St. Joseph’s Villa Creates Eclipse Viewing Experiences for Residents, Families & Staff

Apr 8, 2024

When the St. Joseph’s Villa Dundas team learned that Dundas was located inside the solar eclipse path of totality on April 8, they wanted to make sure everyone had a front-row seat for this rare celestial event, which meant 425 residents, and more than 700 staff.

Marlena Jakob, Mieke Ewan, and Cameron Qusch

Marlena Jakob, Mieke Ewen, and Cameron Quach.

“It was important for us to create safe and accessible viewing experiences for our residents, families, clients and staff during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Mieke Ewen, the Villa’s Chief Operating Officer.

Typically, a total solar eclipse is a once in a lifetime experience, occurring once every 100 years, but St. Joseph’s Villa is home to 15 Century Club members who caught Hamilton’s last visible solar eclipse on January 24, 1925.

To celebrate this once – and for some twice – in a lifetime event, the Villa team secured 800 pairs of safe-viewing glasses for residents, families, clients and staff to watch in monitored outdoor viewing areas. Many Villa residents preferred a shadier view so the Therapeutic Recreation Team organized a livestream throughout the Villa’s 18 resident home areas and facilitated eclipse trivia to complete the experience.

“The goal of Therapeutic Recreation here at the Villa is to help restore resident’s confidence, improve quality of life, and show they have purpose and worth through meaningful participation in programs,” said Adam Buys, Therapeutic Recreation Lead at St. Joe’s Villa 4th Floor North Tower. “Residents have an opportunity to feel involved and connected with the world around them by experiencing this rare event in history and it provides meaningful education and enrichment in the process as well.”

Therapeutic Recreation offers purposeful daily programming for Villa residents, matching programming to resident abilities. Activities like trivia, pattern matching and pottery can have cognitive benefits, improve memory and enhance social connection.

Glenn Lloyd, the Villa’s unofficial Poet-in-Residence, was inspired to write a poem capturing the excitement. In his prose he jokes that tickets to the eclipse are free, unlike a Taylor Swift concert. Read Glenn’s poem Eclipse, below.

 

ECLIPSE

 

IT’S COMING RIGHT HERE FOR YOU AND ME

IT’S NOT LIKE A SWIFTIES TICKET THIS ONE IS FREE

IT’S COMING AND WE’RE RIGHT IN IT’S PATH

AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THEY DO THE MATH

 

IT’S 4000 MILES LONG AND 100 MILES WIDE

AND FOR 2 MINUTES THE SUN IT WILL HIDE

THE MOON AND THE SUN HAVE TO BE JUST RIGHT

FOR ONE TO BLOCK THE OTHER OUT OF SIGHT

 

EVERY 21 YEARS IT REAPPEARS

AND THIS TIME TO 30 PLUS MILLION EARTHLY SEERS

FROM MAZATLAN MEXICO AND OVER 13 STATES

SPEEDING TOWARDS WHERE NEWFOUNDLAND WAITS

 

SO YOU BETTER GET A GOOD SEAT

CAUSE THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN EVERY WEEK

AND GET SOME GOGGLES AND PUT THEM ON

CAUSE IN ABOUT 2 MINUTES IT WILL BE GONE

 

TRAIN, PLANES AND CRUISE SHIPS TOO

ARE PLACES SOME WILL PAY 8000 TO VIEW

YOU MAY EVEN SEE THE “DEVILS COMET” SO IT’S SAID

AND IN NIAGARA FALLS THE RAINBOW WILL TURN RED

 

 GLENN

MAR 8/24

 GOOGLE—GLENN LLOYD