Happy Holidays!

Lodge Residents Taking Part in International Study

Several residents have been taking part in a research study of the life experiences of individuals over the age of 85. The project is being conducted by Leann Stadtlander, PhD and Martha Giles, PhD. Both Dr. Stadtlander and Dr. Giles are professors at Walden University in Minneapolis.

The research is designed to explore issues and triumphs of adults over 85. The study uses interviews with participants to gather data and determine common experiences in individuals over the age of 85.

Tra Mayes is serving as the research assistant at Sun Valley Lodge. Tra is in the Graduate Psychology Doctoral Program at Walden University and has been interviewing residents several times a week.

If you have any questions on the program or feel you are qualified and would like to participate, please contact Mike in the marketing office.

Did You Know?

Sun Valley Lodge offers assisted living respite care for short-term stays. We have two nicely furnished studio apartments set aside for short term stays of at least five days. The reservation includes three meals a day in the Lodge’s dining room, assisted living care from certified caregivers, transportation to local medical appointments, and access to all campus activities.

Respite care is a great solution for seniors needing a little extra help after an illness or hospital stay. It is also used to help out when family members are not able to care for a loved senior for a few days due to illness or a vacation. Sometimes people use our respite apartment just to get a feel for Lodge living and to decide if we are the right place to make home. Give us a call if you think respite care might be of assistance to you or your family.

Open House!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Michael Kloberdanz
Sun Valley Lodge
Phone (623) 933-0137
Fax (623) 933-5846
mike@sunvalleylodge.org
www.sunvalleylodge.org


Sun Valley Lodge Unveils Renovation with Open House

Sun City, Arizona – Friday, October 24, 2008 – Sun Valley Lodge is unveiling its newly renovated look with an open house on Thursday, November 6th from 4:00 to 6:00 PM.

The Lodge was the first retirement community in Sun City and built in 1965. Since that time the interior has been renovated, but this is the first time major work has been done to the exterior. The improvements include a new front façade, enclosed courtyards, and several landscaping improvements. The result is a Tuscan-style appearance that takes full advantage of the Lodge’s beautiful grounds.

Marketing director Mike Kloberdanz said, “A tremendous amount of work went into this project and our residents are thrilled with the results. It was exciting to see how the residents, board of directors, and staff came together to make it happen. Now we want to open our doors to the community so everyone can see how lovely it looks.”

The open house party will be held in the Lodge’s bistro area, main dining room, and garden patio. Tours of the facility will be available, and hors d'oeuvres and drinks will be served beginning at 4:00 PM. The event is free of charge and open to the public. Call (623) 933-0137 to RSVP.


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Sun Valley Lodge Hosts Men’s Grief Support Group

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Michael Kloberdanz
Sun Valley Lodge
Phone (623) 933-0137
Fax (623) 933-5846
mike@sunvalleylodge.org
www.sunvalleylodge.org


Sun Valley Lodge Hosts Men’s Grief Support Group

Sun City, Arizona – Tuesday, October 15, 2008 – Sun Valley Lodge will host a men’s grief support group entitled “Grief from the Male Perspective” on the first Monday of every month. The series will be held in conjunction with Hospice of Arizona.

The program will meet at 10:00 AM in the Lodge’s Wriston Lounge beginning on November 3rd. It is free and open to any adult male 18 years and older who has experienced the death of a loved one and is open to learning more about grief education and support.

Sun Valley Lodge Resident Services Director Marcia Gunnell is pleased to offer the ongoing series. “We continually look for ways to both support our residents and serve as a resource in the Sun City community. We feel that men are often underserved when it comes to dealing with grief and we want to help fill that void.”

Call 602-678-1313 to RSVP for the ongoing program.


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Renovation Completed!

Sun Valley Lodge has successfully completed its 2007-2008 renovation project and residents are thrilled with the results. As the first retirement community in Sun City, people have become accustomed to the look we created in 1965. Our new look, described by board president, Barbara Levy, as “Tuscan–style”, includes a new front facade, enclosed courtyards, and several landscaping improvements.
The change is so pronounced that we have had several people tell us that they have driven right past the Lodge without even recognizing us!

Lodge residents Yvonne Gyger, Esther Miller, and Eleanore Zahorcik recently gathered on Eleanore’s patio and talked about the renovation and life at the Lodge in general. “I
think it is fantastic,” said Yvonne of the Lodge’s new look. Esther agreed adding, “It sure is a beautiful thing when you come down the street and see how nice the Lodge looks. I am just so proud.”

Eleanore and Yvonne both have apartments facing one of the renovated courtyards where we added walls, iron gates, extended the patio overhangs, and made several landscaping improvements. In addition to the work we did on the courtyards and patios, we also added new stucco and a stone veneer to the front entrance and a painted, wrought iron fence around the outside of the complex.

