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December 19, 2009

Lighting up with joy

Decorations spark memories for Vilas residents

By RACHEL MOORE

The balsam fir chosen for the Samuel F. Vilas Home's Christmas tree this year was a massive one.

"We didn't even know if we were going to get it in the building," said Administrator Brenda Stiles. "But where there is a will, there is a way."

This is the 12th year she and a group of enthusiastic volunteers decorated the Beekman Street assisted-living/retirement home. It's a three-to-four-day effort, but well worth it, they say.

"When we started we really didn't have anything," Stiles said. "Every year, we keep adding a little more."

For many there, the decorations are therapeutic; they bring back happy associations of years gone by, memories of family.

Bill Roenbeck, who lives at the Vilas Home with his wife, Joan, who has Alzheimer's disease, sees that happen.

Some folks there who have dementia often show little expression, he said, but they transform in the gleam of all that Christmas sparkle.

"They just stop and get a look in their eyes," he said. "It is bringing back old times, for sure, of what they used to have at home.

"It brings back their younger days."

Roenbeck delights in the elaborate decor, calling it "the best Christmas decorations since I left New York, downstate, by the city."

Beautiful by day, the tricked-out Vilas Home transforms into a magical vision at night when the hallways and living spaces glow under the gentle illumination of tiny Christmas lights.

"When it gets dark and they take a look at the lights and they have that one last stare before going into their room, you know that something is attacking their memories," Roenbeck said. "It puts a twinkle in their eye — that's all I can say."

"Every year it is a joy to watch the residents," Stiles said. "It is amazing to be able to watch their expressions."

The extra effort at holiday cheer doesn't go un-noticed by visitors either, she said.

"A lot of the residents consider this their home," she said. "Their relatives are very appreciative — they're pretty impressed with the decorations as well.

"And it makes them feel at home, too."

— Features Editor Suzanne Moore contributed to this report.


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