A Nursing Home that ROCKS
Christine Beaird gazed at the prettiness of her bouquet of red roses like a lighthouse operator gawks at the sea. The beautiful octogenarian and resident of Ridgeview Nursing Home in Jasper had just absconded with the coveted roses as winner of the Ms. Ridgeview 2013 Beauty Pageant. Ten lovely ladies, dolled in their Sunday best, walked, scooted, or were pushed in wheelchairs in front of a packed room for the competition that would make even the most hardened dictator smile.Rev. David Wallace, the amiable former pastor at First United Methodist Church, was the Master of Ceremonies (toting the Gospel with him, Wallace now works part-time at the nursing home facility on Tuesdays and Fridays) and brandished his patented, self-razzing forms of hilarity.
To maintain the propriety of pageantry, each resident was asked a question by a panel of judges, who had the most difficult task of the afternoon. “What is your favorite memory?” “What do you like about Ridgeview?” (answers included “everything” and “the food”). But perhaps the best answer came from Nina Whitson, a beaming African-American lady wearing pearls and a sky blue ensemble. “Love everybody,” she replied when asked what advice she would give to the world. Whitson is known for her cross-stitching talent, which is on display at the nursing home, if you happen to stop by.This pageant is a mere iceberg tip of events that are held every day at Ridgeview. Joette Brown, the untamable architect of such fun (and nursing home honcho), makes life at Ridgeview an extension of her own life, a life beset with treasuries of love and laughter.
“We don’t want any of our residents to feel like they are institutionalized,” says Brown, a 1992 graduate of Walker High School. “We want them to enjoy their time here, and for people not to look upon nursing home life with such dread.”Every day, Ridgeview is humming with nascent things that kindle the soul: chili cook-offs, beauty pageants, guitarists, games, and singing. The halls are rinsed with laughter and patted dry by hugs from staff members who understand their responsibility to the lives of their residents.
Ridgeview recently re-committed to having the very best facilities that it can offer, with a complete renovation of the foyer/reception area. Chairs and tables are more modernized. A giant fish tank gives the area more pep.And speaking of pep, Brown recently engineered a video of several residents and staff (and Brown herself, dressed in a black-and-white striped prisoner’s outfit) of the “Ridgeview Shake,” Jasper’s own version of the intercontinental fad, the Harlem Shake. Ridgeview teaches us that we’re never too old to have fun.
In 2005, Ridgeview partnered with Second Wind Dreams, a nonprofit out of Georgia, whose mission is to “fulfill the dreams of those living in elder care communities, enhance their lives, and change the perception of aging.” Fulfilling a dream at Ridgeview might mean taking a resident to Wal-Mart, eating piece of cake from Ladybugs Deli or a steak from the Bull Pen Steakhouse, or even a trip to New York to model the runway. You can imagine how the difficulties of aging are softened with these Thelma and Louise, bucket list-type moments.
Sarah Christen Ivey, the director of Second Wind Dreams and whose office is located on the Ridgeview campus, says "I love the fact that I am able to work for Second Wind Dreams. I have the ability to bring a bit of light into someone's life—no matter if the "Dream" is big or small—it touches a person's life, and that is pure joy for me. Joette was correct when she told me that you feel sometimes like the Fairy Godmother who waives her wand and makes magic happen!"And magic is literally what is happening at Ridgeview.