MOOSOMIN — It’s an idea that Shellie Silverthorn has had on her mind for the past four years: creating a safe gathering place for youth. Something that encompasses fun, promoting positive mental health and safety, plus fostering a sense of community. A space where people feel comfortable and safe being themselves, expressing themselves, and most importantly enjoying each other’s company.
That place—and that dream—are coming to fruition as The Hide Out officially opens its doors on Friday, Dec. 6 at 11 am. Coincidentally, that’s also just in time for the annual CP Holiday Train’s arrival, which is slated for noon, right outside The Hide Out’s space at 1011 Front Street in the old McNaughton Building in Moosomin.
“It worked out absolutely perfect that it happened to be on that day,” Silverthorn said, explaining that not only is her husband employed by the railroad company, but it was the reason their family moved to Moosomin. “To me, it was meant to be!”
Not only will she have a perfect view of the festivities from The Hide Out’s window, but Silverthorn added that hot chocolate will be on for those who’d like to stop in and say ‘hello’ surrounding the train’s arrival.
Currently, Silverthorn has secured a one-year lease for The Hide Out, which will be open Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., then again on Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., closed Wednesday and Thursday. Monday hours also include holiday Mondays—a time when youth are often out of school. And school breaks? You bet they’ll be open. That’s exactly the time when The Hide Out will be busiest.
In terms of staffing, Silverthorn will be joined by her two daughters part-time for now but may add more staff in the future.
“In the summertime, depending on how busy we are, then we’ll look into another adult,” Silverthorn said, adding that a requirement for all staff is to possess valid certification associated with working in centres involving youth, including First Aid/CPR and a vulnerable sector clearance.
Arcade games and other cool stuff
One big draw to The Hide Out will be the token-run games Silverthorn will have set up. Over the past four years, she’s been working with Fun and Games HQ in Brandon on the idea of a teen hangout. With that business upgrading their machines and needing to find a new home for their old machines, Silverthorn had first pick of which games she’d like to bring to Moosomin.
“One of the rooms will have five, possibly six token-run games, depending on how many we can fit in there,” she said, adding that as with many other arcades, players are rewarded with tickets that can be traded for prizes.
The teen space will have a couple popular gaming systems, a pool table, foosball table, air hockey, and a ping pong table—all available for a $5 per hour fee to access the space.
“It’s going to give teens somewhere to go, and something to do that is reasonably priced and affordable for them,” Silverthorn said. A December promotion will allow patrons to purchase four hours and receive the fifth hour free.
Rage Room will help kids de-stress
Dealing with stress, processing anxiety, and navigating negative emotions are not easy for anyone. Having several tools to assist with the mental health component in life is key, and Silverthorn feels having a Rage Room is one such answer.
“It’s like carrying pebbles in a backpack—you load everything in, you don’t think it’s very big or very heavy, but all of a sudden, when all these tiny pebbles all add up, it just crushes you and just drags you down,” she explained. “It’s by emptying out one tiny thing at a time, it releases, and it can make you think so much clearer and positively. And I think that’s what we need to start doing is allowing ourselves to let go of some of the things that are bothering us.”
The Rage Room is designed as a safe place to let go of stress by smashing items placed in the room. Personal protective equipment such as safety goggles, gloves, and safety suits are utilized to ensure participants are not injured by flying debris.
“The Rage Room for myself was a must,” Silverthorn said, adding she’s had multiple people in their 20s reach out to inquire when it will be open. “Having that release to go somewhere where no one’s going to get hurt, no one’s going to get judged, just to release that built-up stress—especially around the Christmas time. There’s a lot of harshness going on right now in the world. It’s very important that we have that because when we as adults can focus on our own mental health and deal with it in a positive way, then it encourages our teens to do it as well, and our teens need to feel included.”
One method in particular that Silverthorn has experience facilitating involves writing messages on plates. As a way to deal with the particular issue, all anxieties and negative feelings associated with the situation are written on the plate, which is then smashed. Through the action of breaking the object, all the negative words on the object are also destroyed, providing a powerful cathartic release.
Incidentally, Silverthorn is in search of donations of items such as old TVs, computers, and coffee machines that could be utilized in the Rage Room. They don’t need to be in working order, just able to crumble under pressure!
A gathering place for all
Another aspect of The Hide Out will target young children and their caregivers through a program called Coffee and Kids. Silverthorn intends this to be a drop-in style of gathering that offers a chance for fellowship in both age groups.
“The kids can play while their parents can sit and chat,” Silverthorn said. “The kids can socialize and so can the parents. It can get very lonely as well, so having that time to be able to meet new people or talk, just talk to people, helps with those sometimes very long days.”
Coffee and Kids will run every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday from 11 am to 3 pm.
There are also plans to have a volunteer option for teens with a two-fold benefit. Not only will their efforts help the community, but the time could also be credited to benefits at The Hide Out.
“That way, it helps people in town, but also they will be given free play or some tokens, depending on what they decide,” Silverthorn said. “Just to teach them that when you’re volunteering, there are good things that come out of it—not only for the people that need the help, but it helps our community, which in turn, turns around tenfold and they get rewarded for that.”
Still, in the very early planning stages, the volunteer program would foster community-building and perhaps plant a seed for future aspirations in service work.
