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Canal-era Christmas celebrated at Valley View |
| BL » News » Canal-era Christmas celebrated at Valley View |
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December 2, 2004 |
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WEST AKRON — Inspired by the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail that runs behind Valley View Nursing and Rehab Center, the staff there has planned a holiday open house reflecting the long-ago era of the Canal.
The event, which will take place December 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the center, 721 Hickory St., is a holiday version of one the facility had last March in cooperation with the Cascade Locks Park Association, the Summit County Historical Society and Hale Farm and Village.
“It’s always been our dream to have this at Christmas,” said Kathy Swingle, Community Relations Representative for Valley View Nursing and Rehab Center. “The residents love these programs, and we’re doing it for a common purpose.”
That purpose is to raise money for Harvest Home, an Akron homeless shelter. Proceeds from a silent auction of 2-foot-high Christmas trees decorated in themes by staff and residents will benefit the shelter. Harbor Light Hospice, Hospice of Visiting Nurse Service, Barberton Hospice and Medical Services Co. are among the agencies also participating in the project.
Swingle said the open house will get under way at 10 a.m. with entertainment from Summit Academy students, who will perform Christmas songs. That will be followed by a choir made up of residents from the center’s specialized dementia unit.
Two members of the Valley View family with ties to the professional entertainment world also will perform. Jean Shepherd, a former resident, is coming back to do a dance recital. Shepherd has taught dance for more than 60 years and was the owner of Jean Shepherd School of Dance and Performing Arts Studio in the Village of Lakemore. Shepherd was under contract with Warner Bros. Studio in the 1940s.
Current resident Steve Lardas will sing at the open house. He toured as a singer and dancer with Debbie Reynolds for 10 years.
At 11 a.m., high school students from the Akron Alternative Academy will be on hand to entertain with storytelling. The students also will have stations set up with artifacts from the Canal era and information on holiday customs from that time.
“We have so many different people coming together, it’s going to be fun,” Swingle said.
She added [that] many staff members at Valley View have created costumes that reflect the heyday of the Canal era. Dee Meyer, a Registered Nurse at the center, has made several costumes with the assistance of Rosemary Reymann of the Cascade Locks Park Association.
For more information on the open house, call (330) 762-6486.
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