By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
What began as a 4-H project to connect kids with senior citizens isolated during the COVID pandemic, has turned into a pen pal relationship between a local 93-year-old and a teenager.
Two years ago, Wood County 4-H clubs started a “Postal Project” which identified seniors sheltering at home, and matched them up with 4-H members, according to Jenny Morlock, who works on 4-H youth development in Wood County.
A match was made between Alta Codding, of Bowling Green, and Jacob Gallant, an Eastwood student. While many of the seniors and students stopped communicating when COVID guidelines were lifted, Codding and Gallant have stayed in touch.
“They still are connected after two years,” Morlock said. “They formed quite a relationship. It’s just been really special.”
Dashing off a text message or sending a quick email is the common form of communication for today’s youth, but the 4-H members discovered that mailing a letter can make a lasting memory.
Gallant quickly adjusted to handwritten correspondence, which are relics of the past to most teenagers.
“Me and Alta have been pen pals for going on two years now,” he said.
Despite a 75-year difference in age, Mrs. Codding and Gallant have found a few shared interests.
“I was in 4-H myself for seven years” in Crawford County, Mrs. Codding said. And Gallant was crowned king at this year’s Wood County Fair.
“I was so excited to get a letter from a 4-H member and hear about his projects. It made me think about my days in 4-H many, many years ago,” Mrs. Codding said. “I dug up my 4-H member pins and photos of when I participated at the county fair. Now I can follow the 4-H career of my new 4-H pen pal.”
Gallant would share stories of his accomplishments at Eastwood, and his 4-H projects.
“Whenever I’m in the newspaper, she clips it out and sends it to me,” he said. “It gives me a place to gloat. It gives me somewhere I can show off.”
In turn, Mrs. Codding would keep Gallant up to date on her life. Gallant said he has saved her letters in a folder at home.
“Absolutely,” Gallant said of looking forward to the handwritten notes. “It’s more like something I know is benefiting both of us.”
Mrs. Codding admitted to being a little nervous about becoming a pen pal to someone 75 years her junior.
“When Jenny first called me, I thought, oh dear, what am I getting myself into,” Mrs. Codding said.
Since then, the pair has talked several times over the phone and sent several letters.
“We still have not met,” Mrs. Codding said. “He just seems like a real nice young man.”
“His notes are brief, but they are meaningful,” she said of Gallant’s correspondence. “I did not feel a parent was standing over him and saying ‘you need to do this.’ I thought he was sincere.”
Mrs. Codding’s letters continued when Gallant went off to college, majoring in ag-business.
“I know that being away from home for weeks on end can be hard,” she said.
As part of the pen pal project, 16 Wood County 4-H clubs mailed greetings to more than 200 people who were isolated at home, Morlock said.
“It’s an indescribable feeling. It was a great opportunity for our youth to see the simple things we can do to make people happy,” Morlock said. “We spend a lot of time teaching our youth they can make a difference to people and their community.”
