Knights in Shining Armor

BY RUTH NICOLAUS

Two “knights in shining armor” “rescued” the residents of the Evergreen Assisted Living Residence in O’Neill, Neb. from the gloom of quarantine.

On April 8, Riley Wakefield and his dad, Jim, entertained the 50 residents through their windows, on horseback, with Riley’s trick roping, and with Strawberry, the family goat.

Riley, who is a senior at Northwestern Oklahoma State in Alva, Okla., is home in O’Neill, due to the virus, and is busy with classes. But when his dad suggested “visiting” the assisted living residence, he was game.

So they loaded up Chester, Riley’s horse, and the goat, and headed to town.

“I put on my cowboy clothes and my chaps and did my rope tricks in front of their windows,” he said. An accomplished tie-down roper and steer wrestler, Riley knows a few rope tricks: the butterfly and the ocean wave being among them, so he entertained, even standing on horseback spinning a rope while Chester munched green grass.

“Dad led the goat up to the window, so they could get a better view,” Riley said.

Jim Wakefield rides up to the window at the Evergreen Assisted Living Residence in O’Neill, Neb., as resident Rosanne Cullen and med aide Deb Barrelman (standing) watch. The horse, Chester, was the first head horse ridden by Riley’s older brother, Brady, who died in a vehicle accident in 2015.

PHOTOS COURTESY NANCY SCHMITZ.

The residents enjoyed it, said Nancy Schmitz, assistant activities director at Evergreen. Residents are quarantined to their rooms, and Riley and his dad spent nearly two hours, walking around the building and interacting through the glass barrier.

“Residents were thrilled,” she said. “They absolutely loved it.”

It’s not easy for residents when they can’t receive visits from family, she said. The facility has been on lockdown since March 10, and quarantine to rooms started on April 1. Residents FaceTime with family members, and if a resident doesn’t have access to a device, staff arranges for them to FaceTime with family.

At the Highland Park Care Center in Alliance, Neb., residents were treated to instrumental music from a guitarist, violin and more on April 7. The group from the Berean Church strolled outside in the beautiful weather, and with residents’ windows open, they enjoyed the music. The local Dairy Queen also donated Blizzards to some of the residents, leaving them with “empty cups and full tummies,” according to the Care Center’s Facebook page.

In Buffalo, S.D. at Peaceful Prairie Estates, residents aren’t quarantined to their rooms or the building but staff is taking extra precautions.

Owner Jesika Garrett Floyd makes sure residents get plenty of social interaction and exercise. If it’s nice out, they walk outdoors. There’s little concern about coming into contact with a big crowd in Buffalo, so social distancing is easily practiced. They also spend more time bowling with the Wii.

Her residents are less worried about the virus than she or her staff are.

“Most of the people I care for, their faith is bigger than this virus,” she said. “They teach us more about life than the media will, and they’re more worried about us than we are” about them.

Riley spends his mornings doing homework and student-teaching, via distance learning, with a class of fifth grade students in Alva, Okla. In the afternoons, he rides four outside horses. He will graduate with a degree in elementary education this spring, then will attend Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, to work on a master’s degree in counseling. He will rodeo collegiately at Tarleton.

The Wakefields have promised to return to Evergreen Assisted Living with Chester and Strawberry when the quarantine is over, so residents can pet the horse and the goat. Chester has a special place in the Wakefield family; the horse was the first rope horse for Brady, Jim and Susan’s older son, who died in a traffic accident in 2015.

Wakefield knows the value of being there for the seniors at Evergreen Assisted Living.

“It’s hard enough for me and my family to keep up our morale. It seems like you’re doing the exact same thing every day. Thinking about the emotions they are going through, it’s crazy. I’m sure it wears on them.

“It was cool to do that for them.”

Riley Wakefield waves to a resident as he rides past a window at the Evergreen Assisted Living Residence in O'Neill, Neb. Wakefield, and his dad, Jim, entertained the residents in quarantine.

Riley Wakefield trick ropes on horseback for the enjoyment of those in quarantine at an assisted living residence in O’Neill. Strawberry the goat is led around, much to the amusement of assisted living residents quarantined to their rooms.