Christian Village family parade brings cheers and tears of joy
 

[May 15, 2020]    The week of May 10 through May 16 is National Skilled Nursing Week. This is a long standing observance that was formerly called National Nursing Home Week. Because the scope of care given in long term care facilities has evolved into more than the traditional nursing home setting, the name of the observance has been changed so that groups such as those at the Christian Village in Lincoln can celebrate all their staff and residents.

Christian Village offers a traditional nursing home environment for those who need that type of care, but they also offer so much more including assisted living and Rehab to Home services where residents are there only until they recover from a specific injury, surgery, or illness.

On Wednesday afternoon TCV hosted a family parade for residents. It was a great event and very well attended. Community Liaison Janell Woolard said that the event had around 50 vehicles pass through filled will family members of residents all anxious to wave and shout out to their loved ones that they haven’t seen face to face for quite some time.

The event was organized by the Activities Department at TCV. They took into account those of their residents who would be able to spend some time outside and then notified family members that the parade would take place at 2 p.m.

Well before that, cars were lining up along Postville Drive in Lincoln awaiting their opportunity to drive the length of Seventh Street between the skilled nursing center and the assisted living apartments (congregate building). Residents were accompanied outside by staff and lined both sides of the street in anticipation of the parade.

All the residents were brought out with lots of blankets as it was a little brisk on Wednesday afternoon. They wore their masks as they were coming out as did all the staff. They were placed at least six feet apart from one another. However, many residents couldn’t resist taking off the mask as the parade got underway so that their family could see the smiles and hear their shout outs.

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The staff at TCV were overjoyed. People like Woolard and Julie King, whose hearts are bigger than their bodies were in tears as they saw the families come by. Many cars were filled with multiple family members. Windows were rolled down, signs and balloons were being held out and there were lots of cheers and happy greetings exchanged between the vehicle passengers, residents, and the staff.

One resident was overjoyed at seeing her family. After they had all passed by she expressed her happiness saying that she could just float away with the balloon she was holding.

The balloon she referred to was one of dozens that had been brought out by staff after the residents were all in place. Each resident was offered a balloon to hold during the parade. When the last car had passed through, the balloons that contained messages tied to them were released into the air. With a brisk breeze blowing, the balloons were soon gone from sight.

Woolard said that the staff at TCV and the residents were thrilled with the day and the turnout. She also wanted to send out a special word of gratitude to the Lincoln Police Department who came out to lead the parade, just as they do all the other parades in the community.

It was a wonderful day for many, not just the families and the residents, but also for the staff who were so happy to see their residents happy. Many shouted out greetings to the passing cars and also received kind words of encouragement from the passengers of the cars.

[Nila Smith]