W

hile trying new hobbies may be
intimidating, exciting or both, one thing
is certain: These experiences are more
enjoyable surrounded by people who are in the same
position as you.
JARC held its annual summer-long Hobbies
and Hangouts, a program of Making Community
Connections, that creates opportunities for the
people they serve to learn a new hobby alongside
the greater community. Introduced by JARC in
2022, this year’s program attracted 40 people JARC
serves and the greater community and provided an
assortment of class options, with intentionally small
class sizes to maximize interaction between students.



Classes ran once a week for three weeks and
introduced a new leisure pursuit while creating and
strengthening new friendships between classmates.

This year’s Hobbies and Hangouts classes included
the art of dessert decorating, color art, plant art
and scrapbooking. Dessert decorating classes
consisted of basic cookie decorating, advanced
cookie decorating and cupcake decorating; the
Color Series included the techniques of glass
mosaic art, tie-dye and watercolor; the Plant Series
classes created pressed flower art, terrariums and
floral arrangements; Scrapbooking classes used
participants’ personal photos to make creative photo
pages.
Community member Shelby Bruseloff loved the
concept of trying new things and meeting new
people, especially the people JARC serves, and
looked forward to the floral arranging class in the
Plant Series, and scrapbooking with her photos from
a trip this summer. Together with her husband,

Tom, the Bruseloffs figured that attending the Plant
Series would be something fun to do together but, to
their surprise and delight, their conversations during
class were primarily with their JARC classmates.
Their shared experiences with their new friends
and each other made the learning experience
entertaining and fun. Bruseloff describes the classes
as full of laughter and support, and that her fellow
JARC classmates made her excited to come back
each week.


“It was really the people we met that made the
classes so much fun,
” Bruseloff said. “We were all
laughing together, encouraging and supporting each
other. I am grateful for these experiences to learn a
new hobby and meet people JARC serves alongside
others in the greater community. I only wish I knew
about the program sooner.
”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JEFF AISEN AND JARC

New Pursuits with New Pals at
JARC’s Hobbies and Hangouts

The Color
Series class
enjoys its
session on
tie-dye

Participants of the
Plant Series listen to
the class instructor
to learn how to build
their terrariums.

Community member Shelby Bruseloff
smiles with her completed terrarium in
Session 2 of The Plant Series.

Community member Karen places the final
touches on one of her cookies in the first
session of the dessert decorating hobby.

NOVEMBER 21 • 2024 | 39
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