Dog Days of Summer

One of our most popular events is our annual dog show! I schedule it in August because it is the "Dog Days of Summer." I tried to find pictures of the event to show you, but I can't find them. I promise to take them and post them after this year's program. (Funny how having this blog makes me more responsible for my pictures these days.) I did however, find the newspaper article that was written about it. Feel free to check out this link for the Sun Sentinel article.

This activity is simple and brings so much fun to everyone! First, I promote the day and time of the show and ask anyone interested in participating to sign up. Once they've signed up, I send them a bio sheet for their dog. It asks the pet's name, age, breed, length of time owned, how long they've been residents at the community, their favorite trick, a cute story about them, and anything else that I can think of.  The more you know, the better it is while you are on stage with them!

After I review the forms, I get the pet owners to come to the auditorium (without their pet) and go over the show. This rehearsals is very important to the success of the show. I show the resident where to take their dog before the show starts (usually out of the audiences view is best) so that the animals are ready to go and stay calm. You will probably learn from the owners which dog gets along with which, and will need to separate those that don't. I give the residents a chance to walk on the stage and learn how to exit as well.

Once the show starts, most residents simply walk their dog onto the stage and stand there while I share their bio information with the audience. It is very important that you have fun with this part of the show, or it will drag. If the dog does something cute, make a big deal out of it and highlight it to the audience. Some residents have trained their dogs to do tricks. That is great too!! Make sure the participants understand that this is not a contest, it is a show for fun.

In the past, I have invited the audience to be the judge, along with me, to determine the title each dog will earn. This is done by announcing the title and asking the audience to shout out who they thinks deserves the prize. If there is more than one name, I tell the audience the names, and go to each of the dogs to clarify who is in the running for the prize. Then we go to a round of applause to determine the winner. Titles can be as smallest, biggest, best barker, best tail wagger, the Dumbo award (best ears), best dressed, owner/dog look-a-like, and more. Each dog should win a prize. Don't forget to add something in the gift bag for the owners, like a note pad with dogs on it, maybe. Make sure that you have more titles to win then you have dogs! There are times when you will need it, trust me. 

I have a volunteer help me note who has won which title, because it goes so fast that I don't always have time to write it down. Prizes are all the same and usually includes a treat for the owner and for the dog. I post a list of the winners in the Lobby so that everyone can see the results after the show.

At the end of the show, I ask each resident to take his/her dog to a designated area in the room. (This should be discussed in the rehearsal.) Once the pets and the owners are stationed, I invite the audience to meet and greet our four-legged residents. This is a highlight for the audience because they get to pet the dogs and learn more about their friend's dog that they may have only heard about at the dinner table.

This year I'm working on giving the residents in the audience more information so that they can judge more accurately. They want to see what the categories are for the prizes so that they can put the right pooch on the right pedestal! I'm not sure how this will work since I do create more titles then there are dogs... so we will see.  I've also thought about bringing in local area judges who work with pets. Maybe this can even be a fund raiser for the shelter this time. We will see. I'm still working on it!

Have you had a dog show in your community? If so, please comment below! We'd all love to hear from you.

Laughing Yoga

Next month we will be introducing a new class called Laughing Yoga to the community. We found a nice woman who is offering a free introductory class to us. She came and discussed it with our Fitness Director and me, and it sounds very interesting. I thought that I'd share it with you now and share a few links to sites on the Internet that tell you about it. I also included one that is an article about seniors using laughing yoga. I'd love to hear from you if you have had such a class in your community and if the residents like it or not. I will post more after we've had the class.

• http://www.laughteryoga.org/
• http://www.laughteryogaamerica.com/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkisga824Nc
• http://romeoville.patch.com/articles/learn-the-benefits-of-laughter-yoga-at-senior-star-at-weber-place

Monthly Newsletters

Another month is almost gone. They come and go so quickly when you are an activities director. (and yes, I know, it is because I'm getting older too) When planning activities for the residents in my continuing care retirement community, sometimes it is hard for me to remember what month I'm in, let alone what day it is. But I do know when it is my deadline for my monthly newsletter!
I thought that I'd share what is in my newsletter and the process that I use to create it. First, I am the editor of the newsletter. I oversee the content and the quality of the stories. Since our newsletter is used for marketing as well as for our residents, the content is very important. I try to use other communication tools to share operating news that is not "newsletter worthy." Articles in the newsletter are informative and interesting and usually share news about the two best features in our community (in my opinion) which are, our residents and our activities.

