Pumpkins invade Ivy Hall Nursing Home

Some pumpkins sit on a windowsill, a pumpkin lays on a bench spending time with his scarecrow friend. Another few pumpkins perch on fence posts surrounding the nursing home. A whole group of them reside on the front steps of the building. Hundreds of pumpkins, and every one of them showcases the soul of the person who decorated it.

Chelcie Ricker, an employee at Ivy Hall Nursing Home, says this will be their fourth year decorating pumpkins for display.

“They started as just normal decorations,” Ricker said. “We kept doing more and more, and so now they have become a tradition.”

Ricker said there is no standard list of rules or anything similar as to how to decorate the pumpkins, describing the process as a “free-for-all.”

Pumpkin decorations included a hand-carved one of a realistic face, a plastic pumpkin painted white and made to look like BB-8 from Star Wars and an older woman with glasses in a bathtub.

“The employee involvement is huge,” Ricker said. “Schools, businesses and staff all participate.”

The pumpkins line the entire perimeter of the various buildings of the nursing home, perched on windowsills and sitting on benches with the scarecrows.

She said they will continue to receive pumpkins until Halloween this week. Eventually, they plan to line the entire street they reside on with their decorations.

Ricker said they spent the entire month of October decorating and setting up pumpkins, and they make sure as many residents participate as possible.

“We sometimes do jumping jacks to do so,” she said.

The decorations do not stop at the door, however. General fall decorations line the halls of the nursing home. At one of the receptionist areas is a large pine tree with Halloween decorations on it.

“This tree is always decorated,” Ricker said. “It does not matter the holiday: Christmas, Halloween, Father’s Day. We always decorate it with something.”

She said the decorations gain a lot of attention from passersby.

“We have one family who walks by here every day to take their kids to school,” Ricker said. “They always stop to look at the pumpkins.”

Ricker said she enjoys watching the residents decorate their pumpkins over the course of the month.

“I like seeing the residents happy and enjoying themselves,” she said. “They used to do this all the time. They would set up decorations in their house every year.”

Ricker said she hopes to show people the positive things about the nursing home.

“The nursing home is a blessing,” Ricker said. “I could not ask for better people.”

SportsPlus

Local news

Ross, Boys & Girls Club partner for annual fundraiser to help local kids thrive

Local news

Disaster Relief mobile unit will be at Boys and Girls Club Tuesday

Local news

Milligan’s ‘Two Cats + A Herd of Buffalo’ returns to Dos Gatos 

Local news

Humane Society changes address

Local news

Shamrock Shake returns to area McDonald’s

Local news

Tri-Cities commercial real estate on the upswing

Church News

How has Jesus been a good shepherd in your life?

Local news

East Tennessee musician brings home first Grammy  

Church News

First Free Will Baptist will host ‘Defying the Demonic Spiritual Warfare’ Conference

Local news

This Month in Carter County History…

Church News

Jennifer Adler to lecture on religious practices and identities in Appalachia at First Presbyterian

Community

USAF Band of Mid-America will perform in Johnson City Feb. 18

Local news

Podcaster, author Margaret Feinberg to speak at Milligan

Local news

Imagination Library fosters love of reading for Carter County children

Local news

ETSU research explores Spanish flu’s impact on Appalachia

Local news

A Life Lived: Frankie Clawson Flannery’s life was defined by hard work and love for the Lord

Local news

Report: 20% of TN children under five live in poverty

Local news

Summer Food Service Program opens 2025 application cycle with focus on rural counties

Local news

ETSU celebrates 40 years of Appalachian heritage

Local news

Bonnie Kate Theater presents 1940s Radio Show

Local news

Tennessee gas prices rise slightly amid fluctuating oil costs

Community

Humane Society changes address

Local news

ETSU hosting variety of events for the community in February

Local news

ETSU celebrates Black History Month