I believe that we went from winter to summer, but the residents are enjoying being able to go outside on the patio to relax, get fresh air, sit in the sun and visit with family and friends. We have been having some small group activities on the patio.

With the warmer temperatures, we have planned a picnic for our residents to go on May 17, before it gets too hot for them to be outside safely.

When you plan activities, there are many factors you have to consider, due to our resident’s medications, whether there are breathing concerns, the possibility of getting a sunburn and many other issues.

We always try to keep our residents safe and think about their well being.  We always try to ask them the types of activities they want. Many of them love playing games of all kinds. We try to adapt many of the TV game shows for them to play as a group.

We are getting ready to celebrate “National Nursing Skilled Week,” the week of May 13 to 19. We have many activities planned for our residents about life’s big moments. We will ask about their lives, their careers, weddings in their family or their own weddings. We also will honor our veterans, mothers and volunteers.  We have many more activities planned for the week.

This month, the residents have asked to go back to Mabry Mill, since it is open for the season. We always look forward to getting some fried green tomatoes, breakfast food or their homemade pimento cheese. We haven’t gotten a bad meal yet. This is always one of our resident’s favorite places to eat in the summertime.

After our meal, sometimes we ride down the Blue Ridge Parkway, through Woolwine to see the scenery.  They also have asked to go to Chili’s in Mount Airy, N.C. This is a new place for us, so we look forward to trying their food.

Our bus trips have worked wonders on many of our residents that never came out to activities. Since they went on a trip, and got to know us and other residents, they have started attending activities and making new friends.

We are truly blessed to have a bus and being able to take our residents out. They look forward to their trips and many of them have already planned what they are getting when they go out. It’s not just about going shopping or out to eat. They just like going riding around the county too.

We truly are blessed with all the activities we provide for our residents. Many of those activities are due to our volunteers. We couldn’t offer as many without them, and we are blessed that these people are in our lives and in the lives of our residents.

I can’t thank them enough for all they do. If you would like to volunteer your time or talent, please call (276) 694-7161 ext. 1804 or come by. We would love to have you join the Blue Ridge family.