Location: The Imperial Nursing Home
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2015; 2:30-3:30 pm
I often wonder why I do not come for this project more
often. Wilson mentioned that today we
would be doing “Oscars” and I remembered
a similar quiz from 2 years ago. I
arrived on the 5th floor and noticed that the residents had already
assembled, and as usual had their wheelchairs arranged in a semicircle. There were a few volunteers there as well and
all of them were first timers. I told
them about the project as we waited for Wilson to arrive. I took the whiteboard that we
use for scoring and placed it in the middle of the room. I made 3 columns for the 3 teams – the format
that we have used in the past – when one lady spoke up and said that there
should be just 2 teams and that I should change the board. She was very firm in her response, telling me
that she was in charge! She also kept
asking when Wilson would arrive and her guess was as good as mine.
 |
| "Oscars" time |
Wilson did arrive soon and said that all of us should
introduce ourselves, including the residents.
Some of the residents required coaxing to tell their names. In fact one guy thought that I was asking him
something extremely personal and seemed alarmed. A few of the residents gave us the names of
others who seemed incapable. The lady
who had scolded me earlier regarding the board was Jackie, and she was ready to
go as were a couple of other ladies. Wilson
asked the volunteers to spread out amongst the 2 groups and mingle with the
residents. He would be the “Quiz Master” while I would keep the
score. We began questions with “Team A” and Ethel, one of the regulars at Bingo was in
that team, while Jackie was in “Team B”.
Wilson started by asking when the “Oscars” began. Ethel first
said 1890s – which was before cinema as we know it even existed. Some of the other answers were a bit later
than the actual year, which was 1927.
The teams got 1 point for the right answer, either for the question posed
to them, or if it was passed over from other team. When “Team
A” got a point and “Team B”
missed on theirs, I wrote 1 under A and 0 under B. Jackie immediately scolded me, saying that we
should not write 0, but rather wait for the team to score. Man, she was tough to please!
Wilson asked which was the first “Animated Film” to be nominated for ‘Best Picture’ and “Snow
White” was a popular answer, as well as “Toy
Story”. I gave a hint that it was in
1991 and that there was a musical which would be playing in Chicago soon. But alas, no one got the right answer, “Beauty and the Beast”. Another question was the first movie to win
the ‘Best Picture’ award. I said that since there were 2 movies that
won that year, we would take any of the answers. Amazingly Ethel knew the answer, which was “Wings”.
The next question was, “Which was
the first movie with sound to win the ‘Best Picture’ award?” The answer of course was “Broadway Melody” and when Wilson presented the choices, someone
said that the movie with “Melody” in
it should have sound. Well, the answer
was right, but logic was wrong since it was dialogue not necessarily sound,
which “Wings” also had. I asked as a follow-up, which was the only
other “silent movie” to win ‘Best Picture’, and they got the answer
– “The Artist”.
Wilson asked some highly technical questions such as the
height and weight of the “Oscars”
statue and for some reason expected the residents to know that information,
which of course no one did. Other
questions were on multiple nominations and multiple winners. “Team A”
was way ahead of “Team B”, which I am
sure was irritating Jackie, though in her defense, the other team had some enthusiastic volunteers who were answering for the seniors. I posed to “Team B” a question saying that it was tough and if they get it, we
could possibly give them more points - so that they catch up. I said that only once has the last award of
the evening not been given for ‘Best Picture’,
and was rather given as a ‘Lifetime Achievement
Award’. Wilson asked if it was an American
or British actor and I said British, the greatest of them all. “Team B”
did not get it, but “Team A” after
some hints correctly answered Chaplin.
During the game, one of the ladies started saying that she
wanted another lady to “get away" from her. The nurses came and put her away on the other
side. The lady she was referring to was
sharp and at one stage she rolled her wheelchair towards me and said, “Watch how they will yell at me”. Sure enough, the nurse came and took her
away. She looked at me as they did that. Boy, these folks sure are feisty. Our hour was up, though the residents were in
a mood to continue for a long time. “Team A” had won handily, but as is
the custom here, volunteers distributed cookies and treats to everyone. Wilson asked recommendations for next
month’s theme. I said that since Jackie likes music maybe we could do “Broadway
Musicals”. I will definitely try and
come for that.
*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy
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