Elant at Newburgh residents take a cruise around the globe

Aug. 10, 2010 - PRLog -- Town of Newburgh – Aug. 10, 2010 – Sometimes you can take a journey without ever leaving the comfort of your home. And at Elant at Newburgh Nursing Home & Rehabilitation Center, that journey can last all week long!

Alaska, Australia, Jamaica, Mexico – the residents recently got to enjoy them all during Cruise Week at the non-profit Meadow Hill Road campus in the Town of Newburgh.

“It was as closed to the real thing as you can get,” said Elant at Newburgh resident Mary Torpey. “It was a very full week, just like a vacation.”

During the “stop-over” in Alaska, residents enjoyed a totem pole history lesson and igloo building (with sugar cubes and frosting). Australia brought with it a lesson on the native lingo, along with succulent shrimp, while Mexico offered Mexican coffee and enchiladas. In Jamaica, Elant at Newburgh’s Recreation team offered hair-braiding, and a reggae band from New Paltz entertained the travelers.

“I don’t expect to see that reggae band on national TV, but they were good, really good,” joked Elant at Newburgh resident Roland Brown.

But the time on the cruise was no traveling lull either. Between “stops,” passengers were entertained with a full schedule of traditional cruise activities, like “Cocktails with the Captain and Crew,” a chocolate fondue buffet, a towel-folding class, life jacket games, Casino Night, and high-energy Karaoke.

“I told them there was no way I was going up there to sing, but not only did I sing, I danced too,” said Brown. “I certainly haven’t done that before, and it was great!”

And to add that little something extra, the Recreation department - outfitted all week in cruise ship jackets and hats - even added mints to the passengers’ pillows.

“The fact that the staff got so many to participate was just amazing,” said Brown. “I was sorry by daughter wasn’t here visiting to enjoy this.”

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Elant, Inc., a community-based, not-for-profit organization, has been a part of the Hudson Valley healthcare landscape for the past 25 years. Its seven campuses, located across five counties, serve an estimated 3,500 people daily and provide sub-acute care and rehabilitation services, nursing home care, assisted living, adult day care, retirement community living, home health care, and a managed long-term care plan. Elant’s mission is to provide personalized, high-quality care and lifestyle options to persons of diverse generations, cultures, means, and needs.