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Holy Family Youth Ministry visits Blackburn Home residents
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Neighbors | Submitted.The Blackburn Home residents (from left) Rose Monaco and Betty Harris and Holy Family Youth Ministry members Courtney Conklin and Aimee Kearns worked on guessing the answer to a puzzle during the Good Neighbor Day event.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Holy Family Youth Ministry member Izzac Lange kept track of the word games during the Good Neighbor Day event at the Blackburn Home.
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Neighbors | Submitted.Holy Family Youth Ministry members visited residents of the Blackburn Home for Good Neighbor Day. Youth ministry members and residents were, from left, Mark Stein, Courtney Conklin, Izzac Lange, Ruth Eddy, Rose Monaco, Twila Mrenak, Mary Simpson, Aimee Kearns, Madeline Graziano, Ciara Kearns and Ian Lange.
By TIM CLEVELAND
Members of the Holy Family Youth Ministry celebrated Good Neighbor Day on Sept. 28 by visiting residents of the Blackburn Home, spending 90 minutes talking, laughing, sharing memories and working on word puzzles. The Youth Ministry then treated the residents with a free ice cream cone from Handel’s.
“The idea for the event came about while we were planning our Youth Ministry schedule for the coming year,” Holy Family director of education/youth minister Maureen Kelty said. “Our group is very interested in service projects and thought it would make for a fun afternoon for the residents of the Blackburn Home. We try to choose projects that reach a variety of people and meet a variety of needs. Spending Good Neighbor Day with the residents of the Blackburn Home did not disappoint.”
The six Youth Ministry members who spent time with the residents were Ian Lange, Izzac Lange, Aimee Kearns, Ciara Kearns, Madeline Graziano, Mark Stein and Courtney Conklin. The five residents of the Blackburn Home who participated were Ruth Eddy, Rose Monaco, Twila Mrenak, Mary Simpson and Betty Harris.
The group played hangman, in which they drew a Jack-o’-lantern face instead of in the traditional way. They also had a lively discussion covering various topics.
The Youth Ministry members said they had a great time during the event.
“I really enjoyed visiting the elderly at Blackburn,” Mark Stein said. “Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and we had lots of fun playing hangman together.”
“Seeing the smiles on those ladies’ faces was enough to make my day,” Aimee Kearns said. “The ladies participated in our activities and enjoyed every minute.”
Kelty said she felt the event came off very well.
“I felt the event was a huge success,” she said. “The afternoon was an opportunity for young and old to come together to play games, share stories, enjoy a laugh and have fun. The kids realized that they had more in common with the residents then they expected. The residents at the Blackburn Home are young at heart and were an inspiration to our youth group.”