WARREN DILLAWAY / Star Beacon
RESIDENTS AT Austinburg Nursing and Rehabilitation Center release balloons during a National Nursing Week celebration Tuesday morning. WARREN DILLAWAY
Published May 13, 2008 07:21 pm - Residents of Austinburg Nursing and Rehabilitation Center are celebrating National Nursing Home Week with a variety of activities planned all week.
Austinburg Nursing celebrates big week
By STACY MILLBERG - Staff Writer - smillberg@starbeacon.com Star Beacon
AUSTINBURG TOWNSHIP — Residents of Austinburg Nursing and Rehabilitation Center are celebrating National Nursing Home Week with a variety of activities planned all week.
Tuesday morning residents gathered outside for a colorful balloon launch and the crowing of the week’s king and queen. Charles Prasek and Margaret Fronce were crowned National Nursing Home Week king and queen.
The balloon launch was followed by an ice cream social and a pie tossing contest. Residents were giving the opportunity to throw a pie at the nursing home’s administrator.
“A lot of them are looking forward to that,” said Jennifer Corey, admissions and marketing director.
Austinburg Nursing and Rehabilitation houses 139 residents. National Nursing Home Week was instituted to honor residents and staff of nursing homes around the U.S.
“It’s a way for residents to have a time for celebrations and to recognize that nursing homes are not institutions, they’re homes,” Corey said.
This week’s theme is “Love is Ageless.” The residents voted on the various events they would participate in throughout the week, many of which are food-related. Thursday, residents will have a prime rib barbecue and Friday they will enjoy a sundae bar.
Residents will also enjoy viewing the timeless love story Casablanca.
“It’s one of the most famous love stories, especially for that era,” Corey said.
Residents kicked off National Nursing Home Week with a Mother’s Day Tea, Sunday. Friday, residents will also play host to bingo mania. Bingo will be available for residents to play all day, she said.
“That was the one game they voted on,” Corey said. “This population just thrives (on bingo).”
This week also is allowing residents to remember what it means to fall in love or how a simple token of appreciation, as small as a stuffed animal, has inspired them to feel loved, Corey said.
“For some of them, the only family they have is us,” she said.
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