PRINCETON, WV (WOAY) – Berkshire’s Frozen Custard in Princeton just celebrated its grand reopening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a new addition– “The Wicket,” a croquet course for a very special cause.
“What we do is we train and equip young people to play croquet with their elders for an hour every two weeks at their school. High school kids, middle school kids, elementary school, we do it across all age levels,” says James Creasey, founder of organization that’s partnered with Berkshire’s.
This unique, generation-connecting organization is called Jiminy Wicket, and the founder, James Creasey, got inspired to start it after bonding with his dad through games of croquet.
“But that’s not all that happens as we saw here today, they’re sitting and talking, they’re engaged with one another, they’re having conversations, they’re curious, and the young people are learning wonderful stories that the elders tell them about their lives,” he says.
After meeting James and becoming acquainted with his organization, Berkshire’s founder, Merle Berkshire, decided this was something both the young and old could use right here in West Virginia, especially after an entire year of isolation on both ends of the age spectrum.
“We talk a lot about the SPH, the smiles per hour, and you can see that out here,” says Merle Berkshire, founder of Berkshire’s Custard. “There are 700 to 1,000 smiles per hour when it’s 8 to 10 students and 8 to 10 seniors getting together.”
Along with serving up a new summer full of smiles through delicious frozen custard, Berkshire’s was more than happy to partner with Jiminy Wicket to bring the young and elderly together through the power of play.
