Men's Sheds Offer Retirees a 'Boy Scouts for Old Guys'

Australia's Men's Shed movement, which brought groups of men together to work on projects, has been imported to Minnesota to make life more interesting for retirees, according to Minnesota Public Radio . "Men's Shed . . . sounded great, terrific, Boy Scouts for old guys and just a lot of fun," said Hopkins, Minn., retiree Phil Johnson. "Then I found out that there weren't any in the United States, so I wanted to get the organization going." Johnson organized the first meetings at the Hopkins Activity Center, and then Center staff put members to work with tasks around the building. The group has since collaboratively hosted shelving, gardening, and painting events. "We do programming for older adults and we were just enthused to be able to bring this group here, give these guys a place to hold their meetings, give resources and ideas on projects, and keep them busy," said the Center's Debbie Vold. The group meets on Thursdays, ranging in age from early 60s to mid-90s. It has grown to work on projects in and around the community, including bench building and park clean-ups.