KAETA's "Show and Tell" a big hit

KAETA held its first ever "show and tell" event Saturday, Nov. 6, at Plymouth Harbor. KAETA, Kids and Elders Through Art, was founded by Bharat and Anne Chandra of the Sarasota Orchestra.

The trial run of the program included five middle and high school students who were paired up with either a single person or a couple who live at Plymouth Harbor. The idea was to put these artistic pairings together and see what kind of connection and artistic creations they could make.

While the Chandra’s artistic talent is their music, the students and elders involved in the program were not all musicians. Other artistic talents included photography, painting and poetry.

Marti Buenneke spoke of her match very highly by saying she had "hit the jackpot" when she got 10^th grader Shelby Fauvel. Other residents of Plymouth Harbor also had many affectionate words to say about their new young friend.

Don and Peggy Wallace were matched with Zina Versfeld, originally from South Africa. The Wallaces are both musicians while Versfeld is a painter. "This really is a wonderful pairing," said Don, "Of course we would have loved a musician, but what would we have done? Talk about our musical accomplishments? We have learned a tremendous amount about painting and South Africa from Zina".

When asked how she felt about the "show and tell" and the program thus far, Chandra said, "I’m thrilled with all the participants and overwhelmed with all the connections they made".