Kudos! is a series of Plumas Sun stories shining light on Plumas County workers and their accomplishments.
Shortly after he was appointed director of Plumas County Senior Services, John Rix was given a directive: “Grow this program.”
Rix took the instruction, from then-Plumas County Public Health Department Director Mimi Hall, as a mandate. During his nine years at the helm of the program, Rix has expanded transportation services and grown the nutrition program from 43,487 meals served to a high of nearly 76,000 annually.
For Rix, it’s not about the numbers. The senior services program is all about people, he said. And it’s so much more than providing a ride or dropping off a hot meal.
“We talk to people. We try to look after everyone. We don’t just pick them up and say hello and goodbye,” he told The Plumas Sun.
Rix is the epitome of a public servant, said Debra Lucero, Plumas County administrative officer. “He has a mix of compassion, business acumen and let’s-get-it-done attitude,” she said.
Serving an expanding demographic
Rix and his staff serve residents over 60 years of age, a growing demographic in Plumas County. The current total is around 7,650 people — 38.9% of the county population. They live in the nearly 100-mile stretch between Chester and Portola, in the Feather River Canyon and in all the hidden valleys and remote hillsides in between. For Rix they are all “his people.”
A bear of a man with a shy grin, Rix reaches out to everyone and he connects with hundreds daily. Among the 26 people on his staff are drivers. Some drive buses taking senior citizens to appointments as far away as Reno. Others deliver meals to people unable to leave their homes. Some drivers transport people to pick up prescriptions or do personal shopping.
Many of the clients benefitting from the county’s senior services are homebound. “We may be the only human contact for many of them,” Rix said.
The senior meal service program brings people together through the nutrition program. Chester, Quincy and Portola all serve lunch five days at sites that also offer company and some activities. Lunch costs $2.50 at a nutrition site and $4 for home delivery. The meals are designed for people over 60 but they are available to nonseniors for $6.
On a recent day at the Quincy site, in the Veterans Hall on Lawrence Street, an incomplete jigsaw puzzle was the center of attention. As the food arrived at tables for four, the action shifted to eating.
“It’s the best deal in town,” said Billie Bequette.
Her lunchmate, Bob Rodgers, agreed: “And I’ll buy anyone lunch that wants it,” he said.
Coping with COVID
The COVID pandemic forced the senior services program to make major changes. Rix converted meals served at nutrition centers to home deliveries. Numbers mushroomed as older residents chose their own dining rooms to avoid exposure to the virus.
Transportation needs changed, too. Today Rix and his coworkers provide fewer bus rides for senior citizens and more single-person rides to doctors for dialysis and cancer treatment. Drivers also make specialty trips to accommodate individual clients.
Rix said he would like to see more people coming into the congregate sites for lunch. Since the pandemic, when all meals were delivered, the shift back to nutrition sites has been gradual. He encourages it.
The county’s three nutrition sites post weekly menus as well as information about transportation and other services available for senior citizens. Each one has a site manager who keeps track of reservations for trips and registrations for meals.
Drivers and nutrition site staff will make welfare checks if necessary. “Our workers care about the people they help,” Rix said.
Tireless efforts during Dixie Fire
When the Dixie Fire roared through Plumas County, the senior transportation service became an evacuation service. Drivers picked up people who had no other way to get to safety. Nutrition cooks and site managers worked in shelters feeding evacuees, working 25 days straight without a break. They took people to get showers and helped with their laundry.
“The Red Cross does an amazing job but they didn’t know our people,” Rix said. He and his staff were recognized at the May 23, 2022 meeting of the Plumas County Board of Supervisors for their tireless efforts during the Dixie Fire.
Through it all, Rix has retained an open warmth and willingness to step in whatever the circumstances. He doesn’t seek attention, said Greg Hagwood, chairman of the Plumas County Board of Supervisors.
“John Rix just quietly goes about his business doing a fantastic job,” Hagwood said.
He has, in fact, done all of the jobs he supervises. A resident of Denver before moving to Plumas County, he worked in a steakhouse and a variety of restaurants. His wife was born and raised in Quincy, so they eventually moved to the town where Rix has now lived for 22 years.
Since then Rix has held a variety of jobs utilizing his 30 years of experience in transportation and food service. Among them are managing the cafeteria at Quincy Junior-Senior High School and transporting clients for the behavioral health department. He became assistant director of senior services in 2014, and director the following year. By now he’s done the work of every job in the program: site manager, cook, driver. That makes it handy when someone is sick or on vacation.
“My days can start at 4:30 a.m. if someone calls in sick,” he said.
Plumas County is fortunate to have an individual like John Rix assisting the senior population with nutrition and transportation, said Lucero. And he’s done it at a time when the senior population is increasing, making the need for the services he provides greater than ever, added Hagwood.
“Rix has assembled a dedicated, hardworking team across every one of the programs he touches,” Hagwood said. “He is what Plumas County looks for in every employee.”
Kudos to John Rix and his committed coworkers in the county’s senior services program!
