HILLS

Atrium Village in Hills began celebrating Mother’s Day on Friday, May 10 with a morning program called “What is this item?” presented by Bridget Nash (education specialist) and Sara Godin (registrar and collections manager) of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch.

Residents entered the specially decorated dining room, filled with violet lighting, balloons, tablecloths, and floral arrangements, and were served banana-berry smoothies before the program began.

Godin brought several items from the museum’s collection around the room for residents to see and wager guesses about what the items are. The first item was a long metal cylinder; residents guessed it might be an umbrella stand, paper towel holder, paper cup dispenser, or a large bullet. Once the object had made its way around the room, Nash revealed that it was an example of trench art from 1917.

“Trench art still occurs today, but these were really popular during WWI service,” she explained. “People who were not on the frontline at the time would pass the time by turning, as was mentioned, shells and things into art.”

Other objects presented included a roll of music for player pianos, a meteorite that belonged to President Hoover, a small model of a plow, a dictaphone, a piece of heat shield from the 1966 Apollo spacecraft (a gift to Hoover that he used as a paperweight), and a portion of gravestone Hoover used to strike matches. For each, residents guessed what they were and shared their own stories the objects reminded them of.

Residents of Atrium Village have more fun to look forward to next week, as every day there will be a special event to celebrate National Skilled Nursing Care Week. An ice cream social, model railroad club presentation, painting class, bingo, and performance by music students are all on the calendar.