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Lanark Village helps resident relive fond memories of growing up on a farm
Millie often talks about milking cows and caring for calves and she recently got to show residents and staff how it's done
11/1/2024
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Deron Hamel
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Millie, a resident of Lanark Village, has been entertaining everyone at the Kitchener seniors living community with her stories about growing up on a farm since she moved to the Village in 2017.
These are fond memories, and she gets a smile on her face every time she speaks of milking cows and doing other chores on her family's farm growing up.
Knowing how much these memories mean to Millie, the Lanark Village team recently decided to take her to a dairy farm as part of the Village's Loving Life Project so Millie could relive those cherished times.
The Loving Life Project is an initiative Lanark Village launched in June that creates experiences for residents based on their interests and passions.
These experiences are both individual- and group-based, and Lanark Village team members submit ideas based on conversations they have with residents.
The idea for the trip was hatched by Lanark Village resident services co-ordinator Ashley Smith, who noticed how much Millie enjoys talking about her childhood on the farm.
Millie, accompanied by some of her fellow residents and team members, visited Shiness Holsteins, a commercial dairy farm near Woodstock, where she showed everyone what life was like growing up.
Millie especially enjoyed showing her friends one of her favourite parts of farm life: milking cows.
“Millie talks about farm life all the time and you can see how those memories make her smile,” says Lanark Village fun co-ordinator Lisa Rathier, adding the group also spent time with some newborn calves.
“We all knew it would be a great experience.”
Millie explained that when she was growing up there were fewer than 50 head of cattle on her family farm and that she had to carry buckets of milk from the barn to the storage tank after milking the cows.
At Shiness Holsteins, about 110 cows are milked daily and there is a pipeline delivering the milk to the tank, so times have changed.
“It was awesome to see how happy Millie was to learn about all the advancements the dairy industry has made over the years compared to her years farming,” Ashley says.
Millie's excitement was the highlight of the day, says Lanark Village executive director Bradley Lukas.
“The joy on Millie's face as she got to spend time on the farm could be felt through the photos the team took,” he says.
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