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Eagle roves around at the Acres |
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Tuesday, 06 May 2008 |
Golf cart helps residents soar
By ANDREA POTEET
Staff Writer
On a sunny Monday afternoon at Auglaize Acres, Activities Director Barb King revs the engine of the facility’s lengthened golf cart, the Eagle, for its inaugural ride of the season.
“Everyone ready?” King says to the group of four residents sitting in the cart.
“Ready!” they say in unison behind her.
After checking to make sure seats have been found and belts tightened, King backs the cart up and drives it on one of three trips it will make that day around the Acres’ property and the nearby neighborhood.
The cart was purchased last year after King spoke to several local service organizations about the nursing home’s need for outdoor recreation.
“We have a lot of people in our dementia unit that don’t get out of the building,” King said. “This way, they can get fresh air and sunshine.”
The tactic is working, King said.
Many dementia unit residents who have not left the building in years can be persuaded out of their rooms with a promise of a ride on the Eagle, she said.
“Even though the dementia patients may not know tomorrow that they did it today, they had fun,” King said.
King said the Eagle is becoming more popular with all Acres residents, who line up four days a week to ride around the property and to a nearby homeowner’s pond, where they stop for coffee and donuts.
King estimates she takes 16 residents out on the Eagle each day they use it.
The Acres staff operates the cart from the beginning of spring through fall.
They are considering entering it into the Wapakoneta 175th Anniversary Parade.
King said Acres administrators are trying to find out whether or not the trip to the starting line would be long enough to require a trailer.
Acres administrators also are looking into raising funds for a trailer so they can take it to parades in other towns.
The Eagle has all the comforts of a car except for a speedometer, King said, but the cart’s speed is limited.
It is battery operated, so residents can enjoy the ride without exhaust fumes, she said.
“That really makes it nice, otherwise they’d smell gas when they’re riding in the back,” King said.
After a short trip, the ‘Eagle’ returns to the Auglaize Acres parking lot and King helps the four passengers unbuckle their seatbelts and climb out of the cart to let four waiting residents on.
“That was nice,” resident Viola Thuman said. “I got some fresh air.” |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 May 2008 )
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