Young At Heart

Experience Woodbury culture, hospitality, sport and business…

I went to express my admiration & praise to an elderly lady called Mavis Anderson, originally from Comfrey, MN; now a resident at WSL. Recently at an event she agreed to be our comedian.  Mavis knows the value of humor. I gave her an honorary degree from the University of Woodbury Senior Living.  Anderson said, “I can’t wait to run home and tell my mother about this.  She always wanted me to be a doctor!”  

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR AN ENCORE IN YOUR LATER YEARS?
With an increasingly aging population; we all want changes to the way society perceives and responds to our elderly population.  Why shouldn’t all of our years be alive with purpose and brimming with healthful activity?  At least this is what the Council on Active Aging thinks.

This year’s International Active Aging Event focused on “Discovering Your Community“.  It’s an opportunity to promote and publicize the efforts of motivated organizations that hope to reach older adults with the key messages of staying active, healthy and engaged.  And, boy did we find motivated friends - Washington County Library, Recover Health, Affordable Foot Care (Podiatry), St. Croix Hospice, The Heritage Society, The Historical Society, the US Military and MEAD Eye Care (MEAD has volunteered people and products to our community of elderly free of charge, for years).

Older adults were invited to discover new places and people during 2013 Active Aging Week®.  So, my colleague, Kathy Dunleavy and I got busy! We wanted our elderly to have fun. We wanted to display what kinds of stuffing we seniors, residents and tenants at Woodbury Senior Living are made of -- and be rebels for the week, if not for life.

Blasting Through Any Brain Fog
  At our Celebration of Actively Aging held on Sept 26th, we evoked the beauty and blood that together have come to define the modern Woodbury Community.  Inspired by the call for unique gatherings to be planned for 2013, the Active Aging Event ended up being a celebration of history and heritage, not to mention a bit of fun.

Honor is purchased by the deeds we do.                 Christopher Marlowe
I always reach out to souls that I can count on because there are those in the community who understand that watching out for the parents who watched out for them, is really important.  

 Those that I called truly care about every business and every person living in their community -  Woodbury Mayor, Mary Giuliani-Stephens, Washington County Commissioner, Lisa Welk, Dick Hanson, from the Woodbury Community Foundation, our WSL Campus Chaplain Basil Owen & Mike Longaecher from the Woodbury Bulletin.  We can count on conversations exploring ways to help meet the elderly changing health needs & well-being with warmth and compassion.  And, we can always count on having a fun-filled time, thankful for a day where nuisances are less upsetting, and daily joys are more intense.
 
On this day, all the magic, color and drama of a campus full of Red Hats Ladies dressed up and singing throughout the day, High King & Queen crowning, volunteers, nurses, nurses’ aids all partook in the execution of the event.  We had smiling faces pushing wheelchairs.  Staff and residents pushed, walked and talked with one main goal - Taking care to have FUN - allowing both the young and old to step back in time, while eating some fine good grub too.  Yum, Yum!

Woodbury Heritage Society - Mr. Dick Bielbenberg
Life was really awesome this day for the couple of hundred of residents that came through our Active Aging Event to connect with one another and to visit and engage with our outside community.  We did away with our to-do lists, got rid of the today’s distraction-prone world and we mentally jotted down what to disregard - EVERYTHING,  but being in good company…AND, & we did it well while Mr. Dick Bielenberg was in the house.

Mr. Bielenberg, son of our very first mayor (Mr. Orville Bielenberg) arrived to sit with his friend Inez Oehlke and Helen Fiebing to share their wealth of knowledge about Woodbury, it’s growth, the population, and our heritage to our residents, guests, family members and employees in our area.  Continuing the work of his forefather and mother in the service of our community.

Proven ways to instantly boost your well-being (inside-out).
Experts around Woodbury provided fresh ideas for carving out small pockets of calm during even the most hectic, hair-raising times.  We had many visitors -  like Mr. Bielenberg & Mr. Hanson who tapped into our inner genius with heritage; to our Woodbury Senior Living Integrative Therapist Amy Quarberg, who is ushering in cutting-edge mind-body stuff (like, music therapy, aromatherapy, essential oils, foot & hand massages, healing touch).  Now, don’t worry we won’t recommend replacing chemotherapy with broccoli, jogging and mediation (but those ways could help genes control biology).  This therapy is free to our residents at the Health Care Center allowing all to feel healed and inspired - which is medicine to the soul & body.

The US Military
“My fondest memory of the day at the Active Aging event was seeing the elder soldier of WWII, Mr. Dayton Kjonaas sit and talk with the younger soldier Sgt. Nicholas C. Meurer from Woodbury”, commented Joel Ulland, manager of the Estates.  Dayton Kjonaas lived through three major battles and is the recipient of a couple of purple hearts.

Animal magnetism
Florence Nightingale and Sigmund Freud noted the healing effect of animals on humans.  With visits, they understood that is virtually impossible to be gloomy.  
Animal magnetism Lubby-Dubby from St. Croix Hospice is having a profound effect on people in distress.  Lubby-Dubby, ideally suited for social work, makes the rounds already at WSL.  Our little social worker is one of many visiting animals.  

The events, spanning sports, music, theatre, business and community were a welcome and a testament to both the commitment of people in Woodbury to the initiative of connections that are being made.

Fixed in their Ways!?
Title Boxing Club welcomed seniors for a ten round bout and little did Irie and Clifton from Title Boxing know that many of our seniors had previously traded blows in their past.  Indeed, Miss Lu, former 3Mer and now, resident of the Estates, and self-designated ’hugger’ to all that visits our building suggested that our Woodbury Police Department Boxing team should team up against Title Boxing Club so that we can see sparks fly when these two proud forces, collide in the ring over ten action packed bouts. “We could make this a long standing and prestigious event”, suggested the 90 year old, “ Boxing in front of sell out crowds, in famous venues“.   The elders are not fixed in their ways.  This is a fantastic idea.  We’re signing up with Title Boxing!

Stories and Possibilities
Active Aging festival is all about people discovering the strength and depth of music, books and culture in the beautiful county of Washington and connecting these great folks.  Spiritual & Emotional Wellness Music by the Senior Silvertone Bell Choir kicked off our event and played their passionate sounds throughout the afternoon.  Donna, Vivian and Ann play monthly at communion and worships services.  They play at concerts and practice often.

Chad Lubbers and Terri Bennis from the Washington County Library are building the cite with stories and possibilities. Terri came with an repertoire of books and devices that are currently available to all, especially our seniors.  Terri explained that Books-by-Mail is available to any resident of Washington who is unable to visit the library due to illness, disability, or visual impairment.

Eyes Meeting Your Soul
Sure, some of the elderly I work with grew up in regions described as not having enough wood to hang a man, water enough to drown him, nor black dirt enough to bury him.  And, from time to time, there is silence from our seniors, borne on the whistling winds of war, losing a child to Vietnam, having served the Great War themselves.  I meet with ladies that have endured a bout or two of cancer, preceding their husbands sometimes due to accidents, & having reared their brood alone.  

Regardless of world order, conversation is the main commodity in this building, in this town, on this day of celebrating Active Aging Week.

 The event and its people could be described as OXYGEN - once inside the body, every single cell uses oxygen to fill life.  We needed everyone that was there, be there - they added oxygen.   And, we were full of LIFE. 

Photos attached were taken by WSL Chaplain, Basil Owen.  Thank you Chaplain!