Category: Congratulations

Share The Love Week – Valentine’s Day at Bay Haven 2020

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
The final collage from the Valentine’s Day Love Photo marketing event

The entire Recreation Department and Marco, the Marketing Specialist, worked hard to create a two-week long Valentine’s Day event for the residents at Bay Haven Care Community. The Recreation Department organized Valentine’s Day themed programs throughout the first and second week of February. Some of the programs included creating a Valentine’s Day posters, arts and crafts, trivia, drama performances, and even making heart-shaped Topper’s pizza with Emaan, a new volunteer who owns all of the Topper’s Pizza in Canada with her family.

This year, Bay Haven Care Community and the Georgian Tringle Humane Society collaborated on a Valentine’s Day idea to raise money for the Humane Society. The Recreation Department created two program that allowed the residents on the retirement home and the nursing home side to bake and decorate Valentine’s Day themed cupcakes. These cupcakes were then sold on Wednesday, February 5th to all residents, staff, and guests at Bay Haven. On that day, we had two volunteers from the Therapeutic Paws of Canada bring in their dogs to help celebrate our bake sale! Virginia brought in her dog Poodle Enzo, and Alex brought in her Golden Retriever Georgia. The residents absolutely loved buying cupcakes and having a dog visit. Bay Haven Care Community raised $183.00 during the bake sale, with all proceeds going to the Georgian Triangle Humane Society.

Throughout the two weeks of February, Marco created a campaign titled “Valentine’s Day Love Photo.” This campaign allowed family members of residents and staff to submit a photo of their loved ones and to add a short description about why you love them, and what kind of inspiration that particular person gave you throughout your life. Since February 1st, Marco has been posting a new submitted photo on the Bay Haven Care Community Facebook page until Valentine’s Day. The marketing campaign was a huge success! The campaign generated 14 new “Likes” for the Bay Haven Care Community Facebook page, which is a 250% increase since January 17th, 2020. The campaign also got a 79% increase in “Post Engagement,” meaning there were more people commenting and liking our Facebook pictures and posts during this week than any other. After the campaign was over, Marco created a collage of everyone’s pictures and posted them on Facebook, as well as around the building.

Overall, Bay Haven’s 2020 Valentine’s Day was very successful and we are excited to continue providing the best quality care for all of our residents.

Marco Sanfilippo
Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant

Bay Haven Care Community Celebrates 51 Years of Quality Living for Long-Term Care and Retirement Home Residents

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
Administrator Scott Strandholt cutting Bay Haven Care Community’s 51st anniversary cake with Nursing Home resident Joyce Hayles

Bay Haven Care Community celebrated its 51st anniversary on Wednesday, January 15th along with residents, staff, and guests. The celebration began with the Town of Collingwood’s official town crier Ken Templeton presenting a speech about Bay Haven’s longevity and its continued impact on Collingwood. After that, Scott Strandholt held a speech about the history of Bay Haven and how it was established when both of his parents began Bay Haven after moving from Toronto to Collingwood to start a new life in 1969. Scott explained how his father, Elwyn Strandholt, was in charge of the office work and bookkeeping, and his mother, Dawn Strandholt, was doing a lot of the house work and cooking for their newly established business. Scott continued his speech by elaborating on the success that Bay Haven has achieved over the 51 years; he said he is looking forward to the future of the company when Bay Haven Care Community and the Collingwood Nursing Home merge into one business to develop a brand-new facility. Scott also delivered a shout-out to the head nurse Roseanne Beaupre, who has been working at Bay Haven Care Community for over 50 years.

After Scott finished his speech, Cynthia Strandholt took the podium and began talking about how Bay Haven is like a huge family and thanked all of the staff for their hard-work and dedication to keeping a high quality of care for the residents on the Long-Term Care and Retirement Home side. After the speeches were over, Scott Stranholt and Nursing Home resident Joyce Hayles both cut the cake together. The anniversary celebration had delicious food from the Bay Haven dietary team, music performance by Linda Ross, and beautiful decorations from the Bay Haven recreation team.

