Residents helped design Muskoka Landing's revamped front entrance.

Muskoka Landing residents help revamp front entrance
‘We’re resident-focused and residents are No. 1 here, so we wanted to make sure that they were involved in as many of the processes as possible’
Monday, July 30, 2012 -- Deron Hamel
When it was time to beautify Muskoka Landing’s front entrance recently, the team at the Huntsville long-term care home made a point of engaging residents in the process.

Today, the Jarlette Health Services-owned home’s front door has a large carved wooden bear, an array of flowers and a framed drawing of a tree with residents’ fingerprints forming the leaves and the words “Welcome to Muskoka Landing” proudly displayed at the top. At the bottom of the tree are the words “Designed with the help of the residents of Muskoka Landing.”

Hence, anyone who walks into the home will see the new upgrades immediately, notes acting life enrichment co-ordinator Amanda Heidman.

“The residents all really enjoyed being involved in this,” Heidman tells the Morning Report.

“Having residents involved with this is important because we’re resident-focused and residents are No. 1 here, so we wanted to make sure that they were involved in as many of the processes as possible to beautify the front entrance.”

Heidman is also commending a family member for contributing money to the home’s residents’ council, which helped buy the flower pots at the front door.

To add a touch of fun to the endeavour, the Muskoka Landing team is holding a contest to name the wooden bear, Heidman says, adding a wooden bear, which was carved by a local artist, was chosen to adorn the entrance as a way of paying homage to the many bears living in the region.

Joyce McKey says she’s happy she and her fellow residents were chosen to help with the project.

“It really beautified the entrance with the flower pots and the bear, (and) our fingerprint tree adds a special touch,” she says, adding she would like to see the wooden bear named “Bruno.”

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