Guest Post: Village Fair 2024 - A Family Perspective

On Saturday, September 7th, 2024, Perley Health hosted it's annual Village Fair. We have the pleasure of having one of Perley Health's resident's daughter tell you all about it.

"Good Morning,

Wow, another amazing and successful Perley event! Saturday's Village Fair was a total success and incredibly fun for everyone. Mom (Nicole, Perley Health resident) enjoyed every second of the event, commenting over and over again about how much fun she was having and how everyone was so nice and that there were so many activities. As we were coming downstairs to attend the event, we heard the lovely music of the Highland Mist Pipe Band, but first Mom had to stop by Deborah's Gift Shop sidewalk sale to take a look at their discounted and always fairly-priced wares.  My mother absolutely adores the Deborah volunteers, who always treat her with kindness and respect. She loves how they make a fuss over her, especially when we are walking by in our weekly themed costumes and they want to see what we are wearing or asking to take pictures of us in our matching twin outfits. She happily poses for them, soaking in the love and adoration.

[Editors Note: Kudos to the volunteers of Deborah's Gift Boutique for raising $1,260 from the sidewalk sale, with proceeds going to the Perley Health Foundation.] 

After our mini shopping spree, Mom wandered over to the BMO table, trying out the mini-mini-putt (a miniature version of mini-putt) where she got TWO holes-in-one with the BMO staff cheering her on! Then it was off to watch Christiane and Dave dance to Noel D's oldies-and-goodies toe-tapping songs. Mom was swaying to the music, only to be easily coaxed onto the dance floor by Dave (who has always and forever treated Mom like a Queen and makes Mom feel extra special every time he sees her). Mom was in heaven, dancing in front of, what seemed like, the entire Perley congregation of Residents, family, friends and staff being drawn into her reverie, I joined in and the three of us joyfully danced to Noel D's music, never wanting to stop! After the music, it was time for games, games and more games!!! Lupton Hall here we come. We were barely through the doors when Mom spied the cotton candy station and started craving it right away!! It was a popular spot, so we decided to play games, working up an appetite for the delicious sugary snack! Mom wanted to play every single game, and did amazingly well. She even encouraged a little girl who was trying her hand at mini-putt, Mom on the sidelines cheering her on! We were amazed at how popular the balloon twister from Birthday Party Magic was, not only with children, but with teens, adults and the elderly. It seemed like everyone wanted a balloon animal, hat, or the ultimate masterpiece – the balloon-twisted octopus! So, of course, Mom had to have a balloon animal, and since she is a cat person, the young man was nice enough to make her one, which made her so happy that she kissed her balloon cat!!! With the ever-popular selfie-station finally free, Mom & I looked through the large array of dress-up items (great job of having a wide variety of choices) and Mom donned a sparkly gold jacket, with Laura kindly snapping our pictures while Mom strummed an electric guitar like a pro!

Mom was enjoying herself immensely in the Lupton Hall game room, so much so that she did not want to go for lunch!! Even though she told me multiple times that she was hungry, she continued playing games and whenever I tried to lead her out of the hall, she would find something else to play!!!! On the way out of Lupton Hall, our eyes spied artwork that was so interesting that we HAD to have a look! The brilliantly executed ice-storm painting that incorporated actual photographs kept us mesmerized as the Perley artists explained how this and the other displayed artworks were created. Beautiful!!! Off to lunch we went, but we didn't make it yet, because we had to stop by the Perley Health Family & Friends Council table to guess the number of candies in the jar. First prize was a $20 gift certificate to Deborah's Boutique - which definitely interested Mom, but I wanted to win 2nd prize, the actual jar of candies!!! Salivating for “les bonbons”, I filled out my ballot, and one for Mom as well. We finally made it down to the hall past the cafeteria to partake of the perfectly-priced and yummy toonie hotdogs, drinks & chips, cooked and served by welcoming and smiling staff and volunteers. I returned to Mom, to witness many of the wonderful, kind and incredible Perley employees stopping by to say hello to Mom, joke with her, or comment on her cowgirl costume. Mom was smiling from ear-to-ear and in absolute heaven  Again, Mom spoke of how much she loves the Perley and how EVERYBODY is SOOOOO NICE!!!

After lunch, I told Mom about the ice cream parlour, and she practically ran to the pub to get her favourite butterscotch swirl, this time generously provided by BMO. While we were having our ice cream, I was cognizant of the time because I didn't want to miss the chance to make chicken hats with my mom, which we saw perched on many heads throughout the day. When we finally did make it to the Arts and Crafts station, they were getting ready to close up but Ross welcomed Mom to the game room, set her up, then helped her with the craft, before leaving to accompany Trudy for the final musical concert of the day. After help from, what seemed like, the entire art staff, Mom & I finally completed our chicken masterpieces, and proudly wore them to watch the concert from the second floor walkway. Trudy's beautiful singing voice filled the air with her melodic tunes and held us (and all who were fortunate enough to attend the concert) captive, and captivated, by the multiple talents of Trudy, Ross and the band's fantastic instrument-playing. 

Throughout the Village Fair, Mom watched the children with joy and was delighted to see so many family members of all ages participating in all the events and actively interacting with their aging loved ones. It was obvious to me that the Perley Village Fair was consciously (and conscientiously) designed to encourage the elderly to have fun through the loving guidance of their younger family members and friends. We watched as great–grandchildren pushed the giant ball to Great-Grandpa while teenagers coaxed Grandmaman to throw the basketball into the waiting basket they had moved inches away to help her succeed, and adult children placed plastic darts into arthritic hands of their loving parents. The Village Fair was not only fun, it was also, and more importantly, heart-warming.

Thank you for all the work you put into making this an amazingly wonderful day for my mom and for all the residents, family, friends, and loved ones who were fortunate enough to attend this INCREDIBLE event."

- Josée Arranz (daughter of resident Nicole Arranz)

On Saturday September 7th, 2024, Perley Health host it's annual Village Fair. We have the pleasure of having one of Perley Health's resident's daughter tell you all about it.