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O’Neill Center goes all out for community carnival event

By Nancy Taylor 3 min read

It was carnival time at the O'Neill Center on Third Street Monday with games, prizes, cotton candy, pizza, hoots and hollers from some of the ones who swore the Red Dot Ducky game was rigged.

Tricia Mumaw, corporate liaison from Continuing Healthcare Solutions, was running that game and taking it well. She and the other community sponsors there were familiar faces for many in the crowd, and knew how to take the heat.

Cory Sampson, the admissions director from Legacy Marietta Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation, was spinning cotton candy onto cones. Donna Schob was in line for seconds. Possibly thirds. And she cheerfully announced to those around her, "Well, he finally found out what he's good at."

Sampson didn't blink an eye. "I call bingo here every other Thursday, and used to do it every Thursday. So we're pretty used to each other. Some of them like to give us grief."

Across the room, O'Neill Center board member Vicki Schwartz McCoy threw her arms up in the air and yelled "Yay!" She was running the bottle ring toss game, and somebody was hot on the tossin.' When they weren't, she would encourage: "It's difficult, I know. Concentrate. Be the ring."

Next to her was Amber Johnson from Buckeye Hospice and Palliative Care. Johnson was offering ping pong balls to be tossed into clear plastic cups filled with water. At first, she was a bit chagrined to find a number of her customers … cheating. Mostly, they were standing too close or holding their hands right over the cups. It was obvious: these folks weren't born yesterday and they did not attend their first carnival yesterday.

"At first, I thought I needed to get a piece of tape on the floor to show them where to stand. Eventually, I just thought, 'this is supposed to be fun, and I brought 60 prizes. Just go with it,'" she said with a grin.

Chrisy Heiss, owner of Right at Home Care for Seniors, was in charge of lunch and anxiously awaiting the pizza delivery. She, too, does service as a bingo caller at O'Neill, once a month.

Monday she brought along Holly Root, who was on her first day of employment with Right at Home.

O'Neill Center Director Connie Huntsman gestured at the buzz of activity, the lines of game- players and snack-eaters and across-the-table chatters.

"We could never do something like this by ourselves," Huntsman said. "These carnival sponsors spent money on food and prizes, but they also came here themselves, to actively participate. That kind of interaction is priceless. We want other groups and businesses to know we welcome them. Come volunteer, come mingle."

Huntsman was asked if there was a specific reason for the carnival, and her answer was quick.

"Of course there is. It's summer and it's just fun. Fun is so important, isn't it?"

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