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Birthday Celebrations

So this was the day of the month that we celebrate the residents' birthdays for the month. We do this every 2nd Tuesday of the month. The program is simple, but I think, pretty affective. We have a "happy hour" before the residents go into the dining room. It features punch, two hot hor's oeuvres, a cheese and cracker platter, and a dip of some kind served in our lobby. This goes for about an hour. While they enjoy their refreshments, I give a corsage/boutonniere to those celebrating. (at my community, we put a list of those with birthdays into our monthly newsletter.... some do not want to be listed because they don't want the attention from it.... and they do not get a flower)

As the residents are taken into the dining room, those who have a flower, receive a birthday balloon. That balloon gets tied onto their chair in the dining room, so that it decorates the room and people passing the tables know right away who to wish a happy birthday to.   Once the residents are all inside, I welcome everyone, our Chaplain says a blessing, and we sing happy birthday.
The people who have a birthday person at their table, sing to them... (happy birthday dear Mary...happy bday to you).  The rest of us sing happy birthday, God bless you...happy birthday to you.  I then share a quick overview of the highlights that remain on the activities calendar, and introduce the show for the evening.

If residents don't come to the party, I have our Security department deliver their balloon and their flower to their apartment, with a note from the community's staff that says that we are sorry that they did not make it to the party and that we hope that they enjoy the flower/balloon and have a great birthday. I have use small colored bags or Chinese boxes to put the flower and note into for delivery.

This is also a night that the community tends to dress up. I think most people enjoy that also. Oh, and the meal is special also that evening.

So that is how we do it. How do you make it special at your community?
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Comments

  1. Sue SchmidtJanuary 11, 2011 at 10:31 PM

    Gosh! Sounds pretty fancy and fun! We sing to the person at lunch time on their birthday, and then I take out a special dessert (sometimes cake-sometimes pie,) with a candle in it for them to blow out. On the 4th Tuesday each month we have a party to celebrate all the birthdays that month. This month we have a female guitarist as entertainment and I am serving these adorable treats. http://www.hostessblog.com/2008/12/super-cute-snowmen-treats/
    I am using recycled Starbucks frappucino bottles, and filling them with vanilla milkshakes. Can make your own cakeballs (check out bakerella's website) or use large powdered sugar doughnut holes for the heads. Made a sample one , and man are they ever cute! Also serving them at our next staff meeting and the hairdresser in our home is borrowing the bottles and making these treats for her daughter's baby shower at the end of the month. She bought tiny pacifiers to put in the snowmen mouths. Sue

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  2. Recharging RetireesJanuary 12, 2011 at 7:15 AM

    Sue, Are you in an assisted living or independent living community? I'm in independent living & we have 20-30 birthdays each month.

    I like the idea of the snowmen drinks. Just goes to show that with a little creativity that you do not have to spend a lot of money.

    We use to bring out the celebrant's piece of birthday cake out to them with a candle in it and sing to them, but found that many of them were not ready for the cake (finished their dessert time already or still eating dinner) at the time that we designated to sing.

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  3. Sue SchmidtJanuary 12, 2011 at 8:46 AM

    I'm in a small assisted living community- 35 rooms- we have 38 residents and are at 100% capacity.Three rooms have couples in them. I love AL. After working in LTC in both Activities and Soc Services for 10 years, AL is a breath of fresh air. I love the responsiveness of the folks, and their ability to contribute to their leisure choices. We have a few in w/c but they wheel themselves and are cognitively able to participate. In AL I also do not have to chart continuously or do MDS's, which is great! I get to spend my time with them instead of writing about them. We generally only have 3-4 birthdays a month, and we also do the birthday thing for staff. They are brought to dining room and sang to- and presented with a birthday dessert. We're small enough that we can observe the dining room and watch till the birthday people are ready for their treat- and I'm not the only one who does it. Our CMAs and even dining room staff or administrative staff have taken a turn at working the dining room and presenting the birthday treat.

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  4. AnonymousJanuary 27, 2011 at 10:33 PM

    I'm in an asst living, 245 residents, we hold a monthy birthday party, 2nd friday of the month, music , cake ice cream and sing hb, take everyones picture, and on the day of their birthday I bring balloons out to them, we sing, I also post their names on the bullatin boards, in the calendar, and around the building

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  5. Recharging RetireesJanuary 28, 2011 at 6:33 PM

    Sounds fun. Thanks for sharing!

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