‘There’s a little buzz in the air’
No trick to bonding between seniors and children in Glace Bay
A Halloween event in Glace Bay on Wednesday may not have had many scary moments but there were some heartwarming ones.
The 213 elementary students of John Bernard Croak VC Memorial School were invited to Victoria Haven Nursing Home not only to trick-or-treat but also to bond.
Recreation director Joanne White said the idea simply came from sitting around and trying to come up with ways to connect young people in the community with the nursing home’s residents.
“We’re running around seeing who we can put costumes on, the staff are grabbing costumes, there’s a little buzz in the air,” she said Wednesday, shortly before the fun was to begin.
“It will be organized chaos. I think it will be fun.”
White said the residents love seeing the children come in to spend time with them.
“They reminisce, it takes them back,” she said.
The students arrived with treat-or-treat bags in hand and walked throughout the nursing home where residents and staff had various treat stations set up.
“I’m very much excited to see the kids,” said resident Billy Cooke, dressed up as a banana.
“I like Halloween and I like to see the children. Halloween is for the children.”
Gordon MacKillop was all smiles as Grade 5 students Madison Reid, Jessica Ogley and Brooke Hooper all gathered around him for a photo. “Yes, I’m having fun,” he said. Hooper said she was enjoying being at Victoria Haven and liked helping make the residents happy.
“It’s also kind of fun to see people I haven’t seen before.”
Victoria Haven has a long history of bonding children with residents, stretching back 20 years. Every month the students of the Town Daycare enjoy some kind of event organized with the residents.
“It’s nothing for one of the daycare kids to get up on one of the resident’s laps,” White said.
“We had one little one at one time convinced that one man was her grandfather. She hopped up with him, he hugged her. It was beautiful.”
On Monday, students of the Town Daycare were at the nursing home for their Halloween time with the residents.
“We did McDonald’s and then we had an ice-cream parlour afterwards,” White said.
“The kids were all dressed up. It was sweet. The residents had a great time.”
White said a group of students regularly visit the nursing home for bowling and bingos with the residents and another group of Grade 9, 10 and 11 students spends recreational time with the residents as well.
“At Victoria Haven, intergenerational connections are important to us,” she said.
“I think we pretty much accomplish that with the different groups we have come in. They’re wonderful to see and something the residents really enjoy.”