Living History: Senior citizens teach campers how things used to be

Published 11:11 am Tuesday, August 27, 2024

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By Carrie Miller

Davie Senior Services

There’s a lot to learn from senior citizens.

Fourth and fifth graders from Camp Manna learned just that on Friday, Aug. 2, when they visited Davie County Senior Services for Living History Day.

This day is held each year to encourage young minds to learn lost arts from the past.

This year, the arts featured were woodcarving, basket weaving, quilting, and butter making.

At the woodcarving station, Tim Trudgeon shared how to carve a bar of ivory soap. The young learners had a choice of carving shapes such as rafts, sail boats, frogs, pigs, turtles, or even their own designs.

The next station was quilting, where Sharrie Campbell and Renee Call shared their love of quilting. They taught each camper how to make a quilt block. Campers chose their own fabrics and sewed the outside edges to make a block and then were able to sew their own design in the middle of the block.

Following quilting, the campers made a stop at basket weaving with artist Cheryl Tilley. They were able to weave their own baskets with a plastic cup and yarn. They made their baskets with the same color of yarn, or changed it as they wove.

The final station featured farming and butter making with Steve and Peggy Evans. The campers used heavy whipping cream in small Mason jars, which they shook to make their butter. Once the butter formed in the jars, they tasted it on a piece of bread. They also learned about dairy farming and were shown butter churns.

Campers took home their works of art to share with their families. At the end, the camp leaders asked what their favorite part of the day was. Each camper held up an item they made.

Senior Services would like to thank all of the senior volunteers that made this day happen as well as the staff and campers at Camp Manna.

If you’re looking for more intergenerational activities, contact Senior Services at 336-753-6230.