Super Senior: MaryAnn Jakubowski
CASTLETON, Vt. (WCAX) - At the Castleton Community Center, the bone-building class is all about numbers.
Fourteen seniors meet at 9 o’clock two times a week. MaryAnn Jakubowski has been going since the class started in 2000. The goal is to strengthen bones and improve balance. She now teaches the class.
But the morning’s exertions are just just the warmup to Jakubowski’s day. The 82-year-old works seven days a week at a job a few miles away that she walks to. Jakubowski not only runs the Amtrak station in Castleton, she owns it. “It’s one of the oldest train stations that Amtrak has online, if not the oldest, one of the oldest,” she said.
When D&H Railroad stopped running the rails in Castleton in the 1960s. Jakubowski’s parents saw an opportunity and bought it, turning it into a music shop. It’s been in the family ever since. Amtrak made it’s first stop in 2010.
Reporter Joe Carroll: What you have is pretty unusual.
Maryann Jakubowski: Thank you. Well, we try to make it usual, that’s what we like.
The floors are original. Thick rope is still used for a practical reason. “That was what they used to fill the gaps,” Jakubowski said.
At Jakubowski’s station, it’s all aboard for everyone, however, she doesn’t sell tickets. “I don’t have any money here, I don’t deal with it,” she tells a caller.
The Ethan Allen Express is on its way from Rutland and will arrive soon. The final stop - New York City. On this day, two people and a dog will be making the journey. “I like to meet people and talk to people and show them around,” Jakubowski said.
Reporter Joe Carroll: Is that who you are, that kind of person?
Maryann Jakubowski: Yeah, that’s me. That’s me.
The train stops for just a few minutes, just long enough for the passengers to get on and Jakubowski to pass out brownies to the conductor.
And with that, the train moves on. Jakubowski, though, is on track for its return on the evening run north. “Every day is different, every day it’s fun,” she said.
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