Every night, they give a holler

At 8 p.m. sharp friends Virginia Vandeveer and Bev Sorensen step out of their respective apartments at Timber Creek Village Assisted Living Center and then howl to the heavens.

Sometimes passerbys howl back. One day, a dog in car a nearby parking lot even howled back.

The two women, like all folks at local nursing homes, aren’t allowed to have direct contact with visitors due to the coronavirus outbreak, but they say they’re getting excellent care.

“We’re trying to get through this and I think Timber Creek has done a fabulous job taking care of all of us ... they all need a great big applause for all the wonderful care were given,” Vandeveer said from her Columbia Falls porch.

“Thank you, thank you,” Sorensen said.

And then they both let out a howl and waved their hands.

The idea came from another resident who mentioned they do the same thing in the city of Billings every night, so the ladies and another resident named Rich started up the nightly howl shortly before Easter.

Cherl VonLindern, Vandeveer’s daughter, tipped off the Hungry Horse News on the nightly event.

“Her mind is 100 percent,” VonLindern said of her mother, who has lived at Timber Creek a couple of years now. “But her legs don’t work well. She tries to keep people happy and going.”

Prior to the lockdown, Vandeveer organized penny Bingo and trips to local Farmer’s Markets. With the coronavirus concern, residents must wear masks if they leave their rooms and keep six feet from one another and with no more than one person at a time.

Meals are delivered to their rooms.

VonLindern said she could go to the outside window and chat with her Mom, but she said to be safe for now, she’s stayed farther away than that — sometimes yelling from a nearby parking lot, but mostly just calling her on the phone to stay in touch.

“We’re on the phone everyday,” VonLindern said.

VonLindern rejected the notion that assisted living centers and nursing homes be reopened to visitors, as some have suggested.

“All it would take is one case to kill off everybody,” she said.

So for now, join in the fun. Give a howl at 8 p.m. every night.

And with any luck, someone will howl back.