I was thinking it might be a great service activity to get a few guys together who own old cars and to bring our cars over to a local retirement home. The idea would be sort of a mini car show (even if it's just 4 or 5 cars) that the elderly who can't get out much would really enjoy. We could arrange it with the retirement home just to bring the cars for an hour or so -- no need for an extended visit or anything.

Has anyone done this? Any tips for how to do it, or pitfalls to watch out for?

I had an idea to do this myself, seriously! Could be very nice, if you could talk to the retirement place and maybe make it coincide with a luncheon so, the old people would be there anyway, and you could play some old music over some speakers and make it a nice event.

I have been on tours that have a coffee stop at retirement homes. Spend a half hour or so, get refreshed and move on. It's a good place to hear stories of cars just like yours. Some will want to have their picture taken by your car like the one they had. You'll get as much out of it as the residents do.

Our local car club does a small show every year for a retirement home,Ashlar of Newtown. The show runs for 4 hours, hot dogs and hamburgers are cooked on a grill for the residents, participants and spectators. A great time is had by all. You can view pictures by going to classicnights.com, clicking on events then at Aug 9th aslar of newtown click on pictures.
If you contact a retirement home in your area I am sure they would be happy to have you bring some cars for the residents.
Hank

Interesting timing on this thread. The local Retirement Commmunity where my mother resides just had their annual "Peach Festival".
Part of that festival includes a car show with Antique & Classic cars and Street Rods.
They also serve a picnic lunch under tents for the residents, visitors and show car owners.
I went to the event this year and there were about 10-20 cars in attendance most of which were from a local car club.
The residents, visitors, guests and staff all seemed to enjoy the cars on display.

For those interested in this sort of thing, I recommend you contact the activities director or manager of your local retirement community
and see if something like this would be of interest.

We do this twice a year, once at a local nursing home and once at a Vets. home. You can not imagine the enjoyment the people get,or the good feeling you get. GO FOR IT!!!

We've had coffee stops at retirement homes a few times, and it's always a great time. It's really fun hearing stories about our cars from the 1920's told by some folks that are near 100. It's hard for us to imagine what it was like when a Model T was daily transportation for most people. But these folks can tell you what it was like first hand, and some have facinating stories of their adventures.

Our friend Doy Maston who recently passed away did this quite a lot with his Model Ts. He and other members of the Mountain State T Club would arrange with local retirement homes to bring their cars, not all of which were Model Ts for the residents and staff to enjoy. And they not only let residents look at the cars they took them, and staff members, for rides in them if the resident was able to go. Lots of smiles on lots of faces.

The Santa Fe Vintage Car Club has an annual show at a retirement community. It is held in conjunction with an event the facility sponsors with food, music, and other entertainment for the residents, their guests, and club members. The car portion is well received and it is one of the club's highlight activities. This is a highly recommended activity.

Our Region of the LCOC has participated in a 4th of July parade in Whitmore Lake, MI for the last 4 years. The last, and best, stop on the parade is the retirement home at the end of the street.

I attended the show at the Armed Forces Retirement Home (formerly known as The Old Soldiers Home) in Washington, DC for the first time last year. It was their 50th anniversary show. I went with a friend of mine from the Mustang Club of America. There was a huge turnout and we had a great time talking with the veterans. After the show, we did a parade lap of the grounds and passed one of the dorms where the more infirm residents live who couldn't get to the show proper. It was a really good feeling to see them wave at us and applaud. My photos from that show can be found at:

http://community.webshots.com/album/561034139PHIUCg

Occasionally retirement homes in this area have car shows, but mostly they invite members to bring a couple of cars so their guests can see them. There are some guests who are interested, but mostly the staff and visitors like to see the cars.

Below are pictures that one of our members and myself brought our cars to a retirement home.

Our region does a couple of nursing home shows every year and are always well received.

