This year's theme for the Sanborn Elementary School's Harvest Festival says it all: "Building bridges between generations."

The project, now in its 31st year, connects Sanborn youngsters with local senior citizens. Some of the students - and many of the seniors - do not have exposure to the other generation during the rest of the year. The annual event is one of several endeavors in town meant to brighten people's spirits during the Thanksgiving season (see page 2).

Each year, Sanborn students collect items to create Thanksgiving goody bags, which are delivered to area shut-ins and residents of nursing homes. In each goody bag is an invitation to come to Sanborn for a musical program, held this year on Nov. 24.

"It's one of those tangible events, to go with the children and see the interaction with seniors. That's what makes it all worth it. It's one of those events that doesn't come along often," said Sanborn mom Jane Miller, who co-chairs the project with Kandie Hale. "It brings to life the message of giving back."

Fourth-grade classmates Sara Dever, Savannah Gillis and Sophie Bardetti took care in filling gift bags on Nov. 19, and agreed the project connects generations and spreads happiness.

"This will help the seniors have a happier Thanksgiving," said Sara.

"Some of them don't see kids very often," added Savannah.

As she packed goody bags with her classmates, Sophie said she was thinking about how happy the seniors' faces would be when they open their gifts.

Each bag, decorated with a hand-drawn tag and green and orange tissue paper, contained juice boxes, fruit, pretzels and other snacks, as well as a potted plant, postage stamps and bookmarks made by Sanborn students.

Sanborn Girl Scouts made homemade tea for the gift bags and Boy Scouts assemble the potted plants, which are donated by Mahoney's Garden Center.

Sanborn fifth-graders delivered the goody bags on Friday, Nov. 20.

The goody bags are just a vehicle for the program's "hidden gem": the gift of time, thought and a personal visit, said Miller.

This year, a few changes were made to the Harvest Festival routine, due to concerns of H1N1 flu.

A public nursing home that Sanborn students have visited in the past cannot allow visitors under the age of 18 this year, said Miller. Instead, a group of 20 students has adopted residents of that nursing home as pen pals, and have been writing letters to the seniors this fall. They hope to visit the nursing home and meet their pen-pals in the spring, once flu season is over.

Sanborn's Harvest Festival tradition was started by Mary Guziejka, a Sanborn Elementary music teacher who traveled to Britain with her family for a sabbatical, said Miller. While Guziejka's daughter attended a public school in Britain, she learned of their tradition of visiting senior citizens, and brought the idea back to Sanborn.

Guziejka was expected to be a special guest speaker at the musical program on Nov. 24. Sanborn students planned to sing, play instruments and visit with seniors in the audience. In turn, the Sunrise Singers, a choir based at the Andover Senior Center, was to perform for the youngsters.

This is the third year Miller and Hale have organized the Harvest Festival, and they said it's well worth the hours of planning and organizing. Both women have two children at Sanborn.

A large group of parents pitch in for the week of events, including driving fifth-graders to deliver the gift bags.

The project is a rite of passage for Sanborn students, said Miller, with younger grades collecting items for the goody bags, fourth-graders packing and decorating and fifth-graders delivering the bags.