Aug 2019
99th birthday waltz wish comes true at Lake House
It’s not every day you turn 99 and for Alison Prew, resident of Lake House Care Home in Adderbury, her birthday wish was granted with a waltz from the CEO of The Orders of St John Care Trust.
When the home discovered that Alison wanted to celebrate her birthday by, “dancing the waltz with a strapping man,” home manager Alex Grindle knew just the person to fit the bill. Alex invited OSJCT CEO Dan Hayes to a special birthday tea dance in Alison’s honour and he was delighted to contribute towards making Alison’s birthday celebrations as special as possible.
The only issue was that, by Dan’s own admission, he had not danced the waltz before and was afraid of discovering he had two left feet. Thankfully, dance teacher Glenda Harper who runs Strictly Banbury was on hand to provide a waltz masterclass before the couple’s turn on the dancefloor.
Dan says: “I was honoured to be asked to join Alison for her birthday celebrations. She is so keen on dancing that I wanted to make sure her tea dance was memorable for all the right reasons, so it was important to get the steps right.”
Having got to grips with the dance, Alison and Dan took to the floor where, watched by fellow residents, colleagues and Alison’s daughter, Sue, they delighted onlookers with a waltz to one of Alison’s favourite songs: Vera Lynn’s ‘Somewhere in France’.
The birthday girl said: “It has been wonderful. It’s brought back lots of memories of going to dances when I was younger and getting into trouble with my mum for coming home too late.”
Home Manager Alex said: “Any form of physical movement is so beneficial as we age but dancing holds a special place in many people’s hearts because of the memories it brings back for them. We were so pleased to be able to make Alison’s birthday wish come true, and I know it meant a lot to her today.”