For the first time since the pandemic began in 2020, Sunnyside Health Care Center residents made a trip down the hill to Gordy's Warming House for ice cream on Wednesday, July 26.
Sunnyside Health Care Center staff, along with resident family members and volunteers wheeled 25 residents down the hill from the nursing home at Community Memorial Hospital to the coffee and ice cream shop.
"It was a great hot day for ice cream. Many flavors of ice cream were enjoyed by residents and [wheelchair] pushers," said Sunnyside director of engagement Toni Hubbell, noting that the roughly six-block round trip "takes an army."
For the first time, the group ate its annual treat in the new pavilion behind the Warming House, where they enjoyed music from Mel Annala, set up by Gordy's owners Sever and Dan Lundquist.
Hubbell said they got help getting there and back from 20 University of Minnesota-Duluth dance team members Sever's wife, Kaitlyn, is a coach with the UMD dance team, which won a national championship earlier this year.
They were also assisted by Cloquet police officers, who stopped traffic on Minnesota Highway 33 so the ice cream train could safely get across the busy roadway.