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An idea... Nursing/Veterans home visit.

fdnyladder7fdnyladder7 Posts: 293
in Trading Cards & Memorabilia Forum
On a recent false alarm response to our local nursing home. I had met a nice elderly fella who was a severe baseball (Sox) fan. We got to talking some and he had seen some terrific games and HOF's at Fenway in his day. I then got the idea of putting on an albeit makeshift vintage and 70-80's card show. The Rec. Dir. placed the 'hour long" event on the bulletin board several weeks prior.

I recuited the missus to assist on setting up and she was needed to pass out some vintage inexpensive old cards for the residents to handle. Needless to say, the event was a huge success and went on longer than we had expected. At the end, I handed out 1931 W517 reprints to those in attendance, that another eBay seller was kind enough to donate (In spite of informing them that they were replicas, one man repeatedly asked, "How much is this Gehrig worth?")

Several of those that were "with it" and didn't doze- off had volunteered much info on teams and players long past. How they had met Bobby Doerr and Dom DiMag saw the great Joe D and Ted Williams battle it out. The excitement was palpable. I highly recommend it, if not for anything else, for the laughs.


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Comments

  • poppiepoppie Posts: 598
    Very cool!!!!!!!!image
    My focus, 1970 Topps Baseball Raw and Graded, pre 1989 PSA Hockey and 1933 INDIAN GUM ! Yikes!!
  • slatsmeslatsme Posts: 193
    Very nice gesture. I would have loved to be alive and baseball fan back in the 30's or so. It was a much simpler time and it was a game back then.
    Carpe Diem
  • bri2327bri2327 Posts: 3,178 ✭✭
    great idea. Sounds like it would be well worth it just to hear some of the old timers stories. image


    I love that pic too, especially the woman in the first row who is out cold image
    "The other teams could make trouble for us if they win."
    -- Yogi Berra

    image
  • pandrewspandrews Posts: 7,598 ✭✭✭
    thats very cool.. i bet some of those old folks really enjoyed it a lot..
    ·p_A·
  • nightcrawlernightcrawler Posts: 5,110 ✭✭
    What an awsome thing to do, very thoughtful image
  • ProspectNationProspectNation Posts: 6
    Before I went to medical school, I worked in a nursing home as a nurses assistant to get some medical experience. I know firsthand how much your card "show" meant to those people. These are folks who are basically forgotten by society and who, for the most part, are extremely lonely and desperate for social interaction. Way to go!
    FDNYLADDER7... YOU MADE A GREAT PLAY!!!
    http://www.prospectnation.com (A FREE resource for prospectors & stat-heads like myself)
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  • Tedw9Tedw9 Posts: 1,424 ✭✭
    I tip my hat to you for such a wonderful and kind gesture! The world needs more good people like you! image
    Looking for Carl Willey items.
  • RangerRobRangerRob Posts: 57


    WOW! What a really nice thing to do.

    How did this come about?
  • Bosox1976Bosox1976 Posts: 8,564 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I run a retirement community, and activities geared at men are few and far between; the women outlive us 4 to 1. FDNY is right, you'd have a blast with the guys. While strokes and Alzheimer's ravage some, most are prettty sharp - and many are funny. War and sports stuff goes over very well. Cookouts, horseshoes and beer too. Sound familiar? They're just like us but older - give 'em a shot!
    Mike
    Bosox1976
  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,438 ✭✭✭✭✭
    FD

    Great stuff! Thanx for sharing.

    My dad used to tell the best stories. That's where I got my one about the "day I met Babe Ruth"!

    Some people on the board have met some of the older retired baseball players who have great stories to tell.

    As I approach that group - I hope my 'enthusiasm' for sports and collectibles keeps me off the senile seat so I can keep posting on CU.

    Superb job!
    mike

    Mike
  • fdnyladder7fdnyladder7 Posts: 293
    A couple of years ago I'd met Al Lopez HOF at a Walmart down in Florida, while shopping in the Automotive aisle. I was having a comedic but vicious exchange with a New York fan. Mr Lopez had saw my Red Sox cap and shirt. He was a big, boisterous, elderly fellow, but was talkative, warm and friendly. We had a nice convo, but the wife wanted to hit the beach something awful. I was torn, please the wife and go swimming or continue to discuss prewar baseball in a department store... The waves were very nice. At the time I didn't realize Al's prestigious standing in the league. A year later I heard on the radio that Al had passed.

    Now I'm a student of all things vintage baseball and my home has been in steady disrepair since.

    This post may give some others an idea as a chance to show off their collections and distract some Unfortunates from their otherwise drab routines, if just for an hour or two. As I ponder my "golden years", I belive I would enjoy this type of flashback visit.

    Thanks for the kind words all. It was very easy, fun and rewarding.

  • HoofHeartedHoofHearted Posts: 2,537 ✭✭
    Good job fdny! This is an inspiring story itself. I live in a town that, from what I've heard and seen, has the highest rate of nursing homes per capita in this area. (My daughter used to work at one, but the pay and work weren't commensurate.) I've been trying to think of something I could do to help make this town a better place and this would be a good, fun thing to do. I've been thinking about doing something just for older veterans, but this would be just as fulfilling.

    Could you email or PM me a program you may have followed for some ideas of the activities I could plan?

    Thanks!
    imageimageimageSenators/Twins Type Collection
  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,438 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>a chance to show off their collections and distract some Unfortunates from their otherwise drab routines, >>


    You been reading my mail?

    image
    Mike
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