Visitor Spotlight: Faye Tway-Grant & Gary Grant
When KidsPlay visitor Gary Grant first heard about KidsPlay through a presentation by Ken Merz, a founding member of KidsPlay’s board, the Museum was still more dream than reality. Gary didn’t imagine the big role that the Museum would play in his family’s life over the next twelve years.
The couple, who moved to Torrington in 1976 to work as mechanical engineers at the
Torrington Company, have long been engaged with a variety of community causes, including Faye’s work as an educator and service with the Susan B. Anthony Project and the Litchfield County Women’s Network.
In 2015, when their daughter had difficulty finding childcare that fit her work schedule, Gary and Faye added being daytime caregivers to their granddaughter to their many other responsibilities. Looking for places to take their young granddaughter, they found KidsPlay. “We were bringing Stella here even before she could talk or walk,” Gary says. He remembers sitting with her in the toddler area, where she’d play with the soft toys and cloth books. Later, as she grew, this young KidsPlay visitor found she loved the fire truck and the race car, too.
Visits with other grandchildren soon followed, along with new favorite exhibits. Whether it was teaching the little ones courage by crossing the rope bridge in the Literacy Tree House or consulting the resources available in the Community Family Learning Center Library, the Grant family was able to find the learning experiences they needed at KidsPlay.
“It’s a safe place,” says Gary, speaking about the special value KidsPlay has to a homeschooled grandchild. “It allows them some freedom while still being supervised. When she comes here, she gets to interact.”
“What Being an Engineer Means”
Even with all the time that has passed, and all the ways that both KidsPlay and their family have grown, Faye and Gary still visit KidsPlay when they have the opportunity. On a recent day off from school, Faye asked her granddaughter Stella where she would like to go. “She said, ‘Well, I haven’t been to KidsPlay in a long time,’ so we came here. At the Rig-A-Ma-Jig building exhibit, Stella said, ‘Well, I’d like to build something, but Papa isn’t here,’ so I said, ‘I can build things too!’” Together, Faye and Stella used the Rig-A-Ma-Jig pieces (and Faye’s experience as a mechanical engineer) to build a racecar together, complete with a turning front axle and support for the seat.
Sharing knowledge like this and seeing their grandchildren grow and learn at KidsPlay has been a source of joy for both Faye and Gary. “The Museum exists now,” Gary says. “That’s part of what being an engineer means: taking a dream, and building it into something real. Even more special is seeing our own grandchildren enjoy it so!”