Residents and their families were treated to tours around the 184-bed Cheektowaga, NY, facility — fully decked out with holiday lights and decorations — courtesy of a horse-and-carriage team brought in from nearby Banner Farm.

“I thought it would be wonderful for the families and the residents to get together during the holidays,” said Rhonda Gorman, activity director at Garden Gate. “A lot of times we do a tree lighting or something like that, but this time we thought it would be nice to do something different.” 

She was inspired to organize a carriage ride activity after the success of festive fall hayrides earlier in the year. 

The event — which Gorman is calling “Country Christmas” — drew quite a crowd. Gorman estimated between 50 and 75 residents, family members and staff came to hang out with the horses.

Residents who were physically able were whisked away on the carriage ride, but even those who weren’t able to access the ride itself got to participate in the highlight of the event.

Even more than the holiday spirit-boosting ride, the horses were clearly the star of the show. The team showed up early and stayed late, Gorman said, ensuring that everyone got to spend time with and even pet the enormous Clydesdales. 

“It really adds a wonderful quality of life for the residents to get outside in the wintertime and see horses and be with their families,” Gorman said. “It’s something that we strive for with our staff.”

The Banner Farm Clydesdales don’t only go out for Christmas events, but the horse breed has become synonymous with Christmas ever since it was featured in an iconic series of holiday Budweiser ads. 

This is the first time that Garden Gate has run the carriage ride event, but it will not be the last.

“This will definitely be an annual tradition,” Gorman stated.

And the holiday season is just getting started for Garden Gate’s residents, as the facility has more Christmas events lined up, including three days of lunch and gifts with Santa later this week.

A free coffee shop now runs twice a week at the Le Mars, IA, nursing home, attracting regulars for homemade fancy lattes and good company. 

Residents have been meeting for coffee with Emily Toering, the facility’s activities director, every Tuesday and Friday since late May, with no plans to stop any time soon. 

Toering set up the “shop” with nothing but a single portable burner, a pot and a mason jar for hand-frothing milk for lattes. A pair of residents usually help Toering prepare drinks for everyone who shows up.

But more than the coffee, residents love the chance to socialize, do devotions together, and form deeper bonds than they could at other activities with less social downtime.

“You can do bingo and crafts and all that, but when you’re doing those you really don’t get time to talk and get to know each other very well,” Toering said. “I listen to my residents and I love to see them socializing with each other.”

She was inspired to try the coffee shop activity after a coffee truck was brought in for the 83 staff and 60 residents of the Le Mars facility. She noticed that residents were curious about the truck, but most had decided the price of the specialty drinks was too steep. She suspected the residents might be interested in a more affordable option.

To keep the cafe experience as real as possible, the shop has a printed menu, updated seasonally, with resident-favorite drinks often topped with whipped cream and spices. The most popular drink this month is the Peppermint Mocha.

Families and community members recently donated 35 ceramic mugs to the pop-up cafe after residents expressed that would make the experience even more cozy. 

More than 20 residents have become regulars at the cafe, which has become an institution at the facility. In December, they decided on a new name for the cafe — Coffee Delight, named for the new sense of social connectedness residents have found there. 

Cora, a 66-year-old resident at Good Samaritan, summed it up simply.

“We all need to talk to somebody to open up our hearts and feel like we are wanted and needed around here,” Cora said. 

Toering agreed that the social routine and the ability for some residents to help out with the coffee making helps those who attend feel a greater sense of community and purpose. She recommended that other nursing homes try a similar approach to social activities if they’re in a rut.

For more stories of nursing homes embracing the brighter side of life, see McKnight’s coverage of Disney being inducted into a facility’s centenarian Clubhouse.

Being a centenarian, Disney likely fits in as naturally at a nursing home as it does on television and movie screens worldwide. That’s why Gurwin Healthcare decided to induct the entertainment giant into its “Centenarian Club” with a recent resident celebration.

“We always like to jump on the bandwagon of what’s happening in the world. Disney was turning 100 and we were excited to celebrate along with some of our residents who are also 100 or even more years old,” said Nicole Hopper, director of therapeutic recreation and volunteer services at Gurwin Jewish Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. “Our residents aren’t always able to go out and enjoy things, so a trip to Disney might not be in the cards for them. We’re lucky that we can try to give the Disney flair here and they can participate. It brought a lot of smiles to the residents, to the staff and to the families.”

The late October celebration included art therapists painting a portrait of Mickey Mouse live, personalized caricatures, and waffles from a Mickey Mouse waffle iron. This jaunt down memory lane showed that a love for Disney has no age limit. 

