Older American’s Month celebrated with glitz and glam

celebrate Older American’s Month in May, we (literally) rolled out the red carpet and threw a week-long event of superstar status.

“We recognize Older American’s Month every year with a different theme we haven’t done before. Ever since I started working in activities, I always wanted to do some type of elegant night where the residents could dress like movie stars. I never knew what to do to get it all going. So, this year, I thought, ‘I’m just going to do it,’” said Jacque Soltero, activities director for healthcare.

The dream of hosting a Hollywood-themed event became a reality when Jacque posted on Facebook that she needed to borrow gowns for the residents to wear in order to make this happen. “A lady in Hugoton offered to bring us 40 to 50 gowns from her consignment store – some were brand new with the tags still on them!”

To set the stage, Jacque decorated the main hallway with a red carpet and plastered the walls with “stars” – pictures of all the residents and staff. The week-long celebration started on Monday with a Hollywood scavenger hunt. Pictures of movie stars were posted around the community for residents to find and snacks included gold-wrapped chocolates and red licorice. On Tuesday, residents went to the local movie theater to see “The Book Club” and played a chocolate name game.

The games continued on Wednesday with wine, cheese and music performed by local students. “It was hard to find Hollywood-related games, so we played some interesting games the residents had never played,” said Jacque. One game, called “Stick it,” had the staff wearing a shower cap topped with shaving cream. The residents threw cereal at the shaving cream to try and make it stick.

Thursday night was the formal dinner and awards ceremony. Everyone came dressed up with their makeup and nails done. The evening included an elegant dinner and an awards ceremony where everyone went home a winner.

“I came up with the idea to give each resident an award and staff helped come up with fun award titles,” said Jacque.

Awards such as “Sleeping Beauty,” “Weather Watcher” and “Perfect Attendance at Church” were presented to all the residents. There was also a photo shoot, and pictures were taken of each resident to share with friends and family.

For the finale, Friday was look-alike day where a resident and staff member dressed as twins.

Jacque concluded, “It was a lot of work, but it was worth it.”

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