She's lived through two World Wars, the Great Depression, humans landing on the moon, and two Persian Gulf wars, but she had never won a turtle race--until August 30, 2006.
One-hundred-year-old Sadie Nundahl, with her racing turtle Erbin, were among the winners of a special turtle race event. The Perham Area Chamber of Commerce race crew closed the summer long season at the Perham Memorial Hospital and Home, with a grand finale for the residents.
Nearly 30 residents, some of them donning wide-brimmed straw hats to shade the sun, enjoyed the fine weather in the PMHH courtyard as a team of seven Chamber volunteers and PMHH staff officiated the races.
"This is really nice," said Sadie Nundahl, after being given a dollar bill for winning one of the turtle race rounds.
After the Depression and World War II, Sadie and husband Bud Nundahl moved north to Perham. The couple owned and operated Nundahl Oil, on Perham's Main Street.
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"I've seen so many things, I don't even try to keep track any more," said Sadie. "Telephone, electricity...It's all taken for granted now. But the first telephone we had--that was mighty nice."
The turtle races were a first-time experience for Evelyn Warner, a longtime New York Mills resident.
"I've lived close to Perham ,my whole life, but I've never been to the turtle races," said Warner. "I always thought 'well, next year I'll go.' Well, I guess next year has come."
The turtle races are but one of the many activities PMHH staff offer with their continuing effort to create a sense of "home" and "community" at the facility. The new model of care is taking a direction away from the "institutional" approach to care.
Construction and remodeling has been ongoing for three years, and the changes have been substantial at PMHH. Six households have been created. Each household has its own country kitchen, living room, private dining room, porch and sunroom.
The town center, the final component of the project, will be completed in time for the "grand opening" celebration Oct. 7, from 2 to 5 p.m. The center is an opportunity for residents to leave their "household" to browse in the larger community. A coffee shop, chapel, barber-hair stylist shop, gift shop and even a movie theater are part of the town center.
"This is really a social model, rather than a medical or institutional model," said Sue Sailer, director of social services at PMHH. "It really focuses on quality of life, along with quality of care."
"The fact that someone enters the nursing home for skilled care should not mean the end of the routines of daily living that they have enjoyed most of their lives in their own homes," said Marilyn Oelfke, senior director of long term care. "With our new model, staff adapt to the residents' routines, providing them with the support they need to continue to live their lives as they choose."