“Everyone thinks Disney is just for kids, but it’s not, and we saw that in this program,” said Kathleen Biggs, therapeutic recreation and assistant director of volunteer services at the nursing center. “Some of the staff dressed the part. Our team did ‘The Mouseketeers,’ so we were all dressed up and the residents were reminiscing with us as well.”

Biggs was happy to see people from all walks of life united in celebration of the Disney magic. 

“One of the takeaways was just taking a moment in the hustle and bustle and high energy in the room to look around and see everyone united together, whether it be nursing, housekeeping, occupational physical therapy, and therapeutic recreation,” said Biggs. “We were all there together and for the same reason, for the residents. It was really important for staff morale, and it was just a really nice event.”

That kind of happiness makes it easy to believe that we live in a small world, after all. 

PHCC launched the annual Adopt-a-Resident program in 2019 — going beyond the facility’s usual family gift-giving tradition and asking the local community to pitch in with donations for residents so that all of them could be included.

The results have been beyond expectations.

“This program was started to make sure that everyone gets something for Christmas,” explained Emily Mounts, director of social services at PHCC. “It’s kind of expanded into that they get a lot for Christmas.” 

Since its launch, the Adopt-a-Resident program has picked up steam in the 120-bed facility’s Princeton, West Virginia community. Churches, schools, Boy Scout and Girl Scout groups, and local radio stations have all contributed to make sure Christmas is a big deal at PHCC. 

Gifts rolling in include everything from candy and snacks, to clothes, activity books, room decorations, warm clothes and blankets, magazines, scented lotions and jewelry.

Residents will open their gifts at this year’s Christmas party — always PHCC’s biggest event of the year, according to Mounts. 

“This is a very great time for us. We really love the resident Christmas party — we talk about it all year long. We try to set aside a date well ahead of schedule and put that out in our newsletter to families so they can save the date too,” said Mounts. 

“We put a lot of effort into making sure this is something memorable for them.” 

Residents can expect to have presents delivered by Santa, whose arrival will be announced via loudspeaker. 

Christmas may not come to an end on the 25th, either. The program has grown so much that the community’s generosity spills over into helping residents throughout the coming year.

According to Mounts, any leftover gifts and monetary donations are held onto and used for residents who need help with quality-of-life issues like repairing damaged glasses or for newly admitted residents who might not have all the warm clothes and comfort items they need.

As they gear up for this year’s Christmas party, it’s a special time for staff and residents at PHCC. Mounts is confident that this year’s celebration will be another success.

“This is something that’s very special to [our residents], and that’s our main focus — making sure that they have a great Christmas,” Mounts said. “And with all the support that we’re getting, I’m 100% sure that they will.”

For more stories of nursing homes embracing the holiday spirit, see McKnight’s coverage of a facility’s special Veterans’ Day ceremony.

The nursing home held a ceremony and dinner Nov. 10 to celebrate the lives and dedicated service of its veteran residents — 19 of whom attended the event. 

Many of the veterans wore hats or other regalia reflecting their service branch. Those present had served in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cuban missile crisis.

“These gentlemen did so much for this country and so much for each one of us as individual citizens of the United States,” said Donald Kirsch, CEO of Welty Cooperation, which owns the 192-bed facility, who delivered remarks at the event.  “It’s just a very emotional evening. Not only for me, but all of our staff.”

The ceremony took place in Good Shepherd’s chapel, where residents and their families were welcomed by an honor guard of nearby Moundsville residents and veterans. The honor guard raised the US flag and showed residents and their families how to properly fold the flag and the significance of that process. They also played “Taps” to close the ceremony. 

“There was not a dry eye in our chapel,” Kirsch told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News. 

Local musicians also took part, playing patriotic songs such as “God Bless America,” “The Caissons Go Rolling Along” and “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Veteran residents and their families were treated to a dinner after the ceremony, with food provided by Good Shepherd’s staff chefs.

Good Shepherd also made sure that the veterans and their families had some mementos to remember the occasion. 

“We had a professional photographer there to take a picture of each veteran with their family,” Kirsch explained. “We do that without cost and we provide each veteran and each family member of each veteran with a photograph.”

Good Shepherd has been holding this event for the past 12 years — though the COVID-19 pandemic forced leaders to put the tradition on hold for two of those years. 

“We realized that we had several veterans in our facility and we thought that it would be a perfect idea to recognize and honor them for their service to our country,” Kirsch told McKnight’s.

“It means quite a bit,” Army veteran Jack Blazier told local news at the event. “I didn’t do that much in the service. I appreciate them. Y’know, I’m just an average guy, I thought.”

Oftentimes, younger and older generations are pitted against each other in our cultural battlefield. But imagine how effective they could be when they put their heads together.

