“We like to have fun. We also have an important job to do,” said Goodhue Living’s Executive Director, Missy Shaleen. A second anniversary celebration on Monday, September 23rd highlighted both priorities. “We have an amazing management team, great staff and residents. We are one big, happy family.”
With only seven of the 40 apartments available, they are right on target as expected at the two year mark. Shaleen estimates 80% of the residents have come from within a ten-mile radius of Goodhue. “They’re just great,” she says, adding how new residents feel at home within two to four weeks of moving into the community. “We’ve become the Senior Center,” she remarked when talking about the many activities happening in the building. Each day is filled with opportunities to participate in spiritual, health and fitness programs, games, movies and other entertainment. October 31st Halloween fun will include kids coming through in costume. The community room is free to use and all events are open to the public. A calendar of events is available in the entryway.
Among the celebratory anniversary events was the third of three car shows held on the campus this year. Slightly smaller than the first two, there were about 20 vehicles of all models and ages. Food was available from Big River BBQ out of Lake City at all three shows. Mark Swan donated his time to sing and play guitar during the party.
Culinary Coordinator, Sydney Lundquist spearheaded a bake sale that raised $500.00 for the Alzheimer’s Association. Starting her work day at 7 AM, she baked a variety of bars and cookies to sell at that evening’s anniversary celebration. The Goodhue High School graduate attended the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan, New York. “I loved cooking and baking since age 12. I like making people happy with food.” She has that opportunity a minimum of five days a week as she makes breakfast and lunch for the residents and preps food for the remaining meals and desserts. “I love it. I like being busy,” says the newlywed who lives in Lake City. Her husband, Nick does maintenance through a company that also serves senior citizens.
Lundquist worked out a system to sanitize new placemats that debuted on the Memory Care unit’s dining tables September 25th. The woven mats were a joint project of the Goodhue Living community and resident, Jan Buckman. Jan cut the waxy, woven fabric to size and rounded and finished the edges. Jan has extensive experience working with this type of material as a self-taught basket artist.
“I can’t remember when I wasn’t doing something,” Jan said of her life experiences. She would be knitting or crocheting and raising her children while working in a store on the West Bank of Minneapolis. She enjoyed working with other creative people at the store that sold handmade furniture. She later took up basketry. Using waxed linen and the wrapped twining technique, she created intricate, one-of-a-kind works of art.
Jan created her own patterns, designing baskets with contrasting geometric prints. A 10-12-inch tall piece may take 5-6 weeks to complete. She is so proficient in her craft that no cord ends or knots can be found where one length or color stops and the next begins. Her talent earned her a $20,000.00 National Endowment for the Arts grant that she says gave her the freedom to experiment. Other smaller awards including an Arts Midwest grant, allowed her to travel to watch and learn from other basket makers. Jan, who is ¼ Ojibwe, took special interest in visiting the Hopi Indian Reservation.
The handmade nature of Jan’s craft made it hard to put a price on her items. “At one point, I had a lot of (pieces in) galleries,” she said, revealing that some pieces sold for as much as $6-7,000.00, of which the gallery keeps half. The Minneapolis Institute of Art has one of her baskets on display and Jan’s work has been featured in books and shows across the country. Once while in California, she saw a giant rendition of one of her baskets on the side of a passing bus.
Jan’s husband, Tom, describes their early relationship as built “One dollar at a time”. While their early affordable housing was literally in a cow pasture, he also meant the slow and steady way they worked together in life. A musician by trade, Tom now plays piano as a way to relax. From the Hager City, Wisconsin area, the Buckmans chose Goodhue Living for Jan’s care due to the feeling of community they get from the staff and other residents. Sharing her skills while making the new placemats and being recognized for her many accomplishments was part of the senior living’s Dare to Dream program.
St. Croix Hospice teamed with Goodhue Living to treat another resident (who wishes to remain anonymous) to some time with a furry friend. The staff hoped to have the local shelter bring in some of their adoptable cats and kittens but when that fell through, Gracie, a large tortoise shell patterned cat got all of the attention. Gracie belongs to one of Goodhue Living’s occupants and is the only pet on campus at the moment. Her owner says she just showed up at their farm one day and may be about 10 years old. Spayed and well-mannered, she moved into the house and now lives with them in their apartment.
There may have been a lack of fur and whiskers but the Dare to Dream event turned into a nice gathering of the resident’s family members, friends and animal-loving occupants. The resident shared a few memories of pets, describing the family dog as a “Spoiled rotten third kid”. The staff hopes to reschedule a visit from the shelter at another time.
