Doris wasn’t a gardener until she moved into Bickford. Out of curiosity one day, she joined the Gardening Club and now, Doris is addicted! Not only does she decide what we will plant and how we will plant them but she determines what the color scheme will be. Doris is so proud of her gardening that any guest who walks into the Branch is immediately taken outside to see her work. And she is never happier than when she gets a dinner plate with her veggies on it from her garden. For all of her hard work watering and maintaining the gardens, we awarded her with the Golden Shovel. She was so proud that she still carried it around with her, showing everyone days later.

Alice is so particular about the food service at the Branch that she has even called Bickford's Corporate Director of Dining Services to speak with him about it. Allison asked Alice if she would be interested in training the new BFMs on proper dining services. Alice couldn't believe she would actually be able to do this! Alice spent 45 minutes of the hour long training talking about how everyone should always have a smile on their face and never say no or lose patience. Allison was shocked. She thought Alice would focus on the meal-taking order, something that she usually complains about but instead, she took a positive and warm approach with the new BFMs. It really encouraged the BFMs to pay attention to how they react to the residents during meal service because they wanted to get compliments from Alice.

Lorraine had been talking about the Marshall County Fair for weeks but her family had requested that she not attend. On the day of the Fair, Lorraine wanted to go but since she couldn't Allison invited her shopping instead. They went to the dollar store with a budget from her son of about $10. So she picked out $10 worth of make-up - her favorite thing. She was so happy that she got to go shopping and had such a GREAT day that she actually apologized to her family for not going to the fair!