SV students spread holiday spirit
ZELIENOPLE — A group of Seneca Valley High School students hope to bring some holiday cheer to residents at Passavant Retirement Community in Zelienople this weekend.
Rachel Peffer, 18, of Zelienople and Mitch Weaver, 17, of Cranberry Township have teamed up to provide an afternoon of music beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday when Rachel will pass out more than 30 lap blankets she made for the residents.
After the blankets are distributed, the residents will go to the chapel where they will be treated to almost an hour of Christmas music by Mitch and his brass ensemble.
“I’m looking forward to giving out the blankets and hearing the concert,” Rachel said.
Mitch said when Rachel asked his group to play he was glad to help.
“I’m thrilled to be able to play for others,” he said. “I like the joy that comes from making people happy.”
Ann Mutmansky, director of marketing and admissions at Passavant, said she spoke to several residents about the program.
“They love musical programs,” she said. “Typically they get very excited for them.”
Although the event is not open to the public, the residents’ families are welcome to enjoy the concert.
Rachel, a senior at Seneca Valley, started making the blankets as part of her senior project. She has been working on the blankets throughout the fall, putting nearly 24 hours into the project.
“It’s pretty time-consuming but, they’re really nice.” she said. “I’m excited to finally finish.”
Mitch formed the quartet last year with a group of fellow Seneca Valley students he knew from the band at school. Throughout the year, they’ve played at various community events and also for events at Passavant.
In addition to Mitch, the ensemble includes Scotty Poepoe, Aaron Jackson and Nathan Fritch. The three are all juniors at the school. The quartet is comprised of two trumpets, a bass trombone and a euphonium, which is a small tuba.
Rachel started brainstorming senior project ideas with her mother, Wendy, after two previous ideas were not approved by advisers at the school.
The Seneca Valley High School senior project program is a requirement for graduation. It encourages the students to undertake projects that give back to the community.
She had made blankets as presents in the past and thought a scaled-down version might be perfect for the residents at Passavant.
Rachel, along with her father, Gregg, and brother, Luke, usually visit the retirement village every Christmas to deliver cookies and sing carols, so deciding where to take the blankets was a “natural fit,” Rachel said.
She made blankets for two “houses” at the facility. The nursing area at Passavant is broken up into small households, each housing 17 residents, Mutmansky said.
The residents of those houses make decisions ranging from menus to programs they want to have.
Mutmansky said the Seneca Valley senior project program has had quite an impact at Passavant. She said the facility has had students help with anything from gardening to helping residents with projects to presenting programs.
“It’s a wonderful thing for the residents,” she said.
