Halloween in the Pahrump Valley was quite an exciting time for the entire town and two sets of the local population were treated to a very special holiday event, with students from J.G. Johnson Elementary School invited over to Inspirations Senior Living to do some tricking or treating with the seniors who call the assisted living facility home.
On Thursday, Oct. 28 youngsters from J.G. Johnson, arrayed in all their costumed glory, began the short march over to Inspirations, escorted by the schoolteachers and staff, and their sense of exhilaration was obvious as they made their way up the drive to find the front of the facility lined with tables all bearing decorative Halloween bags filled with treats. Manning those tables were the men and women who reside at Inspirations, whose faces split into grins of absolute delight as they watched the students approach.
Princesses and ghouls, superheroes and skeletons, fairies, witches and even a ghostbuster or two trooped up to the tables with beaming smiles of their own to collect a goodie bag and the seniors handing them out could not have been more elated as they listened to the chatter of the students and accepted their babbles of thanks as they made their way through the event.
There were a total of 400 bags stuffed with all kinds of tasty, tempting candies, all purchased by Inspirations Senior Living, and every single student who made the jaunt over to the facility that afternoon was given one of these goodie bags to take home and enjoy.
When asked what had prompted Inspirations to hold this trick-or-treating event specifically for students at J.G. Johnson, in addition to the public trunk or treat it had planned for Oct. 29, Inspirations Marketing and Sales Director Ryan Muccio said it was simply to give both the youngster and the elderly a pleasant holiday experience that would brighten their day.
“We felt that it was important to provide a special opportunity for the kids as well as our senior residents to join together for something safe and positive. It’s been a tough couple of years for both these populations and it was amazing to see the smiles on all of the faces,” Muccio said of the event.
“All of the teachers and staff were very grateful. They were all happy to see the students enjoying themselves in a safe manner. The residents here at Inspirations were thrilled too! So much so that we had 14 additional residents participate in the following evening’s trunk-or-treat event because they heard how fun the trick or treating with the students from J.G. Johnson was!”
Muccio said the residents and staff at Inspirations enjoyed the trick or treating so much that they are hoping to be able to host the same sort of event next year, but that is not all.
Muccio said Inspirations is also eyeing the coming Christmas holiday and is brainstorming ideas on having the students head over to Inspirations during Christmas for some holiday caroling.
Muccio was sure to offer his appreciation to those who assisted in putting the trick-or-treating event together, as well, concluding, “Special thanks to our residents and their family members who helped stuff the goodie bags and to Lisa Gilbo, our Life Enrichment director at Inspirations, for coordinating the effort.”
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com