‘Doing some amazing things’
Outstanding Senior Citizens hail from Tracy
Photo by Deb Gau Joel Buyck was one of three Tracy area community members to be recognized as Outstanding Senior Citizens this year at the Lyon County Fair.
Photo by Deb Gau Jan Arvizu, at center, was recognized as an Outstanding Senior Citizen for her work helping fellow seniors stay active.
Photo by Deb Gau Jeanine Vandendriessche, at center, was named an Outstanding Senior Citizen for her efforts to help open the new Tracy Community Center.
Photo by Deb Gau Joel Buyck was one of three Tracy area community members to be recognized as Outstanding Senior Citizens this year at the Lyon County Fair.
Photo by Deb Gau Jan Arvizu, at center, was recognized as an Outstanding Senior Citizen for her work helping fellow seniors stay active.
Photo by Deb Gau Jeanine Vandendriessche, at center, was named an Outstanding Senior Citizen for her efforts to help open the new Tracy Community Center.
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MARSHALL -- Tracy area community members have really worked to make an impact on their hometown, presenters at the Lyon County Fair said this weekend.
This Saturday, a trio of people - Joel Buyck, Jan Arvizu, and Jeanine Vandendriessche – were named Outstanding Senior Citizens for 2026.
All three Outstanding Senior Citizens awards were presented during a program Saturday morning at the fairgrounds.
"We're celebrating Lyon County, and what better way do to it? Because it takes the people," said presenter Jaen Weilage. "It's really neat to find the people in our communities that make it hum."
Weilage said each of this year's Outstanding Senior Citizens has made a difference in their community. For Buyck, she said, one of the biggest ways he's worked to make a difference is through the Lions Club. Buyck was one of the Lions members who started the Help Tuck Them In program in the Tracy area. The group builds beds for children who do not have beds of their own.
"They have been doing some amazing things," Weilage said. "They've recruited lots of different volunteers, from sanding the wood, to getting the wood, to putting it together, to delivery, to all those parts of it."
"We have delivered over 400 beds to little kids in our community. We have delivered over 30 cribs to little kids in our community. I think we've made a difference in these children's lives, and that is why we do this," Buyck said.
Weilage said one of the ways Arvizu shone was through her work with helping senior citizens to stay active and healthy.
"Jan has been working with the S.A.I.L. program, and that is an exercise program. It stands for 'Stay Active and Independent for Life,'" she said. "It's a program that's offered through A.C.E. of Southwest Minnesota, and you get training and you can be a leader. Jan's been a leader, and she's kept it going."
People who had taken Arvizu's class said they also enjoyed the social connection of attending S.A.I.L., Weilage said.
"I am deeply honored and quite humbled," Arvizu said of receiving the award. She encouraged people in the audience to practice kindness. "It doesn't cost anything, and it can go a long way to making everybody's life better."
Vandendriessche has a legacy of volunteerism and caring for others in her community, Weilage said. "Jeanine has demonstrated extraordinary dedication to making her community a better place," she said. Vandendriessche has welcomed exchange students into her home for more than 30 years, and recently was part of the effort to open the new Tracy Community Center.
"This took years to make happen," Weilage said.
"It wasn't just me. It took a whole community to make the community center happen, and I want to thank all those people because I was just a small part," Vandendriessche said.