Rest Haven celebrates Valentine's Day with memorable wedding photo display

Rest Haven Care home in Steinbach is doing something unique and special this Valentine’s Day, celebrating their residents and staff with a wedding photo 'Memory Lane'.

Samantha Day, Therapeutic Recreation Coordinator and Volunteer Coordinator says they received a provincial grant last year, from Health Care Excellence Canada, part of which was used for a “Tailgate Party” last summer, and now to create a Memory Lane and host a Wedding Show.

Day says, “So us rec staff kind of talked, and I’m like, you know what? I have a vision, let’s call it “Memory Lane”.

So, Day and her staff started collecting wedding photos of residents of Rest Haven and their staff and printed off 8x10 sized prints, which are also laminated and are now on display in the Atrium of the facility.

Day adds, “It was a lot of work getting pictures. I even went into some of the homes and took pictures of wedding photos, and now that I started putting it up the display, others in the building are giving me their photos.”

Day says she started with about 50 photos from residents and staff, and at last count the display has 85 wedding photos.

She notes the prints are displayed by date of the wedding, the earliest from 1932, with the most recent couple married in 2023. She notes, “We’ve got about 90 years of wedding photos on display.”

Day says they will also have wedding dresses on display during their Wedding Fashion Show next week, from both residents and staff dating back to 1943 and a dress as recent as 2021. “We have about four residents that brought their dresses, including Tannis’s (Nickel) grandma from 1943 and then staff and grandchildren of residents brought in their dresses.”

She comments on the ‘Memory Lane’ saying that it’s been busy. “A lot of people have said we should keep this up year-round, and it is kind of cool just seeing the different hairstyles, just how the pictures looked, right?”

Day says they currently have three couples calling Rest Haven home, and staff plan on doing something special for them today. "We're actually having a little Valentine's dinner with them this afternoon. We got them some flowers. We're going to set up tablecloth and I'm going to go out and buy their favorite fast food. One couple is having pizza, the other couple is having A&W, and the other couple is going to have waffles.”