Seniors Rock Project Inspires Community

Seniors at the Clovis Senior Activity Center recently took part in the Seniors Rock Project. These rocks can be found all around Clovis parks and trails. (Clovis Senior Activity Center)

Anyone taking a walk around town recently may have noticed small, painted rocks with uplifting messages lying around Clovis parks and trails.

Seniors from the Clovis Senior Activity Center placed the rocks around Clovis parks and landmarks as part of the center’s Seniors Rock Project. 

The center invited seniors to decorate small, round rocks and paint them with positive messages such as “peace” or “happy thanksgiving.” The seniors then hide a few rocks each day in areas such as Dry Creek Park and Old Town.

Clovis City Councilmember Lynne Ashbeck came up with idea for the center, taking inspiration from Clovis Rocks, a similar community project that took place in 2017.

Mai Kou Yang, who is a recreation specialist at the senior center, said the project is a campaign designed to spread awareness of the center’s presence in the community. Seniors love the project because it gives them the chance to do something fun while giving inspiration to the community.

“When we first started organizing it, something we really wanted was to make sure that the seniors knew they had a place in the community. The seniors get so excited when we get calls from people about how they found one of the rocks,” Yang said.

To help spread awareness, the center is encouraging those who find the rocks to post a picture of themselves with the rock with the hash tags #ClovisSeniorActivityCenter and #ClovisSeniorsRock.

One of the things that makes the project so special, Yang said, was that it brings happiness to all who are in the community, whether they are the seniors who painted and hid the rocks or the people that find them.

“We get people calling, telling us how their son or daughter found one of the rocks and they’ll post a picture of their kid with the rock to Facebook with a big smile on their face,” she said. “It makes their day.”

Yang said the project has already accomplished its goal of spreading awareness and drawing more seniors to take part in activities at the center.

“For whatever reason, finding one of the rocks or seeing pictures of it on social media has inspired more seniors to come to the center. It always amazes me when we get new faces who said they found us on Facebook,” she said.

The center is still hiding rocks to be discovered by community members with a keen eye.

The city is planning on organizing another session in early 2020, but this time the project will be open to all ages.

Ron Camacho was born and raised in Clovis. He attended Clovis High School and graduated from CSU Fresno in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications and Journalism. Before joining the Roundup, Ron wrote for Pollstar Magazine and the Sanger Herald. He has a deep appreciation for the arts and is a lover of music, cinema and storytelling. When he’s not busy looking for his next story, Ron enjoys taking weekend expeditions to the beach or mountains to practice landscape photography.