The residents and care team at Little Bramingham Farm, our Luton-based residential care home, had a top tapping, kernel popping day celebrating this year’s National Popcorn Day. Whilst National Popcorn Day originated in The United States of America, the day is now celebrated all over the world. “Knowing how much the residents enjoy films and popcorn, we thought it would be a lovely idea to mix the two and celebrate January’s National Popcorn Day,” said Emma Lawrance, the Registered Manager at Little Bramingham Farm. “We asked the residents if they’d like to decide on a film, relax and tuck into some tasty popcorn and the answer was a resounding ‘yes please’.”
“During one of our regular reminiscing sessions, we talked about the residents’ favourite films. We covered musicals, thrillers, horrors, comedies, action adventures, mysteries, romances and even westerns, but in the end, the residents decided they would love to see the 1952 classic musical, ‘Singin’ in the Rain’,” added Karen Charity, the care home’s Activities Coordinator. “They really are ‘Movie Buffs’,” continued Karen. “They know the iconic story of how ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ tells the tale of Hollywood moving from silent pictures to ‘talkies’ and struggling with actors’ real voices. Gene Kelly’s Don Lockwood character is usually cast in silent films with his leading lady, Lina Lamont, but her screechy, high-pitched voice does not work with sound, especially when she sings, so he hires a secret actress, Debbie Reynolds to dub her voice and songs, at which point, the comedy high jinx begin.
“I was also told by a resident that Gene Kelly, who was 40 when he made the film, was actually suffering with a temperature of 103 degrees when he performed the forever popular ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ number and that the Director added milk to the cold water rain so it could be visible on screen.”
To set the Hollywood movie mood, Karen designed special film posters and arranged the care home’s lovely lounge as the residents’ very own, comfortable cinema. “It’s not just films the residents know all about, they really are fonts of all knowledge,” added Emma. “When we served the popcorn at the beginning of the film, I was amazed to learn some fun facts about the cinema staple. For instance, one resident told me that popcorn has been around since 3600 BCE with Archaeologists confirming that it was used by the Aztecs and Incas not only as food but as decorations and offerings to their Gods – and another resident said that popcorn was introduced to the UK in 1938 by the company, Butterkist. They surprise me every day.”
“The residents really enjoyed their popcorn, it wasn’t loaded with butter, sugar or salt so was a healthy option. It’s interesting too that popcorn has quite a few health benefits. It’s good for gut health, helps to manage blood sugar levels, is full of fibre and can help with cholesterol amongst other things – as well as being a tasty treat,” added Karen.
All the residents had a thoroughly great time enjoying their popcorn and movie afternoon. “The residents enjoyed it so much that they are already chatting about what film to watch at our next movie afternoon and have already insisted that they must have popcorn too as they thought it was delicious,” concluded Emma.
Find out more about Little Bramingham Farm care home by calling 01582 582 433 or emailing [email protected].