At around lunchtime on April 19, the Pendleton Health and Rehabilitation Center became the fashion mecca of the region as the Catherine Fostering Friendships Club hosted its first runway fashion show.
The models, girls age 10 and younger, wore dresses, gowns, and other outfits and strutted their stuff on an impromptu runway in the recreation room at Pendleton. The crowd, residents of Pendleton and parents of the models, clapped and cheered as the girls took center stage and were announced by Ledyard resident Kerri Charette. Perhaps the highlight of the afternoon came when exuberant model Meghan McGrath, age 2, who was decked out in a red sequin dress and hairpiece and looking every bit the part of a 1920s flapper, stole the show with repeated trips up and down the walkway. The show itself, however, was fairly brief and was followed with a meet and greet with the models and residents with refreshments for all.
“This was very nice,” Pendleton employee Marie Clark said. “It went very well and everyone seemed to have a great time…the girls come every month, and we always put it on the calendar because [the residents] really look forward to it.”
With smiles, hugs, and goodbyes, the models, which included 10-year-old Gianna Miggliozzi, 7-year-old Julia Paul, 7-year-old Megan Larmann, 6-year-old Kaitlyn Startz, 6-year-old Summer Charette, 6-year-old Kelly McGrath, 6-year-old Kate Desormier, 6-year-old Karissa Paul, 6-year-old Marissa Archer, 5-year-old Joy Charette, 3-year-old Olivia Startz, 2-year-old Madeline Whittle, Meghan McGrath, and 5-month-old Joli Cotto, helped the residents back to their rooms before departing.
While the event wasn’t exactly something one might equate to a trendy Parisian fashion show, the story behind the show is more endearing.
The Catherine Fostering Friendships Club, which includes members of the Ledyard Women’s Club and their friends and daughters, host an event or activity once a month for a group of female residents at Pendleton.
Catherine Foster, a resident at Pendleton, started the friendship club in March 2007 as a fun way to bring together many of the female residents at Pendleton and the women of the Ledyard Women’s Club of which her niece, Kerri Charette, is a member. Charette explained how it all began.
“My aunt was a resident here for four years and during much of that time the male residents here had a kind of club where they would get together and have snacks and play cards, but the women didn’t have anything like that,” Charette said. “So Concetta, the recreation director here at Pendleton, tagged my aunt to form a women’s group. The club’s first meeting was in March of 2007 and we did a simple Irish sing-a-long. We quickly realized over the next few months that the residents loved making crafts. Many have limited use of both arms due to stroke or other disabilities so we have one person helping each resident. We have made beaded key-chains with letter beads for them to give to friends who visit them or staff members, decorated hats for spring to hang on residents’ doors, made decorated plates, and many other great projects.”
Charette said the Ledyard Women’s Club (LWC) was very enthusiastic about the idea of starting the Friendship Club and even put money for craft supplies into the club’s monthly budget. It wasn’t long after the club formed that the women of the LWC began bringing their daughters to participate in club activities. Just a few months after the creation of the Friendship Club, Foster fell ill and passed away on June 1, 2007. Grieving their loss, Charette and her family knew Foster would have wanted the Friendship Club to remain intact. In fact, Foster left a sum of money to the club to fund their projects and events.
Charette explained, “Pendleton was such a large part of my family’s life that I couldn’t see not returning to visit the many residents my aunt became friends with.”
So with Foster in mind, the club was renamed the Catherine Fostering Friendships Club and has been one of, if not the biggest, monthly attractions for many of the female residents at Pendleton. Clark said the club is not only a way for the residents to have some fun and interact with each other, but for some it is the only visit they might get all month long, making it a vital part of their lives. Charette explained that the Friendship Club works both ways, with many of the women forming tight bonds with each other and the young girls as well, and she hopes to keep the club running for many years to come.
“The residents benefit from having an event to look forward to and some interaction that does not involve the paid staff,” Charette said. “While my aunt was at Pendleton, there were so many residents with no one to visit them and they really looked forward to the daily weekday events the rec department presented. The staffing is [lighter] on the weekends, so to help pass the time, it was decided the club would do a monthly weekend event. As far as myself, I appreciate knowing that I made someone’s day that much better just by giving an hour of my time. I leave each visit to Pendleton feeling like a million bucks. The young girls benefit greatly as they get to see that older people and people with disabilities are just like the rest of us. Most of our residents are in wheelchairs, and the girls are right at their height so the face-to-face interaction is very special.”
For more information about the Catherine Fostering Friendships Club, contact the Pendleton Health and Rehabilitation Center at 572-1700.