Rocks, root beer, and a whole bunch of smiles

Rocks and root beer floats.

And girls. Plenty of them. Young and old(er).

It all added up to quite a lot of after dinner excitement for the residents at Clarkson Health Care Facility in Rapid City. Anna’s Kindness volunteers sat and visited with the residents at Clarkson Thursday afternoon, shared root beer floats, and artfully decorated kindness stones as gifts for them. The girls chose uplifting messages to share on the stones, along with plenty of hearts, smiley faces, and sunshine artwork sprinkled in. The event (not to mention the floats, of course) served as a great dessert for the residents, who had just finished dinner.

Bonnie, a resident at Clarkson, was a favorite of several of the girls. Lexie Mack made her a stone with the words “Make a Wish”, and Madison Davey made her a stone with the message “Life is Tough, But So Are You.” Lexi, Madison, and Amy Agate are all U10 softball teammates in Rapid City.

There was something of a softball theme Thursday. Anna’s former U12 softball teammate AJ Cannon sat and talked with the residents, along with fellow Southwest Middle School 8th grader Madelyn Sliper, who carefully designed gifts for those at her table. Both girls also gave an interview to the Fox TV reporter who came to cover the event.

Amelia DeWald and Sydney Meissner, softball teammates with Anna when she played U10 softball, sat with classmate Elena Rath and produced beautiful stones, while enjoying the root beer floats. Amelia was joined by her sister Molly. Once Elena was finished with her stones, she spent time showcasing her art skills. Anna, a talented artist as well, would have loved the dragon that Elena drew on a plate.

For some of the girls, this was their first trip to the senior citizen care facility, and likely didn’t know what to expect. But they all quickly reached the same conclusion about the seniors.

“They were very nice,” said Amy.

Bonnie, Ray, Phyllis, George and the other residents who attended the event wound up with several stones each, and when the stones ran out, the innovative girls begin drawing art on plastic plates. There was no shortage of creativity at Clarkson. The residents chatted with the girls as the stones were being designed, and they continued to stay and talk with the girls even after the last stone had been painted. And while the event may have been centered around the floats and the stones, in reality, it was much more about the joy that the girls brought to the residents by simply being there. The girls, who ranged from 3rd grade through 8th, created an energy in the room, and it created quite the buzz in the hallways of Clarkson. It seemed that as the event wore on, more residents — hearing the young voices and all the excitement — came down to join in.

“The residents were still talking about the visit from the kids even after when they got back to their rooms,” said Teresa Wardle, who coordinated the event at Clarkson. And those memories will last, thanks to the personally painted gifts the residents received from the girls.

“I really liked making stones for the residents,” said Madison. “And one of them gave me a hug.”

Thank you to Teresa and Clarkson for hosting this wonderful opportunity for Anna’s Kindness.

If you would like to be notified of an upcoming Anna’s Kindness project, please email annaskindness@yahoo.com to join our volunteer list. Please ‘like’ Anna’s Kindness page on Facebook, and follow Anna’s Kindness on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on our news and events.