So what's in my newsletter? First, the standards are a list of people celebrating birthdays in the month (unless the opt out of being on the list), a list of movies for the month, and an article from our Chaplain. Then I have a resident who interviews the new resident who move in, and another who writes about the resident's comings and goings (ie. trip they took, guests they had, etc.) Residents love to see their name in print, so make sure to put it in bold. Our fitness instructor writes two articles, one is about fitness and the elderly and the other is about a resident who is active in fitness. I am also able to use an article from our company's dietician. Then there are articles from different community committees including our library. I like to create my own "filler" which is small "special copy boxes" that highlight special events coming up. And last, but not least is a listing of the activities for the month. I separate them into three categories. The first is the weekly entertainment, then the special events, and the last is the educational opportunities.

Now that you know what is in it, let me tell you how I get it done each month. First, each contributor is asked to turn their articles into me by the 15th of the month before the issue comes out. I type them if necessary, edit them, and get them ready to send to the printer. I make sure there are enough articles so that I don't have to have "filler" articles. After it comes back from the printer, it is ready to be proof read. I do the first draft by myself. I look for grammar, punctuation and layout mistakes. When I get the second draft, I proof read it and also send it to two other residents who proof read for me. (They always find something different than I do and from one another.)

I do all my article submissions and updates through the fax machine. I could also send them by email, but there is no cost savings for me at my printers, so I still do it the "old" way for now. Check with your printer to see if there is a difference in cost for you.

I really enjoy creating the monthly newsletter and am really happy when the final deadline for it has past.... then I have a few weeks to get geared up for the next issue (and do the rest of my job).

Pets in Retirement Community

In our independent living section of our continuing care community, we allow our residents to move in with their pet. The policy is that once the pet is gone, that they do not replace it. (We really do not enforce it though.) We all know the value of residents and pets!

This week I have been lucky enough to be able to take our newly found and adopted 5 week old kitten into work with me. The first day the staff met him and a few residents that I've shared my love of cats (and all animals) with. The next day, a few more residents met him.... and today, day three of keeping him under my desk in a box, a lot of residents met him! If you remember that commercial for the shampoo, that says, "and you tell two friends and they tell two friends, and they tell two friends," that is what happened. It was amazing to see the joy and surprise in their faces when they saw such a small living creature, I thought one lady was going to cry she was so moved.

The residents want me to have a contest to name my family's newest addition. Not sure if my boss will let that happen..... we will see.

Today, I really just wanted to share how grateful I am that I am allowed to bring him to work (I have to bottle feed him every few hours) and how much joy animals can bring to the community.

Do you have a pet therapy program in your independent living community? Check out this recent article called Alone time with pets helps seniors. This might be something to consider!

Getting to Know You

As the activities director at my retirement community, it is very important that the new residents and older residents have a program to get to know one another. As I mentioned in my Welcoming New Residents article, after new residents move into the community, they are treated to a special lunch so that this new “class of residents” is welcome onto our “campus.” That, along with a few other items done within the first few months of their arrival is key to their immediate socialization and happiness within the community. Please see the article to learn what else we do for our “newbies.” The next step is to introduce them to the community at large.

I like to host a Getting to Know You Party once a year. We have 5 separate buildings on our campus. I usually invite two or three of the building at a time to the social. The pizza party has been the most popular so far. I ask the residents to sign up for the party, and charge them a minimum fee to cover the pizza. I order the pizza from outside the community. (Pizza made in our kitchen is alright, but take-out pizza is a treat!!) I do order drinks and dessert, usually cookies or brownies, from our culinary department. I figure each resident will eat at least two pieces of pizza, so having them sign up helps with the ordering.

