December 24, 1954
BATAVIA, N.Y. (UP)-When silver-thatched members of
the Golden Age Club meet at the Y.M.C.A. here Thursday for their annual
Christmas Party it will also be a birthday party for Sin Boo Boo in
far away Korea. For each of the 25-odd oldsters will bring into the
dining hall a present for their adopted boy, a Korean waif, who like
thousands of other youngsters in his native land, has seen too much
of war and too little of normal childhood.
Sin Boo Boo will reach his seventh birthday late
next month, and his Batavia benefactors want his presents to reach him
for the occasion at the Orphanage of Heavenly Love in South Korea.
Members Over 80
The Golden Age Club, most of whose members are octogenarians,
has done much for the Korean youngster. The members hope to do more.
They plan to bring him to the U.S. when he is 16 and then send him to
college. The club, sponsored by the Y.W.C.A. and the Batavia Board
of Education, is a unique organization whose guiding light is a perky
95 years old "youngster," Eugene Hamilton.
Formed two years ago of elderly Batavians who thought
they still retained enough youth and spirit to do something of a beneficial
nature, the club got its chance when Hamilton's son, a retired minister,
addressed members on the plight of Korean children. That was the spark
they needed to begin their pet project. Informed that one of the first
needs of Korean youngsters was warm clothing, the oldsters started a
campaign to collect all kinds of garments. Then they packed them off
to the orphanage.
SSA-755
