Ice Cream Social and Corvette Club

This past Saturday residents and friends of Garden Way enjoyed a trip to the past as we had and ice cream social and corvette car show! The afternoon started off with ice cream, and lots of it! Our wonderful Chef Martin and the kitchen crew prepared an ice cream sundae bar in which all attendees made their own sundaes with a variety of toppings. As guests ate this delicious treat they were accompanied by the fun and upbeat sounds of Hearts in Harmony, a local singing group. Hearts in Harmony sang songs from the 40s and 50s and passed out lyrics so everyone could sing along! As the music was winding down, the roars of engines could be heard zooming down the street! We were privileged to have The Emerald Valley Corvette Club came and displayed their timeless cars for everyone to enjoy!

Welcome new chef MARTIN HERNANDEZ

Garden Way would like to welcome our new executive chef Martin Hernandez into the family! Martin has been the Sous Chef at Garden Way since our opening in October and has recently been promoted! We are delighted to have Martin's professionalism, creativity and talent in the kitchen! Some fun facts about Martin is that he loves country music and has a dog that he adores. The residents love Martin's first class cooking, and not to mention his delicious baked treats as well.

We are the Champions...

This afternoon we went over to Valley West Health Center to play in a Wii Bowling tournament. Each resident played as an individual and at the end of the 2 matches all of the scores of the residents from the same community were added together. Marge, Jo, Virgina and Rene played to represent Garden Way. After two matches the combination of our residents scores added together was 1268 beating out Valley Wests residents score of 1096. Our residents played hard and all their hard work paid off!! We were rewarded a trophy to acknowledge our victory!!



Rene, Virgina, Jo, Marge and Laurel celebrating our win!





New Resident Party

With all of the new residents moving in over the past couple of months, we decided to have a WELCOME party for all of our new friends here at Garden Way. Residents new and seasoned met in the dining room and shared coffee and pastries and each had the opportunity to tell a little about themselves, where they come from and hobbies and activities they enjoy. As the residents chatted, they were able to see all the interests that they shared. Everyone enjoyed getting to know each other and building connections with their new family members.

Today was a beautiful summer day here in Eugene! We loaded up our bus and set out for an adventure. This week our trip was to Camp Putt Miniature Golf where we played 18 holes through rocks, waterfalls and caves. We then walked down the street to Roaring Rapids Pizza Company where we enjoyed huge pizzas, tasty salads,cold drinks and lots of fun conversation! The sun, the view of the river from Roaring Rapids and the company made for a very enjoyable afternoon!

                                         

All is fair in LOVE, WAR and BEAN BAG

As Jody, one of our loyal bean bag baseball players always says, "All is fair in Love, War and Bean Bag Baseball". Bean bag baseball is a resident favorite here at Garden Way. The game is a test of balance, strength and a little bit of luck. It is played by the residents throwing bean bags at a bean bag toss and then depending on which hole they make it into, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, HOME RUN, or out determines which bas the residents go to. A line of chairs is in place to represent 1st, 2nd and 3rd and the residents rotate through the chairs as more runs are made. From there, basic base ball rules apply. Two teams play each other rotating through the innings and after almost an hour of play which ever team has the most points wins. Our games get competitive but all the residents have a good time cheering, making jokes and teasing each other over the score of the game.

Betty Lou throws a HOME RUN

Kathryn aims for the board

Marge tosses as other residents cheer her on

Jody concentrates with her tounge out of her mouth for focus

Larry, our newest resident, trying bean bag baseball

Ruth, Kathryn, Betty-Lou, Jody, Rene, Larry and Marge celebrate after a finished game

One of the many daily activites we have here at Garden Way is Wii Bowling. Wii Bowling is a Wii game in which a residents balance, focus and aim is tested. Each week we break into two teams and have a Wii bowling competition. There are more strikes and spares seen here then another other bowling ally in town. Currently, our score to beat is 265 and was bowled by Betty-Lou (below) just last Thursday! All of the residents enjoy this game and have continued to improve has they play more and more.



