Community members explore one of the booths at the SAIL Hobby Fair in Trinity Episcopal Church’s fellowship hall on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — A group of Shepherd University students crowded around a table filled with rare and collectible coins in the Trinity Episcopal Church Fellowship Hall on Saturday.

The table, which featured the collection of Shepherdstown Area Independent Living (SAIL) member Paul Kradel, was one of 12 scattered throughout the room. Each table featured a different hobby practiced by one of SAIL’s members — some of whom had been practicing those hobbies since childhood.

“I’ve been singing in choirs since I was six years old,” said SAIL President Barbara Shaffer, mentioning she has never taken a break from singing in a choir since that time 66 years ago. “I just love it! As the American folksong goes, ‘How can I keep from singing?'”

Shaffer said her love for the art form was inherited from her mother, who was a voice teacher. Over the years, she has personally benefitted from her favorite hobby, finding hope, joy and fulfillment through participating in it, both as a chorister and as a choir director. Currently, she is a member of Masterworks Chorale, a piano student with Shepherd University’s Community Music Program and the director of Trinity Episcopal Church’s choir.

“We hope that this event will help people to get to know each other a little better, and the kinds of things they are interested in. Additionally, we hope that this will enable many attendees to discover a hobby for themselves,” Shaffer said, mentioning the goal result for attendees who viewed her table would be for them to start making music themselves and to support local music, through increased concert going.

Shepherdstown Area Independent Living member Paul Kradel, left, tells stories about some of the coins he has collected with a couple of Shepherd University students, in the Trinity Episcopal Church Fellowship Hall on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

Nearby, SAIL member Suzie Patrick could be found demonstrating how to make a wreath, using vines and other pieces collected from trimming her yard.

“I’ve been making wreaths for forever,” Patrick said.

She has grown so accomplished with the hobby over the years, that she has begun hosting an annual wreath making workshop for her friends to attend every fall. With the SAIL Hobby Fair, she was hoping to be able to spread that love for wreath making even further — whether that be with her fellow SAIL members or with other attendees, such as the contingent that came to the event from Shepherd University.

“It’s nice to see so many young people here!” Patrick said. “It is good for them to see that we have talents and are still active and are living vibrant lives, event at an older age. And they can certainly learn a thing or two from us, while they’re here.”

Other hobbies represented at the fair included: card making, travel sketching, machine stitch quilting, china collecting, painting, birding, fossil collecting and exploring obscure history.

Shepherdstown Area Independent Living member Marellen Aherne, center, demonstrates a knitting technique to two community members, in Trinity Episcopal Church’s fellowship hall on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

To learn more about SAIL, visit https://sail.clubexpress.com/ or contact SAIL’s office directly at 304-870-7245 or info@shepherdstownsail.org.

Shepherdstown Area Independent Living member Suzie Patrick, left, demonstrates to fellow member Nancy Strathers how to make a wreath out of vines she had cut around her home, at the SAIL Hobby Fair in Trinity Episcopal Church’s fellowship hall on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston