Sample Assisted Living Activity Calendar

February 2020 Assisted Living Activity Calendar

For each day, find creative activities that you can easily add to your current senior activity calendar for your nursing home or assisted living.

TIP: Click on the links in the calendar box below to see more information about each activity.

Fun Activity Ideas for February
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
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TIP: Use the following monthly themes as inspiration for activity ideas.

February is ...

TIP: Click on the following days of the month to see activity ideas for that specific day.

TIP: Click on the highlighted links below to get more information (instructions, recipes, or pictures) to assist with completing the activity.

1

Trip to Punxsutawney, PA

As Groundhog Day nears, get residents ready by showing them a short video about the historic town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Baking Club: Groundhog Day Cupcakes

Encourage residents to make a batch of Groundhog Day cupcakes to serve on Groundhog Day on February 2.

Groundhog Eve Prep

Help your residents get ready for Groundhog Day by inviting them to watch the classic 1993 movie Groundhog Day in your Activity Room. Serve popcorn and candy.

How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck... Social

In anticipation of Groundhog Day tomorrow, invite residents to try to say the woodchuck tongue twister. Afterward, pass out a sheet of tongue twisters to each resident to read as you go around the room, having each person read a tongue twister out loud when it's their turn. Serve cookies and tea as a snack.

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2

Crafts: Football Goodie Bags

Recruit residents to help you get ready for the big game later this evening by assembling football goodie bags. For the craft, simply place masking tape in the shape of a football onto brown paper lunch bags.

Groundhog Day Spelling Bee

Invite residents to compete in a Groundhog Day spelling bee to spell words like Punxsutawney, prognosticator, and other wintertime words.

Groundhog Day Caroling Social

Lead residents in a sing along to sing Groundhog Day carols on this Groundhog Day. (In order to sing the song, look at the song within parentheses that is listed directly below each song title to know how to sing the song.) Serve the Groundhog Day cupcakes made by the Baking Club on February 1st.

Super Bowl Bingo Night

Pass out Super Bowl bingo cards for residents to mark as they watch Super Bowl LIV in Miami Gardens, Florida.

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3

Trip to the Library

For this Library Lovers' Month, take residents on a trip to your local library. Call ahead to arrange for a tour of the library for your residents.

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Lunch

Coordinate with Dining Services to provide a grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch for residents to enjoy on this cold day.

Rockwell Art

Persuade residents to tap into their inner Norman Rockwell on this birthday of the famous illustrator of realism, by capturing what they see onto paper. Set up chairs near a large picture window and supply residents with paper and pencil to sketch the landscape.

Arctic Air Social

On this wintry day, quiz residents about their knowledge of winter vocabulary as you read a definition and ask residents to give you the winter vocabulary word. Serve fruit as a snack.

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4

Cancer Wreath Pins

For this World Cancer Day, invite residents to make cancer awareness pins using pipe cleaners, hot glue, and pin backs. Use different colored pipe cleaners to correspond with the type of cancer awareness.

World Cancer Rock-a-Thon Fundraiser

Arrange for residents to rock in your facility's rocking chairs to raise money for cancer research on this World Cancer Day. Beforehand, contact family members and ask for donations of $5 for every 15 minutes that their loved one rocks in the rocking chair (with a maximum donation of $20).

Snowman Stack

Encourage residents to compete against one another in a snowman (marshmallow) stack, in which residents use chopsticks to stack three large marshmallows on top of one another to make a snowman. Use a stopwatch to see who can stack the most marshmallow snowmen in under a minute.

Winter Memories Social

Invite residents to reminisce about their past winters and the wintertime traditions that they had with family, like ski vacations or snowball fights. Serve cupcakes as a snack.

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5

Baking Club: Spiced Apple Cake

Encourage residents to bake a spiced apple cake to serve during the afternoon social.

Winter Cookie Decoration Contest

Supply residents with ginger cookies, icing, and piping bags (Ziploc bags with the corner cut off) to compete in a winter cookie decorating contest. Encourage your facility's Administrators to vote on the best winter decoration.

Low-Vision Support Group

Encourage your low-vision residents to gather at a meeting during this AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month. Invite several department coordinators to attend to discuss ways in which their departments can improve services for low-vision residents, like enlarging the print on Dining Room menus or adding more large-print books to your facility's library.

Cold Snap Social

As the cold weather blows outdoors, invite residents to stay warm indoors as they eat the spiced apple dessert made earlier today by the Baking Club.

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6

Crafts: Salt-Dough Love Birds

Show residents how to create salt-dough love birds to use as decoration for Valentine's Day.

Snowy Pine Cone Snacks

Invite residents to assist you with assembling snowy pine cone snacks using Chex chocolate cereal, pretzel sticks, peanut butter, Nutella, butter, and powdered sugar. Have residents sample the treats at the upcoming Tea Sampler Social.

Winter Window Decorations

Print out several winter-themed coloring pages, like a landscape or a scene, for residents to assist with creating window decorations. For the activity, go outdoors and tape the coloring pages to the outside of a window so that the picture is facing indoors. Then back inside, provide residents with white chalk markers to trace the coloring page so that the image is on the window. Finally remove the taped coloring pages outdoors to reveal the beautiful winter design.

Tea Sampler Social

Keep residents warm by providing them with an array of hot teas for them to sample. Encourage residents to vote on which tea they prefer. Serve the snowy pine cone snacks made earlier.

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7

Heart-Healthy Exercise

Invite residents to improve their heart health by joining your Exercise Class today on this National Wear Red Day.

Wear Red Day Tea Party

Invite residents to wear red in support of this National Wear Red Day, a day to raise awareness about heart disease in women. Encourage residents to wear something red to the tea. Coordinate with Dining Services to serve tasty desserts and hot tea for residents to enjoy.

Red Lips and Nails Makeover

Set up a makeup booth in your Activity Room to give residents a lipstick makeover featuring ruby red lipstick and to give manicures featuring red nail polish on this National Wear Red Day.

#GoRedWearRed Social

Encourage residents and staff to wear red on this National Wear Red Day. Take pictures of residents and staff members in their red to send to family members. Serve red foods, like cherry gelatin as a snack.

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8

Winter Luminaries

Assist residents with assembling pine cone Mason jar luminaries to use as table centerpieces this season on your Dining Room tables. For the project, use Mason jars, pine cones, lace, twine, hot glue, Epsom salt, a snow medium like Snow-Tex, and battery-operated tea lights.

Tart Trivia

In celebration of this National Grapefruit Month, host a tart trivia contest in which you ask trivia questions. Whenever a resident gives a wrong answer, then he or she must drink a shot of grapefruit juice.

Mentoring Program

For this Youth Leadership Month, host a mentoring session with residents and their grandchildren. Set up several different activity stations, like a sewing station or a woodshop station, where the residents can teach the kids so that the kids can lead and teach others.

Supermarket Circulars Social

In recognition of this Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month, pass out weekly supermarket circulars for residents to compare prices of today with what they remember paying for groceries. Serve cookies as a snack.

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9

Crafts: Finger-Knit Hearts

Show residents how to finger-knit hearts to give to their grandchildren as gifts for Valentine's Day.

Strawberry Pizza

In recognition of this Fabulous Florida Strawberry Month and National Pizza Pie Day, encourage residents to bake a unique strawberry pizza.

Extreme Weather Social

In recognition of this wintry month, invite residents to learn more about weather by conducting fun weather-related science experiments. Serve veggies and dip as a snack.

Snow Moon Nightcap

Host a fun Snow Moon nightcap for your residents on this day of the Full Snow Moon. Serve warm cookies and juice as a snack near a large picture window.

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10

Baking Club: Vanilla Cupcakes

Invite residents to make vanilla cupcakes to serve at this afternoon's Tu B'Shvat Social.

Tree Cupcake Toppers

Encourage residents to make pom-pom trees cupcake toppers that can be used to decorate the cupcakes that were made earlier by the Baking Club. Simply wrap colorful yarn around a piece of cardboard and tie a knot before cutting the loops. Shape the tree before hot-gluing the pom-poms to lollipop sticks that can be inserted in the cupcakes.

"Pineapple" Centerpieces

Assist residents with assembling Tu B'Shvat centerpieces by using grapes and toothpicks to make pineapples.

Tu B'Shvat Social

Educate your residents about Tu B'Shvat on this Jewish New Year for the Trees. Serve the cupcakes that were made earlier by the Baking Club, and add in the cupcake toppers that were made earlier.

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11

Oatmeal Bar

Coordinate with Dining Services to provide an oatmeal bar for your residents to enjoy during this National Hot Breakfast Month.

Romantic Read

Honor this Creative Romance Month with residents by hosting a weekly reading session where you read a chapter of a romantic novel.

Indoor Hockey

Show residents how to play a winter sport like indoor hockey. To play, divide seated residents into two teams, with each team facing one another. Provide brooms to the residents to hit a soft Nerf ball under an opposing team member's chair to score a goal.

Strawberries and Cream Social

Enjoy this Fabulous Florida Strawberry Month with residents by serving strawberries and cream. Ask residents if they have ever had a fruit tree or small fruit orchard in their garden.

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12

Unlucky Penny Game

Invite residents to play the unlucky penny game on this birthday of President Abraham Lincoln. To play, place 15 pennies on the table and go around the table and have each person pick up one, two, or three pennies. The person who picks up the last pennies loses. Whenever someone loses, have them get up from the table, and then continue with another round of the game with the remaining participants. Continue playing until there is only one person left.

Pretzel Log Cabin Challenge

Supply residents with pretzel rods, pretzel sticks, and hot glue to see who can build the best log cabin on this birthday of President Abraham Lincoln. Provide your volunteers with serrated knives to assist residents with cutting their pretzel rods to the desired length.

Love Letter Advice

Help the men in your facility write love letters to their loved ones by giving them love letter starting lines. Provide each of the men with stationery and a pen to write their love letters.

Penny Slide Social

In recognition of this birthday of Abraham Lincoln, set up a fun game of penny slide during your afternoon social using a long table in your Activity Room. To play, have residents slide pennies across the table to see whose penny stops closest to the end of the table without falling off the table. Serve chocolate chip cookies as a snack.

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13

Crafts: Paper Valentines

Assist residents with crafting paper valentines for Valentine's Day. Use pink cardstock, red curling ribbon, a black marker, and a hole punch for the craft.

Pick-Up Line Cookies

Encourage residents to make pick-up line cookies to serve to residents on Valentine's Day. While residents are baking the cookies, recruit a volunteer to type up the cheesy pick-up lines (shown on the website above the fourth picture) to place within the pink fortune cookies.

Dancing to the Radio

Invite residents to get up and move by dancing to the radio on this World Radio Day. For the activity, invite residents and staff members to pair up and begin dancing as you play music. Once you stop the music, have everyone switch dancing partners. Keep playing music and encouraging residents to switch partners each time the music stops.

Musical Bingo Social

Celebrate this World Radio Day with your residents by playing a game of musical bingo. Beforehand, create bingo cards featuring song titles of big band songs. (On the YouTube website, click "Show More" to view the song titles.) Then during the activity, play the songs, and encourage residents to identify the song titles and find it on their bingo card. Serve fruit as a snack.

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14

Ring Around the Roses

Set up a vase of silk roses on the floor and pass out rings for residents to toss to see if they can get their ring completely around the vase of roses.

Kissing Booth

Set up a Valentine's Day kissing booth in your Activity Room to encourage residents to stop by to get a kiss or two.

Valentine Manicures

Give the ladies of your facility valentine manicures for the day.

Box of Chocolates Tasting Social

Supply residents with boxes of chocolates to taste test on this Valentine's Day. Encourage residents to try to guess the filling of their chocolate before they eat it.

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15

Snowball Fling

Pair up residents with volunteers or staff members to see which resident can use a spoon to fling the most mini marshmallows into their partner's (the volunteer or staff member's) mouth.

Winter Fair

Host a fun winter fair in your Activity Room, and set up several carnival games, like Ring Toss or Bean Bag Toss, for your residents to enjoy.

History Review Social

For this National Black History Month, discuss the various inventions and discoveries made by African-Americans. Afterwards, encourage residents to discuss the evolution of race relations in America. Serve tea and cookies as a snack.

Saturday Night Date Night

Host a fun date night for the couples in your facility. Encourage residents to dress up for a night on the town at a local restaurant.

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16

Crafts: Winter Birdfeeders

Assist residents with crafting winter birdfeeders using unflavored gelatin, birdseed, a muffin pan, and string.

Cabin Fever Contest

Host a checkers tournament to help residents fight off their cabin fever this winter. For the tournament, set up a checkers board on each table in your Activity Room and have the winners play one another until there is only one winner left.

Wedding Photos Social

Celebrate this National Wedding Month by inviting residents to bring their wedding photos to your afternoon social to pass around. Serve cake and champagne as a snack.

Long Johns & Cocoa Nightcap

Encourage residents to stop by your Activity Room for a hot cocoa nightcap before they turn in for the evening. Set up a hot cocoa bar with marshmallows and peppermint sticks.

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17

Putting the Presidents in Order

Divide residents into teams and provide each team with photos of the presidents to put in order on this Presidents' Day. To make the task a bit easier, write the names of the presidents on the back of each photo. Award a prize to the first team to place all the presidents in chronological order.

American Flag Marshmallow Pops

Invite residents to assist you with assembling flag marshmallow pops to pass out to everyone on this Presidents' Day. Use stacker marshmallows, edible writers, toothpicks, and colorful straws for the treats.

Was It George or Abe?

Quiz your residents with presidential trivia to see if they can identify whether it was President George Washington or President Abraham Lincoln who you are describing. (The answers are found at the bottom of the pdf.)

Staying Warm Social

Serve a variety of hot drinks for residents on this cold day, like hot tea, hot cocoa, and hot toddies.

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18

Nurse's Notes

For this Wise Health Care Consumer Month, invite your facility's nurse to speak to family members and residents about the types of health care decisions that should be made at this time.

Decluttering the Closets

For this Declutter for a Cause Month, assist residents with cleaning out their closets to donate items to a local homeless shelter.

Library Computer Class

For this Library Lovers' Month, take your residents to the library to hop on a few of their computers so that you can show your residents how to surf the Internet.

Whiteout Conditions Social

On this wintry day, set up your afternoon social near a large picture window for residents to enjoy the winter scenery. Then serve a variety of "whiteout" snacks, like powdered donuts and hot white chocolate with marshmallows.

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19

Baking Club: Chocolate Chip Winter Cookies

Invite residents to bake chocolate chip winter cookies using dried cherries and nuts for the upcoming Winter Starry Night Nightcap.

Red Hat Ladies Volunteer Project

Encourage the red hatters to make no-sew fleece hats to be donated to a local homeless shelter.

Wind Howling Social

Keep your residents from the cold winds outdoors by hosting a fun dominoes tournament in your Activity Room. Serve cheese and crackers as a snack.

Winter Starry Night Nightcap

Attach white string lights to the walls in your Activity Room to create a winter starry night atmosphere for a fun nightcap for your residents. Encourage residents to stop by for a cup of hot cocoa and the winter cookies that were made earlier by the Baking Club.

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20

Crafts: Ice Ornaments

Assist residents with assembling ice ornaments to hang on the trees in your facility's front yard. Use cookie cutters, tins, water, and string for the project.

Sweet Treat Demonstration

For this National Cherry Month, host a fun sweet treat baking demonstration of Double Chocolate Cherry Muffins. Allow the muffins to cool before serving them to passersby.

Library Tour

Take your facility's new residents on a tour of your facility's library during this Library Lovers' Month.

Spiced Cider Social

Whip up a batch of spiced cider using your coffee machine for residents to enjoy on this cold day.

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21

Indoor Spa Day

For this National Grapefruit Month, use grapefruit, olive oil, and sugar to make a grapefruit sugar scrub that can be used to give hand massages to your residents.

Winter Photo Display

Recruit residents to help you organize winter photos that you have taken around the facility in the past few months, and then place them in photo albums.

Baking Demo

Celebrate this Bake for Family Fun Month by having a staff member from Dining Services demonstrate how to create a tasty baked good, like a quick winter bread.

Sour Social

Entice residents to enjoy the afternoon with a piece of fresh grapefruit during this National Grapefruit Month.

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22

Baking Club: Homemade Cherry Pie

During this National Cherry Month, encourage the Baking Club to make a homemade cherry pie for residents to sample at the upcoming Winter Picnic Social. If time permits, teach residents how to make a lattice-top pie crust for the pie.

Quarter Pass Game

On this birthday of George Washington, play a fun game using his profile on the quarter as you teach residents how to play Quarter Pass using dice and quarters.

Curling Up With a Good Book

Fill your activity cart with books from your facility's library to pass out to residents in the hallways as you encourage them to curl up on this winter day and read a good book.

Winter Picnic Social

Coordinate with Dining Services to provide a winter picnic for residents in your Activity Room. Serve the cherry pie that was made earlier by the Baking Club, along with hot tea and cookies.

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23

Crafts: Wooden Angels

Assist residents with crafting wooden angels to use as decoration for the upcoming Lent and Easter season. Use wooden pegs, paint, small feathers, tacky glue, silver cording, and embroidery thread for the craft.

Snow Day

Persuade residents to take a "snow day" by working word search puzzles and crossword puzzles throughout the day. Set up a stack of the puzzles for residents to freely collect. (To find the solutions for the crossword puzzles, scroll down the crossword puzzle website and click on the "Printable Crossword Solutions" for the month you are using.)

Black History Social

Invite residents to watch the PBS documentary A History of Black Achievement in America (2005) during this National Black History Month. Serve popcorn as a snack.

Strawberry Daiquiri Night

Play fun music as you hand out Virgin Strawberry Daiquiris to residents during this Fabulous Florida Strawberry Month.

