Excitement is building as we await with anticipation the King’s Coronation. We have had a couple of royal occasions ourselves this week, including Royal Bingo and a Royal High Tea with the best china. We hope you enjoy watching the ceremony on Saturday night – I’ll be getting my plate of cucumber sandwiches and pot of Early Grey tea ready.
Tomorrow we commemorate those who served and died in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations and the contribution and suffering of all those who have served. We have held Anzac services and have displays to remember. Linda – our Housekeeping Supervisor has been busy creating with her diamond art craft – the piece is called ‘Remembrance’ and it is currently on loan to Archer. The cross-stitch was hand-made by Bev – one of our village residents. Another Bev from the community kindly set up our display in the Leisure Centre.
The meaning of Easter has been acknowledged with services across our villages and homes. We hope you have a lovely Easter with your family and friends and keep safe if you are travelling.
Our dining room looked very romantic for Valentine’s Day decorated with hearts and flowers. Our residents enjoyed a delicious meal and companionship. We hope you did something special to celebrate.
Waitangi Day celebrations at Archer Rest Home involved enjoying a “Hangi’ together at lunch time. We hope you enjoyed celebrating this special day.
Maryville Courts have an annual market day and extended invitations to the other Archer Villages this year. We were very impressed with the quality and quantity of goods for sale including soaps, handcrafts, jewellery, baking, fudge and a resident artist painting. We were made to feel very welcome with a cup of tea and a yummy slice. Thanks Maryville.
Maryville Courts hosted a quiz afternoon earlier this month which was well attended by residents. It was a great time to make new friends and enjoy a fun afternoon. The Sweet Peas from Thorrington took out the top prize with the Knit and Knatters from Archer coming in a close second. Many thanks to Brenda and Anthony for organising and running this event.
Archer Home staff and residents acknowledged Pink Ribbon Day to raise Breast Cancer Awareness this week. Most people dressed in pink and enjoyed a delicious pink themed afternoon tea with the best china, followed by a parade by staff and residents. Overall, it was a fun afternoon for a worthwhile cause.
Daffodil Day was recognised by a special afternoon tea at both Thorrington and Archer Rest Homes. Daffodils which symbolise hope for all New Zealanders impacted by cancer were available for a donation to the Cancer Society. We are loving seeing all the daffodils around at the moment.
As part of Hat Day on Friday, we gave out hat templates for residents to decorate with stickers. The most well decorated hat overall was won by Les. It must be his past work in painting and decorating that helped with his artistic and colourful design. Our exciting prize of a large chocolate fish was eagerly received by Les.
The inaugural match of Staff vs Maryville Residents indoor bowls proved to be worthy of the hype and anticipation. Both teams pitted against each other in a hard fight to see who would win bragging rights and be crowned champions.
From the start, the Staff took a commanding lead dominating the scoring, but the Residents fought back to take the lead and won 10 – 9 with no help from the Maryville Site manager who killed three ends by knocking the jack out to give the Residents much needed points!
But at the end of it all, a well enjoyed game by everyone. And to complete there was a celebratory (or commiserate) cuppa and biscuit enjoyed by competitors.
What a fun time was had at the Archer Home Mid-Winter dinner, where staff and residents together enjoyed a delicious meal, great conversations with lots of laughter and some wonderful prizes, which were awarded to some lucky residents. After recent difficult times it was nice to be able to relax together and enjoy each other’s company.
This Anzac Day we commemorated those who served and died in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations and the contribution and suffering of all those who have served. We had displays and held our own services in our Villages and Rest Homes.
We are grateful to Joyce for her Diamond Dotz picture and to Bev for her embroidery. The crosses are in remembrance of John’s uncles who served, so are very special. Keep safe everyone.
We hope you all had a relaxed and safe Easter. Here at Archer we had a visit from the Easter Bunny which provided some amusement and surprise for our residents. We think Saxon rocked the bunny costume!
Some of our residents are currently sitting in the warm lounge, making chocolate Easter eggs and baskets to put them in (photo #1). Archer would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a safe and happy Easter.
Here are some further photos of the finished Easter goodies. Some clever residents were given prizes by Kathy for finding hidden bunnies.
We recently honoured some of the volunteers who help at Archer. The Wellbeing Team has 12 volunteers and the Chaplains currently have 24 volunteers assisting. The contribution that our volunteers make is incredible and we value their input immensely.
They currently volunteer for a combined total of 31 hours per week, giving our residents more social time and best of all friendship. Some of the things our volunteers do for us are: Reading the daily newspaper to residents, musical memories, cards, scrabble and word builder, looking after the birds in the avery, opening up and securing the Leisure Centre, glamour nails, assisting on van outings, reading to residents, driving the van for village residents, flag bearer, putting out the rubbish bins, crafts, shop trolley, quiz or just being a good friend to our residents.
