Loud cheering, complete with a chorus of We Are the Champions, rang through the halls and up to the third floor where the Bible study group had been in session. Now, however, the entire residence was coming down to see what all the ruckus was about.
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Music and laughter intertwine, composing a symphony of glee as residents chat, sing, dance, and paint. This is the memory care section of Muskoka Shores Care Community in Gravenhurst, where each month Nancy Hunter comes in to paint with the residents.
It all started with a recipe.
The dog biscuit recipe was developed by Jackie, the daughter of a resident at Fox Ridge Care Community in Brantford. Fuelled by Jackie’s love of animals, the recipe made its rounds at her catering business, drew crowds at the Brantford Flee Market, and was eventually published in a cook book.
Her father, Leonard, told Caroline Casey, a program aid at Fox Ridge, about the recipe. Together they developed a plan to make the biscuits for the local SPCA animal shelter.
“Sadly, Jackie passed away, and it’s very emotional for Leonard,” Caroline said. “He’s very honoured to be able to do this in her memory… We discussed [making the bones] in November. The day we’re making the cookie bones is actually Jackie’s birthday. Leonard said it would kind of be like an honour to her, our doing this for the animals at the humane society, because one of her passions in life was to help animals.”
The only problem was Leonard no longer had a copy of the biscuit recipe, but he did remember the book it had been published in. Caroline was able to track the book to a local store. When they heard Leonard’s story, they photocopied the recipe and gave it to him free of charge.
But Caroline wanted to take it further, to do even more. She made plans to involve the entire care community in the project, and the end result is a true testament to what is possible if everyone works together.
Caroline spoke with family and staff. One family member said that she grew catnip in her back garden, and would be happy to dry some and bring it in. Help also came from a hymn singing group who come into Fox Ridge every week. One of the men in the group told Caroline that he made clothing for impoverished children, and that he’d be happy to donate material for them to make catnip sacks.
Residents were happy to make the sacks during a craft session — meanwhile, team members organized themselves for a cupcake-baking extravaganza. Fox Ridge’s industrial-sized ovens were commandeered to bake the cupcakes. Later, residents sold the cupcakes in the lobby.
Posters were also put up around Fox Ridge, asking family if they had spare bedding to donate, as the SPCA had identified that as one of their needs. Caroline said one family member in particular went above and beyond by placing an online ad looking for bedding, and then driving around the city to collect it all. It took them two trips to bring all the collected bedding to Fox Ridge.
Within a month, Fox Ridge had collected not only 48 of Jackie’s dog biscuits, but also: 170 home-made catnip sacks, 13 garbage-bags filled with bedding, 132 cans of cat food, 25 cans of dog food, 24 rolls of paper towel, four large containers of wipes, assorted dog toys, and $45 in cash and gift cards.
Caroline said that her contact at the Brant Country SPCA was “amazed and so thankful” for all they had done. Additionally, Brant Country SPCA posted a thank you to Fox Ridge on their Facebook page, saying “A special thank you to Fox Ridge Care Community for raising money, baking dog treats, sewing cat nip toys and gathering items from our Christmas wish list! We greatly appreciate the care and generosity from all the residents to help animals at the shelter!”
In return for Fox Ridge’s generosity, the SPCA brought a dog in to see the residents.
"It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed doing it,” said Christine, President of the Residents’ Council. “We all love animals and we were glad that we could make a difference,".
Caroline was recently told by one of the residents that, “we have to get away from thinking the [outside] community always has to help us… we need to start thinking of how we can help the community too. We’re capable of doing so many things, and just because we’re in our home here, that doesn’t mean we can’t do things for other people,” she said. It was part of what inspired her to start looking for ways Fox Ridge could give back, and also what eventually led to her conversation with Leonard about the dog biscuit recipe.
“We have to give all the recognition to Leonard,” Caroline said. “Because it was his idea, and his recipe — his daughter’s recipe, and without that it wouldn’t be so meaningful.”
The scissors glide along the paper seamlessly, cutting it to the perfect length. The screech of tape as it’s pulled from its roll is joined by the crinkling of folding paper. With deft hands, the box is turned into a present any child would be delighted to rip open.
“The residents wrapped all the gifts,” said Krista Hazelwood, lifestyle consultant at Island Park Retirement Residence in Campbellford. “It was completely resident committee funded… They use their funds however they choose, and this was one of the ways they chose to use their money.”
For the second year in a row, residents at Island Park decided to sponsor a local family in need for the Holidays. The family was comprised of two grandparents raising their four grandchildren, who are all under the age of 12.
“The Grandparents just couldn’t see them getting separated and put into different homes,” said Krista. “Our goal this year, other than to make the family’s Christmas a little brighter, was to shop locally.”
The Salvation Army provided Krista with a list of things the children had wished for. Armed with that list, a group of residents and Krista took to the town, determined to make the Holidays brighter. Krista said they managed to get nearly everything on the list, and also put together a gift bag for the entire family.
“A common theme sort of came up between all of the children, and it was that they all enjoyed doing art,” said Krista. “[The family gift] was full of art supplies — so adult colouring books, crayons, markers and construction paper.”
