By Kendra Bobowick
"Bingo!"
Ashlar resident Barbara Arnone sits across the table from high school freshman Ashley Peck as the two listen to a winner shouting “Bingo” across the room.
As the first shout faded a second voice cried, "Bingo!"
Pacing through the weave of tables filled with Bingo players at Ashlar of Newtown on Thursday, February 7, Jeff Tolson looked for the winners. Echoing their raised voices he yelled out, "Bingo, Bingo, double Bingo! What have you got?"
From her table at the back of the room, Barbara Arnone answered, "A headache."
Sitting opposite Mrs Arnone, an Ashlar resident, was Newtown High School freshman Ashley Peck. The two laughed at the quiet joke as Mr Tolson, the high school Peer Leadership advisor, continued the game. With their game boards and round plastic chips between them, Mrs Arnone and Ashley were just two of many pairs of students and nursing facility residents matched that day for a fresh twist on the Bingo game.
"I like it. This gives us something different," Mrs Arnone said. Also facilitating the match was Golden Opportunities of Newtown, a nonprofit outreach service offering "comfort, compassion, and support." Ashley was also having a good time. She said later, "It's actually a lot of fun. The seniors have so much character and they are adorable, and fun to be around." Her great-grandmother lives at Ashlar, giving Ashley a closer link to the senior citizens she and her fellow high school students were visiting.
Chris Miller, the Peer Leadership liaison to Golden Opportunities, stepped into the hallway, cheeks flushed, and smiling
"I just met a woman who loved me and gave me a kiss," he said. Laughing, Golden Opportunities Program Administrator Nancy Taylor looked at Chris and admitted, "He is wonderful to work with." Like Ashley, he also had a link to Ashlar — part of his reasons for the outreach. "My grandmother passed away. She lived here."
"You honor her memory [by] doing this work," Ms Taylor told him.
Mr Tolson said the students' work with Golden Opportunities helps the young men and women interact in the community. Specifically, he said, "We wanted to team up with Golden Opportunities to work at Ashlar." Helping him run the Bingo game was friend and math teacher Eugene Miller.
Therapeutic Recreation Manager Susan Judge looked into the room at the many happy faces watching over their Bingo games. "They're making the residents feel more successful and expressive. We're lucky to have them."
By e-mail, Golden Opportunities Managing Director Knettie Archard shared her appreciation for the students' efforts. She wrote, "We are pleased to be working with the Peer Leadership group which has been very helpful in the past few months. The members provided tabletop Christmas trees — complete with decorations — for the residents of a retirement home we serve. They supplied toiletries and various 'goodies' for the holiday gift bags we distributed at an area nursing home. They have also committed to conduct an activity each month for the residents of another eldercare facility.
"It is impressive and touching to see these compassionate, caring, teens reaching out to others in such a thoughtful and generous way."