Nine-year-old Isaac Floyd was fully focused as he slowly passed a needle through a small swatch of fabric, guided by the sure hand of senior Lucy Marco, who patiently corrected his technique.
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Then finally, success. Isaac sewed his very first button.
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A simple but not insignificant feat, given that many adults these days are unsure what to do with a needle and thread.
“It wasn’t hard – after I got the hang of it,” said Isaac, who chose button sewing as his first challenge at the Bridging the Gap Skills Fair on Saturday at Community Living Brant’s Dunn Building on Elgin Street.
The fair was the finale to a series of events that were part of an intergenerational skill-sharing pilot project funded by an Ontario Seniors Community Grant. The City of Brantford got $25,000 to host events that brought seniors and youth together over the past year to play pickleball and curling, build terrariums, do some 3-D printing, knitting, and collaborate on creative writing, among other activities.
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“It helps youth, who may not have a grandparent in their life, build relationships with older adults,” said Amy Brandt, a community initiatives coordinator with the City of Brantford. “It’s about bridging the generational gap.”
On Saturday, youth visited booths where senior adults (age 55-plus) volunteered to show them some simple but valuable skills – how to crochet, paint a watercolor, use a fishing pole, patch drywall, cook a crepe, lace a skate, and write in cursive.
“Everybody’s got skills and knowledge, they’re just not asked about them,” said Brandt. “Older adults have so many skills we just take for granted.”
Intergenerational learning is something the Grand River Council on Aging is constantly promoting, said Marco, who is the organization’s executive director.
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“It’s also about the conversations,” said Marco, adding that youth also have wisdom to impart. “The (seniors) aren’t teaching, they’re sharing.”
Over in a spacious room at the Dunn Building, eight-year-old Jonathan Lapointe was getting his fishing line (without hook) tangled in the fluorescent light fixtures. Volunteer Peter Vandervlist went over to lend a hand.
“I like fishing,” he said. “I just retired 13 months ago, and I’d like to do more fishing.”
Vandervlist showed budding fishermen (and women) how to assemble a pole and do a little bit of casting.
“A lot of skills are being lost over time,” he said. “The culture is different. If someone wants to know something, they just Google it.”
Taylor Berzins, another community initiatives coordinator with the City of Brantford, said 255 youth, as young as five and up to age 26, registered for Bridging the Gap events held over the past year. More than 120 participated in Saturday’s skills fair.
“I think that really speaks to this being a need in the community,” said Brandt, adding the hope is to offer the programming again.
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