OPEN HOUSE PROVES TO BE FAMILY AFFAIR

To celebrate two years in operation, families of residents at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau spent Sunday visiting their loved ones at an afternoon open house.

Josephine Swann and her son Russell traveled from Maine for the festivities.

"We're really enjoying it," Swann said as she sat with her husband Oliver, a two-year resident of the home. "We've been here since Tuesday and think it's just a lovely place."

Oliver Swann said although he didn't partake in the games happening on the lawn, ("It's too hot out there," he insisted) he enjoyed talking with his family and the families of the other residents.

"And I like listening to the music," said Swann, who added he looked forward to the event all week.

The veterans facility, located on Highway 61 between Cape Girardeau and Jackson, opened two years ago this month. About 300 people attended the open house Sunday.

Guests and residents played volleyball, horseshoes and croquet, ate hamburgers and hot dogs, and visited with the 140 veterans who are cared for at the home.

"We're even having a watermelon seed spitting contest," said Lori Hayden, a social worker at the home.

Maria Thompson, director of nursing at the facility, said the open house is just one of the activities the home sponsors so that residents have a chance to invite their families to their "home."

It's also a chance for residents and staff members to get to know each other on a more personal level.

"We're a family," she said of the residents and staff. "I think most of us feel that way. There are a lot of staff members here on their day off, and they're bringing their families here too," she said, pointing out a fellow nurse who brought her toddler to the event.

Thompson said in the two years since the home opened, the staff has tried to create a warm, happy atmosphere and invite residents' families as often as possible.

"We want to be the best veterans home in the state, and I think we are," she said. "There are staff members here who feel as close to some residents as they do to their own families."

She said the closer the staff becomes to the residents, the better they are able to care for them.

"There are some (residents) who are now able to go home on the weekends and their family can care for them. They weren't able to do that when they got here, so that means they've definitely improved and gotten better. I think that says a lot for our staff."

Some staff members' children also volunteer at the home. Thompson said her son is at the home almost every day during summer vacation, helping out by doing such things as folding laundry, or simply taking walks and talking with residents.

"A lot of our kids volunteer here," she said. "It's good for the residents, but it's also good for the kids. They get to where they're not afraid to go into any wing, and just start talking to the guys.

"So many of the residents don't have family in the area, or don't have families who can visit, so we bring in our kids as kind of a substitute."

Hayden said the open house was organized by volunteers to commemorate the two years the home has been open. But the main goal was to honor the residents and staff.

"They love it any time they can have their friends and family together at one time," she said.