National Ice Cream Day!

National Ice Cream Day is the 3rd Sunday in July.... so this year it is July 15. In my retirement community I'm being asked to provide more weekend programming, so when I saw this, it was a "no-brainer." I will have an ice cream social after the resident finish with dinner - which on Sunday is served at Noon in our community. But, I thought to my self, this is not good enough. How can I raise the bar on this program and make it better? Having a make your own sundae bar on a Sunday is cool, but what can be the cherry on top of this? What I found was something that my husband and I enjoy - a video presentation of the best places to eat. It is a DVD called An Ice Cream Show and it takes you to many of the finest and most unique ice cream palors around. It is perfect for this event. I will set the room up with tables and chairs so that they can watch the movie while enjoying their sundae.  I also found a great website that tells you more about this fun day called Holiday Insights and found special cocktail napkins at a pretty good price that fit the theme of the day, ICE CREAM!

I know that this will be a great Sunday Sundae afternoon in my community. It is not to late to get this going in your community this year, but if you've missed it, I encourage you to add this information to your 2013 calendar.... (you did start that already, didn't you??  That's a whole-nother posting!) 

Breakfast at Tiffany's

"You could always tell what kind of a person a man thinks you are by the earrings he gives you. I must say, the mind reels." said Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's. 

If you are an Activities Director, you know that you are only as good as your last event! Let me share with you one of the most memorable events I've done in a long time. . . . .Breakfast at Tiffany's!

We had this upscale party as a special event one evening in my retirement community. We suggested that the residents wear their pajamas, or for the ladies, the iconic Audrey Hepburn look - a black dress with pearls, sunglasses and gloves. There were some residents who were very concerned about the idea of wearing their p.j.s out in public, but when we gave them the alternate option, they were more comfortable. Those who wore their pajamas, did so with good taste. Some men wore smoking jackets. There is also a good picture of residents dressed for the party on my blog post, Theme ideas page. As you can see in this photo, I also bought cigarette holders for the staff that were working the party and we had a ball with them.

The colors for this event were the teal from the Tiffany's box, white and silver. Everything was made to show case beauty and elegance. I used a lot of the clear gels that looked like jewels around the buffet tables and even had a Tiffany's box that I was able to borrow to remind everyone why the colors were selected.

The food was breakfast for dinner! We had the chefs in the dinning room cooking as a special treat along with other first class breakfast options that they do not get on a regular basis. Of course we had steak on the menu for the person who does not like to eat breakfast for dinner.

After dinner of course, we watched the DVD and enjoyed little mini cakes that were shaped and decorated to look like a small ring box from Tiffany's. I served it with coffee.

We usually have our fancy theme night at the end of the year. It's called our Holiday Gala, and resident love getting dressed up for it. This is another way for them to pull out their bling and have fun coming to dinner without having to wait for the end of the year blow-out!  Enjoy!

Program Worksheet & Files

The calendar at my retirement community consists of weekly entertainment, bridge games, bingo, day trips, theater trips, special holiday celebrations, theme parties, dances, educational programs, fitness programs and more. I like to look back to find the programs and shows that were successful and pencil them in for the future and then I get to work towards adding new ideas! As you know from bring an activities director, you must be organized and have a system that works for you in order to bring back community favorites, not have to research it all over again, and to recall what not to do again, ever! 

How do you know if a program or entertainer is worth repeating or not?

I use my computer to help me with this question. First let's talk about a program.... I call outings, special events, lectures, etc a "program." It is something that I might like to repeat in the future and have all the details of how I did it available to me. I've created a "worksheet" for each of my programs. On this worksheet it has the name of the event, the contact information, the details of the program (time, menu, etc), how I figured out the cost for the program and an evaluation of the program - which you will have to go back to do after it is over, or it is worthless.  I save this worksheet on the computer by the name of the program and file it under in a file that I've named Worksheets. I also have a separate file called Worksheets- Lunch Outings, because I do them on a regular basis also. Sounds simple, but I've learned that many people do not name their files appropriately and then can not find them later. Think about your computer as a large filing cabinet. If you had to file the document after you printed it, where would it go. Create that folder on your computer and keep putting the appropriate files there. Create as many folders as you need. (Creating new folders is usually a right-click on your mouse when you are in the area where you see all your files - usually when you are opening a new document.)

It might look something like this:

Desktop

  Documents

     Worksheets

         Boca Museum

           Civic Center

              Daggerwing Nature Center

      Worksheets - Lunch Outing

             Ale House

               Benihana

                 Carrabba's

Now, for entertainers. Back in the "old days" (a few years ago) I would try to remember if a show was good or not. Then I realized that was not going to work, so I started writing it on my calendar in the date block when I had the performer scheduled. I found that that was not good enough either, because I could not retrieve the information fast enough when I needed to. So, I've created a document I call my Entertainer's List. It is in a table format in my word processing program that has a column for the date of the show, the act's name, and then their rating. Since the beginning, of doing this, I've added a column for the fee, which I find very helpful. The ratings come from a 1-5 number system that is given to the act after a monthly review with my Activities Committee. (This is a committee that is formed through our community's Resident Board.) If you do not have such a committee, you may want to develop a way to get resident feed back that you can rely on.  Once I have the information in my computer, I save it and I can easily find a performers name by using the search key (usually the Control F keys) and I can learn what I need quickly and I book them or I don't. I do not bring back entertainers how received a 3 or below, and feel that the quality of performers has increased since putting this system into place.

I would love to hear if you have any other ways that you keep track of your programs and entertainers or if you have any questions about this process. Get started today and you will see positive results in the future.

Lucky Charm Lunch

Lucky you! Here is a fun party that you can do in your retirement community which can be adapted to any level of care.

I called this a Lucky Charm Luncheon. I was interested in knowing if the residents had anything in their possession that they held onto because it brought them good luck. I held this party on Friday the 13th and promoted that it was not an un-lucky day, but that it was going to be a great, fun, lucky day instead. The next Friday the 13th comes in July, so now is a great time to make your plans and get this onto your calendar.

I kept the number attending the lunch small and put the program into our private dining room so that it felt more intimate. The goal for the lunch was to have the residents share the story behind the item that they brought to the party.

At the lunch, I decorated the table with some items that are associated with bringing luck. These items were a rabbits foot (key chain), a horseshoe (make sure that is facing the proper direction - which is so that the open end is at the top), four-leaf clovers (I used items from my St. Patrick's Day decorations,but I'm sure there are other items that you can find.) I came into the party with facts about each of the items on the table - including the salt shaker (which you through over your shoulder), and mentioned others that were not on the table. Then I asked them to share what they had brought with the group.   For dessert at the lunch or party, you could serve a cupcake with Lucky Charm  cereal on it, Lucky Charm cookies  or Lucky Charm Bars. (Please stop by the store at the top of the page called Resources for Activities Directors for more ideas.)

This was a fun way to poke fun of the negativity of Friday the 13th and to get to know the residents better. They learned something unique about each other also that day.

This program could be done with a different twist also. You can change the focus from good luck charms to charm bracelets. Charm bracelets are timeless and yet no matter when you got yours, they all have a story to tell. This is a great way to hear all about the lives as they discuss the charms meanings.