NAPPANEE - Friends and history were being made during the lunch hour Tuesday at Nappanee Elementary School.

That location is the national pilot of an intergenerational nutrition site, pairing youngsters with older folks. The program is known as SOAR - Students and Older Adults Relate.

Students immediately began making their guests feel welcome, taking their coats, offering them coffee and helping them find a place to sit.

Joan Cuson, director of planning and quality assurance for Real Services Inc., said she was surprised to learn that this was the first site for such a program. She found out about the distinction when she was checking on compliance requirements for the site through the Older Americans Act, which helps fund the program.

If the program is successful, it will be introduced in other areas served by Area 2 Agency on Aging, which consists of Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaPorte, Marshall and St. Joseph counties. Real Services is a not-for-profit corporation.

The 18 or so senior citizens who joined the students for lunch on the opening day were in agreement as to its reception: "It's nice to meet new friends," said Glenna Andrews. "It's nice to see these kids." Andrews made friends with several of the fifth-graders on the welcoming committee. She even walked hand in hand to the cafeteria with Kristin Kirkdorffer, who helped her get her lunch.

Following a Thanksgiving theme, tables were adorned with placemats of colorful turkeys made by the school's third-graders. The meal included turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin bars.

The idea for SOAR was developed by Real Services staff, who identified the need for an older adult nutrition site in the Nappanee area. Cuson said there is a problem establishing sites in rural areas because they can be costly. "This will solve so many problems," she said. "We're building a bond between the two generations."

Cuson was so excited about the opening of the site that she was afraid she might cry as she watched the children welcome the seniors. "For us, this is the real payoff ... watching it all come together," Cuson said.

School principal Genie Tobias agreed: "This really fits our philosophy. We're a community school ... we have a lot of volunteers in the building on a daily basis."

Among those volunteers are Bill and Kris Best, who took part in Tuesday's lunch. Bill Best, 79, said he and his wife are in the school four days a week and have "adopted" one of the second-grade classes. They help the students with "reading, arithmetic, whatever they need us to do," he said.

Also joining the lunch-goers was Lora Belle Burt, who fancied attending a reunion as well - she was Tobias' first-grade teacher. Burt spent most of her 40-year career teaching first grade at Central School in Nappanee, retiring in 1972. The current Nappanee Elementary School was built as the high school while she was teaching, so having lunch there Tuesday was a coming home of sorts.

The site not only offers balanced meals, but also provides an opportunity for socialization, Cuson said. "We encourage the well elderly and the younger elderly to come to the nutrition site," she said.

To be eligible, individuals must be over age 60 or married to someone over age 60. There are no income guidelines, and a $2 donation is requested per meal. Reservations must be made one day in advance. The site will serve the same menu as is provided to the students. The school is located at 755 E. Van Buren St. Transportation can be provided free of charge through Elder-Haus, a senior center in Nappanee. [[In-content Ad]]