Golden age study circle in Aurala.
It's the last day of November and it's one o'clock in the afternoon. The cozy Aurora hall on Satakuntatie is filled with happy chatter and laughter. Aurala's Golden Age study group is about to start its meeting. Eleven senior-aged course members have arrived today.
The next hour and a half is spent again in good company. The club meets on average every two weeks and each time has its own theme. When you get the program from the beginning of the season, the participant knows what to expect at any time. This time, let's lighten the grayness of November and gather together with humor.
- When planning the program, we bring up current topics, taking the seasons and celebrations into account, says Sannaleena Härkönen, executive director and principal of Aurala, who is responsible for the study area. Music and quizzes, as well as lectures and reminiscences related to different topics have been popular.
- We listen with a sensitive ear to the study district members and, as far as possible, implement their wishes, Sannaleena Härkönen sheds light on the study district's operating model. It is also essential to leave room for free togetherness and conversation and, of course, coffee.
Participants are committed to their club. There are both newcomers, first-term students and long-term veterans.
Someone has, as the saying goes, grown up in Aurala when they have visited Aurala's kindergarten. Others have come "forced by acquaintances" or "at the behest of the children", but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that both the newcomers and the newcomers have been satisfied. There is a participant who is already a member of the study circle of the golden age of the second generation, who has taken his place in the club as his mother's successor.
The golden age study circle has been found directly or through another course at Aurala, for example yoga, information technology, senior dance or a writing course.
And why come to the club then? Well, of course, because there is guaranteed to be always a nice crowd there. It's good to come to the club, there you can feel warm and have coffee and a bun, and the hope is that "this will never end". According to Sannaleena Härkönen, Aurala fulfills its basic values and mission by offering such a meeting place for the elderly. The golden age club has been operating since 1957, and at that time only "girls and boys over 60" were accepted.
In accordance with the theme of the day, humor flourishes and jokes fly. Local anecdotes are well represented, as personal recollections or read from a local booklet. There is no decibel meter in the club premises, but the unofficial winner is easy to find, and it's no joke. The sweetest, longest and loudest laughs are punctuated by the true story, the hilarious language play in Turun dialect. For the majority, the story unfolds directly, but for some people from other dialects, it has to be clarified a little and told at a slower pace. And it goes like this:
What did the customer say to the bakery seller in the shopping hall? - Get those five bishops out of there!
Riitta Suominen
The author is a writing class teacher at Aurala College and leader of the book club, who had the pleasure of visiting the Golden Age study club.
