WINTER ISSUE 2015
A Special Supplement to
‘Age is nothing’
living
Senior social painting successful By BAILEY POOLMAN
CNA staff reporter bpoolman@crestonnews.com
CNA photo by KELSEY HAUGEN
From left, Debbie Pryor, 63, Mary Bishop, 56, and Jan Perdew, 62, work on homework in the Southwestern Community College library in mid-December, near the end of their fall semester. After being laid off from Gits Manufacturing in 2014, the three women chose to pursue two-year college degrees paid for through the Trade Act.
By KELSEY HAUGEN CNA staff reporter khaugen@crestonnews.com
E
ach weekday, Debbie Pryor, Mary Bishop and Jan Perdew rise early in the morning – despite having spent years working the night shift – put on professional attire and head to Southwestern Community College (SWCC). Lugging book bags on wheels behind them, they arrive on time and never miss a class. “We look like flight attendants with our bags,”
■ Three women over age 55 bond as they earn degrees in new fields at SWCC after all being laid off from Gits Manufacturing.
Bishop said. The women exploded with laughter. “I just say, ‘You carry yours; I’ll pull mine,’” Pryor said, referring to younger students who wear backpacks. “My back says, ‘Huhuh!’” Perdew said. After working at Gits Manufacturing for several years, the women were laid off when the Creston location closed in June 2014. Now, 63-year-old Pryor, 62-year-old Perdew and
56-year-old Bishop find themselves back in school for the first time in more than three decades, each earning a degree in a new field to pursue a new career. When employees are laid off, the Trade Act gives them the opportunity to take two years of college free of charge, and the women ceased that opportunity. “You’re never too old to learn something new,” Bishop said. SWCC | 4C
Imagine pale blue paint on the bristles of a paintbrush. You move the brush in slow swoops near the top of an empty canvas, creating a crisp watercolor sky. Then, you clean the paintbrush and dip it in the black. You create a thin outline in the center of the canvas, curving lines up and down until you notice a figure appear. That figure is a snowman on a clear winter day. This painting is what Creston: Arts volunteers Brian Zachary and Chris Coke helped Homestead Assisted Living residents create during the Senior Social Canvas this month. “We normally have our Social Canvas at Adams Street Espresso,” Zachary said. “So, what we did was adapted this program for an assisted living environment, so it’s shorter, simpler and smaller.” Social Canvas is a painting event held at regular intervals throughout the year. Participants learn to paint a painting by listening to an instructor
Contributed photo
Homestead Assisted Living resident Sally Drapcho, 94, shows off her snowman painting after the Dec. 11 Senior Social Canvas event. Drapcho was one of seven participants to paint a snowman with the help of Creston: Arts volunteers Brian Zachary and Chris Coke.
and watching how he or she does each stroke. The Creston: Arts volunteers decided to adapt the concept for the older population and found a sponsor through First National Bank and an assisted living facility interested.
“It was just a month ago when we agreed to do it,” said Randy Huewe, president and CEO of First National Bank. Huewe attended the first official Senior Social Canvas, held Dec. 11, to PAINT | 2C