Sprengelmeyer finds joy in working with kids
Molly Sprengelmeyer helps kids create puppets for a recent puppet show at The Hive, the community space at Walnut Avenue Apartments in Spruce Pine. She enjoys helping at The Hive. (Submitted)
Fred Rogers, the man known to generations as Mr. Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, famously said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”
Who are the helpers in our community? Where can we find them? How can we each be a helper in our own way?
Molly Sprengelmeyer was cleaning the glass doors at The Hive, the community space at Walnut Avenue Apartments.
The Spruce Pine Housing Authority hosts a wide range of volunteer-staffed activities for families at The Hive and Molly is just one of the folks who feel at home there, sharing her time and talent.
“I like cleaning the windows where little hands and faces have been up against the glass, looking to see if anyone is inside and ready to start,” she said smiling.
Sprengelmeyer is known in the area for her work with The Upcycle WNC, a nonprofit creative reuse center dedicated to creatively supporting education, the arts, the environment and economic development.
“We divert materials from the landfill for creative uses in education,” she said. “To me, it’s about transformative thinking. It’s about how we can share with each other.”
The pandemic slowed and changed the work at that gathering place.
“I was missing that community piece of coming together. I started coming to The Hive and it just sort of stuck,” Sprengelmeyer said. “There’s something about this place that really creeps into your heart. The kids are energetic, creative and curious. It’s a family place where the big kids look out for the little ones. This place is like a village.”
Sprengelmeyer is the adult-in-residence, so to speak, at Drop-in Time.
“We have a project planned each week,” she said. “But it changes depending on which kids are here and their interests. There really is a vast difference between what we can do here with two adults and with three adults. We can handle it well with two, but a third allows us to focus, to give kids individual attention and helps the kids to focus, too.
“We did a neighborhood cleanup. We got bags and fanned out. I told the kids to set aside anything that looked interesting to them. Then we made sculptures and had an ice cream social. For Mother’s Day, a friend with a flower farm brought flowers and we made bouquets and arrangements to take home.”
Drop-In Time is only one activity at The Hive. There’s movie night and art programming by The Penland School of Craft. It’s a warm, welcoming place full of family, friends and helpers.
And it’s where you’ll find Molly Sprengelmeyer cheerfully cleaning the windows so that next time she comes, she’ll see the marks left by little faces and hands looking to see if she’s there yet. The children of Mitchell County and their families can always use more helpers.
To find out more about the helpers at The Hive or to volunteer to join the fun, contact Stacey Lane at staceylanekline@gmail.com or text 467-2165.