Moorestown teens offering a video gift their elders are eager to give

Positioned behind a small video camera with nearly 70 years between them and their subject, Emma Sauerwein and Lizzy Klumpp laughed and listened.

The Moorestown High School students stood by with a lifetime's list of questions last week, engaging Grace Conway as she shared anecdotes about her childhood, marriage to the cofounder of a Mister Softee franchise, and premonitions that Tiger Woods "was not a gentleman."

Conway, 85, was the latest resident at The Evergreens retirement community in Moorestown to record such a video with the teenagers. Sauerwein and Klumpp have interviewed five residents so far, volunteering to tape life stories for posterity and creating DVDs for family and friends - a gift that Conway is excited to give.

"I will give the video to my kids, and they will love it, especially my grandkids," she said after speaking of family, friends, and interests for more than 30 minutes. "The Evergreens has been very good to me, and I said that if I could help The Evergreens, I would do this."

Through fliers and the community newsletter, more than a dozen residents also willing to make videos await Sauerwein, 17, and Klumpp, 16, whose two-girl film company, Mad Kidz, encompasses all aspects of the recording process.

Between classwork and after-school activities, the duo edits footage, creates DVDs, and distributes copies to residents - many of whom have surprised the two.

"One woman had her whole biography typed out and sat there and read it . . . it was actually really emotional," Sauerwein said. "She even created her own hand signals to stop the camera when she started tearing up."

Klumpp was initially surprised by the residents' willingness to talk.

Meeting the residents "for the first time, and how much they tell us, I really haven't had that experience with anything else I've done," she said. "They are so open and have done so much in their lives."

The project began more than a year ago when Sauerwein volunteered to teach a computer class at The Evergreens, which is just down the street from the high school. She credits a combination of her love for film and giving back to the community for this work.

"I was always very interested in service as a kid," Sauerwein said.

Klumpp, a lifelong friend and fellow filmmaker, was brought on this year to allow for a smoother production process.

Doug Halvorsen, president and chief executive officer of The Evergreens, sees a mutual benefit in the program.

The residents "are being heard, and it's hugely important that someone is actually listening," he said. "It also restores their faith in kids and the wonders of adolescence, and inversely, the kids see that these people have stories worth telling, and that being old is not being boring."

Sauerwein, a senior, and Klumpp, a junior, founded a film club at their high school this year and hope to find volunteers to continue their work once they leave for college.

"It would be great to recruit more people from our high school, and us being president and vice president is a great way to recruit interested kids so we can continue it," Sauerwein said.

For her, the most rewarding moment is the finished product.

"When I give the DVD to them and their family is what makes me feel great, knowing that they will have it forever and be able to remember all of their stories and fun stuff," she said.