The young, and the

young at heart, get to know

each other a little better

Events at Vancouver church bring teens and

senior citizens together; fun and bonding result

    VANCOUVER, Wash. — Friendship knows no age barriers, and a series of events at a church here is showing that clearly.
The next in a series of gatherings titled Where the Yellow Brick Road Meets Memory Lane takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at     Vancouver Wesleyan Church, 5621 N.E. 78th St. The first such event took place this summer, seeing teenagers and senior citizens playing together, sharing a meal, and developing new friendships.
     Purpose of the event is to see seniors and young teens share experiences, create a sense of family and generate vitality.
     According to Betsy Lanz, who came up with the idea for the events, a noticeable decrease in the cohesiveness of the family unit is resulting typically in seniors and young teens spending most of their time within their peer groups. The perception and experience of life differs widely between these generations.
    “Busy working adults in our society often lack availability for quality time with senior and junior family members,” she said.
     Shanna Yarbrough, the director of the June get-together, added, “In many cases caretakers provide the necessary companionship and supervision of the older and younger generations. Consequently these two key groups mainly keep a set schedule of isolated activities.”
     The two focus groups for the participants are young people between ages 10 and 15 and adults 55 and older. Through activities, members of each group discovered a deep understanding and appreciation of the other generation from their participation at the first event. “I learned that though we are different, our times aren’t any harder nor easier. The older generation has gone through a lot that we can learn from and we younger teens share the same feelings as the older generation,” said Addison Underwood, age 13.
     The agenda features two distinct parts, with lunch served in the break. The group is made into pairs of one senior with one youth for partnership in the activities. The first half includes a game of sharing with thought-provoking questions such as “What has been the best day of your life so far?” and “Tell about a time when you laughed uncontrollably.” Sharing these fun memories allows the seniors to tell favorite stories about their lives and allows the juniors to share about their young experience of life as it is today.
     The second half of the day is composed of a not-so-average scavenger hunt and creative project. The participants search through an assortment of magazine clippings for an image representing influential words chosen at random, such as “courage”, “love” and power.” Each partnership shares how the image they chose embodies the meaning of that word and each person builds a collage with their images to take home.
     The joy of kinship and bonding between the partners stands as the ultimate goal for the activities. All left June’s event with a new appreciation of their own unique life experience. Jean Birch, age 86, said “We’re not too different from the teenagers. The younger generation is very capable of taking over from here.”
     Organizers said this engagement fulfills a desire for a sense of family connection through activities and games for generations who need it most.
     The event is sponsored by the church and Orchards Village Senior Living Community and donations from the community make the event free to attend Phone 360-624-2700 for more information, including volunteer information or to register a friend to attend. Also find Where the Yellow Brick Road Meets Memory Lane through Facebook online and at www.causes.com/yellowbrickmemorylane.