Happy 51st Anniversary Bay Haven! We are all excited to continue to be part of the Bay Haven team and its 51-year history. Together, all of the staff are going to work hard to continue delivering the highest quality care and make Bay Haven the best place to live for all residents.

Marco Sanfilippo
Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant

Reflecting on Bay Haven’s 2019

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
Looking Ahead To 2020

2019 was an incredible year for Bay Haven. Since this is the last blog of this year, I would like to take a moment to reflect on some of the activities and events that we had throughout the year. During the year, Bay Haven staff and recreation team did an absolutely great job providing so much for the residents that live at Bay Haven. Our mission is to make Bay Haven the best Retirement Home/Nursing Home in Collingwood, and in order to do that, we need to provide the best programs for them.

We had so many activities and events planned out for the residents for both Retirement Home and Nursing Home side. Throughout the year, we had programs like TGIF entertainment every Friday, we played Bingo, we celebrated birthday parties, we watched movies, we had outdoor picnics, we listened to a lot of live music form plenty of guest performers, we had outings to Walmart/Sunset Point/Journey’s Blend, we baked delicious pastries, we celebrated holidays together, and so much more.

Not only did we have programs like these on a weekly basis, we also had a huge cultural experience day. This year we had a Caribbean Cultural Experience Day. Throughout the entire day, staff and residents dressed up and ate Caribbean food. It was a very entertaining time! Not only that, but Bay Haven celebrated its 50th anniversary back in January 2019. Staff and residents had a huge celebration accommodating Bay Haven’s success throughout those 50 years. Additionally, to that, Bay Haven has been posting blogs about the company on a weekly basis. This is a new idea that began in 2019, and we are happy to continue writing more blogs for 2020. As you can see, 2019 was a jam-packed year, and we are looking forward to having an even more packed year for 2020.

On behalf of Bay Haven, we would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year.

Thank you for reading,

Marco Sanfilippo
Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant

Bay Haven’s Centenarian’s

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
  • Luena is our oldest resident at Bay Haven. She is 106.

What does the term centenarian mean? A centenarian is someone who is 100 years of age or older. Bay Haven Care Community is proud to say that we have THREE centenarian residents, Luena – 106, Isobel – 104, and Annie – 102. All three centenarians are in great health and continue to be active in our recreation programs. In fact, Luena plays the piano for all her fellow residents and staff four days a week. When asking Luena what her secret to longevity is, she said to always keep active physically and mentally. Annie use to be a nurse when Bay Haven began in 1969. Now, her daughter Roseanne is a nurse and her granddaughter Amanda works in house keeping.

Bay Haven Care Community also have many residents that are in their late 90s. Muriel is 99 years old and will be turning 100 in 2020. Other residents’ range between 95 – 99. It is incredible to be surrounded by so many active elders in the Bay Haven community, whenever I come into work, it encourages me to keep active so that I may also live a long, healthy life.

The oldest person to ever live was a woman named Jeanne Calment from France. Jeanne was born on February 21st, 1875 and she passed away on August 4th, 1997. She was 122 years and 164 days old. Currently, the oldest living person is Kane Tanaka from Japan. Kane was born on January 2nd, 1903 and she is currently 116 years old. Kane is still in good health and occupies her time by playing the board game Othello and taking short walks in the facility’s hallways. Her hobbies include calligraphy and calculations. She credits her family, sleep, and God as her secrets to her longevity. Kane also said that she has a strong appetite and likes sweets; she drinks three cans a day of canned coffee, sodas, and various nutritional drinks.

Studies have shown that longevity has been increasing over centuries. As life expectancy is increasing across the world, the number of centenarians is expected to increase quickly in the future. According to a study done in the United Kingdom, one-third of babies born in 2013 in the UK are expected to live to 100. In the end, remember to eat well, keep active, get proper sleep, and live an amazing life.

Marco Sanfilippo – Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant

Happy Canada D-Eh!

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
  • Residents at the Bay Haven Canada Day Social.