At Allendale Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center and Allendale Senior Living, skilled nursing and assisted living residents combined brainpower with local middle school and high school students to compete in the Back-to-School Trivia Tournament recently held at the Bergen County continuum-of-care campus in Allendale, NJ. 

“I loved the connection, the energy, the enthusiasm from both generations,” said Ricardo Pena, vice president of life enrichment for Marquis Health Consulting Services in Brick NJ, which serves as Allendale’s administrative and consulting services provider. “Looking at that, that was the highlight of all of it. It’s a joy looking at young kids really inspired by the residents and their stories. ”

The teams competed virtually against resident-student teams (with 2 residents and 2 students each) from 30 locations across the Mid-Atlantic region. Each participant donned a borrowed Rendever virtual reality headset for four rounds of questions. Topics ranged from school-style subjects, including English, to popular culture spanning the 1930s to present day. This made for a fully immersive and engaging experience that was easy to set up. 

“The format was really phenomenal with the VR aspect of it. We actually kept it where it could be interacting in the sense of a 360 effect,” said Pena. “The trivia question comes up and we have a moderator [on-screen] that actually talks and says what’s going on.”

As for the competition itself, Cambridge Senior Living ended up taking the top prize but the Allendale teams gave them a good scare as the runners-up. But as Pena puts it, it was never about the prize. It was about the people, young and old. 

“Having them come together for a day of laughter, learning and all the memories, that’s key,” said Pena. “When they grow up and they look back and say what they’ve learned from a particular resident, I think it brings another level of joy to what we’re doing.” 

A team of staff workers put together their annual trunk-or-treat event in the facility parking lot with help from residents and neighbors. Their goal was to provide a safe and fun trick-or-treating activity for local kids while connecting Hallmark Healthcare to the people around it.

It was a whole-community effort, explained Carol Williams, CEO and administrator at Hallmark Healthcare. Staff members dressed up and decorated their cars with elaborate Halloween displays while residents packed candy bags, helped with pumpkin painting activities and passed out candy to local kids. 

Hallmark Healthcare’s neighbors also took part, donating candy to fill the kids’ trunk-or-treat bags. 

“Anytime you have the opportunity to invite the community in, it’s a good thing,” Williams told McKnight’s, “because we’re a part of the community so it makes sense for the community to know who we are, who our residents are, who our staff are.”

The event had more to offer than just Halloween candy — the lineup of free snacks included hotdogs, popcorn and s’mores, with hot chocolate and apple cider to drink. Attendees also enjoyed a costume contest, pumpkin carving and painting, dancing and a “ring” toss using a witch’s hat. Contest winners received prize ribbons and “boo baskets” filled with candy.

The event had more to offer than just Halloween candy — the lineup of free snacks included hotdogs, popcorn and s’mores, with hot chocolate and apple cider to drink. Attendees also enjoyed a costume contest, pumpkin carving and painting, dancing and a “ring” toss using a witch’s hat. Contest winners received prize ribbons and “boo baskets” filled with candy.

The skilled nursing facility didn’t take exact attendance numbers, but estimated that more than 100 local kids made it to the trunk-or-treat event. Around 25 residents were involved in the festivities, too, as well as a committee of 13 staff members. Some families were repeat visitors to the annual event.

“Residents enjoy seeing all the kids and the costumes — that’s what they enjoy more than anything,” Williams explained, noting how meaningful intergenerational social events are to residents and to the community. 

Staff and residents were excited about putting on the spooky event. “Once this time of the year arrives, everyone is ready for what we consider the kickoff to the holiday season.” Williams said. 

Hallmark Healthcare isn’t finished with the festive spirit for the year either. 

“We’re doing a tour of trees coming up in December,” said Williams.

This isn’t McKnight’s only feel-good Halloween story this year. We also covered a program uniting prison, nursing homes over pumpkins

In the Halloween classic, It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Linus proclaims the mythical orange squash will rise out of the most sincere pumpkin patch.

In Owensboro, KY, some might say that perfect patch exists in the most surprising of places: The Daviess County Detention Center. Inmates there have helped grow more than 1500 pumpkins and 300 mums for distribution to nursing homes, schools and more, according to jailer Art Maglinger.

“We have several work assignments for them, including some of the gardening that we do when [inmates] go back for their details. They can see where the food comes from,” Maglinger said. “The pumpkins are a community project, and they know that they’re either gonna go to kids, nursing home residents or other good organizations. Not only are they getting sunlight, and they’re staying occupied working with their hands, but they also know that it’s going for a good cause. I think if you’d ask many of them, it’s very meaningful to them.”

