Party Brings Holiday Cheer to Seniors

Edna Baum held a brightly wrapped Christmas package in her hands and seemed a little reluctant to open her first present of the season.

“Isn’t this a wonderful surprise?” the 93-year-old said. “And isn’t that pretty?” she said as she pulled a colorful, handmade lap robe from the wrappings.

On her first day at Acacia Adult Day Services, a facility that cares for the frail and the elderly, Baum and about 40 other Acacia men and women were treated to a holiday party hosted by more active seniors from the city’s H. Louis Lake Senior Center.

Acacia’s clients, some in wheelchairs, listened to Christmas carols sung by about 15 members of the senior center’s Young at Heart Singers. They enjoyed cookies and punch provided by the center’s crafts group, and they received lap robes knitted and sewn by the crafters.

Charlotte Medeck, 76, one of the party organizers, said that about 60 members of the senior center’s crafts group spent the past several months getting ready for the hourlong party.

“It makes everyone feel good to do something for those less fortunate than we are,” she said. “We’re all up and around--with various degrees of arthritis.”

Mallory Vega, executive director of Acacia Adult Day Services, said that the more active seniors have hosted the holiday party for their frail counterparts for the past 10 years, bringing pleasure to both givers and receivers.

As the Young at Heart Singers belted out a chorus of “Jingle Bells,” a hearty “Ho! Ho! Ho!” echoed through the room and Sid and Charlotte Morrison made their entrance as Santa and Mrs. Claus.

The couple greeted each of the clients personally, giving a kiss on the cheek here and a handshake there. Sid Morrison told a bearded Nathaniel Danielson that he looked more like Santa than Santa, and he cautioned others that he knew whether they’d been naughty or nice.

The Morrisons, who volunteer to help at Acacia when not dressed as the Clauses, have brought Christmas to the elderly clients there for the past 17 years.

“We want to bring a little happiness into their lives, even if it’s only for a moment or so,” said 80-year-old Sid Morrison. “It doesn’t take any strength,” Charlotte Morrison, 81, added. “It just brings happiness.”