JACKSON – It is winter time but there are more ways to make a snowman than to scoop up the snow and give it a hat and a carrot nose. You could always paint one, especially if you stop by on a Tuesday or Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the township Senior Center on Don Connor Boulevard.
Snowmen, penguins, bunnies and a variety of other items are being made, painted and glazed with a touch of care at the center that provides recreational, educational, and social activities for seniors aged 50 and older. It offers amenities such as billiards, fitness classes (aerobics, yoga), and ceramics.
The center’s director, Kate Slisky joined long time ceramics instructor Sue Lotito and her husband Mike during a recent Thursday afternoon as seniors painted, worked on their individual projects and sought advice about their work.
Sue Lotito has served as the center’s ceramic’s instructor for 24 years “and she is never leaving,” Slisky declared during a visit by The Jackson Times.
“I know I’m not allowed to leave,” Lotito said. She and her husband live in Waretown but she recalled the days when she ran a ceramics shop in Brick. “I’ve been teaching ceramics for over 50 years. I had my own studio in Brick. It was about 17 years that I was there. I had shop in East Rutherford and Lyndhurst at one point.”
Mike Lotito is a volunteer at the center and was the chief hot dog maker during the annual Toy Land event held each December at the senior facility which draws thousands of people to the holiday decorated interior of the building.
Their daughter, Kristine Jackson, is the center’s recreation coordinator.
“It has been a family affair here for multiple years,” Slisky remarked noting the importance of all three family members.
Many seniors stop by for several hours to the center to work on their projects. “Usually, I have a dozen people per day,” Sue Lotito said.
“It depends on the season. During the holidays it swells,” Slisky added. “Ceramics are very therapeutic. It is a very calming environment. There isn’t a lot of chatter as people are just here to paint and relax and then you have the accomplishment at the end. The best part is if they paint something they don’t like, they can always repaint it.”
“They keep me busy. Easter is coming so people are starting their projects for that,” Lotito added.
Slisky explained, “they customize their work. If someone has for instance say a cute penguin figure, they (Sue or Mike) will drill a hole in the bottom if they want a light in it and add a light and plug.”
Sue Lotito noted, “we also personalize snowmen, pumpkins and put names in them. People like to make it for their grandchildren. You can put like ‘the Smith Family’ on there or anything like that.”
“I am a novice when it comes to ceramics but Sue knows what paints to use especially if it involves it being a serving dish for food. She knows what specified paint to use because some paint is not for edible items. Her knowledge carries over to every piece that is done,” Slisky said.
“We have our own kiln that Sue fires all the pieces and finishes all the pieces and of course she is here to help anybody with their item,” she said.
“Some of them have the crushed glass which I don’t like to use too much but when you put the glitter on them they look just like the Peeps candy you buy and you almost can’t tell the difference they were so well done,” Lotito noted.
“The nice part is that they don’t have to pay for the firings,” Lotito said. “At the studios they do have to pay for it.”
“They can come in at any time of the day. Most come in early and leave at one o’clock,” Mike Lotito said.
Robin Gottlick was among those present that day diligently working on her project. She is a regular at the center’s ceramics class and usually comes out on Tuesday and Thursday each week.
“The first thing I did when I came was a big sunflower. It was beautiful. I loved it and I just got the bug for doing it,” Gottlick said. “I’ve been coming here for three years and today I’m working on ladybugs that are salt and pepper shakers. They have little holes in the top.”
She also had a ceramic nurse figure beside her to paint. “She was started by somebody else and they left the project. I have a sister-in-law who is a nurse so I’m going to do it for her.”
“I stay from 10 until 3, I’m a go-getter. I find it very relaxing. I am handicapped and in a wheelchair so there isn’t a lot I can do,” Gottlick remarked.
“Some may want to change the color of a piece after having it one way after so many years,” Sue Lotito added. “I’ve had people who have brought in pieces they have made for the garden as they fade sometimes and they repaint them.”
“Sue has many years of connections. She knows exactly what to order for the season, specialty items, and she also does all the ordering (of ceramic items) for the (Jackson) Commission for The Disabled that has a program in the evening once a week on Tuesdays and supervises all those materials for them,” Slisky said.
“When we started there was only five or six of them (from the Commission for the Disabled) but now they are up to 24 and there is a waiting list,” Mike Lotito said.
The center has an entire room filled with unpainted ceramic pieces just waiting to be painted, glazed and personalized. The pieces range from cherubs, bunnies, angels and much more. “Now they’ll start to do yard pieces. I cast my own molds too,” Sue Lotito said. “I wouldn’t want to retire from this, what would I do all day?”