Staff calls them the “Giggle Girls”, they refer to themselves as the “Trouble Makers”, whatever you call them, one thing is for certain, Betty-Lou, Jody, Rene, Anne and Ruth are the picture of true friendship. The five ladies all met at a previous retirement community but once they came to tour Garden Way they knew they would have to move here, and move here together. The five friends can often be found playing cards after lunch, laughing as they read e-mails in the dining room, or playing beanbag baseball with the rest of the community. This group of ladies is joyful to be around and despite being the best of friends, they always have time to meet new residents, show them around and invite them to a variety of the activities we have taking place. The Giggle Girls have multiple stories and jokes together and Jody has even written a book bout about the adventures they have experienced through their years of friendship.

Move Ins Move Ins Everywhere...

Garden Way opened it's doors October of 2010. Since then our family has grown and we are always very excited to invite new people into that family. Over the past 90 days there has been a plethora of new faces around our community. We would like to take a moment to recognize each of those residents and say WELCOME to the Garden Way Family!

Harold and Mary M
Robert and Merle R
Jane R
Burt and Kappy E
Roberta S
Virgil and Marie A
Bill M
Herman K
Jack H
Larry T
Sandra M
Betty R
Kathleen E
James and Margery F
Irene G
Lena K
Marlene M
Ron S

We are so happy to have each of these new residents and are excited to see our community at Garden Way continue to flourish.

Meet Cindy O'Brien

Cindy is one of our wellness professionals here at Garden Way. She is passionate about helping people over 40yrs old achieve their goals of health and energy. Her talent is assessing and partnering with her clients to produce an exercise program that is fun, customized, and gets results quickly without pain.

Cindy also has special training in Arthritis and Osteopenia/Osteoporosis. She is adamant about teaching technically safe, effective and scientifically proven movements that help reduce pain & stiffness, and help stabilize or improve bone & muscle strength.

Cindy's exercise guidelines come from the Arthritis Foundation, National Osteoporosis Foundation, International Osteoporosis Foundation, Oregon State University Bone Research Lab, and Osteoporosis Canada.

We had the amazing opportunity today to have Cindy come and give a presentation "Better Bones, Better Body", in which she spoke about Osteoporosis and its symptoms, and what seniors can do to reduce these effects.

Each Thursday at 9:30am Cindy teaches a fitness class "Strong Bones, Strong Body" to help build strong bones and prevent falls, bone breaks and soreness. This class is free to residents and $2 for non-residents.

Grilling with Chef Dustin

The past two Thursday nights, our wonderful Garden Way Chef Dustin Kurth and Sous Chef Martin Hernandez, have partnered with Willamalane Senior Center to host a cooking class here at our community. The group of Willamalane seniors, as well as our own residents were able to enjoy the sights, smells and tastes of Chef Dustin's cooking. All of the meal was prepared on the grill which made for a delightful summer meal with little clean up. On the menu? Pork Loin and Tuna Steaks assorted with a variety of vegetables and even fruits prepared over the open fire.



Chef Dustin and Sous Chef Martin teaching the folks from Willamalane Senior Center



Chef Dustin lights the BBQ for our feast



Chef Dustin and Sous Chef Martin explain how to make meal in minutes on the BBQ



Rag Time with Randey

 

Randey, a local pianist in town, comes to play for our residents once a month. Randey plays a variety of songs from different genres and generations. He also brings song lyrics so that residents can sing along as he plays.  The sounds of the piano and voices fill the community and everyone had a wonderful time.



Next Step Recycling

Next Step Recycling is a non-profit here in Eugene which provides individuals and groups the opportunity to learn about the impact electronic waste has on our environment and to provide technology to those who do not have access. Next Step works to provide technology and training to children and adults who have barriers to employment and education, while protecting our environment and community from hazardous waste.

Once a month Next Step Recycling comes to Garden Way and we are able to partner with Next Step by helping to make jewelry and notebooks which are sold at the Next Step reuse store. Also, our residents earn volunteer hours which they may use towards reverberated computers and other electronics. Our residents are currently working on setting up a program in which their hours could be used to help seniors going back to school get computers.

Ascyna, from Next Step, explaining to our residents the activity for the day

Gerry cutting old folders to make new notebooks

Gerry, Ascyna and Marge having fun

Virgina working hard