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EVERYONE WAS IRISH- At Least for a Few Days

text and photos by Betsy Pennink
Betsy's article and photos appeared in the April 2013 issue of Medford Leas Life

Sure and it was a party any Irish person would be pleased with!

March 15 was the official Medford Leas St. Patrick’s Day, and it was the climax of several days of events and preparation.

In the first place, there had been Irish food to make. (Any Irish person could tell you that an Irish potato is not a vegetable but a sweet made of cream cheese, sugar and coconut, and rolled in cinnamon to resemble the real thing.

The residents enjoyed making them and also the rainbow cupcakes, the leprechaun pistachio cake and the cookies.)


Preparing Irish Potatoes



Trying to decide where to go next

But now the celebration had begun. In a sea of shiny green hats and other green ornaments, residents in Assisted Living and Estaugh gathered with an army of staff members and volunteers to go on an “Irish Pub Crawl.”

This turned out to be a sort of treasure hunt, because the path from one spot to another had to be guessed from clues. These clues were printed on rolls of “parchment” and were picked up at each stop in turn.


With a “pusher” behind each wheelchair, the crawl took everyone in small groups from the Large Print Library to the Front Desk, then a pause in the Poplar Room, where Debbie Lux, Landscaping, was giving out four-leaf clover plants in little pots.


Waiting line for four-leaf clover


Debbie and four-leaf clover

Next was the Art Gallery, where each person got
a label saying “I was kissed by a leprechaun.”

After that it was on to the Gathering Room. Here the Fitness Staff had some games: throwing a ball into a big pail, or putting a golf ball, or playing on the roulette wheel.
The last “pub” was the Holly Room. Here the true St. Patrick’s Day celebration began. The large round tables had light green tablecloths and were sprinkled with good luck coins. Beer was served, root beer, that is! Music filled the air as a baritone sang every old Irish song imaginable, punctuated with bits of information about Irish customs and history. There was clapping to the music and much singing along as everyone got caught up in the party atmosphere

Irish music had been a theme throughout the week and especially the night before, when a group of girls, aged 5 to 16, from the Coyle School of Irish Dance had performed exquisite stepdances to the delight of the crowd in the Activities Room. With their colorful costumes and their bouncing curly hair (required, so most wore wigs), they enchanted the onlookers. In both soft and hard shoes, and holding their upper bodies rigid, they danced the intricate steps and kicks of jigs and hornpipes, among other types of Irish stepdances. The girls finished with the St. Patrick’s Dance, a set piece done exactly the same all over the world.

The end of the Medford Leas St. Patrick’s Day celebration came in the afternoon in the form of an “Irish Sweet Shoppe.” Here the goodies made earlier by the residents were served with root beer floats to everyone sitting at the small tables in the Activities Room. Nickie just had to taste a piece of the cake that she had made. Liesel enjoyed her first taste of an Irish Potato. It was a good time to be Irish!