Skipping ropes. Climbing trees. Wooden horses. Playing jacks. These words trigger memories for many folks when they think back on their childhood memories. Yes, kids still play with skipping ropes or climb trees, but years ago these activities may have been all there was to do in some neighbourhoods.
Do you think play has changed? A person to ask is educator Gary Pennington. He has been collecting stories about childhood play for over 20 years. The stories come from as far away as Australia and Ireland, places he has lived, and places in between.
He believes collecting these stories helps to preserve memories of what childhood play used to be like and can be a lens to look at how it’s changed over the years. And it’s a great way to get stories from family members in a “playful” manner. The stories collected can be cherished over time and may be used for research in the future.
The Sechelt Public Library is helping to keep the momentum going with the Childhood Memories Project. They hope to collect stories told on the Sunshine Coast and keep them in safe keeping for families to look back upon. Families, of course, will have copies for themselves to share with other family members.
The project launch will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 29 in the Community Room at the Sechelt library from 1 to 4 p.m. Pennington will make a short presentation about his story collection to date. Library staff and volunteers will be available with the Childhood Memories Project questionnaire for those who would like assistance in telling their stories. Stories may be told by voice recorder or by filling in the questionnaires.
Partners in the program are Gibsons & District Public Library, Sunshine Coast Museum, Pender Harbour Health Centre and the Pender Harbour Community School. All partners will have a pick-up and drop-off spot for the questionnaires. The Sechelt library will have staff and volunteers available for two hours once a week to assist with filling in the form and, if needed, recording stories. The museum and the Gibsons library will also assist in filling in forms as needed.
This project also coincides with a story-collecting project taking place in Pender Harbour with the Seniors Initiative group, Harbourside Friendship, the Pender Harbour Community School and the Pender Harbour Secondary School students. The story-collecting project will provide an opportunity for seniors to communicate with the students about how different it was for them to grow up and the experiences they share. It will also be a good way to preserve the stories to share with others.
