ST. GEORGE — The first Nursing Home Olympics were held at Kolob Care and Rehabilitation at 178 South 1200 East in St. George on Thursday at 10:15 a.m..
To kick off the event, St. George Mayor Jon Pike was the Key Note speaker. Having worked in the health care field for 23 years, “I have a soft place in my heart for anything related to health care,” Pike said.
The event was the idea of Kolob resident Paul White, who felt that something was needed to bring the Olympic spirit to nursing home residents at Kolob. “It’s about the spirit of winning,” White said. All the events are scaled to match the skills and abilities of the residents, he said.
“I think that is what is so neat about it, that everybody can do a little piece of it,” said, Lydia Nelson, Kolob admissions coordinator. “(White) was able to independently put this together.”
“I applaud Paul for creating the effort and having a good idea that I think can help us think about the same kind of spirit that the Olympic Games promote throughout the world, one of teamwork, camaraderie and friendship,” Pike said during his keynote address.
The first event was the wiggle car race pitting Mayor Pike against two of the Kolob staff members racing down the hallway. Residents, staff members and guests lined the hallway cheering as the music “eye of the tiger” played in the background.
The next event, the shot-put, included the Mayor with two Kolob staff members, heads covered in shaving cream, while participants threw cheese puffs in an attempt to stick as many as possible to their heads.
“We want to thank Mayor Pike for coming out and supporting this,” Kolob Administrator Travis Hoopes said. “Paul is a real ‘go-getter’ and this is a whole group effort with our staff and our residents.”
The Nursing Home Olympics will continue at Kolob for the next two weeks with various events held for the residents each day.
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Paul White (front), Lydia Nelson (left), Mayor Jon Pike, Carrie Hurley and Travis Hoopes, St. George, Utah, Feb. 6, 2014 | Photo by Scott Heinecke, St. George News
Travis Hoopes, St. George, Utah, Feb. 6, 2014 | Photo by Scott Heinecke, St. George News
Wiggle car race, St. George, Utah, Feb. 6, 2014 | Photo by Scott Heinecke, St. George News
Janice Waggoner and Brandi Berger, St. George, Utah, Feb. 6, 2014 | Photo by Scott Heinecke, St. George News
Shot put event, St. George, Utah, Feb. 6, 2014 | Photo by Scott Heinecke, St. George News
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Awesome! I love reading news like this.
Way to go Travis Hoopes! Looking good as always! Great stuff . . .
Creating and having this type of event is important to help kolob residents find ways that are fun and yet build their strength. Prior to being in st George I found ways to be active in cedar city Utah so i joined a group of folks wanting to have a dog park and so we formed a nonprofit which has made progress since forming
Great Job Paul and all who are involved.