Seniors get pumped for Nursing Home Olympics

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard

Raintree Manor residents and staff stamp some tie-dyed T-shirts in preparation for the Nursing Home Olympics. Pictured are, from left, J.R. Juhasz, Edgar Etter, Heather Stiles, James Winston and Amanda Stiles. (Charles W. Johnson photo)

J.R. Juhasz, Edgar Etter and James Winston gather around a table at Raintree Manor covered with brightly colored T-shirts. The shirts have been tie-dyed with a decidedly 1960s flair, and the men take their time as they stamp them with “The Mamas and the Papas of Raintree Manor,” the name chosen for the group of Raintree residents that will attend this year’s Nursing Home Olympics April 29 at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds.

“I like the Olympics,” says Juhasz, who can’t help a bit of self-promotion. “I’m the number one star,” he adds with a broad grin. Juhasz will be traveling with 16 other Raintree residents to compete, and he seems to have supreme confidence in the group’s chances.

“We’re gonna win first prize in everything we enter,” he says, but quickly adds, “if we’re lucky.”

“I think it’s great,” says Etter. “I did it one time before and I had all kinds of fun. And it was educational also.”

Residents already seem to be having a lot of fun just helping with the preparations and practicing for the event, though they are obviously anxious to take on the challenge of the actual competition.

“I think we’ll do pretty good,” Etter says.

“Over 20 other facilities from surrounding counties in the Nashville area will be there too to compete,” says Raintree activities assistant Heather Stiles.

“The theme this year is music,” Stiles adds, “so we did the ’60s and we called ourselves the Mamas and the Papas of Raintree Manor. You’ve got to decorate your entire booth, and we’ve been working on that, and we’ve been practicing for the Olympics too.”

Things seem to be moving right along in preparation for the big event.

“It’s going really good,” Stiles says. “The residents seem to be really excited. Now it’s just getting all the T-shirts done.”

According to Dawn Ledbetter, who is helping coordinate the event at the state level, the Tennessee Healthcare Association has been sponsoring the yearly Olympics for around 10 years, with a variety of events scheduled for the participants.

“We have a beach ball kick, bean-bag toss, wheelchair race, basketball, bowling and trivia,” Ledbetter says. “And we have it for ambulatory and non-ambulatory residents.”

Ledbetter says, with 21 facilities attending this year’s competition, there should be no lack of competitors.

“Some may bring as many as 30 people, some may bring as few as six,” she says, “but there’s usually a good crowd. The oldest participating resident is the one who carries the torch. And they start off the parade.”

The event is open to the public and Ledbetter says the sponsors are hoping for a large turnout.