For the last few years we have had a small nursing home show as one of the events at our Crosley club Nationals. The first year we brought a cooler full of ice cream bars/sandwiches and made it into an ice cream social. It was such a big hit we have been asked back every year but the nursing home insists on furnishing the ice cream for everyone. One of our members has a restored ice cream truck that he brings and he has ice cream server shirts. He recruits a few younger kids before we go to wear the shirts and hand out the ice cream. We each give a little talk about our cars and answer questions. The old folks get a real big kick out of the Crosleys when we pull in and drive them right down the extra wide sidewalks they have, to an outdoor shelter.

A local club put on a show EARLY this summer at a nearby nursing home. They are a group of mostly hot rods and muscle. So it was funny, my car is sittin there among all these perfect customs and newer (relative) stuff, and it's freakin drawin a crowd!!!! All of the ones in wheelchairs are motioning to their attendants to push them over towards it, it was fun to watch. I felt good that they could see it, clearly a lot of them grew up in that era and must have been happy to see it.

We visit (and go for a short swim) a retirement home every year at the Amphicar national convention in Celina. Ten years and counting. The residents really look forward to it; I just received a nice thank you from them for this year’s meet. We also gave the staff member’s tee shirts. We have had people out in their 90’s that need nurses to ride along with oxygen tanks, etc. It really perks them up and puts a huge smile on their face.

One bit of advice. Don’t schedule anything around lunch or dinnertime.

It's a great program for antique car clubs. We've been doing it for years in PinMAR (Pinellas County FL)
Here a few thought you might consider when planning one of these outings.
#1 Nursing homes are a short visit tour (30 minutes) do to
generally poor health and, may have short attention spans and
physical challenges of the patients.
#2. Make arrangements way ahead of time so the home can make
arrangements to bring the residents to the driveway at a
specific time.
#3 Consider "independent living" facilities where all the
residents are ambulatory, alert and active.
These places have activities planners and sales
representatives who look for special events.
#4 Remember the other end of the spectrum too. One of our
most fun events is taking 29 cars to a local school at the
end of their study of the automobile industry and giving
The top 60 kids for rides in 4 different antique cars.
We also give them cash prizes in a Burma Shave slogan
contest.
These activities are always well attended buy our members.

We do this several times each year during the warm weather months. Many of the homes will put on either a lunch or a dinner to our members who bring cars. Due to my work schedule, I've never made one.

Of course I tend to pick on our older members accusing them of scouting out the old folks home that has the best food so they can choose where they want to go based on the food.

All kidding aside, one of the oldest members of our region lives in one of those homes is one of the places we visit.

I ended up doing this last week: There's a retirement community about a mile from my house, and they have a small driveway area that could fit a few cars. I just brought my two cars, for about 45 minutes. It seemed to go over pretty well: Only about 20 people came out to check out the cars, and about half of them were staff, but those who came out had big smiles on their faces. It was a tad chilly, though, and apparently that discouraged a lot of the residents from coming out to take a look. Next time I'll aim for a warmer time of year.

this has little to do with the original post, (well it would if they came in old cars) but having a high school music group come to a retirement community to perform was a big hit

I can tell you from personal experience. I have attended an event like this that the Amphicar club does. The home provides lunch and many great people. It is the highlight of my annual trip to Celina, Ohio. It was started by Billy Syx who is an Amphicar restorer in NJ and by the generosity of several club members it has continued. The credit should always go to Billy for his generosity. I have given rides up to a 99 years old gentleman named Enus and his great grandsons. I arrive early and stay late to make sure everyone gets a ride that wants one.

Now from the other side. Currently I am in a nursing home myself. I was involved in a head-on wreck that destroyed my right shoulder. So now I'm down to only my left arm because as you may already know I am paralized too. I will be here for several months more providing they do re-injure me again. ANYTHING different is a welcome distraction. So I have to say from both sides of the table, by all means plan something for those unfortunate folks, one day it could be you.

John, Our local chapter used to do several of these visits every year. It has been a couple of years since our club had a nursing home tour. I think I need to make a fuss and get our chapter back on track on this issue. Sorry to hear about your recent troubles. Best of luck to you on your recovery.