AURORA | When you can’t go to the carnival, you do the next best thing.
“I can’t bring 35 people to a carnival, let’s bring the carnival to the 35 people,” said Cody Kohlhagen, the life enrichment director at Belleview Heights Assisted Living.
That’s precisely what Belleview Heights and April Dietrich, the community development director, did on Wednesday, turning the senior living community into a full-blown fairground, with live music, cotton candy, a dunk tank, trick-performing pigs and all the fun you’d expect at an old-fashioned carnival.
“Carnival for a Cause” was part of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Longest Day initiative, which shines a light on the more than 91,000 Coloradans living with the disease, according to a statement from Belleview Heights.
When life gives the residents and Cody lemons, he makes sure to bring the crowd to the lemonade stand.
Cody said he took the residents to a lemonade stand up the hill from the assisted living location, and it was almost as much of a hit for the residents as the carnival was.
“It was as big of a hit to do that as all of this, because with memory care, it’s all about the present,” Cody said. “And this was two hours of just the right amount of enjoyment, because you can’t overstimulate them. That’s why we had the opportunity to have some music, some cotton candy, some dunk tanks and some hogs.”
And not just any hogs. John Vincent of Top Hogs of the Wild West brought in his four-legged stars, Johnny “Ringo” and Spanky Hog, who hammed it up with stunts like taking out the trash, scoring goals and checking the mail.
“Ringo is the smartest pig I’ve ever met,” John said. “We call him the Einstein of porcine.”
He said he uses positive reinforcement and lets the pigs decide how much they want to participate in the tricks. Spanky, for example, was rescued after being malnourished so severely that he will always be smaller than his fellow hogs. Now, Spanky loves his tricks and the spotlight.
John said Spanky took to his new home and life was better than a pig in mud, especially since pigs prefer grass to mud.
The crowd was tickled pink.
“I had no idea how smart pigs were,” said Marleen Waite.
Marleen is a 90-year-old resident who loves her karaoke nights and always brings the sass, according to Cody and her daughters. She enjoyed the pig show, tried some shaved ice and took time to pet the stars of the show, while surprised at just how bristly pig hair is.
Belleview Heights’ youngest resident is in her 60s, while the oldest is turning 99 this year, according to Cody.
“That’s a wide range of not just ages, but people and personalities,” he said.
Even the boss took a plunge, with Executive Director Audra Piccini getting a turn at the dunk tank.
Marleen’s daughters, Colleen Waite and Connie Lovato, joined in the fun and said how much they appreciate the team for going whole hog with their care.
“I like Cody,” Colleen told her mom. “He’s so good with you guys. I like watching Cody when he’s interacting with you guys, because he’s a goofball.”
Cody is not afraid to constantly put himself out there and ham it up, bringing residents out of their comfort zone and encouraging them to have a good time. He spent the day with the words, “I love your ma,” painted on his arm, telling the residents’ children how much he loves their “ma’s.” Even Cody’s sons were both there, being as caring and helpful as their dad.
Colleen said that when Marleen met Cody, she said he had a cowboy name. Marleen made sure to inform the Sentinel that Cody is, in fact, a cowboy name, which was a perfect fit to, after he helped wrangle the whole event together.
“I like Cody,” Colleen said to her mom. “He’s so good with you guys. I like watching Cody when he’s interacting with you guys, because he’s a goofball.”
Yesterday’s Bacon played live tunes near the entryway as one of the longest days of the year wrapped up.