Seniors moment: Baring it for a charity calendar
AKRON, Ohio – Grandpa and Granny are stripping again for charity.
Residents of Barberton, Ohio’s Pleasant Pointe assisted living facility recently posed baring (almost) all for their 2016 calendar. Last year, they did the same thing and generated nearly $9,000 for the Esther Ryan Shoe Fund, which provides shoes for children who attend Barberton schools.
After my column ran about the 2015 calendar, I received an email from someone who was bent on raising a stink. She maintained that the residents surely didn’t have mental clarity when they volunteered to wrap up in towels or strip down to shorts and pose for photos that made them appear au naturel.
So when it was time to take pictures for next year’s calendar, I asked the facility’s administration if I could be present when the photos were shot. They put out the welcome mat.
Without question, the fun-loving seniors were happy to model. They laughed, joked and were eager to participate.
Just because a man or woman is old doesn’t mean he or she isn’t handsome or beautiful. And some of the funniest people I know are great-grandparents.
Wilma Purvis, 95, wasn’t pleased that someone would suggest that she and her pals weren’t sharp enough to make the decision for themselves.
“I wrote a letter (to the editor) to tell that woman to clean up her brain,” said Purvis, who has a gorgeous head of silver hair. “And I told her to open her purse and buy a calendar to help somebody.”
Ryan started the shoe fund while working as a school nurse, doing health screenings, giving immunizations, reporting child abuse and detecting pregnancies. She witnessed children who came to school wearing their mother’s shoes because they had none of their own.
“It’s for such a good cause,” offered Anne Moore, 92. “And it’s a lot of fun.”
Some of the seniors featured in the 2015 calendar jumped at the chance to do it again. After all, how many of us can say we’ve been a centerfold?
When the story of the 2015 calendar went viral, wire services, the Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report and the Huffington Post took notice. The models were interviewed on television and autographed calendars.
During a visit to a restaurant, someone told Purvis, who was in this year’s calendar with her late sister, Norma Elfrink, that he recognized her.
“How do you know me?” asked 2016’s Miss March.
“I saw you in a calendar.”
While walking through the corridors of Pleasant Pointe, there were plenty of signs that this was not a boring place to live. Unusual activities seem to be the administration’s forte.
The residents occasionally don silly costumes to put on performances for their families. And on the day I was there, a large plate piled with Hershey chocolate bars, graham crackers and marshmallows was sitting by a rear door. The ingredients to make s’mores were ready for the evening’s bonfire.
The assisted living facility and nearby Pleasant View Health Care Center is a family-owned and operated business.
Teresa Morris, a licensed nursing home administrator, whose grandmother, Olive Allenbaugh, started the business around 1941, said she had no idea the calendars were going to be so popular.
“They all just thought it was a cute idea,” said Morris, chuckling. “They are ornery. I think they get funnier when they get older.”
The residents, including Morris’ mother, Lucy Eileen Morris, came up with the idea – inhibitions be darned.
“I like knowing that everybody looking at the calendar will be getting a few laughs,” 91-year-old Regina Genet said, grinning.
When it comes down to it, there is no better way to stay young than having fun and helping others.
Kudos to all of the 2016 centerfolds.
The calendars are expected to be available sometime in November. The price will be $12 to pick up at the facility, 220 Third St. SE, Barberton, Ohio, 44203, or $14 by mail. To pre-order, send an email with your name, address and phone number to pointe@neo.rr.com.