If you are interested in becoming a Volunteer, Katrina would love to hear from you – 943 6006.
Rest Home residents and staff made the most of ‘Covid Cup Day’.
Some of the residents enjoyed making and modelling some fancy hats and staff got into the spirit by dressing up and sporting flash hats.
Of course, this was all followed by a yummy afternoon tea.
Pink Ribbon Day to raise Breast Cancer Awareness was recognised by residents and staff dressing in pink and enjoying pink food.
It was lovely to see people making an effort to recognise such a worthwhile cause!
We celebrated Daffodil Day in our usual way by having staff dress up and parade for our residents.
Unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions we weren’t able to get as many daffodils as we usually do but we still had a lovely display.
Residents and staff shared stories followed by a yellow afternoon tea.
The Cancer Society weren’t able to hold a street appeal this year so if you would like to donate, please follow this link: https://www.daffodilday.org.nz/.
The Army Band made a guest appearance at the Archer Leisure Centre recently.
Residents from our three villages attended and thoroughly enjoyed the 40 minute performance followed by afternoon tea.
The Archer Villages Super Quiz is held bi-monthly followed by afternoon tea.
This month Thorrington went head-to-head with Archer on a tie-breaker. Archer just pipped Thorrington at the post and won the cup!
Residents at Thorrington Home enjoyed a mid winter celebration recently with good food, laughter and Chocolate Fish Awards.
It was a freezing cold winter’s day with a sprinkling of snow on the Port Hills but that did not detract from our Mid Winter Dinner which was held in the warmth of the Auditorium at Archer.
Lucky prizes were won and Chocolate Fish Awards given out for various achievements. The scene was set with black and silver and the twinkle of hundreds of lights.
Pre-dinner drinks and snacks were enjoyed beforehand and an exceptional meal which included ham on the bone, lamb and roast vegetables was an excellent way to spend a chilly day.
Happy Mother’s Day for this Sunday. May you have a lovely time celebrating with family – from your friends at Archer.
Archer’s annual ANZAC service was held on 23 April to honour returned servicemen and women and remember those killed in war. We appreciated being able to hold a service as several residents have served or lost loved ones.
It was lovely to be able to hold an Easter Service this year after last year’s lockdown. Easter Bunny was available to make an appearance and deliver chocolate easter eggs, much to the delight of residents.
Staff, family and friends have been busy in the lead up to Christmas with decorating trees, singing Christmas Carols, enjoying fellowship and of course yummy food. We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Happy Christmas with your family and friends. Keep safe over the holiday season. Blessings to you all!
Welcome to Spring!!! The 50’s Up Brass Band helped us celebrate the beginning of spring, followed by a yummy afternoon tea!
What a lovely way to fill in an otherwise wet and dreary winter’s day. Our mid-winter dinner was once again a huge success with delicious food, hilarious entertainment, fabulous prizes and wonderful company. It was great to meet potential residents and welcome newcomers to our villages.
Mid-Winter was recently celebrated by Archer Home residents and staff. Our volunteers were invited and recognised for all they do for our residents. Everyone is given a lucky number and two of our prize winners photographed were Cheryl receiving her box of chocolates and Mel with her extendable back massager. It was a successful event enjoyed by everyone.
Congratulations are due to Andrea and Emily who graduated with Registered Nurse’s qualifications at the end of last year. 🎉
They have been working at Archer for a number of years while completing their studies. We will miss you both! 😢
Photos: Clinical nurse Manager Cheryl presents Andrea and Emily with flowers, followed by a combined resident and staff morning tea.
Every year Archer Home is invited to a BBQ tea at our general manager’s hut at Butler’s Crossing, Pleasant Point.
We head off just after lunch with a quick stop at McDonald’s in Ashburton for an ice-cream.
On arriving at the hut we all enjoy a quick cuppa before heading down to the river.
Then back to the hut for a BBQ tea where we also enjoy S’mores!
Thanks to everyone who came to Archer’s recent Carol Service and BBQ.
At the 2019 service we were thrilled to host around 180 people, including residents from the home and village, staff, and family members.
A great night was had by all as many families came together. Make sure you come to 2020’s service too!
Photos: Linda, our village resident and chaplain assistant, plays the piano and Noel, one of our volunteers, sings.
Archer was very lucky to host legendary star of The Chase, Shaun Wallace (aka the Dark Destroyer), who talked to us about his life and what it is like to work on The Chase.
Graeme, our General Manager, put him through his paces on New Zealand general knowledge.
Then resident Shirley Freeman received an early 90th birthday present: taking on Sean in a head-to-head, final-chase challenge. We then had afternoon tea and book signings.
Shaun’s visit was an absolute delight – we are still talking about when The Chase came to Archer!