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24

Baking Club: Ginger Cookies

Encourage residents to bake ginger cookies for the upcoming Hot Cocoa and Warm Cookies Social.

Mardi Gras Eve Chandeliers

Recruit residents to help you construct Mardi Gras chandeliers on this Mardi Gras Eve to decorate your facility. Use colorful plastic beads, and cut them and hang them at different lengths from a wire wreath.

Heart-Health Program

Invite a speaker like your facility's dietitian to speak to residents about healthy foods that are good for the heart during this American Heart Month.

Hot Cocoa and Warm Cookies Social

Keep your residents warm on this cold day by serving them hot cocoa and the warm ginger cookies that were made earlier today by the Baking Club.

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25

Baking Club: Baked Beignets

Encourage residents to make baked beignets to serve at the upcoming Mardi Gras Happy Hour Social.

Bead Tree

Pass out Mardi Gras beads to residents to toss on one of your large trees in your facility's front yard to create a bead tree.

Masquerade Balloons

Recruit a resident to assist you with making masquerade balloons on this Mardi Gras by tying Mardi Gras masks around inflated balloons. (To make the Mardi Gras masks, print out Mardi Gras mask templates onto colorful scrapbook paper and hot-glue ribbon to the sides to tie the masks around the balloons.)

Mardi Gras Happy Hour Social

Host a fun Mardi Gras happy hour social for residents to enjoy on this Mardi Gras. Hire an entertainer to play New Orleans-style music for residents to enjoy as they sample the beignets that were made earlier by the Baking Club.

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26

Winter Olympics: Table Hockey

Seat residents around a long table to use their hands to hit a balloon back and forth, trying to knock the balloon off the table on their opponent's side (the opposite side of the table of where they are sitting).

Winter Olympics: Shuffleboard Curling

Gather your shuffleboard stick and discs to play a fun game of curling on your Activity Room floor. Use tape to create a target on the floor for residents to hit with the shuffleboard discs.

Winter Olympics: Giant Bowling

Place two-liter bottles on the floor as the bowling pins and provide residents with a large beach ball to knock down the pins.

Winter Olympics: Granola Social

Help residents build up their strength for the Olympic games by serving homemade granola bars.

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27

Crafts: Crystal Snowflakes

Encourage residents to hang snowflakes on their windows indoors by making crystal snowflakes using pipe cleaners, borax, water, string, and jars.

Baking Club: Pink Fuzzy Slipper Cookies

Assist residents with assembling pink fuzzy slipper cookies for this evening's nightcap, using Nutter Butter cookies, peanut butter, whipping cream, and candy melts. (On the website, scroll down the page to view the recipe and instructions.)

Hot Cocoa &... Social

Set up a hot cocoa bar in your Activity Room for residents to personalize their hot chocolate with a variety of toppings, like butterscotch chips, whipped cream, or even peppermint schnapps.

Fuzzy Slipper Nightcap

Invite residents to wear their fuzzy slippers for a fun nightcap in your Activity Room. Pass out the pink fuzzy slipper cookies that were made earlier by the Baking Club as a snack.

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28

Heart-Healthy Breakfast

In recognition of this American Heart Month, coordinate with Dining Services to provide a heart-healthy breakfast for residents, like fat-free yogurt with granola, cantaloupe with fat-free cottage cheese, or avocado toast with egg.

Neon Yellow Balloon Volleyball

During this AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month, host a fun balloon volleyball game for your residents featuring brightly colored balloons to help your low-vision residents see the balloon better.

Jigsaw Puzzle Contest

Supply residents with winter-themed jigsaw puzzles to see who can complete their jigsaw puzzle first. If you have smaller puzzle (under 50 pieces), then make it a blindfolded puzzle contest, in which residents can only look at the picture of the puzzle for one minute before trying to solve the puzzle without looking at the picture.

Winter Sweater Fashion Show Social

Host a fun winter sweater fashion show, where you invite your residents to wear their favorite winter sweater. Serve cookies and hot cocoa.

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29

Library Computer Class

For this Library Lovers' Month, take your residents to the library to hop on a few of their computers so that you can show your residents how to surf the Internet.

Leap Year Social

Host a special social on this Leap Day by encouraging residents to create a Leap Year bucket list, listing the things that they would like to do within the next four years. Serve homemade marshmallow frogs as a snack.

Manicures & Makeup

Recruit a staff member or volunteer to give manicures to the residents and assist the ladies with their makeup for tonight's gala.

Leap Year Gala

Encourage residents to dress up for your once-in-four-years gala at your facility. Invite residents and family members to enjoy each other's company for a special dinner with entertainment.

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