The days are passing quickly and we're starting to make plans for Halloween. Our Cooking Club has been putting their heads together trying to come up with a creative treat to pass out to our little visitors on beggars' night. Residents and staff absolutely loved what they finally decided on—cookie dentures!

Billie Hailey, our rehabilitation manager, and her therapy team are always looking for interesting ways to improve physical therapy sessions for our rehab residents. They've been hoping for the chance to enhance therapy outcomes through aquatic exercises. Water’s natural buoyancy allows patients to move in the water without the stress of land-based exercises and the water’s resistance improves progress. After sharing some of the team's “out of the box” ideas with Michelle Smollen, our licensed social worker, they decided to initiate a poolside therapy session. Michelle and her husband, Tom, were kind enough to recently invite our rehab patients to their home for an aquatic therapy session that was topped off by a wonderful cookout. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful afternoon and hope to have the opportunity to do this again next summer with our rehab patients. This is just another example of the unparalleled dedication and teamwork of the Liberty Mansfield staff.

When Barbra Wilson came to our facility's dementia unit a little over a year ago she was frequently agitated and combative, making family visits very discouraging at times. Thanks to the keen observation of Diana Johnson, Liberty Mansfield's Dementia Life Enrichment Coordinator, Barbra's talent and deep love of music was uncovered.

It’s county fair season again, so we’re looking forward to the Richland County Fair’s ageless beauty contest. The pageant features local nursing home residents, who compete for a crown and year-long titles of King, Queen and Duchess. We’re proud that last year’s Queen was our very own Betty Jones, and shortly she’ll be passing the crown on to her 2019 successor. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Betty for her diligent efforts as she headed up Liberty Nursing Center of Mansfield’s welcoming committee this past year. As a result, she had the pleasure of meeting Matti-Lynn Chrisman, 2018’s Miss Ohio, when she visited our community several months ago. Here, Betty and Matti-Lynn are meeting in our community room where Betty passed on a few insightful tips about the responsibilities of wearing the crown. We’re all looking forward to the announcement of 2019’s ageless beauty winners!

The newest member of our Liberty team, Einstein, came to us as a rescue from a local animal shelter. He works long shifts making his daily rounds, bringing smiles and unconditional love to residents as well as visitors. Who can not feel joy when this four-legged cutie comes to investigate and visit!

The opportunity of a life time for resident Allan Cline, was to meet and shake hands with our Vice President—Mike Pence. Allan is very active in our political process and he's visited often, here in the community, by local politicians. In fact, Mr. Cline and Congressman Troy Balderson have become good friends. So, to surprise Allan with a great day, Congressman Balderson and State Representative Mark Romanchuck made it possible for him to recently be guest of honor at the Ohio State House. The true highlight was meeting and shaking hands with Vice President Mike Pence. Allan thanks everyone who put for effort to make this day possible. He's a proud American, and is delighted to be a part of a community that is active in the political process.

There's no better way to take advantage of these last beautiful, warm days than to see if the fish are biting. That's just what some of our gentleman residents did on a recent outing. We packed up our poles and bait, stopped for a delicious bucket of chicken and headed to the lake. Sad to say we returned without a catch, but we had lots of stories to share. It was a wonderful, relaxing and memorable afternoon.

Our courtyards are in full bloom this summer thanks to the talent and efforts of resident Allan Cline. Liberty residents and visitors alike admire the fruits of his labor as he transforms our courtyards during the growing season. Starting in early Spring, Allan begins creating his master plan, choosing a color scheme and making plant selections. We are extremely grateful to Alta Florist Greenhouse for their generous plant donations as well as Lowe's Garden Center for a substantial plant discount. Allan takes pride in his hard work and enjoys watching people take in the beautiful colors and smells.

The week of May 13-19, skilled nursing centers around the country observed National Skilled Nursing Care Week. Our community joined in with a week of exciting activities. We started with a recipe sharing day and enjoyed a delicious lemon chiffon cake from a 100 year old recipe contributed by a family member. Our ice cream social was a hit and made us realize that everyone loves ice cream! However, the most