Nursing home Steinbach celebrates Christmas in July to avoid the summer heat – SteinbachOnline.com

In order to escape the scorching heat, a nursing home in Steinbach has decided to celebrate Christmas in July in a creative campaign.

Sheryl Harder is the recreation coordinator at Bethesda Place.

She says it took a while for residents to get used to the idea of ​​holding Christmas activities on the hottest days of summer.

“They thought we were crazy,” laughs Harder. “And then when we started putting out the trees and stuff, they said, 'I don't know…' And every now and then they would come by and say, 'Oh, that looks nice.' So yeah, it's turning out to be a really good project and idea. I think it's going to be a repeat offender.”

Cordelia Wiebe says setting up the trees and decorations was a tough task.

“We had to find our Christmas trees because they were in storage somewhere and I don't think anyone knew where they were. I had to dig through our original Christmas decorations to find some for the summer. So we invented some, we made some, we bought some. So yeah, it was fun.”

A melting snowman is one of the creative decorations at Bethesda Place for Christmas in July.

The residents were very happy to have help from the children from the Kinder Korner daycare center, who came to Bethesda Place to make tree decorations.

They also watched a Christmas-themed movie: “Horses of McBride.”

“So this girl is up in the mountains somewhere and she's snowmobiling and she sees horses up in the mountains and they're stuck there,” Harder says of the film. “And it's over Christmas, her family is about to lose their farm. She goes there and she wants to protect these horses, and the wolves are on their tail. And she goes there and then the father does an interview and then the whole town and people from all over the world come and they dig a trench in the snow to help the horses get off the mountain. So I'm going to make sure we have Kleenex… and then the farm is saved.”

Amidst all the activities and Christmas music, Santa Claus surprised residents by braving the scorching heat and paying them a visit.

“When you're Santa, you're just naturally cool,” laughed Santa (Thom Doerksen). “Christmas is every day of the year. I live and breathe it; I love the role. If I can help and spread a little joy, then I'm there for it.”

@steinbach_online #Bethesda Place is celebrating #Christmas in #July to beat the #hot #summer days. Recreation coordinator Sheryl Harder says residents have been enjoying the holiday spirit with #crafts, #children's visits and #movies. Even #Santa came by. #SteinbachOnline #Seniors #Manitoba ♬ Original sound – SteinbachOnline