By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
This is not a matchmaking service for senior citizens – at least not in the traditional sense. But the New Adventures program does match up seniors with new people and new activities they might not have the gumption to try on their own.
They leave their rocking chairs and their inhibitions behind.
The group has gone to a rock climbing wall, basketball game, canal ride, painting party and comedy club. Next on the list – a winery and movie theater for art films.
The New Adventures group was started in 2011 by the Wood County Committee on Aging in cooperation with Bridge Hospice.
“We were seeing individuals who, after they were grieving, there were no connections for them to socialize,” said Danielle Brogley, director of programs at the Wood County Senior Center.
As older adults lost their partners, they often felt a lack of companionship. And if they tried to continue their relationships with couples they had long socialized with, they sometimes felt like the fifth wheel, Brogley explained.
So New Adventures was created to engage single seniors to get out and socialize. After a couple years, the group morphed into a program offering new experiences for anyone interested.
“It’s not a matchmaking service,” though the group has resulted in one marriage, Brogley said. “It’s just to have somewhere to go and people to do things with.”
Several of the outings are in the evenings, when seniors might be reluctant to venture out alone. “The lonely hours are 6 to 8 p.m.,” Brogley said.
Between 12 and 15 people go on each outing. Many activities are educational, such as the trip to the new BCII crime lab and the planetarium at BGSU.
“We all still want to learn,” said Rita Betz, program and technology specialist at the senior center. “We’re always looking for what’s next.”
Others adventures expose the seniors to foods outside their comfort zone. Though some are at first hesitant to try foods they can’t pronounce, the group has acquainted seniors with a sushi bar and hummus.
“It’s anything we can find. You wouldn’t do these things if you were by yourself,” said Holly Griggs, program and active aging specialist at the senior center.
Many of the seniors come back from the outings with more than a full stomach.
“A lot of people from our trips develop friendships,” Betz said.
The New Adventures coordinators make all the arrangements, handle the driving, and make sure the trips are affordable, said Mary Grzybowski, of Bowling Green, who has gone on some of the outings. Her favorite was the Shrine of Assumption in Carey. “That was spectacular,” she said.
Grzybowksi also went to the wild animal nursery, a Mexican restaurant, Fort Meigs and Carter Historic Farms – all trips she wouldn’t have made alone.
“It gets people out and keeps them active and engaged,” she said. “I wish every community could have one of these.”
