By Ted Hayes

The Hazel Tripp Senior Center on Reed Road was full of happy people one recent Wednesday morning.

In the spacious kitchen, Maryellen Gomes was busy making salads and cooking lunch for the day. Across the hallway, Kathy Lynch led a raucous, humorous discussion of current events. Workers were getting ready for a 1 p.m. concert. And just down from the offices, a visitor laughed at a large hanging display covered with photos and names of local seniors and staff members — the seniors’ photos were pasted atop drawings of cats and squirrels, while the staff members’ photos were portrayed as nuts.

Forty years after the founding of the Friends of the Council on Aging and 29 after the senior center and Westport Council on Aging offices opened their doors, the former Head School b

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