Thursday, July 16, 2009
Getting to Know Each Other
It was our first meeting with the elders we'll be seeing regularly for the next five weeks - Bill, Mickey, Anne and Roger, and Ruth. We met them outside and helped them each get into the sunroom and seated. The sandwiches soon arrived and the sound of clicking plastic containers filled the air. We went around the circle, repeating our names and saying a fruit that started with the same letter as our name- Gregory grapefruit, Kolby kiwi, Anne apple, Mike melon, and so on. We laughed as we went around the circle, trying to remember the names that had already been said.
We paired off and sat down to have a short chat about their lives. I spoke with 93-year-old Deputy Mayor Ruth Garner. She told me that women in her time had only three career options: nursing, teaching, or secretarial work. Ruth was the first woman in 140 years to be on the Potsdam town board. People told her she couldn't do it, but she knocked on doors in Potsdam and got the support. Later, she became mayor. Now, she said, over half the mayors in New York are women. Ruth is ready to change with the times. She showed me a shamrock tattoo she'd gotten just a few months earlier. The tattoo was for the Zootoo fundraiser in Potsdam.
When we got back together as a group we played another game, this one harder than the one before. Our partner would close his or her eyes, and we had to transport them to another place using only sounds. It wasn't easy, but it was definitely fun. I heard bells from Ruth and went to a church, Anne went golfing with Jen, and Laura took Greg to Montreal. Bill, who flew planes in World War II, took Chelsea on a plane ride. He put her hands on pretend controls and she says it was easy to visualize being in a physical plan and in the air. "I had a bumpy landing," she said.
We ended by talking about entrepreneurship. Everybody gave three words that represented entrepreneurship to them. Creativity, risk, resourceful, leadership, independence, and courage were a few of the words used. Some mentioned unexpected words, like "dependence." Ruth talked about the importance of "brevity," saying that to be an entrepreneur meant not just coming up with ideas but listening to others, too.
We paired off and sat down to have a short chat about their lives. I spoke with 93-year-old Deputy Mayor Ruth Garner. She told me that women in her time had only three career options: nursing, teaching, or secretarial work. Ruth was the first woman in 140 years to be on the Potsdam town board. People told her she couldn't do it, but she knocked on doors in Potsdam and got the support. Later, she became mayor. Now, she said, over half the mayors in New York are women. Ruth is ready to change with the times. She showed me a shamrock tattoo she'd gotten just a few months earlier. The tattoo was for the Zootoo fundraiser in Potsdam.
When we got back together as a group we played another game, this one harder than the one before. Our partner would close his or her eyes, and we had to transport them to another place using only sounds. It wasn't easy, but it was definitely fun. I heard bells from Ruth and went to a church, Anne went golfing with Jen, and Laura took Greg to Montreal. Bill, who flew planes in World War II, took Chelsea on a plane ride. He put her hands on pretend controls and she says it was easy to visualize being in a physical plan and in the air. "I had a bumpy landing," she said.
We ended by talking about entrepreneurship. Everybody gave three words that represented entrepreneurship to them. Creativity, risk, resourceful, leadership, independence, and courage were a few of the words used. Some mentioned unexpected words, like "dependence." Ruth talked about the importance of "brevity," saying that to be an entrepreneur meant not just coming up with ideas but listening to others, too.
Labels: Brenna, Elders, Meeting, Ruth Garner, Teens
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