Activities galore at Oaks Retirement Village

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The residents at the Oaks Retirement Village in Wallaceburg have plenty of options when it comes activities at the Wallaceburg retirement home.

Amanda Marchand, the lifestyle service coordinator, says they put on roughly anywhere from 6-10 activities a day.

“They enjoy a lot of activities,” she said. “I try to make it something for everyone. I try to have some that can be geared to at least every person in here running. We do the different levels of things also. I deal with memory care and more cognitively alert, so I try to make some things a little more challenging and some things I try to keep pretty straight forward so that everyone can be included and have fun.”

She said they just went to the Petrolia Playhouse to see the Star Bright Show.

“Next week we are heading to the Sarnia mall to do some Christmas shopping. We will also be heading to the Wallaceburg Museum on the 15th and we will be heading to the Dresden Slots at the end of the month.”

Amanda says fitness classes have been really big hits at the Oaks.

“Fran Betts comes in for this,” she said. “Almost every day of the week we have some sort of fitness program going on. Thai Chi, yoga, we have regular fitness classes also. We have walking clubs. Usually in the evenings or bad weather, we’re indoors. When the weather is nicer we get outside and walk around.”

They love anything to do with baking, Amanda added.

“Anytime I can do a baking afternoon or morning, that’s one of our more popular activities. They get to eat what they bake. If we know we are having a meeting or a special tea or something going on, we try to do it for that evening so we have it for the event.”

The residents also participate in a variety of games, including Kerplunk, mini putt, horse races, and bingo.

Sundays after lunch is the ‘Sunday Social.’

“We get out the good ice cream and the toppings and all that kind of stuff and do a nice afternoon treat,” she said.

The movie theatre is also well utilized, Amanda said.

“During the week I show TV shows,” she said. “So for this month we are doing America’s Funniest Videos and every Saturday we watch an afternoon movie. Every Sunday I run a documentary.”

Amanda said they will hold regular activities as well like word puzzles, brain gym, or a scavenger hunt.

“We do that once a week,” she said. “I tend to take pictures around the building and they have to find what that is and where it is.”

Amanda said they are often working on bigger event as well.

“We are offering a Christmas Casino afternoon and that’s on the 11th,” she said. “So that’s something that we are doing a food drive for. Bring in a canned good, you get your chips and we will donate to the Wallaceburg Salvation Army. That will be the second food drive we have done so far and we are also doing a toy drive this month too.

Amanda added: “The Christmas Casino is bigger. We pull out all the stops, decorating and have casino style tables and have a lot of fun things to do. They do help decorate sometimes. We have a few that are always up and willing to give a hand. Sometimes we will do that as a craft leading up to an event.”

The Oaks tries to hold a formal dinner every few months.

“They get all dressed up,” she said. “Ben usually gets a few people to come in for that. A few extra people to come in. We will do a five or six course meal, wine. We decorate the place quite elegantly and we have a good night.”

Every Monday and Thursday they do ‘Happy Hour’ but Thursdays they always have entertainment.

“That’s a big one, they like to come down to,” she said. “For the Christmas party we will bring in entertainment for that too and that will be their special dinner to invite family to on that day.”

For more information, visit: http://www.oaksretirementvillage.ca/


This article is sponsored content and is a part of our Keep It Local Business Spotlight feature. Contact Dana Haggith for more information – 519-784-4610 or dana@sydenhamcurrent.ca.

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