The Festival of Bev

HEATHCOTE Health resident Bev Grubb enjoyed a ninetieth birthday high tea with fellow residents and friends this week as part of a year of celebrations.

Daughters Robyn and Mandy have organised a yearlong ‘Festival of Bev.’

“Mum has turned 90 and we will be celebrating her days on this earth by being with her nearest and dearest throughout the year,” said Robyn Grubb.

Bev Grubb admires men in shorts and was treated to a surprise visit from Matt and Ryan at her birthday high tea.

The Festival of Bev began with a visit from her friend Val last week.

“The pair met as new kinder mums and began a conversation that has lasted over 60 years,” said Robyn.

“Mum has been at the Hostel as a permanent resident since early October last year. She loves it there.

“Coming back from an appointment in Bendigo a couple of months after she moved in, she told me she didn’t know what she would do without me.

Family love: Bev Grubb’s daughters Mandy and Robyn are celebrating her milestone birthday with a yearlong Festival of Bev. Photos: SANDRA JAMES

“I asked her where she thought she would be if I wasn’t there. She replied that she would probably be in a home somewhere.

“I reminded her that we were heading back to Heathcote Health. She said, ‘That’s not a home, I think of it as home’.”

Bev is full of praise for the hostel.

“I love it here. I find it relaxing and have no stress put on me,” she said.

Bev Grubb’s family organised for Anna and her coffee van to set up at the hostel to provide coffee for all her friends and family. Photo: SUPPLIED

“There’s a sense of peace I feel with having people around me and people looking out for me. The care is wonderful and all the ‘inmates’ agree.

“My room is beautiful and there are little spaces to have a coffee and a chat with friends. I love the courtyard and garden where I can sit in the sun.

“There are lots of things to do. We get together for conversations, to stretch the mind and have fun.

“But most of all I love the company, the companionship.”

Bev Grubb thinks of Heathcote Hostel and her fellow residents and home and family. Photo: SUPPLIED

Staff at the hostel said Bev is a popular, caring, welcoming resident among both staff and fellow residents.

Bev’s husband Fred died in 2002. She has three grandchildren, Jasper, Mia and Bella, and four great-grandchildren Jobe, Monty, Thelma and Sloane, with another due later this year.

Bev enjoys walking group with visitors from Heathcote Community House every Friday morning and especially taking a sneak peek at the nearby workmen’s legs.