Finding Friendship through Creativity
When Sandie Cockerill moved to Brookridge three years ago, she left behind her social groups in Illinois, not sure how she’d develop a new community in her new home. But she found it was easier than she’d expected to build new community, thanks in part to Brookridge’s crafting groups.
Arts and crafts activities are just some of the myriad of ways to stay active and connect with others in the community at Brookridge. Doing a craft brings people together and allows them to get to know each other at the same time as they make something beautiful.
“It’s creative,” said resident Joyce Orwig. “I like to be creative. I like to know how to do different things.”
The activities are open to anyone with an artistic bone in their body – or even those without one. Resident Betty McNear said she’s not creative, at the very moment she sat painting a beautiful tea towel at a workshop in December. She said she enjoys the process and learning new things, even if she wouldn’t ever categorize herself as an expert – “somebody must tell me what to do.”
On a Monday in December, a group of nine women painted tea towels in the wellness room at Brookridge. They used different types of painting methods, including stencils. Sandie stenciled dinosaurs onto her tea towel, a gift for her son-in-law who works at the bone lab at Appalachian State University.
Usually there is a craft workshop once a month, but in December Brookridge hosted them weekly so that residents could make gifts to share.
Brookridge team member Emily Wolverton organized 2025’s craft activities, and she said she’s loved how everyone who attends comes with an attitude of learning and enjoyment.
“You cannot control everything – you kind of just see what happens,” she said of the crafts. “The process is always fun.” At the painting workshop, she gave out finished pieces from their previous glass workshop. The group talked about their favorite crafts, and many agreed that the Kokodama workshop in the summer was a huge hit. Kokodama is a Japanese method of planting house plants in moss.
Brookridge’s new Director of Community Life Debbie Martin said she’s looking forward to carrying on the tradition, learning new craft methods to bring exciting workshops to the community in 2026.