A Seniors’ Celebration
Contributed by Brandi Olsen of the Taber Alberta Stake
In Malachi 4:6, it says, “..and He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”. The Young Women of the Taber Alberta Stake were doing just that as they planned and participated in a recent seniors’ event.
In the spring of this year, one hundred and sixty brothers and sisters over 75-years-wise were invited to participate in the “Taber Stake Youth Celebrating Taber Stake Seniors” event. The purpose of the activity was to provide the youth an opportunity to display their creative talents along with giving service by organizing the program for the seniors within the stake.
Each senior received a personal contact or visit and was given an invitation, designed by the young woman, to the activity. A picture was taken of the young woman and the senior together. The youth made corsages and boutonnieres to give out as they greeted the seniors on their arrival at the event. The Young Women also prepared the lunch and entertained the seniors with music and dancing from the different eras of the seniors’ lives.
Over a hundred seniors attended the event. The youth performed choreographed musical numbers such as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”, “Rock around the Clock”, “Crocodile Rock”, “Over the Rainbow”, “The Charleston”, selections from The Sound of Music and a solo performance from Phantom of the Opera “Think of Me”. There was also a narrative introduction to each number which detailed the history of the era, including the ages of some seniors, during the decade of the highlighted musical number.
The Young Women were involved in all areas of this event with some cleaning and setting up and others performing and greeting. One young woman told us, “I really enjoyed learning the song and dance. It was fun to see the smiles on the senior brothers and sisters faces as they recognized the song. I would do it again.”
The activity was a hit. The talents and generous gift of time and talents from the youth was greatly appreciated. The seniors were thrilled to say the least and thoroughly enjoyed their day. The youth had just as much fun. Many less active seniors attended. The next day which was Sunday, in several wards, the seniors wore their corsages and boutonnieres to church. Hearts were truly turned towards others through this activity.