Five Hills royalty make caring for elderly priority

Special to Leader-Press

Dressed in black and white with sparkles and chiffon from head to toe, the Copperas Cove Five Hills royalty “cut a rug” at the annual Hill Country Nursing Home Black and White Ball.

Encouraging the residents to either dance in their chairs or stand and dance in place, the titleholders danced around the dining room of the nursing home to the tunes of the Scotty Ray Show. Residents clapped their hands, smiled from ear to ear, and several, with a little assistance from a beauty queen, got up out of their wheelchairs to groove to the tunes from the 1950s and 1960s.

The black and white ball is just one of many events that the royalty have dedicated themselves to over the last two year to ensure nursing home residents know they are not forgotten. 

Copperas Cove Five Hills Junior Ambassador Naomi Williams’ platform of service for the last two years has been Caring for the Elderly.

“I want all of the grandmas and grandpas in the nursing homes to know that we love them and we want them to feel special,” the kindergartener said.

For the last two summers, the royalty have visited the Copperas Cove Nursing and Rehabilitation Center each week to play bingo.  Williams also hosted a Mother’s Day Tea the last two years.  

Dressed in poodle skirts and saddle oxfords, Williams and the Copperas Cove Five Hills Royalty joined the nursing home residents for a Father’s Day ice cream party because Williams did not want the men at the nursing home to feel left out.

“Seeing the smiles of the people when visiting and helping out makes me happy,” Williams said.

This is the fifth year that the royalty have attended the annual Hill Country Nursing Home Black and White Ball and will play bingo at the nursing home again on their holiday breaks.

Sr. Ms. Five Hills Donna Higgins is serving on the committee to host Copperas Cove’s first senior citizen sock hop scheduled in November.

“We are so excited to get to kick up our heels with people our own age,” Higgins said. “We have reserved the gym at Crossroads High School, so it really will be like a dance when we were in school. I just can’t wait.”