Social scene keeps residents involved with community

Growing older is no excuse to slow down or to stop having fun, especially if you’ve made the move to a senior community like The Glen Retirement System in Shreveport. Social events and activities are an important part of daily life for a senior community, and a variety of options are necessary to accommodate each resident.

At The Glen, their independent and assisted living community has a diverse population of residents, and they offer a number of activities to meet the different needs.

“We try to have a variety of activities,” Cheryl Foster, director of Stiles Apartments at The Glen, said. “Some residents are more active so they like to go on out trips, for instance, they [recently] went on the Red River cruise that goes up and down the Red River and to a bed and breakfast in Marshall to have lunch and they will be going to Ruston’s Peach Farm; they take trips all around the Ark-La-Tex.”

Foster said The Glen strives to arrange their outings based on the wants of the residents, and that goes for the women who still enjoy visiting their favorite stores.

“Our ladies like to shop, so they can decide if they want to go to [different shopping centers] around the city,” she said. “We also have a group that likes to go out to dinner and also out to lunch.”

Not everyone is keen to get out and about, and it is equally as important to make sure those residents have opportunities to enjoy themselves and socialize with others.

“The residents that are less active, or who just prefer to stay in, like to have entertainment,” Foster said. “We’ll have anything from church choirs to children’s choirs, to paid entertainers who will come to play for them. We have an Elvis impersonator that comes a couple times a year.”

With activities like an Elvis concert at the convenience of being on the grounds, there are plenty of reasons to stay in. But Foster said there are residents who prefer even less, and they are no exception in making sure they are given opportunities to enjoy their day.

“We also have residents who prefer only to socialize when they come out of their rooms at meal times, so we try to have something fun once a month like a luau, or celebrate a specific country and have their cuisine on the menu. We have dancers who come in and demonstrate different dances and get the residents involved.”

We always celebrate holidays,” she said.

“And we celebrate every resident’s birthday with a party each month. There are cooking classes, an exercise program and we have a very active bean bag baseball team that’s associated with the Senior Olympics. Our team is called the Glen Gophers and they recently won the championship and brought home the plaque!” Foster said for this past Father’s Day they had a fishing tournament and a “Remembering Dad” event where family members came in to talk about their fathers.

The social calendar at The Glen is dedicated to making daily life enjoyable and meaningful for their residents. In addition to activities like bridge clubs, folks who love to play dominos and a social hour, they have Sunday School and church services every Sunday.

“They also do community projects and [make crafts and gifts] for the Village Health Care nursing home and at the War Veterans Home.”

The most important element in creating different events and activities is that they are things that the residents want to do, and they are things that are meaningful to each person. The Glen’s way of incorporating this element by valuing the opinion of the senior community and hosting a resident council.

“We have a residents council that meets once a month, so the residents actually have input as to what they want to do for activities and events,” Foster said. “We’ll talk about some things that are going on and give them information about things they need to know, and then we open up the floor for suggestions on activities or items they might want in the dining room. We always have a good turnout for residents council.”

The activities at The Glen aren’t just to fill up the day or occupy time; offering meaningful events, outings and recreation to the residents provides a quality of life that we all need.

“It gives them socialization, and that’s very important,” Foster said. “They like to form bonds with friends, it makes them feel special, social and they know they have someone looking out for them.”