Men's Shed gives senior men in Lac-Brome a place to make friends and share skills

The Lac-Brome Men's Shed's website wryly describes the group as "where old guys meet up with other old guys for fun, projects and [to] share ideas."

Age jokes aside, it is actually just that: a place where senior men can find that all-too-rare occasion to be with other men at a similar stage in life.

The founder of the Shed, Danny Williams, got the idea for the group from a magazine article about the Men's Shed movement, which began in Australia in the 1980s.

That was back in 2019, and his own father's experience was front of mind.

When Williams' mother passed away, his father was left alone at home, but he had no idea how to cook. Williams and his sister — who both lived far away — made the decision to move him to an assisted living facility where meals were provided.

Their father became isolated, having been removed from all that was familiar.

"He wished he had stayed in his own home, but that's what forced him out," Williams says. "If he'd had the cooking experience he could have stayed at home, no problem."

Williams started thinking about how many men in his own community in Quebec's Eastern Townships were likely in a similar situation — living alone, maybe widowed or without family — and without the real skills to provide for themselves.

'Old guys meeting up with old guys'

Williams put word out that he wanted to explore the idea of setting up a group, explaining the concept of a Men's Shed. He invited anyone interested to come out to a meeting. Twenty-five men showed up, including brothers-in-law Denis Blanchette and William Dutton.

Dutton is from the area, but had lived away for four decades. He didn't have a social network anymore.

When he showed up at the first Men's Shed meeting, he was surprised.

"There were IT guys, there were farmers, there were grocery guys, there were woodworking guys," says Dutton. "It was some place to get together and talk with someone who might have your own interests."

The group brainstormed activities they would like to organize. They brought in a tax expert to offer some tips for seniors. They held a computer class.

Men started swapping know-how informally, giving each other a call if they needed help with a project, or had a question.

"In this group, it was 'What do you know? What can you teach me?'" says Dutton. "I'm not getting younger. We got a few years here. Let's learn something else."

Seniors and kids serving the community

Shortly after forming, the Mens Shed started doing carpentry projects. Before long, the community was getting behind the initiative.

The local hardware store in Lac-Brome offered a space to set up a workshop. The community centre offered a meeting space. People started offering tools they no longer needed.

Then the pandemic hit. Out of concern for COVID-19, Williams disbanded group activities in 2020. But the men kept working in their own garages and workshops, and stayed in touch.

Williams and Dutton had been building birdhouses when they were contacted in the spring of 2022 by Jacqueline Quesnelle, a teacher at Parkview Elementary School in Granby, Que.

She wanted to introduce a woodworking component in her Grade 6 class. The Men's Shed got involved, providing some surplus tools. And Dutton and Williams gave the students the birdhouses they built.

The Grade 2 painted them, and the Grade 6 students sold them.The $1,000 they raised went to local food banks.

"The ripple effect is just incredible," says Williams.

Loss of identity when working life is done

Getting men involved in a social setting, when they don't have the habit of getting out, is a challenge. The Men's Shed members believe the key is playing on the skills men can share.

"It starts more as an activity," Blanchette says. "They'll become more forthcoming after a couple of sessions with other men, and talk about how they came to be where they are."

Dutton thinks men lose some of their sense of identity when they retire from work.

"At work, you had meetings, you always had people you discussed things with," Dutton says. "This gave that back to some guys, where they had people they could come in and talk to."

Williams points to the high suicide numbers for men over 70 as one of the reasons reaching out is vital.

He drops by one local man's place a couple of times a week to learn about mechanics, something he knew nothing about. The man had no social contact at all before Williams sought him out.

"That opportunity for isolated men just to meet up with other men provides somebody who listens. That's all they want," he says.

A network that keeps on giving

The Men's Shed members have been keeping busy, doing volunteer work in the community in the months since their group activities were postponed.

But Williams has been fielding a lot of questions about when group Shed meetings might start up again. He's been timid, having lost two family members to COVID, but he knows the interest is strong.

And the Men's Shed has become a resource for the community, even if they've been largely dormant these past months.

Williams gets inquiries all the time from people hoping the group can help them find someone to help with a problem. Blanchette says chances are they will know someone — whether the project is carpentry, plumbing or cooking. And they can make the connection.

"The impact isn't just on this group, it's on the whole community," Williams says. "I've got people phoning me all the time. The town has come to realize what we can do."

Listen to Susan Campbell's conversation with CBC Quebec's Breakaway host Alison Brunette about her visit with some of the founding members of the Men's Shed:

The Lac-Brome Men's Shed is a community initiative that counts on support from CBC Quebec's Charity of the Year, The Townshippers Foundation. To learn more about the foundation, visit  cbc.ca/bekindqc.