Long-term care facility residents were revved up to see classic cars and motorcycles cruise by during a ‘Ride for Residents’ on Sunday.

Dozens of motorcyclists and motorists gathered to parade past Marshalltown care centers early in the afternoon. The route started at Wal-Mart Supercenter on S. Center Street, then traveled down E. Southridge Avenue to Governor Road before passing Grandview Heights on East Olive Street at about 1 p.m. The riders made their way to Southridge Specialty Care before gathering at Accura Healthcare for hot dogs and refreshments.

Residents of the care facilities were seated under blankets or watching from indoors to view the parade as cold temperatures remained into the afternoon.

“This industry has been challenged this year,” said Brad Cole, administrator at Accura Healthcare. “This is our opportunity to say ‘thank you’ for the prayers that have gone up for our industry. These folks have been so patient. It’s just unreal.”

The ride was organized by Accura employees Alanna Meling, business office manager, and Kristine Wilder, activities director. They had been planning the event for some time, patiently waiting for Marshall County COVID-19 cases to go down.

“We’ve been COVID free for 120 days,” Wilder said of Accura.

Meling and Wilder organized a ride past the Veterans Home at the beginning of summer.

“Through the whole corona pandemic our residents have been pretty sequestered inside and not able to see family or even get their hair done,” Meling said. “We thought before it gets too cold, we could rally them and get their spirits up. Very lovingly the community has health care workers. We wanted to show our residents we think they’re heroes as well.”

Rachel Woodruff, director of nursing at Accura, said her facility has used innovative methods to keep residents connected to their families. Like other care facilities they have used technology for visits, but they are also using cattle delivery gloves to allow residents to hold hands with visitors safely through plexiglass.

“Most of the people that live here have been through some really hard things in their life,” she said. “I’m really appreciative to the members of the community that came out and put a smile on our residents’ faces.”

Contact Joe Fisher at 641-753-6611 or jfisher@timesrepublican.com.