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MANSFIELD — Dave Pavkov leaned towards his wife, gently placing a shiny dollar store crown on her head. Once he was sure it was balanced, he wrapped his arm around her. The couple looked up and smiled at their daughters, who gleefully snapped photos with their smartphones as “Chicken Fried” blared over the speakers.
Then the carrousel whirred to life and the Pavkovs went for a spin.
Dave and Elaine Pavkov have been married for nearly 60 years. Their three adult children all live out of state.
“We try to come visit my mom and dad, each of us, once a month to check on them and see how they’re doing,” said Beth Werfel, one of the Pavlov’s daughters who lives near Washington D.C.
This month, Werfel and her sister Stephanie Franz decided to plan an extra special trip.
Their mother is the in the final stages of Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that causes stiffness, tremors and difficulty with movement and balance. Their father is her full-time caregiver.
“We wanted to do something that will be fun for her and my dad, that would make them laugh, bring back fond memories and make them feel like a queen and king for a couple of hours,” Werfel said.
With some help from family and friends, the two planned a scavenger-hunt style tour of the city, marked by sites of significance for Elaine. Then they decked their parents out in sashes and crowns.
They stopped by her childhood home on Shepard Road, her elementary school and the church where Dave and Elaine got married. They visited Haring Jewelers, which was once owned by Elaine’s father.
They made a stop at by former site of Elaine’s alma mater, the Mansfield Hospital Nursing School, where some of her classmates were waiting with a banner that read “MGH School of Nursing Class of 1964.”
At several stops, family and friends surprised the couple with roses. Grandchildren from across the country texted videos of themselves reading clues for each destination.
Beth said the idea was partially inspired by the time Dave and Elaine spent with her children when they were growing up.
“They would come to D.C. and spend a week with the kids and my mom loved scavenger hunts and loved making clues,” she said.
The tour ended at Richland Carrousel Park — once a favorite spot for Dave, Elaine and their young grandchildren.
Dave even played Santa at the Carrousel from 2002 to 2004.
He said the tour brought back lots of happy memories, especially the stop at one of their former homes.
“We had fun back there. So much fun. All that green space, that field. We used to hit golf balls back there, baseball, horseshoes,” he said. “We had a lot of parties back there.”
Elaine said her daughters initially joked they were taking her skydiving. The scavenger hunt was a joy, but also a relief.
“I just loved it,” she said, with a big grin on her face and her voice barely above a whisper.
“You have to really enjoy the moment,” Elaine added. “This is so good because I’m in hospice now. So I am just thrilled that they could take me on this trip.”
The Pavkovs met at a church youth group and have spent the majority of their lives in Mansfield. Dave worked in manufacturing sales. Elaine was nurse, piano teacher and a stay-at-home mother.
“She was always baking pie or baking cookies for someone. Always helping somebody. Everybody else came first. It’s still that way,” Werfel said.
Their daughters described the pair as hospitable and servant-hearted.
“They are very giving,” Franz said. “We always had visitors at our house growing up.”
“(They are) faithful followers of Christ,” she added. “They really live out their faith.”
