Monthly music programs just the beginning for Cheney Assisted Living residents

By PAUL DELANEY

Staff Reporter

The familiar tunes from days gone by echoed throughout a portion of Cheney Assisted Living recently and it’s just one of a number of activities that keep residents on the move.

The toe-tapping songs played by the duo of Carl Ruud and Ingrid Spears had residents singing along during the once-monthly musical programs that activities director Lois Fry helps organize. Other performers Fry said the residents enjoy include Bill Oxford and Keith Greenwood.

Spears truly enjoys the times she gets to spend playing music in venues like this. “We’ve done it for about a year and I enjoy making the older people smile,” she said. “It’s payback for me.”

“We have a whole bunch of musical programs,” Fry said of the performances that offer a wide variety of tunes that the residents can relate to. That includes, “A little bit of older country,” Fry said. “We try to keep the tunes familiar.

Music is just one part of a wide array of activities that Cheney Assisted Living provides to residents. “We have a good quality of life here,” Fry said, hoping to refute the oft-held idea that people tend to do nothing but while away the time in their rooms. “I always get irritated when some people say, ‘those poor old souls,”’ Fry said. “Oh no, no, no, these are happy (people), they’re active. And they’re wonderful people.”

Fry is familiar with the other portion of the facility, Cheney Care Center, where residents require more help from staff. The Care Center has residents who are less independent than those in the assisted living portion. The care center includes the Alzheimer’s unit, where Fry once worked.

“Over here they’re more independent,” Fry said. They can pretty much tell you what they want to do, according to Fry. Residents are hardly captive behind the walls.

“We go to the casino and out to lunch at different places,” Fry explained. There are once-a-week shopping excursions, picnics in the summer at area lakes, even a trip to an alpaca farm, she said.

“There are so many things we do.” Fry said. The facility also hosts church programs, exercise sessions and, “Their favorite, bingo. I could go on and on,” Fry said. The goal is to keep everybody hopping and happy and involved with the community, she said.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected]