Gifts donated to Ewing Manor residents
WAYNESBURG – It’s one of those stately old red brick mansions still to be seen around Greene County, with sweeping steps to a front porch studded with columns and framed by fancy windows.
Ewing Manor on Jefferson Road, Waynesburg, hardly looks the part of a personal care facility, it looks more like the big, comfortable home it was built to be in 1902. And that’s how the residents who live there like it.
On Dec. 21, some Harveys Aleppo Grangers came calling, bringing presents for the 15 residents. They also brought something special for the tree twinkling in one corner of the high ceilinged living room filled with sofas, chairs and the light from cosy lamps and tall windows.
“Andrew Corfont from Community Bank donated these,” Grange Master Mary Jane Kent said, holding up a large snowflake ornament. “You can put a photo in the center but what we did was bring a snowflake for everyone and put their names in place of the photo.”
Grangers had brought plenty of gifts, things that might be needed and things to do. Resident Betsy Roush’s penchant for doing craft projects was not overlooked, and robes, slippers and fuzzy throws abounded. Some got chocolate, some got perfumes and lotions, someone got a new blazer to wear to church.
“Nebo United Methodist Church also adopts the residents so they get presents from them and us,” Kent said. “This is our second Christmas and we try to bring four or five presents apiece. We draw names and my daughter, Trish Keller, who works here lets us know what gifts will hit the spot. When we leave we want them to feel that they’ve had Christmas. We visit once a month to sing songs and talk. This is one of our community outreaches and for me it’s a flashback to the 1980s when my husband was in Curry Home and Trish was little. She’d put on little dance recitals and everyone just loved that she came to visit. They were so appreciative. Now I bring my grandchildren because they learn so much. It teaches them to care for others.”
“There’s a lot of people who can’t live alone or don’t have a home so we always have a waiting list,” manor supervisor Belinda Lilley said. “We have room for 16 and right now we’re holding a bed for a woman who is getting out of the hospital. Some of our residents are active in the community and county transportation takes them where they want to go. Some of our residents don’t have family but the ones who do are wonderful about coming and treating everyone like they were part of their family. Our staff treat this place like it was their own home.”
“We’re moms at home and we’re moms here, there’s really no difference,” Keller agreed. “We take turns cooking and we do the cleaning and everything else that needs done, just like home.”
In the kitchen, dinner was being prepared and the good smells of home cooking filled the air. Staff members chatted with residents, or helped them as they passed in hallways or met on the stairs.
In the living room, 2-year-old Alaina Morgan of Clarksville was the center of attention, helping unwrap presents, handing ornaments over to be hung on the tree and dancing from one hug to the next.
The next time these grangers come calling they will be bringing a new table to build puzzles on that can be moved out of the way when other projects needed space in the living room. But for now, all attention was on Christmas, a few days early but who’s complaining? Certainly not the residents of Ewing Manor.
“My grandmother spent her last three years in a nursing home. I wish I’d have known about this place then,” Alaina’s father John Moore said. “It feels like home.”