MARCH/APRIL 2014
25
Eldercrafters Program
Promotes Socializations
Group gathers for many kinds of
‘crafty’ activities
by Martha Evans Sparks,
Staff Writer
Eldercrafters is a program for
people 60 years of age and older,
designed to promote socialization
among those who might not have
the opportunity to experience
healthy interaction with others
because of age or other reasons.
If you think that sounds dull, you
haven’t experienced the genial,
warm atmosphere that permeates
Eldercrafters’ meeting rooms at
the Black & Williams Neighborhood Center on Georgetown
Street in Lexington.
Eldercrafters gather four days a
week for many kinds of “crafty”
activities. A quilt hangs on a wall
in one of their rooms, each square
made by a different member.
Another room is filled with
ceramics provided by funds from
the Division of Social Services
of the Lexington-Fayette Urban
County Government. Members
paint, decorate, sand and finish
these articles and fire them in the
group’s own two kilns. They are
free to keep their creations for
their own use.
Eldercrafters also make all sorts
of things to give away, using
either donated materials or items
purchased with members’ own
donations. One unique project involved cutting thousands of plastic
grocery bags into long strips and
crocheting them into sturdy but
soft and puffy sleeping mats. They
gave the mats to The Hope Center,
which provides emergency shelter
and other services for the homeless. In addition, Eldercrafters
have turned pillowcases into attractive sleeveless dresses for girls
in Haiti and Africa. They made
and sent 250 sets of girls’ underwear to Kenya.
The group has grown very close. If
someone known to the group is in
the hospital or confined to home
by sickness, they send cards or
some other remembrance. Sometimes they select a nursing home
in the area and make a gift for each
patient. It may be a pillow or a lap
throw, an afghan, socks or bags
to hang on wheel chairs to carry
things. They have crocheted hats
for the infant patients at Shriners
Hospital.
Ann Greene, president of the
group for many years, said there
are about 40 names on the membership list. Although the group
Eldercrafters gather four days a week for many kinds of “crafty”
activities.
is open to both men and women,
only women are currently members. The rooms are open Monday
through Thursday from 9:30 a.m.
to 2 p.m. Greene said they have a
planning session on the last Thursday of each month to plot strategy
for the next month.
“If somebody comes in who
knows how to do some kind of
project, we can do it if we want to,”
said Linda Leavell, a member and
office manager of the group for 16
years.
Activities are not limited to the
Black & Williams Center. Once
a month those members who
are able go bowling. The group
has also traveled to Dayton and
Cincinnati, Ohio, to tour local
attractions, as well as ѡ