With almost 2 million people attending every year, the Minnesota State Fair is about as Minnesotan as good manners and a game of pond hockey. But for residents at Mt. Olivet Careview skilled nursing facility, attending the festivities is a challenge from a mobility standpoint.
So while they may not be able to attend the fair in person, Mt. Olivet residents have been lucky enough to have the fair brought to their front door — for more than 20 years. This year’s fair took place on August 10.
“We would try to get residents to the Minnesota State Fair and it just became more difficult for the residents to really enjoy the experience,” said Tom Litecky, Mt. Olivet Careview’s director of community relations. “It was dependent upon the weather and all those kinds of things, so the decision was made for those residents who can’t attend the state fair: Why don’t we look at bringing the state fair to our building? So we created our own.”
Rekindling and creating memories at the same time
Careview’s annual fair, which is not affiliated with the Minnesota State Fair, aims to bring the sights, sounds and smells of the nation’s largest state fair (by average daily attendance) to campus for residents, staff and family members alike to enjoy.
Festivities include face painting, classic car showings and, of course, plenty of fried foods. Litecky says establishing connections with local businesses has made the event much easier to organize.
“We research to see who’s available,” said Litecky. “For instance, the mini donut truck that we had last year, the same guy came this year. He does such a good job. We found a petting zoo that has animals that they wanted to bring for us to have here. So we try to recreate [the state fair], just on a smaller scale with the things that residents would see if they were to go to the actual state fair.”
The Mt. Olivet fair is also a great opportunity for residents to socialize with each other, as well as staff members and their families. Litecky notes that the event is known to get even the most sedentary residents out of their rooms.
“It really increases their interest in seeing how many people are joining in and having fun with us,” said Litecky. “It also is an opportunity for the family members to come in and visit and encourage the resident, ‘Hey, let’s go down and have some fun at the fair today!’ They’ll call their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to participate along with them. I think, most importantly, they love having a taste of the state fair foods — the mini donuts, the ice cream, the pickles on a stick. All of those things are provided.”
Because many residents grew up attending the state fair, they are especially grateful for the facility’s effort to replicate the actual event.
“One of our residents talked about how important it is to him because when he was younger, he grew up in Saint Paul, and he talked about going to the state fair almost every day it was in operation,” Litecky said. “So he’s one of the people who’s most appreciative that we do this for the residents… because he knows physically, he’s not capable of going to the fairgrounds any longer. Our goal here is to really advance their quality of life and to do things for them that will fill that void they might now have because of a change in health, or whatever else.”
