A Day at Circle Center

Each day when she arrives you can hear “Good morning Sandra, how are you today?”, echoing among the participants and staff as she enters the small activity room for breakfast. On today’s breakfast menu is homemade pancakes. The smell of maple syrup permeates the halls and everyone knows Carolyn, our dietary aide, has the griddle hot and ready to serve. Sandra gathers at the table for her breakfast with some friends as they chat about the events at the Center or things happening in the community. Sandra’s smile is broad and brightens the day of those around her.

Sandra makes her way to the Large Activity Room for morning activities and to catch up with friends. Sandra saves a seat for her friends Mildred, Geraldine and Evelyn. They have developed quite the friendship and will participate in discussion groups, card games, bingo, dominoes or other similar games.

Next on the agenda she will make her way to Wellness for our Boost Your Bones program. This is a strength and balance program using exercise bands, weighted hand-sized balls, gross motor, and balance training. This really gets Sandra’s muscles warmed up and ready for the walking program that follows. Each of our participants are assigned a pedometer to track their steps throughout the day. Nick, our Wellness Manager, logs the steps they walk on a daily basis and keeps a chart for them to track their progress. You will often see participants walking a route through the Center.

Sandra makes her way back to the large activity room for either a seated group exercise program, puzzles, or reading. (The center provides opportunities for reading which include a variety of reading materials such as magazines, newspapers and books.) Today Sandra decides to help out by folding the many napkins used here as she encourages her friends to follow the exercises.

Sandra has worked up an appetite and is served a snack of cheese and crackers. On other days she may be served fruit, yogurt, bananas, graham crackers, or nutri-grain bars.

Time to get busy again. There are so many choices … what will Sandra choose to do? Will it be reminiscence in Memory Lane, Women’s Group, Music and Movement, Chair Aerobics or Tai Chi in the game room … nope, it’s the Word Games in the Large Activity Room today for Sandra and her friends. They are busy sorting letters to make new words, or are solving puzzles by identifying the clues. Wow, that was a challenge. Who knew we could make 100 small words from a phrase. Feeling quite accomplished, our four friends are ready for lunch.

Sandra stays in the Large Activity Room chatting with friends as the staff prepares for lunch.

Lunch time! Lunch is catered daily by Feedmore and there is always a variety on the menu. We can tell that lunch is ready by walking up and down the halls. There could be smells of cream of turkey, creole meatballs, baked chicken, scalloped potatoes with a hamburger, Mildred’s meatloaf, chicken pot pie, pulled BBQ, and many other options. Sandra will relax, enjoy her lunch and fuel herself for the rest of her busy day.

Once again there are decisions to be made. What’s on the activity calendar today? Will it be strength training, bingo, arts and crafts, stroke group, or music therapy? Today Sandra decides on stroke group with Sheila, our Participant Care Coordinator. Building skills, accessing community resources, and gaining support from fellow participants is the goal of this group. How time flies when you are having fun and making memories.

Sandra returns to the Large Activity Room for the afternoon snack. Many times our afternoon snack is made by participants in Dawn’s cooking class. Everyone enjoys angel food cupcakes or brownies.

After snack, the day starts to wind down but Sandra does not remain idle. You can find her either bowling on the wii, playing “deal or no deal”, attending the coloring group, or participating in a sing-a-long group with our music therapist. Sandra has been working on developing new skills and working on improving in areas that she wants to gain more strength.

Sandra returns to the Large Activity Room where she may choose a low-key game or two, and there’s always a little more time for socializing at the table with “the girls” and one last conversation for the day.

After a fulfilling and joy-filled day at the center, Sandra is ready to go home and spend the evening with her family. She’ll be back again tomorrow for another day of activities and opportunities for memories.