Like any great leader, Elinor Brelsford is quick to recall the contributions of others. Having recently celebrated her 100th birthday, the retired early-childhood educator can still remember the parents who helped lay the concrete, paint the walls, and fill the sandbox of The Oaks Parent-Child Workshop, the cooperative preschool that she led for more than three decades.
The Oaks originated out of the postwar baby boom. Hoff Heights, a large development situated where Adams Elementary School now sits, housed many young families, with limited resources and an abundance of children. “The whole area outside those homes was sand,” said Brelsford. “The children didn’t have any place to play. They were just desperate for something.”
The parents obtained the use of a large hall for the children but soon recognized the need for a formally trained administrator. So Brelsford, who has an advanced degree in child development, took the helm but never imagined how many lives she’d touch. “I thought it was just a temporary position,” she laughed, “and it ended up being 31 years.”