'Celebrating Stampede finally': Calgary seniors enjoy some horsing around
Seniors at the Amica Britannia retirement residence kicked off their week with some Stampede-themed fun on Monday.
In the first of a three-day series of Stampede spirited events, residents and staff got the opportunity to meet Rainbow, a pony from Butterfield Acres. Rainbow and her trainer were on site in the early afternoon to greet and take photos with residents.
"We're celebrating Stampede finally," said Amica Britannia's general manager, Nimeera Shamji.
"We've got the ponies in and the residents absolutely love spending time with them. It's also a form of therapy, the animals being in the building."
Shamji says a few of their residents had grown up on ranches and have been surrounded by animals all their life.
"So absolutely, this brings back memories and a great feeling of Stampede as well, which has been a tradition here."
Claudia Skyler is a resident at Amica Britannia and she says she feels a special connection with Rainbow the pony.
“Well, I love animals. I grew up on our little farm in Switzerland so animals to me, you know, they're alive and I enjoy them,” she said.
"They know if you really like them, you know, it's the feeling they have when you're touching them.”
Shamji says navigating the pandemic and weighing the social needs and the healthcare needs of the residents hasn't been easy.
"Of course, mental health has been a huge, huge issue and I think the lack of interaction with other residents, family and friends has had a huge impact on so many of our residents," said Shamji. "This is a wonderful way for us to be able to open it up and have visitors come in.”
Later this week, residents will get to enjoy an in-house, staff run costume contest and a pancake breakfast, which is also open to visitors.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Maple Leafs beat Bruins to force Game 7
The Toronto Maple Leafs have beaten the Boston Bruins 2-1 to push their first-round playoff series to a Game 7.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.