 The
annual event features a variety of stations found in both the
nursing home on the south side of Seventh Street and the congregate
building on the north, representing different countries around the
world.
At the beginning of the tour, visitors were greeted by Chaplain
Ryan Edgecombe and Doug Rutter, Christian Village administrator.
Edgecombe took names of visitors and handed out passports to be
stamped in each "country" visited.
The first two stations, located in the nursing home's lovely
common sitting area, represented the United States and Cuba.
Yolanda Ramos, a certified nursing assistant at the village and
of Cuban descent, served up a Cuban rice dish, and Marcia Cook,
community nurse liaison, manned the United States station, serving
an all-American meal of hot dogs.
As visitors moved across the street, the first person to greet
them was resident Ovid Wright, who was selling his Native American
statuary. He explained that many of the pieces were representations
of the Indian gods.
Upstairs, Mexico was represented by village staff member Nereyva
Moralis with the help of her daughter Maricruz and niece Sandra, who
were serving up authentic Mexican tamales with guacamole or salsa
and watermelon water.
Each of the stations was decorated with flags representing their
respective county as well as examples of decorative items, toys,
games, clothing and much more.
At the stop for South Africa, Misty Zimmerman, the director of
nursing, wore a genuine South African top and had several other
pieces of clothing on display, along with statues and authentic
musical instruments. She offered servings of an African rice and
bean dish and talked about the South African culture.
Moving back downstairs, the next countries one could visit were
Japan and Greece.
Bev Naugle and her sister Linda Tice represented Japan. The
sisters, who are of Japanese ancestry, volunteered to help out with
the day and said that their mother is a Christian Village resident.
Their display included beautiful Japanese dolls. Samples of rice
crackers and other Japanese delicacies were offered as well.
On the other side of the room, village staff member Brittney
Cosby offered treats from Greece, including the well-known sweet
baklava. The rich dessert is made with phyllo dough, honey and
almonds.
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Sravanthi Malluri and Joy Whitbeck were serving a distinctive
sweet dessert from India called gulab jamun, which is a sweet bread
that looks like a doughnut hole and is soaked in a rich sugar syrup.
Malluri is of Indian descent and an occupational therapist at the
village. Whitbeck is a registered nurse who been employed at the
village 36 years, but in her college years she spent a year in India
with her aunt. Whitbeck said several of the items in the room,
including Indian literature and Bibles printed in their language,
came from her time spent there.
Included in the many other items on display was a traditional
sari, which is a floor-length wraparound woman's garment typically
worn in that country.
In the station for Germany, Julie King, assistant administrator
at the village, talked about the display of nutcrackers and steins
and explained the board game Mensch Ärgere Dich Nicht.
King also shared that in several of the stations, decorative
items were provided by Katherine Rosner, the village's dietary
supervisor. Rosner's father was in the Navy, and as she was growing
up she lived in a variety of countries, and her family acquired
original items from each place they lived. She then married a
gentleman from Germany, and they, too, have traveled and along the
way picked up several more items. King said that the village was
very blessed in that Rosner was willing to share pieces from all of
her travels to help make the day more interesting and authentic.
The last stop of the day was China. Activity director Gail King
was busy calling bingo to a room full of residents and their guests
and in between was making frequent stops to stamp passports.
When all the stops were completed and passports duly stamped,
they were entered into a drawing for prizes that included gift
certificates to local businesses and eateries.
However, the winners of the eatery certificates would not have
needed them, on that day at least. By the time everyone made their
way through the 90-minute world tour and sampled all the foods
offered, if they walked away hungry, it was certainly their own
fault.
[By NILA SMITH] |