On July 1st, 1867, Canada officially became its own country when three colonies (Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick) united into a single Dominion called Canada. 152 years later, we continue to celebrate this beautiful country for its rights, freedoms, expressions, and laws that make Canada such a great country. At Bay Haven Care Community, staff, residents and volunteers celebrated Canada Day with a Canada Day Social. Wearing as much red as possible, residents from the Retirement Home side and from the Nursing Home side came together to mingle with their neighbours and friends in the Bay Haven courtyard.

The recreation and dietary team put together a very fun event for Bay Haven’s residents. Some of the recreation assistants put on Canadian themed games for the residents, these games included a Canadian fun facts and trivia, and a Canadian themed bean bag toss. The recreation team also put up Canadian flags and other decorations throughout the entire building. Additionally, the dietary team provided some cold punch, and the members at the Collingwood Royal Canadian Legion were kind enough to donate a large Canada Day cake for our residents! We would like to take this opportunity to thank the members at the Legion for their kindness and generosity. According to the residents, this years Canada Day Social was very fun, warm, and delicious! We cannot wait to do it again next year!

Marco Sanfilippo – Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant

Happy 104th Birthday Isobel McKinnon!

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
Isobel McKinnon during her 104th Birthday Celebration.

Today, Bay Haven’s Isobel McKinnon turned 104 years old! Born in 1915, Isobel was born in Toronto, Ontario. There, she raised three kids and worked as a nurse. Growing up in Toronto, Isobel and her husband had a cottage in Wasaga Beach that they loved to visit frequently. Today, Isobel has seven grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren, one which was born a few days ago! For her birthday celebration, Bay Haven staff got her a cake, made her a birthday sign, and even called the local radio station to mention her birthday over the radio! Isobel had a lot of fun today, and we are so grateful to have her with us here at Bay Haven! From everyone at Bay Haven Care Community, we would love to wish Isobel an incredible 104th birthday celebration, and we are looking forward to celebrating her 105th next year! Happy Birthday Isobel!

Let Us Welcome The New President of the Ontario Medical Association

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
Dr. Sohail Gandhi – 2019

What is the Ontario Medical Association?

The Ontario Medical Association was founded in 1880 by physicians in Ontario who wanted to form a provincial medical association. At the beginning, the council only had 270 physicians from across Ontario who came from eleven different districts and six different medical school. These early physicians largely contributed to the phenomenal Health Care system that Canada has today. In 2019, the number of memberships for the OMA is more than 39,000. This number comprises of all physicians and medical students across Ontario because now, all practicing physicians in Ontario are authorized by law to be part of the Ontario Medical Association. What exactly does the Ontario Medical Association do? The OMA is a membership organization that contains practicing physicians and medical students that run programs to encourage healthy living and illness prevention around Ontario.

Introducing Dr. Sohail Gandhi

As of May 5th, 2019, Dr. Sohail Gandhi from Stayner, Ontario will become the new President of the Ontario Medical Association. Dr. Gandhi is a family physician who practices at the Stayner Medical Clinic and become the very first Ontario Medical Association president from the Georgian Triangle. During his one year of presidency, Dr. Gandhi will be traveling across the province to visit other doctors and medical facilities, and then document all the success and challenges that come out of those facilities. This is a tremendous opportunity for Dr. Gandhi to be able to observe the entire Ontario medical association and gain knowledge about all Ontario physicians. “I am truly inspired by the group that we have, and I am truly inspired by our membership. It is their hard work, their dedication, and their commitment to their patients that have got us to where we are today” Gandhi said during his acceptance speech, “I also believe that if we stay united, we are starting to gain the influence, not just with the Government, but with the general public.” Dr. Sohail Gandhi is a very dedicated physician who loves his job, and he will do anything to keep every Ontario physician fully prepared for their patients. Here at Bay Haven Care Community, we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Sohail Gandhi for becoming the first President of the Ontario Medical Association from our area. Congratulations Dr. Gandhi, you will do a phenomenal job!