In addition to growing the pumpkins, inmates in the substance abuse program also handwrite notes of encouragement for nursing home residents as part of a gift package. Once the harvest and other goodies are ready, Marla Carter and the team at her charity Faithful Friends Ministry hit the road to help residents decorate their own great pumpkin.

“I just put them all in my van, and then put them on [the nursing home’s] front porch,” said Carter. “There are a lot of residents that can’t use their hands, and so they kind of direct us and we paint for them or just as needed. [This year] we did pretty much every nursing home in Daviess County.”

Carter believes the effort is about much more than just pumpkins. It is about bridging a gap between marginalized communities. Isolation can negatively affect both nursing home residents and inmates. Even the smallest gestures, like gifting a pumpkin, can have an outsized impact. 

“I often say they’re inmates in prison because of a choice they made, a bad choice they’ve made. People that are in nursing homes, their crime is they got old and sick, they’re not there by choice,” said Carter. “That’s definitely part of what we do too is making sure that people are aware of the needs and the culture inside [nursing homes]. Partnerships like this with the Detention Center are a great way to do that.”

What started as a simple request at Mary Immaculate Health/Care Services (MI) in Lawrence, MA, quickly turned into a fun exploration of the English and Spanish languages. 

This past August, MaryLuz Roldan, activities coordinator at MI’s Residential Community, was hosting bingo in Spanish and was approached by an English-speaking resident.

“She simply said, ‘I want to learn Spanish. I want to play bingo in Spanish and talk with other residents. Can you help me learn?’” said Roldan. “I’m Puerto Rican but I was born and raised in the United States. There are many advantages to speaking multiple languages – and our residents appreciate that.”

Roldan saw this as an opportunity to not only develop residents’ language skills but to educate them about the Lawrence community at large, given its demographics. According to the Census, 82.3 percent of Lawrence residents identify as Hispanic or Latino. With consultation and assistance from her colleagues in the activities department, Roldan started a weekly language class so residents could learn more about English and Spanish. The first class drew more than 15 residents who were eager to get started. 

“Our residents want to try new things. They’re excited to connect with others, make new friends and communicate with bilingual staff members in Spanish,” says Roldan. “I use television, YouTube videos and worksheets as teaching tools. I even assign homework.”

Not only has the class been highly informative, it’s also provided a nice social routine for many of the residents. As the holiday season approaches, some are even giving their traditions a little Spanish flavor. 

“Many in the group are learning the Rosary in Spanish,” said Roldan. “It’s been wonderful to see so many residents embrace the opportunity to be open, connect and learn from others.” 

Moving from a college campus to a senior living campus is not a typical move for a 25-year-old but Beth Christensen is no typical 25-year-old. A classical and jazz pianist pursuing a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano Performance at University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory (UMKC), she has found an unlikely new home at Claridge Court. 

“In Utah where I grew up, I had a lot of older neighbors and I knew my neighbors really well so I got to have a lot of grandparents in my life,” said Christensen. “I’ve always felt really comfortable with older generations and I thought that would make it really easy to settle in and integrate and I was right. It was really comfortable getting to know people here.”

Christensen heard about the position via a partnership with UMKC and Claridge Court and saw it as a great opportunity to connect the community with the larger music scene in Kansas City. She has lived in the community for four months of her one year commitment but has already left her mark, playing tunes for skilled nursing and assisted living residents alike. 

“I play old jazz standards or I play some of the classical repertoire I’m working on and then usually the other music that I’m doing is for background music at parties and stuff for the whole community to be at,” said Christensen. “My favorite is when I get to put on full concerts for them. It’s really special to have people that genuinely want to listen because that’s something that’s honestly kind of rare.”

The arrangement has not only given Christensen a permanent audience, it also makes a difference for residents in the facility, says Rob Salierno, executive director of Claridge Court, who was inspired by a similar program he learned about. 

“This unique partnership enriches the lives of both our residents and Beth, fostering invaluable intergenerational relationships,” said Salierno. “Her musical gifts, coupled with the opportunities for meaningful interactions, significantly enhance the quality of life for everyone involved.”

In addition to having a permanent audience for her music, Christensen has also found a new cohort of companions. She relishes the kernels of wisdom her new, experienced friends provide and does not see her age as an obstacle to assimilation. After all, it is just a number. 

“Every single person that I’ve met, I’ve had something in common and something that we are both excited about. Friendship can be found anywhere but also there’s just a lot of value and enrichment in having those intergenerational relationships where you get to learn from someone who’s had more years than you to figure things out,” said Christensen. “It’s just really cool that age doesn’t create a barrier. It’s actually a really enriching factor in our relationship.”