By ANGELO ARMBRISTER

Freeport News Reporter

SENIOR HANDICRAFT – Craft instructor Veronica Ellis (centre) is pictured with event organizers Patrice Johnson (left) and Agatha Beckles (right) at the launching of the senior citizen handicraft course which took place yesterday at the Susan J. Wallace centre. Also pictured is Dollie Swain, assistant to Instructor Ellis. (Staff photo by JENNEVA RUSSELL)

Absolute in their resolve to make senior citizens feel a part of the communities in which they reside, officials from the Grand Bahama Department of Social Service and Community Affairs launched an elderly handicraft training program yesterday designed to do just that.

The initiative dubbed "I'm Proud to be a Senior" will run weekly between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. at selected points throughout Grand Bahama.

According to Patrice John-son, Community Affairs co-ordinator for Grand Bahama, the program is designed to bring a sense of being to those individuals, who may find themselves feeling useless after retiring.

"This is our way of saying thank you, we love you because if it wasn't for them, where would we be," said Johnson. "We are thanking the seniors for the work they've done in the past to secure our future."

Veronica Ellis, a highly qualified and experienced straw craft expert, has been selected as instructor for the course.

Johnson vouched that Ellis comes with a wealth of experience, which only enhances the main objective of the course, which is to train persons in the production of Bahamian made products utilizing natural resources.

She explained that the participants will be taught how to plait, stitch and decorate the straw with raffia; identify and process straw strings from the various bushes; make bags, baskets, place mats, slippers, dolls and other souvenirs.

"We are going to take them on field trips to the beach to pick up their own shells," said Johnson. "We're going to do patchwork sheets and come next Mother's Day, we are going to have a display of everything that we've done over the months and we are going to sell it back into the community to assist in financing the program."

The Susan J. Wallace Cen-tre, which is being called the premier spot for community development activities will be the ground for residents of the Marco City and Pineridge communities, while those in Eight Mile Rock will be at Bethel Baptist in Pinedale and persons in Pinder's Point will be held at Church of the Good Shepherd.

Noting that they haven't identified a spot in High Rock as yet, Johnson said that they have at least 25 seniors in that area wanting to be a part of the course.

"Anyone seeking to join can call the Teen Centre at 352-2609 for information," she said.

Agatha Beckles, President of the Retired Persons Associa-tion of Grand Bahama said that the craft program for the seniors is a wonderful thing for retired or "matured" persons to get involved in.

"Well it is something to give them reason to come out of their homes and make themselves useful," she said."

The courses will immediately follow a senior computer course called Seniornet, which is designed to enhance the computer literacy among the elderly and is being conducted at the Susan J. Wallace Centre.

That program came from a collaboration between the Freeport City Council and the Retired Persons Association of Grand Bahama.

The program runs every Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., when senior patrons are afforded the opportunity to utilize the state-of-the-art computer lab.