A STEP BACK IN TIME---as you step through the doors from the Lobby of the Good Samaritan Home and into the hallway, you will be met with a scene from 1957 of the Delta Queen Riverboat docked on the Ohio riverfront at what was later to become Dress Plaza in Evansville (River City).  Turning around, you see the McCurdy Hotel in all its glory and a historic house on Riverside Ave.

Looking to the right, you look down Main Street, complete with the storefronts from the mid-forties including the Victory Theater, Antique stores, beauty shop, etc.  Looking up at the ceiling, you note the sky, complete with clouds with the sun shinning through.

Moving in the other direction from Main Street, you notice West Franklin Street, with houses built of stucco, siding and brick.  You can’t help but notice the park scenes between the houses along with the green grass in front of the houses lined along the street. The street and sidewalk run to a veranda from a historic house. At the intersection of West Franklin and Wabash, you will notice the Hose House # 5. As you get to the end of Wabash, you will observe the West Side Library.

At the end of Main Street, a gazebo greets you in the center of a “town square.”  A park sits opposite the gazebo welcoming you to sit and listen to the music of “swing-bands” of the 40’s.

Looking down Weinbach, you will recognize Evansville College (U. of E.) and the houses from that area. The same holds true of Washington Ave. where the houses are recognizable.

This innovative concept is known as “The Recollections Project.”  It is designed to stimulate memories of the past for the Residents who live at the Good Samaritan Home located at 601 N. Boeke Road.

Recognizing that most of the Residents living at Good Samaritan Home still retain their long-term memory, the Facility has developed this concept to “tap into” this long-term memory.  Through the use of “Environmental Therapy,” we are able to provide an environment that the Residents can recognize and “recollect” memories of the past.

This project is being done in three phases.  The first phase has been completed; the second and third phase has started and will be complete by the end of 2009. As the pieces come together it is like a large jigsaw puzzle when it forms a picture.

Come by and visit and “take a step back in time to Early Evansville.”

Thanks,
Thomas R. Slaubaugh, C.E.O.