West Roxbury Students Bring Halloween Spirit to German Centre Residents
More than 200 students and teachers from Saint Theresa of Avila School paraded through the German Centre senior care facility in West Roxbury on Friday, bringing holiday costumes, homemade cards, and an intergenerational celebration to the assisted living home, the Boston Globe reported. The annual event marks its sixth year as one of the few opportunities for older residents and elementary school children to interact directly at the facility.
More than 200 students and teachers at a local Catholic elementary school paraded through the German Centre senior care facility in West Roxbury as part of an annual Halloween celebration. https://t.co/LOBqAcgRQd
Costumed Students Parade Past Cheering Seniors
Children dressed as police officers, pumpkins, Minecraft characters, sports broadcasters, and members of the New England Patriots marched through the halls as residents cheered them on, many wearing festive witch hats or bat ears. Among the marchers, some students handed out homemade Halloween cards drawn with crayons. Carole Connors, an 87-year-old resident who moved to the facility at the end of last year, experienced her first parade on Friday. “They were cute as can be and all smiles,” Connors said, according to the Globe.
Full Circle Moments for Lifelong West Roxbury Residents
Kathleen Fitzgerald, an 86-year-old resident who attended Saint Theresa as a child and grew up in West Roxbury in the 1940s and 1950s, noted that watching the parade felt like a full circle moment since her generation did not have similar events back then. “They all look so lovely,” Fitzgerald said, adding that her favorite costume was a student dressed as a much smaller version of Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. Daffney Huey, the German Centre’s director of life enrichment who dressed up as Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, noted that the facility relies heavily on its proximity to neighboring schools to bridge generational gaps. Marie Bobillier, a 38-year-old activity director dressed in a lion outfit, helped run the morning festivities before residents transitioned into an afternoon happy hour.