What started as a physical fitness class for older adults at the Hampshire Regional YMCA in Northampton now offers them not just healthier bodies, but also strengthens their minds and souls.
A group of elderly men and women who attended the fitness class taught by Lynne Zusi decided to extend their twice-a-week visits to the YMCA with what is called the Active Older Adults Coffee Hour. There the men sit at one table, where the conversation is often about politics and the military, while the women gather at another and most frequently talk about their families. About three years ago, they started going out to lunch once a month.
Deep friendships have developed, filling a gap for many of the elders who are separated geographically from their relatives. “It means camaraderie, and caring for one another,” says Marcel Boisvert, 68, of Amherst, a retired information technology specialist. “For men in particular, they tend to be less social.”
The connection has helped some in their group cope with hardships including failing health, lost friends and family members who live far away, he says. Years ago, “when people reached a certain age, they lived with their kids. That’s gone. You’re lucky, now, if your kid lives within a state or two.”
Boisvert says the men and women who gather at the YMCA have “created our own extended family” and social support network.
Carolyn Bruneau, 77, of Westhampton, agrees. “It certainly does meet a need, to belong, and to have someone you can confide in if you need to. You can ask for their opinions,” she says. “We’ve become really good friends. All because of this class.”
Those friendships have led to holiday parties, bus trips to events such as flower shows and musical performances, and celebrations of milestones.
Boisvert says that the Active Older Adults Coffee Hour at 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursday is open to all elders at the YMCA — whether or not they attend the fitness class that starts at 9 — who want companionship and to feel that “they’re not forgotten, and there are people who are thinking about you and care. … This is a group that watches out for each other.”
That’s a much-needed sense of community that these older adults have found at the YMCA.
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When students at the Jackson Street School in Northampton return to classes in August, they will find a new staff member — a therapy dog named, of course, Jackson.
He is a 6-month-old labradoodle and will live with the school principal, Gwen Agna, and her husband, Tom Marantz. Jackson will spend each day at school, and three other staff members — Rebeca Allessi, Beth Bellavance-Grace and Justin Gianesin — will be trained to handle him.
“We have some students who have had hard pasts, bad experiences or trouble connecting with others,” Agna says. “Our dog will really allow students to open up and get the kind of emotional support they need.”
Jackson was trained by Ultimate Canine in Westfield, Indiana. Jessica Benz, one of its trainers, says, “Therapy dogs go into facilities to provide comfort. Their purpose is to be loved and to give love back, and to dissolve tension in situations.”
“We believe that Jackson will have a general benefit to all students in the school,” Agna adds. “I can imagine he will inspire students academically as well as socially and emotionally.”
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Kudos to the Sawyer Farm in Worthington for opening a window on 18th- and 19th-century farming techniques with an open house July 21 co-sponsored by the Hilltown Land Trust, based in Ashfield.
Visitors saw demonstrations of how farmers Lincoln Fishman and Hillary Costa use their horses, Trixie and Paulie, to pull mowers, harrows and other farming equipment from the early 1900s. No motorized devices are used on the 45-acre farm to help grow vegetables, including tomatillos, peppers, salad greens, potatoes, onions, garlic, squash, turnips, beets and carrots.
“The horses and I are work colleagues, and they have a job to do here and we work together to get the farmwork done,” Fishman says. “It’s a deeper, richer relationship than I’ve had with any other animal in my life.”
That’s a welcome benefit resulting from their commitment to green agricultural practices.