Innisfail celebrated National Volunteer Week with style, flair and laughter as caring clown Cheryl Ann Oberg taught people to laugh creatively.
Innisfail celebrated National Volunteer Week with style, flair and laughter as caring clown Cheryl Ann Oberg taught people to laugh creatively.
Innisfail's Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) held a joyous celebration of all things volunteer on April 11 at the Library Learning Centre with more than 100 volunteers participating.
Oberg entertained the audience of volunteers from Restorative Justice, Big Brothers and Sisters of Innisfail, TOAST, the Senior Drop In Centre, the Innisfail Golf Course, Innisfail and District Food Bank, Innisfail library, the Town of Innisfail and other organizations with stories of how laughter healed her back injury, and how she has used laughter to heal others as a therapeutic clown.
Oberg had volunteers doing the "aloha ha ha ha", silent laughter, roller coaster laughter, the Woody Woodpecker laugh, telephone laughter, hot sand laughter, and crabby laughter, among others.
"When you laugh, your body produces chemicals that help your body deal with pain and stress," said Oberg. "During my hospital stay for a broken back, I did not use painkillers.
"Instead, I laughed my pain away and one time the nurses came into my room and took my bubble blower away from me," she added. "They moved me into another room. I learned that day that laughter helped me deal with pain and enabled me to heal faster."
She emphasized the importance of breathing your stress out and three trump cards she uses in her life -- joy, play and laughter.
"Don't run from the rain," she said. "Create memories from circumstances that seem like a downer. Your life will be richer for it and those around you will benefit from your joy. Laughter is a gift. Share it with everyone around you."
Oberg spoke about meeting Patch Adams at a conference in Calgary and the important lesson she took from him. Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams was the doctor that film star Robin Williams based his film character on.
"Laughter is a healing agent and the best therapy anyone can take part in," added Oberg. "I have seen it time and time again. When I was in the hospital, I had a choice to accept my pain, or to deal with it. I was the only patient not on drugs in critical care."
As one of her gifts, Oberg allowed everyone to pick their own nose as staff of the FCSS passed around red foam noses in preparation for the photo booth where participants posed with funny glasses, hats, their clown noses, and squirt guns. Excessive joy and jocularity was reported rampant throughout the evening.
Darwin Ross of Cando Catering provided a roast beef dinner for all volunteers and staff.
By the end of the evening, every volunteer had learned to laugh together and chanted to end the evening on a high note.
"I am the happiest person in the world," chanted Oberg and the crowd. "I love to laugh!"
