Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 7, 1991 TAG: 9103080138
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But children of members of the Roanoke chapter of Parents Without Partners recently spent hours in the kitchen at Thrasher Memorial United Methodist Church in Vinton preparing food for the chapter's officer-installation banquet.
"I like to cook," said 11-year-old Julie Trout.
The cooking started at 8:30 on a Saturday with help from a few parents. The youngsters, ages 7 to 13, weren't allowed to handle knives, but they diligently decorated meat trays, scooped dressing into baking pans, set the dinner tables and put together the strawberry salad.
Members of Parents Without Partners gave the little chefs recess breaks from kitchen duty so they could run around the dining room.
After dinner, the youngsters went roller skating and the adults square danced.
"We believe in not leaving the kids at home," said Mildred Scott, coordinator of the banquet.
The international organization was founded in 1957 by two single parents in New York. It is devoted to the welfare and interests of single parents and their children. There are 275 Roanoke members, Scott said.
Chapters sponsor dances, field trips and sports events to help adults adjust to single life again and to provide them with a venue to meet other singles.
"This way they don't end up in a bar to meet people," said Sandra Dickson.
For every adult activity, there is a child activity, and the youngsters said they love it.
"We get to go out and have fun all the time," said 7-year-old Melissa Johnson.
The activities are just as good for the children as they are for the parents, Scott said.
"These are working parents," Scott said. "They have no time to mess with kids in the kitchen."
Missy Winingham, 13, said her mother enjoys the dances the best. "She won't hardly miss any of them."
"My mom used to sit at home and watch talk shows all the time - which I hate," Johnson said.
In cases where fathers have custody, it means a lot for children to be exposed to women, said Elizabeth Ward.
The organization sponsors support groups for recently divorced adults and their children.
Scott said some children get so attached to one parent that they can't relate to other people.
"One child stood behind her mother the entire time we baked cookies last time," Scott said."Now she's out with the others."
Winingham said she's relieved that her mother now has other adults to talk to.
"I'm the only kid, so she tells me all of her problems," Winingham said.
The children said they enjoy the activities, but more importantly, they welcome the changes the organization has brought over their parents.
"[Parents Without Partners] makes them friendlier and not so uptight all the time," Winingham said.
by CNB