Enriching seniors’ moments

Teenage volunteers bridge gap with games

By: Dick Brinster
   EAST WINDSOR —The dice roll, the laughter abounds and the taunts are everywhere.
   "I’ve got two houses, and I’m the only one who does, so I’m winning," Lillian McNichol declares as she surveys the Monopoly board moments after the start of another game.
   Phyllis Waters, eyeing her competitor’s properties on Baltic and Mediterranean avenues — the low-rent district of the famous old game — is hardly impressed.
   "Yeah, honey, you’ve got two houses, but you’ve got the cheap stuff," she says, fingering deeds to the top-flight neighborhood of Boardwalk and Park Place.
   Ms. McNichol looks at her sternly, not about to be intimidated at the age of 80.
   "Sure," she shoots back. "But you’ve got to mortgage them."
   Welcome to another weekday edition of life at the East Windsor Senior Center, where they laugh, learn and love.
   The most reserved person at the table is Niraj Baxi, a freshman from Hightstown High School, one of more than a half-dozen volunteers from the school’s Red Cross Club who has chosen on this warm spring afternoon to hang out with senior citizens thoroughly enjoying the autumn of the lives.
   "I love sitting around with my grandma listening to her tell her stories," he said of his time away from the center.
   He was able to spend his time at the four-year-old center one day this week only because students were out of school on spring break. But his community service to the elderly is by no means limited to the facility at the end of Lanning Boulevard.
   "I volunteer during the summer at Meadow Lakes," he said, referring to the retirement home on the other side of the township. "I just love spending time with them."
   Ms. Waters smiles.
   "And we love you, too," she said, her voice barely audible over the sound of billiard balls colliding on a pool table 25 feet away.
   Both seniors and teens enjoy that game. And the refreshments such as pizza, cookies and beverages — donated on this day by Domino’s and Bear Creek Assisted Living — also bridge the age barrier.
   There’s no generation gap in this place, where a series of activities includes parties to celebrate the New Year, St. Patrick, and St. Valentine. They have bus trips to shows, museums and Atlantic City.
   There’s Murder Mystery Night and the daily staple everyone seems to love the most — bingo.
   "I’m a bingo fiend," Ms. Waters said of the not-so-high-stakes game she plays virtually every day. "We play for pennies. Our jackpots are a nickel."
   But she says one of the biggest thrills is the camaraderie with the youngsters who make people like her, at 65, feel youthful as they’re whiling away the hours.
   "These kids are great," she said. "They should get plenty of recognition."
   Raj Marvania isn’t getting much of that as he sits at the Sorry table.
   "I’m losing" he said, adding that he’s experiencing the thrill of defeat.
   The rest of the players also are being beaten by 86-year-old Helen Bardella, who appears sorry only about missing a slot at the Monopoly table. She’s been playing that game since it came out in 1935.
   On this day, however, she’s humbling Raj — a Hightstown High School junior who’s been a Sorry aficionado since he was a little boy — and her senior compatriots.
   "But, he’s a good teacher," she said.
   Across from Ms. Bardella is Mary Ann White, who admitted she was a first-time participant in the game. She joked that the others were paying her just to have someone they knew they could humble.
   "I’m the baby," she said with a laugh. "I’m 66, and she’s beating the pants off me."
   Ruth Zimmer, who carefully guards her age, isn’t concerned about the setback at hand. She’ll be back to try her luck — again and again.
   "I come here three days a week," she said. "This is my second home."
   At another table, Hightstown High sophomore Janifer Patel is asking the questions in a game of Trivial Pursuit to the oohs and ahs of those who figure they should have known the answers.
   Alvin Miller said he’s cherishing his time with her and the other youthful volunteers.
   "They’re fantastic," she said.
   The feeling is mutual for Ms. Patel, in her second year as a Red Cross Club volunteer. She enjoys the time spent with senior members of her own family and believes it’s important for the youth of today to interact with the elderly.
   "Age is not a factor at all," she said. "I’ll do whatever I can to be a big help."
   The club is under the direction of Jeanne Heikes, who retired seven years ago as a teacher. The volunteers are among the best students in the school.
   "These are kids that don’t get recognition for helping older people and they don’t get paid for it," she said. "When I’m old and gray, like some of the people here, they’re going to be running the country."
   She said the students are the type of people who will be doing community service for years to come, the type whose children will be doing it as well.
   The contribution of the younger people also is appreciated by 80-year-old B.S.V. Bahukudumbi, counseled at the Monopoly table by Niraj. When asked about his strategy, Mr. Bahukudumbi admits his mind is on a more important matter.
   "Strategy?" he said. "To go play bingo."