By: Kylea Copeland, Staff Reporter
Several Northwestern students volunteered their time and effort to entertain at The Homestead, a local retirement community, last Thursday at the sixth annual Fall Festival.
The Homestead hosted over 100 guests at the Fall Festival, according to Director Sonna Russell. In addition to friends and family of residents, a number of these guests were volunteers from several different groups. Square dancers from neighboring counties, members of Waynoka band Ruffcutts, area Girl Scouts and several Northwestern students contributed to the retirement community’s festivities.
Food, square dancing and live music are typical of The Homestead’s yearly event, but this year a few members of the Northwestern rodeo team also entertained the residents with roping demonstrations and an opportunity to pet or ride horses. Some of the attending members of the rodeo team also participated in square dancing and line dancing.
“It created a wonderful ambiance,” Russell said.
Joe Berends, a general business major at Northwestern, also participated in the event in addition to regular volunteer hours at The Homestead.
Berends volunteers one day of the week, hosting a trivia game for the residents. At Fall Festival, however, Berends was assigned many tasks including serving, setup and cleanup duties.
“Without volunteer work, it would be harder for the residents to get together,” Berends said.
Interaction is what Russell says contributes to the success of events at The Homestead.
Berends also mentioned the importance of interaction, stating that the residents “like to see new faces.” Vera Straw and Eva Bird, both residents at The Homestead, said they really enjoyed the event.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Bird said.
According to Straw, volunteer work helps the residents at The Homestead and the staff that work on events like the Fall Festival a great deal.
“This event was a success due to the efforts of many people,” Russell said.
Loading ...
