Helping Out at Dedham's Council on Aging

So maybe hooking up a Wii wasn't as difficult of a volunteer task as some of the other tasks Patch editors completed last Tuesday.

I spent the morning with Matt Perkins, the Westwood Patch editor, and Troy Brosnan, the sales representative for Dedham, piling garbage into the SUV of Laura Leventhal, director of Dedham's Council on Aging.

I was there the week before cleaning out a back corner that was chuck full of vases and cards and drawings and handouts and typewriters and coffee makers, lots of coffee makers. It was years worth of stuff the COA piled up, but now thanks to a couple senior volunteers, it is clean and organized.

So we three Patch guys filled Laura's SUV, and went with her to the Dedham Transit Station - read dump here - and tossed it merrily into a giant gray trash dumpster. Yum ... smelly trash.

That was the hard part of the day.

We stopped off at Game Stop - I know real tough - and helped Laura pick out a couple Wii games for her seniors to play. She bought Wii Fit Plus and a disc with 19 different party games, including bowling. I've heard that was a big request.

When we went back to the COA, Troy and I set-up the Wii, configured the inputs and plugged in the dozens of cords, while Matt chatted up Rose Silvestri, a senior volunteer who answers the phone at the office. (So be nice when you call.)

My friends - and I think my boss - couldn't believe that was considered volunteering.

Three guys messing around with a Wii. I think I'll go back soon and give back some more.