BURLINGTON - Ninety-eight-year-old Burlington resident Pat Steer was pleasantly surprised to find that a local farm had brought a seven-day-old lamb to her retirement community to make her dream come true.
Steer, who has lived at Park Avenue Manor in Aldershot for around five years, got the opportunity to cuddle with Bingo, a rare Valais blacknose lamb that was only born last week, as part of the community’s Dream Come True events.
Bingo was active and nervous when he first arrived at the retirement home, but calmed down quickly and fell asleep once he was introduced to Steer.
“I’m feeling very happy,” she said as Bingo slept in her lap. “I’m content and really serene, I just love him. Lambs are exceptionally cuddly baby animals, I like the wool and their little faces and the way they’d play in the fields.”
Steer grew up close to a farm in South Wales when she was young and would visit the nearby animals as a child, with the sheep being her favourites.
The retirement community tried to make Steer’s dream come true a few years ago, but the surprise project had to be put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Dream Come True events can create lasting memories for the residents of Park Avenue Manor, with one resident getting the chance to fly in a tiger moth biplane that was used in the First World War at the Warplane Heritage Museum.
“It really gives them a chance to experience one more extra-special thing in their life that they maybe didn’t think they’d have a lot of time left for,” Leah Brakewell, the director of recreation at Park Avenue Manor who worked with Steer’s family to set up the visit, said. “It gives them a chance to be admired by their peers and get some special attention too, and everyone gets to enjoy their dream along with them.”
Grindstone Creek Farm, who brought Bingo to Park Avenue Manor to meet Steer, also raises highland cows, pigs, ducks, sheep and more and is open to the public to visit the animals.
“We like to invite outside groups to come here,” Brakewell said. “Whether they bring farm animals, teach new skills, provide music or some other kind of entertainment, it helps the residents to have a well-rounded life.”
