As I sit here to do what I enjoy
– write about being an Activities Director, I find myself whining that I’m too
busy. I’ve worked Monday through Saturday so far, and will be going in today
for a few hours. I am looking forward to presenting a community favorite again
this holiday season, a student harp recital, but, the truth is I have house
work to do, shopping to get done, and this article. It’s whining, and I know
it! Then it dawned on me that I had my subject for this article….. Wine-ing!
The community where I work has
had a “no alcohol in the common areas” policy since the doors opened. Just
recently, we’ve opened a wine section in our main dining room and have allowed
residents to bring their beverage of choice into the private dining room, which
is assigned to private parties. A staff
representative however, cannot provide alcohol to a community event still. For
example, for themed activities such as an Evening in Paris or Oktoberfest, I
have provided non-alcoholic beer and wines. The residents seem to enjoy them
and those who would prefer the real thing usually make a joke about it and have
a good laugh with me, or bring their own to the wine section in the dining
room.
Recently, I had a new resident
come to me and ask about providing a wine tasting program for the community. I
hesitated a bit at first, but then remembered what I say to everyone about my
job…. I am there to facilitate the resident’s recreational wishes. After
checking with my supervisor, I returned to the resident and told him that he
could host his event. I reminded him of our company’s policy and told him that
if he was the lead-person from start to finish for this activity that it would
be feasible. I told him that I would put
it on the community calendar and advertise it on all the communications formats
in the community. I also told him that I
would provide the cheese and crackers for his event. His job was to secure the
private dining room, collect the money involved, provide the wine and any other
supplies that he would need, such as handouts, for his program. He agreed and
he now has a full list of people interested and most of the money is in his
hands.
I share this story with you
because it would have been just as easy for me to whine and say I can’t
participate in this activity because there is wine involved – but I found a way
to say YES, a way to meet the resident in the middle. It also was a way to add another activity
onto my calendar, a way to permit a resident to get involved and share his
talents with the community, and a way for residents to learn from someone they
may or may not know in the community. I
have found that resident run programs like this are usually pretty successful. I
encourage you to get to know your residents. Listen when they offer to host a
program. Interview them as you would an outside, paid guest and book them if it
seems right. (You know the price will be.) Once you do this a few times, you
might have other residents in the community step forward to share their
passion. It is a win-win situation. CHEERS to a great new year with new activities on your calendar!
p.s. If you are permitted to host
a wine tasting activity in your community, you might be interested in this how-to
host a wine tasting party article from Real Simple magazine.
