Seasoned volunteer:

At just 12 years old, Calle Walton has already been volunteering for three years and is known throughout the community.

By MEGHAN PIERCE
Sunday News Correspondent

PETERBOROUGH
On a rainy December day when the clouds prematurely darken the cold afternoon, a day of sunlight walks into the lobby of Summerhill Assisted Living & Memory Care Community.

Twelve-year-old Calle Walton has been volunteering at the center for the past three years.

The woman at the front desk tells Calle to go to the Monadnock Room. Right at home she makes her way through a maze of corridors to an elevator, then through a hallway to the room where several residents have gathered for a piano performance and a singalong of Christmas songs.

Although the concert has already begun, a front-row seat has been saved for Calle. Her entrance brightens the already cheery holiday party atmosphere.

When the music ends, she takes a white-haired woman by the hand and helps Mary Armstrong, Summerhill resident director, lead a group of residents back to the Memory Care unit for a word game.

The game is challenging for the group members, who often struggle for the right word. "Name three baseball terms, or six girls names that begin with K," Calle challenges.

But the room is filled with laughter, patience and kindness, which Calle seems to be the center of.

"I love that game. We usually play word games. Sometimes we just take a beach ball and see how many times we can hit it around," Calle said afterward.

Said Armstrong: "Calle is just wonderful with the residents. She is sort of an ambassador of joy. And she brings a youthful exuberance, but she's able to pace it so it doesn't overwhelm the residents. She has wonderful communication skills. She loves to tell a story.

"The cuteness factor is way up there and the residents just love dealing with youth. And she is so good with them, so patient. It's just wonderful to see. They really enjoy it when she comes and plays games. I hope she continues."

She began volunteering at Summerhill when she was a fifth-grader at South Meadow School looking to fulfill five hours of community service. She was somewhat familiar with the center bemuse her great-grandmother had just moved into one of the two Summerhill units.

"I just thought it would be a great place to volunteer. l get to see my great-grandmother. I get to meet new people. And I have fun," Calle said.

As a seventh-grader this year, Calle is required to complete 15 hours of community service, which shouldn't be a problem since she spends a few hours a week at Summerlill on top of other volunteer work she does in the community.

"Last year, I only needed 10, I got 28," she said of her community service hours.

Visiting Summerlill is not about meeting curriculum requirements, said her mother, Tracey Bean. "It's just something she really enjoys. She is very social. She's very outgoing," said Bean.

"I talk to them a lot and I find out things we have in common. I learn about what they say about their childhood. I just learn more about them It's a lot of fun." Calle said.

After watching Calle engage with the residents and confidently navigate through the labyrinth-like building, it is surprising to learn she is vision-impaired.

"She was diagnosed with tumors on her optic nerves in Grade 4," her mother said. "As a result, she has no vision in her left eye and partial vision in her right."

Once Calle is familiar with the layout of a building. she can get around just fine, but she was concerned her vision would prevent her from volunteering at Summerhill.

"That was her great concern. She didn't know if they would want her to read to the residents," Bean said.

Her vision, though., has only enhanced her connection to the residents at Summerhill.

"I relate to them. They can't see that well; I can't see that well.

"They need glasses to read; I need glasses to read," Calle said.

Her optic nerves are now tumor free. However, she is battling tumors growing on her pituitary gland.

The ongoing medical issues don't appear to dampen her spirit, especially at Summerhill, where she feels even more at home through it all.

"She's just a regular person here. She gets to be herself. She's not judged for her vision or height," Bean said.

Calle lives in Peterborough with her mother and father, Iain Walton, and her older brother, Cameron Walton, a senior at ConVal High School. Her oldest brother, Taylor Walton, is a sophomore at the University of New Hampshire.

She loves school, especially math class, she said, writing, swimming. tennis, art. She also loves watching her brother play hockey. And when she grows up, she wants to be a teacher, a veterinarian or work for a humane society.