Oak Park attended a special performance of “Phantom of the Opera” at the Orpheum Theatre. Everyone agreed that the costumes, sets, special effects (including a magnificent chandelier drop), and music were outstanding!
Oak Park Senior Living held its annual Alzheimer’s Association fundraiser on Wednesday, August 14. The evening included a silent auction, barbecue, and entertainment by Michael Riddle. Everyone enjoyed the tasty food, spending time with friends and family, and singing and dancing along with the music. A fun night for a great cause!
We raised approximately $2,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association.
Oak Park ventures out monthly to a new restaurant. This month it was Gulden’s Restaurant and Bar in Maplewood. Everyone enjoyed the tasty food and great conversation!
The residents of our Garden Cove West units got together to reminisce about “school days.” During the afternoon, they made bookmarks together, just like they use to back in the day. They all turned out very unique, with one of our gentlemen even making a hunting themed marker!
This week Oak Park Senior Living had a “Christmas in July” celebration. Tenants broke out their best Christmas attire and joined together for some Christmas cheer. We sang Christmas carols, played some Christmas trivia, and enjoyed peppermint cheesecake and hot cocoa. Everyone agreed best part of the day was not having to put up with any snow or below zero temperatures!! ???
Oak Park Senior Living ventured out to watch the St. Paul Saints play the Kansas City T-Bones. The theme for the day was “The Wizard of Oz.” Everyone enjoyed watching all the fun between innings fun and, of course, the pig mascot. While the Saints unfortunately lost 2-1, everyone agreed it was a very fun day at the park! ⚾️⚾️⚾️
The youth choir from Grace Baptist Church stopped by this week to sing for our tenants. Everyone enjoyed spending time visiting with the children, and we especially loved the wonderful songs they sang for us ??
Oak Park Senior Living went to Broadway on April 23! Well, we saw the Tony Award winning Broadway musical “Hello Dolly” when it came to the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, anyway. Everyone enjoyed the fantastic music, sets, and costumes of this amazing play!
A group of residents from Oak Park Senior Living visited The Raptor Center. We were able to learn about raptors and saw several up close and personal. All the birds at the center were found injured in the wild. The veterinarians at the University of Minnesota work to repair all injuries so that they can return to their native habitat. Unfortunately, some of their injuries prevent this from happening, so the birds become ambassadors! This allows us to see these magnificent birds up close. The residents were amazed at how large some of the raptors were, especially the bald eagle.
Several residents from Oak Park Senior Living ventured out to CHS field on June 13th to watch the St. Paul Saints play Fargo-Moorhead. The weather was perfect, and our seats were great. Everyone enjoyed the theme, “Mr. Rogers Day”. The team arrived in a trolley and were wearing red cardigans to honor Fred Rogers. The team mascot, a pig wearing a tutu, was everyone’s favorite part of the game! Even though the Saints lost 1-7, everyone had a great time!
Easter fun, dancing, and flowers are sure signs of spring!
Pastor Shad Vork and his son visited residents to play music and share the Easter message. Everyone enjoyed the solos and the singalong songs.
Several residents from Oak Park Senior Living spent the afternoon at the Spring Flower Show at the Como Park Conservatory. Everyone enjoyed looking at the beautiful flowers. We also saw some exotic birds, a 13’ Anaconda snake, and a sloth resting among the tropical plant exhibit.
Kent Appeldoorn stopped in to entertain the residents at Oak Park Senior Living. He kept everyone singing, clapping, and laughing as he sang music from the 50s and 60s. He even got our activity coordinator, Rockea Johnson, to play backup guitar during Rock Around the Clock!
Oak Park Senior Living residents stepped back in time when they visited the Wells Fargo Museum in downtown Minneapolis. They saw an authentic stagecoach, a replica of an 1800s bank, and had their faces printed on a $5.00 bill. We also saw a replica of the old Northwestern Bank weather ball that used to sit on top of the bank. As a bonus, we saw some of the preparations in downtown Minneapolis for the Super Bowl.
On Tuesday afternoon the tenants from Oak Park Senior Living embarked on an adventure aboard the Stillwater Boat and Packet Paddleboat Cruise. We were blessed with perfect weather as we enjoyed a yummy buffet and beautiful scenery along the St. Croix River. As an added bonus to our day, the bus driver got lost and we ended up crossing over the new Stillwater Bridge, which for many on the trip was the first time over it since it opened early this month.
Several tenants enjoyed a pontoon ride recently on the St. Croix River. The afternoon was HOT, but the weather was perfect on the water. We enjoyed hearing about the history of the river and some of the houses along the way. We also got an up close look at the new Stillwater bridge that’s set to open at the beginning of August.
