âTiming is perfectâ for senior playground at Knowlton Park
ELLSWORTH â A work crew broke ground on the Knowlton Park Senior Fitness Playground on April 29, following five years of planning and fundraising by Friends in Action. Two years into the project, the cityâs Planning Department came on board.
âWeâre really, really thrilled,â Friends in Action Executive Director Jo Cooper said. âThe timing is perfect.â
Friends in Action is an Ellsworth-based nonprofit organization that supports seniors and people with disabilities across Hancock County with programs, services and activities.
Cooper came across the senior playground concept close to 10 years ago.
âI got super excited,â she said. âI just loved the idea of older people doing fun stuff. At the time it went against the thought of what you do when you get older.â
Seniors are vaccinated and ready to mingle
ELLSWORTH On Tuesday, April 27, the post-vaccination era began for Mariaville resident Terry Meehan. This was the day he finally got to return to his free-writing group after more than a year of absence. Held each Tuesday at Friends in Action at the Moore Community Center pre-pandemic, the session was something he looked forward to every week.
“It was important to me to get back to it,” Meehan said. “The people I meet with are all vaccinated, and I want to see things hopefully get back to normal.”
What exactly “normal” will look like is anybody’s guess, but for older Mainers who spent month after month in isolation, waving to children and grandchildren from porches or behind windows, the chance to socialize is more than welcome.
Salute to Volunteers
In troubled times, “look for the helpers”
ELLSWORTH Mr. Fred Rogers taught many of us that in times of crisis, “look for the helpers.”
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping,’” he shared.
We see this time and again, from communities rallying behind their own in times of tragedy to neighbors checking in on each other and delivering home-cooked meals.
But what happens when it becomes unsafe for people to gather to help each other? Do the helpers go away? Does volunteerism stop?