MOOSE JAW — Guests who visited Chateau St. Michael’s last weekend may have been startled to find senior residents dressed like spiders, bumblebees, rabbits, and a whole host of spooky characters. There was no cause for any concern, of course, as the home was simply holding its Halloween carnival.
The carnival involved around 20 or 30 residents and took place recently.
“We haven’t had a carnival here for probably two years now, and this summer was either too hot or windy,” said Krista Bakken, the activity co-ordinator at Chateau St. Michael’s. “Anyways, we decided to have a Halloween (carnival).”
The carnival — including 20 games held across 22 activity stations — was made possible thanks to volunteers with the Girl Guides of Moose Jaw and a few Grade 10 students from Peacock Collegiate. These volunteers showed up at 9 a.m. to get an early start on decorating for the event.
“I had some students from Peacock (Collegiate) needing volunteer hours (for a school program)… so I thought, well, this is a good opportunity to have some teenagers come in and help,” she said. “We also have a few Girl Guides helping… and three of them are (also) my daughters.”
The Girl Guides connection came easily, she said, as Bakken also used to be a Girl Guide herself.
Chateau St. Michaels’ activity co-ordinator usually aims to have one or two big carnivals each year, and the home’s major programming also includes a Mother’s Day and Father’s Day social tea — although, with programming now available throughout the week from Monday to Friday many of these events are spread out.
Social events such as this are great ways for senior residents to improve their quality of life at the home.
“The residents… love stuff like this, and it gets them out,” she said. “Usually on Saturdays we don’t have activities, so this was a good opportunity for them to have an activity on a Saturday… and (was) just a nice, fun afternoon for them.”
The carnival involved residents going from station to station and playing games to earn tickets. Once enough tickets were collected, they could exchange them for a number of gifts at the prize station. As well, a guessing booth included a jar of chocolates and the participant who guessed closest to the actual number got to win an additional prize.
To make sure that nobody celebrated on an empty stomach, the home’s own Chef Jason prepared an assortment of wonderfully decorated Halloween cupcakes for guests to enjoy.
It’s still too early to tell for sure, but Bakken said she’s hoping to hold the home’s next carnival next summer.
“I think this was just a fun time, and I had some help… (with) the carnival. I have two staff members that work under me and we wouldn’t have been able to it without these volunteers,” Bakken said in a message of thanks.
“I appreciate the students (and Girl Guides) that came in and yeah… that helped out a lot.”
Chateau St. Michael’s is located at 525 Seventh Avenue Southeast and can be reached at 306-693-2323. For more information about the home, visit ChateauStMichaels.com or ‘Chateau St. Michael’s’ on Facebook.
