The residents of Willow Pond Senior Care got a little sweeter this week with the opening of Mooney's Snack Shack. Mooney's Snack Shack is named after the late Mooney Prosser, a resident of Willow Pond.
"Mooney was always looking for ways to improve things at Willow Pond. He wanted to create more fun activities for the residents. He was instrumental in getting a horse shoe pit outside while he was living here," said Chandler Dennard, Director of Operations. "Erica Sellers, Executive Director of Willow Pond, and I came up with the idea of recreating an old time soda fountain outside the movie theater in the home. We knew Mooney's wife, Dot, who is still a resident here along with his family, were looking for a way to memorialize Mooney. When we pitched this idea to them, they were all in."
With the green light, Erica and Frankie Phillips, the Maintenance Director for Willow Pond, went to work in bringing the idea to reality. The renovations included the addition of a bar, which was built by Frankie. They were able to purchase old signs and posters to give it a realistic feel of a place residents may have visited when they were teenagers.
"I know Mooney would be so proud of this," said Dot Prosser. "We hope the residents of Willow Pond enjoy it as much as he would have enjoyed it. He loved snacks!"
The Prossers son Mike and daughter-in-law Deborah were involved with the project and attended the event. Their daughter, Emily Prosser, was also involved but was unable to attend the dedication.
The idea for the project began before COVID when Dennard was the Executive Director of the facility. He has now moved to the corporate office, and Erica Sellers has stepped into his former role as Executive Director.
"We owe a debt of gratitude to Frankie Philips and Erica Sellers for seeing this project through. Frankie did all of the renovations, and he did a masterful job. We are proud of him and Erica and the great work they have done here," said Dennard.
The movie theater has rows of real movie theater seats, and they show movies weekly, normally on Saturday night.
It was heartwarming to see the joy on Mrs. Prosser's face along with all the excitement of the residents to have a "new" place to go on Saturday night.
