Preschoolers and seniors in Haines are getting back together for a weekly lunch date after a few years’ break. Chilkat Valley Preschool and the Senior Center share a building and have a history of visiting for lunch, although the meetings were paused for a few years during Covid. As KHNS’s Jenn Shelton reports, they started the program back up this fall.
Jessie Wuesthoff oversees the Chilkat Valley Preschool as its executive director. She says research shows that multi-generational interactions are positive for everyone involved. So when I asked her permission to join Chilkat Valley Preschool on their weekly trip to eat lunch at the Haines Senior Center, she said of course. But, she added, it might be a little awkward.
Wuesthoff: “At first, no one really knows what to do. And there’s some challenges with hearing. You know, there’s a lot of voices in the room. And the kids are confused about what we’re doing. But after a while we figured out how to adapt to each other. And it’s very cool to watch it happening in real life. And these kids and these seniors wouldn’t normally get the chance to interact like this.”
At one o’clock, when I enter the cafeteria, I don’t know what to expect. The room is packed with dozens of seniors sitting behind trays of turkey and mashed potatoes. Interspersed among them are little ones picking politely from brightly colored lunch boxes.
[ambient noise…]
Over the din, I hear a squeak. And then I hear, “I’m stuck.”
A girl has slipped through the back of her chair. Her legs are dangling through the gap between the seat and the backrest. Wuesthoff runs over and instructs her to climb through the front of the chair, but the preschooler has a different plan. She wriggles her body further through the gap, wedging her torso out the back. If she wasn’t stuck before, she is stuck now.
Loud conversation is suddenly replaced by silence, as if someone had dropped a tray. Seniors crane their heads in worry. The center’s shuttle driver Russ Goodin comes over to assist. It is a two-person job that at one point seems like it will require a handsaw. But soon the girl is extracted and everyone returns, unharmed, to their meals.
The senior center serves lunch on Tuesdays – Thursdays. The meal costs five dollars. Goodin picks up seniors from their homes and drives them to the center. He is a jack of all trades. He is plating food when I ask him who can participate in the lunch program. A preschooler demands to hold my microphone as Goodin explains the program.
Goodin: “If you’re under 60 it’s fifteen dollars and if you’re over 60 it’s five dollars. But we’ll never turn anybody away. So you can eat whether you pay the five dollars or not.”
I join a group of kids who flank one of the seniors, Karl Taylor. Taylor is clearly enjoying the company. A little boy asks him if he can take off his boots. Taylor tells him no, that it’s better if he keeps them on. The boy and Karl keep talking, but soon Taylor can’t understand what the boy is saying. He asks me to interpret what the three-year-old is asking.
Preschooler: “Is it ok if I go warm up?”
The little boy wants to go warm up by the fire. This time Taylor’s answer is yes.
The preschool-senior lunches returned this fall after taking a few years off. Senior Linda Wilmot says it’s nice to have the kids back.
Wilmot: “Halloween was very fun when they handed out candy. And they are always a pleasure and they are so full of life.”
Anyone interested in eating with the seniors and the preschoolers can contact Kerry at 766-2383 for more information.
