Nursing facility holds belated Easter drive-by parade
Published 10:15 am Saturday, April 10, 2021
On Wednesday afternoon, residents and staff of Landmark of Danville Rehabilitation and Nursing Center gathered in front of the building wearing bunny ears and said a socially-distanced hello to their family members, who drove by in their cars.
Some families had signs on their cars with messages of love, and some brought gifts for the residents, like a bucket with a stuffed animal shaped like a frog in it, flowers, balloons and candy. White petals rained gently down in the wind from a nearby tree’s blossoms on the clear, sunny day.
Rachael Young, activities assistant at Landmark, said to let families know about the parade, they sent out a robo-call.
Current visitation guidelines at the facility are that visits are by appointment, residents see families through a screen, and family members must wear masks and face shields, Young said. So because residents are anxious to see and touch their family members, some were wanting to jump up during the Easter parade and go to their families’ cars, but sadly they couldn’t, Young said.
The facility has had two other drive-by parades during pandemic the because of visitation restrictions — one for the week of Mother’s Day and one for Halloween, during which the residents sported “101 Dalmatians” costumes. One man during the Easter parade wore his dalmatian ears instead of bunny ears.
Young said she hopes visitation guidelines will grow looser as families get vaccinated. Residents have already received their vaccinations.