In the midst of sharing stories about his experience as an Albion College student more than 40 years ago, David Keefer had the opportunity this week to get a glimpse of what his grandson's future on a college campus might look like.
Those kinds of camaraderie-building moments were frequent at the second annual Grandparents College.
The three-day gathering focused on hands-on activities for 51 participants ages 8 to 80.
Running makeshift lemonade stands or learning the basics of cheerleading, family members were making memories while developing new friendships.
“We had a ‘get to know you’ activity right away, and everybody kind of made friends,” said event coordinator Mark Baczewski, the college’s director of alumni engagement. “Now they all want to sit by each other, and they’re exchanging emails and addresses, and it is just great.”
Albion resident Joyce Spicer — who did not attend Albion College but is active in the community — said the program allowed her to connect on more personal levels with grandchildren Cydny and Jayden Williams of Canton.
“I’ve enjoyed it all. But I don’t dance, and we had a hoedown (Wednesday) night, and my goodness we had a super, super ball,” she said. “And today I got to record (a song), ‘Grandparents Rock.’ We wrote our own songs and were doing a little doo-wop.”
Cydny Williams said her grandmother did an admirable job singing, but she was also fired up about a performance of her own.
In the class “Lights, Camera, Makeup!” a woman who has worked as a professional background makeup producer quickly transformed Williams into a terrifying vampire.
“There was this syrup — it was chocolate syrup, red food dye and corn syrup — and they mixed it and put it as blood on my face, and it was really good,” she said, with Spicer laughing in the background.
For Albion resident Vicki Konkle and granddaughter Kailey Konkle, the inaugural Grandparents College last year was so satisfying that they came back for more.
“It’s really cool to just be one on one in the dorm at night, a sleepover sort of thing,” said Vicki Konkle, who admitted it was a little past her bedtime when she finally turned out the lights at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Kailey Konkle said she loved the variety of classes, especially a course where she got to make pottery.
Vicki Konkle said Grandparents College is more than just something fun to put on the schedule.
“Last year when we left she said, ‘Grandma, I never thought about going to a small college before,’ because face it, small colleges aren’t promoted as much,” she said. “It gave her a different view of a college.”
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As published in the Jackson Citizen Patriot on June 24, 2011
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