It’s been a long cold (and sometimes lonely) winter, but St. Patrick’s Day in Reston’s RES Centre was a warm event for a senior crowd of about 70, featuring lunch, entertainment and conversation. Most were sporting a splash of green and were treated to a green dessert and yes, even green punch (or coffee/tea).
Senior Helping Hands (SHH) Coordinators Keri Vinck and Kathy Reid, along with board members of SHH like to see seniors from Sinclair, Cromer, Pipestone and Reston areas have a good time together.
This event didn’t stop at just lunch. A band, Three’s Company, entertained. Four crafters displayed their handiwork. Vinck said that along with Linda Patmore’s charcuterie boards, “We had a lady there that had a spinning wheel, weaving with alpaca wool; Richard Lougheed who does some intricate woodwork and then Troy Revet who has Two Borders Sawmill.” (Each presenter could be a story on their own.)
“They’re all local here. It was something to add to the afternoon.”
One of those displays was Linda Patmore’s wood charcuterie boards with epoxy resin. At her table she had pieces at different stages of the making.
“It is very fun, it is time consuming, and it’s been a lot of learning,” says Patmore who only began to sell her work last October.
She took up the hobby because “the kids are all grown and gone, and I needed something to fill my time.”
Patmore said, “It was nice to be asked to do it. People would just come by and inquire and ask questions.”
Conversation flowed as she knew most of the people there.
“There was one gentleman there, I had no idea that he had ever done any woodworking… He was really knowledgeable.”
Two pieces of wood are placed into the mold and a river of epoxy is flowed in between.
“That is a process in itself.” Liquid epoxy hardens into a plastic. The board is then put through a planer to level it. Sanding starts at 80 grit and is finished up with very fine 1000 grit so the surface is smooth as glass.
Each unique piece of wood guides her decisions. “You look at the wood and you find something different in it.” One piece was too beautiful to cut up. “It had a big knot in it. So the knot was what I filled with epoxy. You sand it down and do all your oiling. It just brings that colour right out.”
With a food safe conditioning oil to finish it, the piece is ready for appetizers or to become a meat tray.
Along with the many senior services such as congregate meals, help for people in their home settings and transportation, SHH, plan fun outings.
Now that winter is on its way out, Vinck hopes a Winnipeg trip is in the offing. The plan is to enjoy Celebrations Dinner Theatre, “if we get enough people.”
She’s hoping for 12 who are interested. “If they go the weekend of the 13th – 14th, there’s a quilt show on in Winnipeg that has grabbed some interest.”
She says they follow interests of the seniors. In the past, they have even gone for an overnight trip to Moose Jaw where there’s a hot springs spa.
“Between Kathy and I, we do programming between Golden Estates and the Alstone Lodge.”
Serving Pipestone, Reston, Sinclair and Cromer, Vinck says, “It’s open to all the people in the communities with programs in the drop-in centres as well.
“After winter, people are anxious to do something.” The St. Patrick’s Day crowd attests to that.
