Lakeland seniors stay spry, sharp and social with woodworking program

LAKELAND, Fla. - A woodshop located inside a Lakeland senior community is sharpening residents mentally, physically and socially.  

For Estates at Carpenters resident Chuck Nash, the woodshop is his baby. He helped chisel it into what it is today. It’s open to anyone from the retirement community that wants to give it a go.

"It takes everything you may be worried about out of your mind and you focus on your craft and then you have the advantage. At the end, you have something to be proud of," Nash stated.

Many residents have never worked with wood before and Nash has made it his mission to get his neighbors interested. He starts by showing them it's not as hard as it looks.

"For a shop that has been open for four months, I'm pleased at the reaction that we're getting for our residents," Nash shared. "Introducing people to woodworking is a great thing. As I said, you can do it forever. As they get experience, from one project, they find out that they can do it, it's not that complicated."

Like the trees from which these pieces of wood came from, there is something that tends to grow in the woodshop.

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"The social experience happens all the time during projects. We sat around waiting for you this morning and we were talking about politics and life in general. They're not just working on their projects, they’re talking about their lives and what happens during their day, they talk about what is important to them" Chuck said.

For this extraordinary ordinary, he says a great way to stay moving is to manipulate maple, mahogany and marblewood.    

"Continue to try and encourage people to come down here and wherever your viewers end up...I encourage them to stay active, get involved, make something happen... build something," Nash said.