Parish makes 227 Valentines

By Tanya Connor

They were distributing more than 227 Valentines about 45 parishioners made Saturday for residents of Webster Manor and neighboring Lanessa Extended Care.
Another Valentine recipient raced up and down a hall in his wheelchair to thank all the children who came to deliver the cards, Ms. Brink said. A woman was seen trying to read hers with a magnifying glass.
“They were very happy,” Marsha Hendriks, activity assistant at Lanessa Extended Care, said of the residents’ response. “A lot of people don’t get company. They don’t see kids all the time. Especially on the Alzheimer’s unit, they really lit up.”
“The residents from Webster Manor were very happy to see the children, and they were even more touched when they received the Valentine cards,” said Loretta Chapdelaine, activity director there. “It means a lot to the residents when they are remembered by the younger generation. It always puts a big smile on their faces.”
Ms. Brink said she’s been doing this project for at least 15 years. It started as a Gathering Day, a followup to the summer Loreto religious education program. Over time, it expanded to include adults.
“Parents were making them side-by-side with the kids and loving it,” she said of the Valentines.
Saturday Alec Fournier, 9, explained that the cards were for “the old people.” When his mother, Tammy Fournier, encouraged him to use more polite wording, his brother Logan, 7, came to the rescue: “the elderly people.”
Mrs. Fournier said last year her sons enjoyed helping distribute the Valentines at the facilities.
“We knew several people that were there last year,” she said. That, and the fact that the boys knew fellow-parishioners helping with the distribution, seemed to make their first visit to such a place less scary, she said.
“They love it,” Paula Mayville said of her children’s reaction to creating the cards.
Virginia, 8, said she liked “the coloring.” Hunter, 7, said he liked “cutting.”
It’s an easy way “to do a nice thing,” said their mother. “It gets them in the spirit of Valentine’s Day.”