MONTE VISTA – Once a year, Homelake Veterans have a special breakfast that is cooked just for them at the picnic grounds in Rock Creek.
Veterans Community Living Center at Homelake Admissions and Marketing Director Pam Self said the breakfast was on Aug. 15.
“We have been taking our residents to the Rock Creek breakfast for longer than I have worked at Homelake, which is 17 years. I only remember missing one year due to the weather. It is definitely a highlight of the year for both residents and staff. Food just tastes so much better in the mountains. We also stay up there for a few hours after breakfast just enjoying nature and sharing past stories of camping and other adventures in the mountains. Everyone is able to open up in a way that is different from when we’re at the home,” she said.
This year pancakes, hash browns, bacon, sausage, eggs, and cowboy coffee were all served to the residents.
Self said the Homelake residents are excited to attend.
“We were just as excited to have our residents go up, as they were to be up there attending. We are also amazed by the amount that everyone eats. Our residents have good appetites. The air up there, the smell of the food, it just makes you hungry. Our staff works so well together, to put on this wonderful breakfast together for our residents,” she said.
Self said the center does lots of things for the residents throughout the year, but this was by far one of her favorites.
“It’s just a great event. We had about 30 residents total attend the breakfast. We brought our handicap accessible buses, and you know many of the residents who attended were in wheelchairs, but the fact that they still get to go up into the National Forest and have a great morning and breakfast and visit with friends. It's really wonderful.”
Self said it's nice to be in the forest, with nobody in a rush to leave and all the Veterans were sharing stories of when they went camping, or fishing. Self said that three buses went up, along with a pickup truck to help carry the wheelchairs, or other items that any of the Veterans needed.
“My favorite part of the breakfast is always seeing the smiles on the Veterans faces and seeing how well the residents eat. I also love to hear the residents share their favorite memories, and stories from when they got to camp, or their favorite things to eat while camping, too. All the pictures that we take, and they take up there. These things are my favorite part of the breakfast,” she said.
