Special to the Dorchester Banner/Betty Ruark Salisbury University Nursing Students front row, from left, Leigh Willing, Leslie Bunting, Jane MacDonald, and Jenna Benke; back row Jordan Hill, Mary Ann Flores, Vivian Muir West, Kate McQueerly and teacher Amanda Willey, all pose in front of a wall of wreaths at Pleasant Day Medical Adult Day Care.[/caption]

CAMBRIDGE — “Pleasant Day Medical Adult Day Care is pleased to have the Salisbury University Nursing Students, doing an internship where they have hands on clinical experience working one on one with designated participants. It not only helps the students understand the elderly and their problems; it helps the participants,” said Jackie Vickers, executive director.

A clinical rotation in a medical adult day care setting helps students understand how important living at home and maintaining their independence is to participants. As they work with the participants they see how many participants could not remain in their homes without the services provided by Pleasant Day Medical Adult Day Care.

Each year the semester falls during the Festival of Wreaths. This class as a group chose a wreath they liked the best; a half tree decorated and donated by Julie Bryan of Faith Baptist Fellowship Church named “A Break from Christmas Chaos.” Half trees are exactly that; trees that hang flat on the wall, great for people with climbing cats or if you don’t want to decorate a tree, it can be put away after Christmas and pulled out the next year, all decorated.

As Pleasant Day gets closer to Dec. 4, when at 5:30 the Holiday Benefit Gala opens, all like “Tis the Season.” This year is the Festival of Wreaths/Holiday Benefit Gala’s 15th Annual charitable event whose only goal is to raise money to support the participants of Pleasant Day.

All of the work that goes into requesting, and setting up the wreaths for the silent auction, obtaining the items donated by local businesses for the live auction, contacting and arranging for the finger foods and wine tasting, all donated by Dorchester restaurants, setting up for the entertainers, Buddy Foxwell, bus drivers, decorating in and outside the Center, all of this and more is the result of “Friends of Pleasant Day.”

In other words the Friends of Pleasant Day donate their time to arrange for all the other people to donate their time and talent. Without these people who volunteer their time and talent there would be no Festival of Wreaths/Holiday Benefit Gala. They see and understand the need for the extras for the participants and how much time, effort and money it takes to provide the extras. So while it is advertised as a “Fun”d Raiser, it is most importantly a charitable event where you come to socialize and donate, taste the delicious wines and donate, enjoy the tasty morsels and donate, bid on wreaths and donate, bid during the live auction and donate; these donations are what will bring smiles to a lot of faces and being happy is an important part of getting well.

Without these donations, Participants would not be able to go to a Shorebirds baseball game, picnics, visit the Zoo, go to Ocean City and eat “junk food” on the Boardwalk, (some Pleasant Day participants have never seen the Ocean), see the Cambridge Christmas lights at night, see the Christmas decorations at the Salisbury Mall, ride in and be part of the excitement of the Christmas parade with pizza before and so much more, not just at Christmastime but all year ‘round. These are just some of the extras that the Festival of Wreaths Holiday Benefit Gala allows Pleasant Day to provide. If you would like to help or make a donation call Jackie Vickers at 410-228-0190.