As the residents of Warren Barr Pavilion remembered their loved ones at a ceremony Wednesday, Belle Spiro thought of her own wedding about 60 years ago.
“I got married during [World War II], and I had four brothers in the army, so we didn’t really do much celebrating,” said Spiro, 91. “I had to work all day and get married before 6 o’clock, and then I had to be at work the next day at my father’s restaurant.”
But she got her celebration Wednesday at the remembrance ceremony’s reception, where the residents of the Gold Coast nursing home were treated to singing, dancing, a large wedding cake and even a sparkling cider fountain.
According to Joanna Peters, director of recreation therapy at Warren Barr, 66 W. Oak St., the idea for the remembrance ceremony came after a brainstorming session at a recreation therapy workshop with caretakers from the nursing home’s other locations, in Evergreen Park and Riverwoods.
“We did it so that they could go to a wedding again,” she said. “It’s such a big part of their lives.”
The wedding followed a mock engagement party in June and a mock rehearsal social in July, where residents offered advice on love and marriage. Peters said one woman who’d been married 32 years advised everyone to keep playing the field and to not settle down.
Warren Barr is home to just over 200 residents. Most are long-term residents, while a few come just for the rehabilitation clinic.
The director of social services, Sara Stassen, said there are six to eight activities planned for each day, ranging from Bible study groups to exercise sessions and luaus.
“If you can’t be home, this is a good place to be,” Janet Burger said.
Wednesday she was remembering the Navy man she married in Kentucky by a blacksmith who shoed horses for a living.