Some of the other gifts included treats from Dooher’s Bakery and six tickets to visit the local theatre. Krista said they were careful to make sure that the children had an equal number of presents. The gifts were also all colour-coded, so the grandparents would know who got each gift.
“It really is a heartwarming experience to be able to give back to the community… It’s probably one of the residents’ favourite things all year to do, is to be giving back to the community,” said Krista. “I definitely think we’ll be doing it again, for sure.”
Music takes many highs and lows; it can be flat or sharp, quick or slow, melodious or piercing. For Gisele, music’s unique ability to spread joy is its most important quality, and something worth sharing.
“Everyone has a voice,” said Gisele, a 91-year-old resident at Red Oak Retirement Residence. “Once you hear somebody else next to you sing, you sing. You don’t have to know how to sing, it’s the truth!”
Music has always been a part of Gisele’s life. As a child, everyone in her family played something, and she, herself, took piano lessons. As she got older music was something she had to try and find time for, but was often left by the wayside. When she moved into Red Oak seven years ago, reconnecting with music was one of her goals — and she certainly accomplished it. On top of hosting a monthly concert and sing-along, she also curates movies in the residence’s home theatre four times a week.
“I didn’t think [the music] would come back, but it did,” Gisele said. “I’m very involved here, you know. I don’t stay put very much, which is great. It’s wonderful, I do a lot of volunteer work and I love it.”
Gisele’s most recent sing-alongs have paid a special tribute to the food and beverage team at Red Oak.
“I found out from the people in the kitchen that they have beautiful voices, you know? And I thought, why not mix them up with the residents and enjoy it?” Gisele said. “So they came up the first time, and they enjoyed it so thoroughly, and they were singing! And the chef said, ‘my goodness, I’ve never seen them so happy.’ So I thought, this is a good thing for them, to show them what they can do.”
“The staff were full of smiles and enthusiasm,” Jennifer Nason, lifestyle consultant at Red Oak, said about the sing-along.
Four servers sang solos at the sing-along, and at the end of the night Gisele invited everyone left in the kitchens up to sing ‘My Way’.
“I told the chef bring them all up, all the ones that are still here at this time, I said bring them all and we’ll all sing together. And we did that, and they seemed to enjoy it,” Gisele said. “They have talent.”
Along with organizing a time for the program and rehearsals, Gisele also put all the lyrical books together. When she moved in, she asked someone at the residence to help her type up songs and bind them together. The resulting five books, filled with nearly 600 songs, have been well used.
Gisele works to keep the sing-along informal and inviting, firmly believing that “if it’s too formal then people back off, they’re shy and no, it doesn’t work. But if you lead them with their own talent and their own thing then well, everybody seemed to enjoy.”
She keeps statistics on all of the programs she runs, particularly the movie nights, to help her make her programing better. She said about 20-25 people turn-up to the movies four nights a week. Depending on the location of the sing-along, she can pull-in anywhere from 25-50 people.
“I find I’m always surprised whenever I see 20-25 people. I say ‘oh, my goodness, I never thought they would come’. But they do, and they enjoy it,” Gisele said.
Harp music floats over the babbling crowd, punctuated by laughter and the clink of golden spoons as they pile-up beside the bubbling pots.
“It was just such a fun night, you know?” said Jessica Andrusko, lifestyle consultant at Lincoln Park Retirement Residence in Grimsby. “Everyone was having a great time being together, and just enjoying the soups, the prizes, the atmosphere, everything.”
Over 100 people came out to Lincoln Park’s soup-tasting event. The event, named So You Think You Can Soup, brought local restaurants together in a competition for the title of The Best Soup in Grimsby. Participants were encouraged to try all of the soups at the event and vote for their favourite by placing a golden spoon in a box beside their chosen soup. Tickets to the event were $15, with all proceeds going to McNally House Hospice.
“The residents voted, and they chose the charity that they wanted to support,” Jessica said. “We’re a very small town, so everybody knows McNally house.”
A table was set-up to represent McNally House at the event. At the table guests could leave a donation, participate in a 50/50 draw, and get information. There was also a silent auction and raffle during the event, as well as four delicious soups to sample. De La Terre Kitchen offered a roasted fennel and tomato soup; The Judge & Jester had a pumpkin spice soup; The Forty Publichouse served a chicken and dumpling soup; and Lincoln Park brought out a black bean with crème fraiche soup.
“We actually did a taste testing each week so our residents were able to taste-test and vote on which soup they wanted us to enter into the competition, and we had a lot of hype, which was great,” Jessica said.
Though the black bean with crème fraiche soup won the best soup made at Lincoln Park, The Forty Publichouse’s chicken and dumpling soup collected the most spoons, winning it the title of Best Soup in Grimsby.
The event, which originally aimed to raise $1,500, wound-up raising $2,415 dollars for McNally House.
“We just blew that goal out of the water… the residents were absolutely floored with how much money we were in fact able to raise for McNally House,” Jessica said. “[The residents] were just so happy to be able to support McNally House in that way.”
Lincoln Park is already planning to hold another taste-testing competition.
“We definitely plan to do something next year, we’re actually thinking of doing pizza this time,” Jessica said with a laugh. “The best pizza in Grimsby.”
