sold every Thursday, beginning at 7 a.m. until they are sold out at a cost of $6 per dozen or $4 per half dozen.

Orders can also be placed before Thursday between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. by calling (320) 632-8009.

The doughnut sale is the Center’s largest fundraiser for the Little Falls Senior Center.