Last week the Plum City Care Center was celebrating National Nursing Home Week! All week long we had games and activities each day centered on this year’s theme of “Radiant Memories – A Tribute to the Golden Age of Radio,” plus a few other surprises!

Monday was Wear a Hat Day and all you could see were straw hats, ball caps and top hats as residents came out for Monday Movers seated exercise group led by Stacey and Noel! We moved and grooved through a series of arm and leg exercises to stretch our muscles after the long weekend. Once everyone finished working up a sweat, Stacey tuned up the guitar and we had a lively sing-a-long! At lunchtime, we played a mad-lib style game for Nursing Home Week, where we made up a funny radio broadcast story called “Plum City Radio.” After the meal was enjoyed, we gathered on the back patio for a special treat, as Monty’s Traveling Reptile Show was here for residents and Ave Maria students to pet and learn about turtles, lizards, snakes and alligators! After the reptile extravaganza, Noel played an Abbot and Costello comedy movie in the dining room and we laughed all the way until supper. The busy day concluded with Teresa Fedie and Kathy Luebker here for Bingo. Thanks for all your help, ladies!

Team Spirit Day was on Tuesday and we began the day with Father Jojo leading Catholic mass after breakfast which residents welcomed immensely. It is so peaceful to begin the day with a little prayer and reflection. Once lunch was served, Stacey had residents help her re-write a song, set to the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” although with new words and lyrics provided by residents, it was now called “You Are My Sweet Thing!” In the afternoon it was time for everyone to come back to the dining room for a spring concert put on by the students of Ava Maria Academy. Residents were delighted with each group of students as they sang and played instruments for the happy audience and many students had a solo on the piano! Afterwards, Pastor Darren from Lund Mission Covenant arrived for afternoon church, which was followed by supper and Aaliyah was here to play fun-filled games with everyone into the evening!

Mis-Matched Day was Wednesday’s theme and staff (and residents!) got in on the fun of dressing up in wacky, mis-matched outfits for the day! After breakfast, Rachel and Wanda from PC Plants and More came to plant pretty begonias, snapdragons and marigolds with the residents so they would have some lovely little flowers to adorn their windowsills. The noon game during lunchtime was a radio trivia contest for our three teams of CNAs and residents; everyone put their heads together to get the most right answers! Fruit Bingo was in the afternoon and Wanda Ebensperger came back with Monica Krings to help us with set up, clean up and passing fruit and candy prizes; this week, our blackout winner was Nancy Bishop! The temperature was heating up outside but we kept cool at our Mid-Week Social with bowls of creamy chocolate chip ice cream! There was even time before supper for Noel to play a couple rounds of the card game UNO with several residents!

Thursday, residents and staff got in the spirit of Crazy Hair Day, with colorful wigs and funky hairstyles seen throughout the care center! Marlene Zimmer was here for our Local News and Coffee group, reading folks the latest news in the papers. She is such a bright, smiling face coming through the doors and always keeps everyone engaged while sharing the headlines. During the noon meal, we played “Name the Lyric,” making up new lyrics to the song “Billy Boy,” although our version was now “Herb Boy.” It was such a silly song that proved none of us should quit our day jobs to take up songwriting as a career! Aaliyah was here in the afternoon for manicures and all the ladies delighted in freshening up their nails with colorful sparkles and shades of spring. There was time for more visiting until supper and afterwards Aaliyah brought everyone together for a game of Pokeno!

The last day of Nursing Home Week was Beach Day and the weather on Friday sure made it feel like we were in the tropics! The hot, sunny day began with a morning game of beach ball “kickball” with residents in a huge circle bouncing and kicking around colorful beach balls while jamming out to the tunes of the Beach Boys. Everyone definitely worked up an appetite and that afternoon the lunchtime game was “Sound Effects.” Stacey read a thrilling story called “The Grand Adventure” while three teams of CNAs and residents provided the sound effects using props, just like an old-time radio show! Ave Maria students arrived after lunch to practice their reading skills at Book Buddies and before you knew it, Happy Hour was upon us. Since it was Beach Day, Stacey and Noel decorated the dining room for our Fin-tastic Friday Beach Party and Jim Sexton entertained us with over an hour of lively music, while we all snacked on “ocean pudding cups” consisting of teddy grahams floating on peach gummi rings in a sea of blue-dyed vanilla pudding! After all that partying, supper arrived speedily and then it was time to dim the lights and draw the shades for Movie Night where we watched a Lum and Abner comedy “The Bashful Bachelor.”