Snow much fun
JEFFERSON TWP — The plan was to build snowmen.
However, the weather wasn't cooperating Thursday when students from St. Luke Lutheran School, 330 Hannahstown Road, hoped to brighten up a gray February day for Concordia Lutheran Ministries residents with, well, some snowmen.
Nearly 20 students, along with teachers, parents and younger siblings from the nearby school, tried to build some frosty friends from the abundant snow around the Lund Care Center, 134 Marwood Road, Thursday afternoon.
Unfortunately, the consensus was — from the fifth- through eighth-graders and residents of the personal care and skilled care facility who watched from the windows of the locked-down building — that it wasn't the right kind of snow.
It wasn't the packing kind of snow needed to make a superior snowman, according to the residents of the sports lounge watching the students' attempts through the lounge windows.
Gabriella Lang, a sixth-grader who brought her father, Jim Lang, and Pickles, her 10-week-old St. Bernard puppy, along, said, “It's OK. It's working. It's kind of icy.”
Madisyn MacAfee, a fellow sixth-grader, said the snow wouldn't pack. So, they'd given up on building a cowboy snowman and were settling for “a cowboy pyramid with a face and a hat.”
“It's not very good packing snow,” said Brenda Fett, a fourth-grader. “We hoped to cheer the residents up a little.”But the sight of the youngsters struggling to build snowmen prompted the viewers in the sports lounge to reminisce.“I enjoy watching them,” resident Evelyn Betts said. “I used to teach kids, then I taught senior high.“They are a lot different from each other,” she said. “The kids wanted to please you. In senior high, they wanted to see what they could get away with.”“Students from St. Luke Lutheran School do a number of projects with residents on the Concordia at Cabot campus throughout the year,” said Frank Skrip, director of public relations for Concordia.Recently, they sent Valentine's Day cards and a banner filled with messages for the residents.
“With all the snow we've had lately, St. Luke Principal Kelly Carney reached out a week ago to let us know that they would try to get over here at some point to build some snowmen to brighten the day of our residents,” Skrip said.“Any time our residents and patients get the opportunity to see kids running around and having fun right outside their window, it's a good day at Concordia,” he said.In the past, the students have visited Concordia residents frequently throughout the year.“Students would, in a non-COVID-19 year, visit for a living Nativity, bingo or a talent show,” Carney said.“We thought this would be a fun way to give back to Concordia a little,” she said.Carney said the snowman-building was an after-school activity.“We are going to scatter into small groups and build snowmen,” Carney said.Carney said the fifth- through eighth-grade students have had socially distanced interactions with Concordia residents, such as Valentine's Day cards.But Thursday's outing, she said, “was a last-minute thing to do. We needed enough snow to do it.”“Our theme for the school year was 'Sent to Serve,' and this really falls into it,” Carney said.She added she didn't know when the students would be able to visit Concordia residents face-to-face again.“At this time, I'm not sure who they are allowing in yet,” Carney said, adding that everyone at St. Luke — teachers and students — misses being with the Concordia residents.
