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Back to Plum Advance Leader Star headlines Scouts visit patients By Bob Phillips Staff Writer For many elderly people in the community, the holiday season can be a lonely time of year. To help make the holidays a happy time for the residents of Ridgewood Place Retirement Home in Renton, the Holiday Park Cub Scouts provided them with gifts, songs, and companionship on Sunday night. Through the "Presents for Patients" program, the Cub Scouts of Pack 111 presented a Christmas gift to each of home's 70 residents. The 66-member Cub Scout pack and their parents - 130 people in all - arrived at Ridgewood Place at 6 p.m. on Sunday to distribute the gifts. Lida Brown, den leader of the pack's Den No. 2, organized the Presents for Patients program and was gratified with the results. "When the Scouts presented the gifts, the residents were so excited to have the children there," Brown said. "It was not so much the gifts that the residents liked, it was the companionship the children provided." Brown's husband, Mike, noted that he had heard several of the residents comment that "it was nice to have kids running around again." As they received their gifts, many of the residents talked to the Scouts about Christmas traditions of the past and present and also asked them about what gifts they were getting for Christmas. After the gifts were delivered, the Scouts, their parents, and the residents adjourned to the home's community room, where Gloria Mayo, wife of Cub Scout Master, Tim Mayo, sat down at the piano and played Christmas songs. Everyone then sang Christmas carols and enjoyed cookies and punch. "It was a really wonderful night," Brown said. Last year, Brown and Den No. 2 participated in the Presents for Patients program, but this is the first year the entire Cub Scout pack took part. "Last year, our den had a wonderful time participating in the program, so we thought we'd get the entire pack involved this year," Brown said. The Presents for Patients program is organized by the St. Barnabas Charitable Foundation. At the beginning of November, Brown notified the foundation that Pack 111 wanted to participate in the program and provide gifts to the residents of Ridgewood Place Retirement Home. The foundation then sent the Scouts special cards in the mail. Each card featured the name of a resident of Ridgewood Place. On the card, the resident listed a number of gifts that he or she might enjoy. Each Scout then purchased a gift from the suggestions on the list. Brown would like to thank Cheryl Krapf, the activities director at Ridgewood Place, for helping organize the event and for providing the Cub Scouts with the opportunity to visit the retirement home.Brown would like also like to thank the Scouts' parents for taking part in this year's program. "This is a busy time of year for parents, but they took the time to bring their kids to Ridgewood Place on Sunday," Brown said. "I really appreciate that."

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