I make name tags showing the residents name and apartment number based on the sign up sheets. Make sure to have blank tags, as there is always someone who did not sign up. The last time that I ran the party, I waited until most of the guests had arrived and then asked them to come in, and take a name tag of someone who they did not know. I then encouraged them to join the group, and ask around until they find the person. Once they find the correct person they give them their name tag. It is a bit confusing to some, because while they are looking for the person they need, someone is looking for them. Even in the confusion, they are mixing and talking with residents who they might not otherwise would have been talking to, so it works out pretty well.

Once the tags are on the right people, they can take a seat. Of course, in the perfect world, they would not be sitting next to their friend who they came to the party with, but that that does happen. As part of my welcome, I tell them that I encouraged talking at this get-together and we take an “oath” together that says that from this day forward that they would not hold a negative thought about a person who asks them their name for the 10^th time, and that they would be assured it was safe to ask the person their name if the person that was talking to them knew theirs.

Having the proper table arrangement for this party is important. Remember that most of our residents will talk with the person on their left, right and across the table from them, but will not usually go beyond that due to hearing difficulties. (And think about it, most of us don’t do it either.) Think about the arrangement of the tables and what will work for their chatter, as well as for your mixers.

Because I know that my group will not get up and physically mix, I came up with a few questions that seemed to work as a mixer. I related the “getting to know you” activity to that of speed dating - where you ask a question listen for the answer and move onto the next person. Basically, I asked them to raise their hands if they like to shop, read, go to movies, play bridge, paint, play chess, etc. and about where they lived in the community, and how long they’ve lived at the community. I encouraged them to look around and see who else was like them. I told them that they could find someone new to do what they liked to do at the party and that it was up to them to make the connections. I have also done other activities with them such as, taking the microphone to them to tell the group about themselves; asked them to interview a person in the group that they don't really know, and then introduce them to the group; tell 2 truths and 1 lie and the group determines which is the lie; name bingo (they must go around and find someone that fits the info. on each square (ie: has a dog, likes the color pink) and asked the individuals within the group questions such as if you had a chance to live somewhere else, where would it be? favorite tv show? if you had a chance to work as something else, what would it be, etc   Check out my resources for these type of mixers.
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In spending time with the group, I did learn that two pairs of people made connections that were new to them. One person learned that her husband worked for the same company as the man she was getting to know. The other learned that they had grown up in the same area as one another. I’m sure that there were more stories that I did not hear.

It was a fun afternoon for the residents who were there 25 plus years all the way to the “newbies” that moved in the past few weeks.

Country Club Theme Party

At my retirement community we have a theme party every other month. My next one is going to be a country club theme. We usually have these special events around the resident's dinner hour, so that they do not have to make a special trip to the club house before dinner.

For the country club theme party, I am asking the residents to dress in their tennis and golf outfits. They love getting dressed for the party and the men really like it when it means that they do not have to wear a jacket into the dining room!

Here are some ideas that I have for the evening. If you have any, please share them with us!!

• Use plaid to decorate the serving tables
• Use a tennis racket (with the head covered in plastic wrap) to serve cheese balls or other hors oeuvres on
• Make a country club style "crest" that represents our community and place it in a prominent place for the party
• Have a putting area for the residents to golf inside. 
• Get some used golf balls and craft items, and have a table for the residents to decorate the balls. (I might do that in the afternoon and have them on display for the evening.)
• Ask the residents to dress as a golf or tennis pro and play a game called "Who am I?" Those who are dressed would be asked not to answer the question, who are you, but could answer any other question asked of them regarding the pro that they are portraying. The person who guesses the most correct pros would be the winner. (Residents would need a note pad and pen for this activity.)
• Decorations could be pictures of tennis and golf pros, golf pictures, tennis pictures (from calendars work well), hanging tennis rackets, golf clubs in their bag out in strategic places, a large clear vase with tennis balls and/or golf balls in it, and a tennis ball cut in half with photos/clip art of well-know golf and tennis logos coming out of it (this could be done from a hanging tennis ball also.)
• Show the movie Caddy Shack
  

Seniors and Exercise article

Here is a great article and two videos about seniors and exercise. The couple in the red shirts are from my community! We were very excited to be featured on the front page of the Life section of the USA Today this morning!!