Caitlin Shaw, left, her mother, Peggy Wilson, and Bev McCanch wave to Wilson's mom and Shaw's grandmother, Carol Kremer, at Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Saturday. Family gathered outside for Kremer's 82nd birthday.

The COVID-19 pandemic social-distancing precautions have made family birthday get-togethers a little more complicated.

Instead of just getting a cake and a card for an older relative, now preparations also mean scheduling a Zoom or FaceTime conference time and rounding up children to wave and hold signs and banners from a distance.

Peggy Wilson, of Butler, arranged to have her brothers, other family members and friends gather Saturday afternoon beneath a second-floor window to give their best to their mother, Carol Kremer, 82, a Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center resident.

Sunnyview, 107 Sunnyview Circle, has been on COVID-19 pandemic lockdown since March.

The weather might have been cold, but Kremer's children gave the warmest of birthday wishes as they waved signs, sang “Happy Birthday” and chatted with Kremer via FaceTime.

“This is the first birthday that we are not all together,” said Wilson “I couldn't let it go. I had to do something.”

One of Kremer's sons, Lou Shaw, held up a sign that wished his mother both a happy birthday and a happy Mother's Day.

Saturday's wind and snowflakes didn't deter granddaughter Stacey Shaw from bringing her Labrador dogs, Clutch and Letti, to the Sunnyview lawn for Kremer to see.

Stacey Shaw said, “She likes the dogs. She likes to sneak them food when they come to visit.”Of course, she added, they used to gather for her grandmother's birthday in a downstairs conference room inside the building.Sunnyview activity aide Ken Holland handled the arrangements on the inside, getting Kremer to the window at the right time.“We have a few families come up to the porch windows,” he said. “We try to accommodate them and work with them as best as we can.“We think it is great that they are doing that,” he said about the safe-distance birthday parties.And it's almost become a habit at Sunnyview.On May 4, resident John Bain got a surprise party at a distance from his family to mark his 100th birthday.Bain was greeted by local relatives through the glass windows at Sunnyview's front porch, as well as receiving birthday wishes from other family members while taking pandemic precautions into account.Relatives from Butler, Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Minnesota all participated in a Zoom call to wish Bain many happy returns.“It was a surprise party for Mr. Bain,” said activity aide Shane Parsell. “I told him he had a guest downstairs. He was shocked to see the majority of his family.”Bain's visit with family through glass lasted about an hour.“He had a good time and talked to his family. It was a really nice event,” said Parsell, who arranged the party with Sunnyview Enrichment Director Victoria Thompson and Bain's daughter, Joanna Kulin of Butler.

Carol Kremer was able to chat via Facetime and wave from a second-story window. McCanch's husband, who is also a resident, was in the window as well.