Summerside celebrates residents of all ages with quilt project
A Summerside committee is creating an intergenerational quilt as part of efforts to earn the distinction of being an age-friendly city from the World Health Organization.
A group of local artists and quilters, ranging in age from 16 to late 60s, are creating the quilt.
Meghan Roberts helped design it along with her 16-year-old daughter, Farielle. They illustrated patches to showcase the different ways the city contributes to a society that is welcoming to people of all ages.
It features community landmarks, including Credit Union Place recreation centre and Prince County Hospital.
"We wanted to show Summerside as it is and as it's going to be," Roberts said. "Our town is growing in diversity and I think age-friendly just makes it more inclusive for everyone."
Roberts said the quilt will include eight patches that reflect the required WHO domains, including housing, social participation, respect and inclusion.
In 2014, Peter Holman, committee co-chair, started the bid for Summerside to receive the international designation. Holman said the quilt is part of the city's five-year mandate to earn it, as well as a way for the community to celebrate its efforts to create an inclusive society.
Holman said the project was an effort to connect community members from different generations.
"To provide the youth with the knowledge that seniors have and how valuable they are to our society, and vice-versa," Holman said, adding that it will also serve as a reminder of the designation, which he hopes Summerside will receive next year.
"The quilt is our legacy to the city of what we have accomplished," he said.
Roberts said she thinks it's rewarding to be involvement in the community.
"I like to get my daughter involved as well, especially with senior citizens because it gives her a lot of perspective that I don't think she would have otherwise," she said.
Emma Enman, who has been quilting for over 30 years, said once the eight patches are finished she can begin hand-stitching the quilt together.
"I've been anxiously waiting," she said. "We'll be getting together and then I be able to continue with the sewing part to get to the quilting part."
Holman said the quilt is scheduled to be finished by the end of May and will be hung in Summerside City Hall to celebrate the community's efforts.
He said the city's mandate also included an initiative that helped more than 100 businesses meet requirements to become age-friendly.
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