During the course of the discussion, Esther relayed a story that sums up the way many residents feel about Sun Valley Lodge. “I am always talking about what a nice place to live this is, but I don’t think my kids believed me about just how special the Lodge is. After their last visit, though, my son agreed with me and said, ‘I don’t think there is another place like this in the United States.’ ”

Sun Valley Lodge Celebrates Assisted Living Week

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Michael Kloberdanz
Sun Valley Lodge
Phone (623) 933-0137
Fax (623) 933-5846
mike@sunvalleylodge.org
www.sunvalleylodge.org


Sun Valley Lodge Celebrates Assisted Living Week

Sun City, Arizona – Monday, September 22, 2008 – Sun Valley Lodge capped off National Assisted Living Week with a party for all assisted living staff last week.

Resident Services Director Marcia Gunnell called the party a way to honor the assisted living caregivers’ commitment to providing care. “We provide services which will promote the highest degree of comfort, security, and life satisfaction for our residents,” Gunnell said.

Sun Valley Lodge provides 24-hour-a-day assisted living care to residents in 72 apartments. Caregivers are certified and a full time LPN is also on staff. In addition to assisted living services, the Lodge also offers independent living and skilled nursing to seniors.

Contact Mike Kloberdanz at 623-933-0137 for information on Sun Valley Lodge’s continuum of care.


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1950's Day at the Lodge

by Patrice Anne Stolz, resident and volunteer

Our imaginative and hard working Activity Directors, Bernadette and Jan, got together to figure out a way to have a popcorn machine for the Health Care Center...and word travelled quickly! These gals are great at performing miracles for us and that's just what was needed for this project: Money and how to get it...

It all started with wanting to make this happen and staff members asking what they could do to help, like: "Let me do this" and "I have one of those at home I can bring in" and, "I can bake lots of those for sale" and "I have a great punch I can make here" and so it went. We had a real party in the making! It was agreed to have this fun day on Friday 30 August and to have a White Elephant Sale included.

The staff generously brought all kinds of goodies - to eat and purchase like rootbeer floats, ice cream sundaes, sodas, milkshakes. They also arrived with everything under the sun for the white elephant sale. All this to the tune of well loved 1950's music playing in the background. I think I even saw Eck doing the Jitterbug with some pretty lady in a Poodle skirt, saddle shoes and bobbie sox! The Skylight Room was the perfect location. They titled the event: SVL 1950's Day Party and boy was it ever fun! Chelsie was dressed as "Rosie the Riveter", Bernadette dressed as Squiggy from the TV show 'Laverne & Shirley' and lots of others too!

It was evident that everyone had a grand time! We succeeded in not only raising enough money to purchase a brand new bright and shiny popcorn machine for the Health Care Center, but we had money left over which will be put to good use for future SVL social activities. It would not have happened without the love, dedication and hard work of our very special staff here at The Lodge - they did all the work. To each and every one who made this miracle happen, we bow proudly to you and give you all a great big round of applause. They all agreed: "It was our pleasure - it all came from our hearts to yours."

HCC Residents Tell Their Stories

Health Care Residents are documenting their personal histories and keeping journals with the help of a computer program called It’s Never 2 Late (IN2L). The IN2L program is specifically designed to make computer use easy for seniors and those who have little or no experience with computers.

The IN2L computer is located in our HCC activity room and allows users to play a variety of games and puzzles, take video tours, explore history, and listen to old radio and television shows. The computer programs can be accessed simply by pushing buttons on the screen. The computer itself has an easily adjustable screen and keyboard that can be adapted to a variety of positions and needs.

One of the most popular elements of this computer is a program designed to help seniors document their thoughts and histories by answering an extensive array of prompting questions. Volunteer April Newell has been aiding residents with their projects and computer training in general. She says helping residents with the program helps her get to know Lodge residents and is a lot of fun. “This is a great way to discuss residents’ lives and explore topics they want to talk about.”

In addition to working on journals, April has been taking advantage of the computer’s history programs and encyclopedias. “I just let residents decide what they want to explore and then we do it,” she said. “The program is very interactive and helps residents get over their fear of using computers.”

Louis Pinter Celebrates 100 Years

Louis Pinter celebrated his 100th birthday in style last month in our Health Care Center. He was joined by over 30 friends and staff members to commemorate the milestone event. Partiers enjoyed cake, coffee, and punch while a local magician entertained.

Louis joined us at the Lodge in 1998 with his late wife Edna. The Pinters’ first lived in one of our garden apartments. Louis is originally from Brooklyn and spent much of his career working for ATT. Louis and Edna were great travelers and on two separate occasions travelled around the world. Louis donated much of the beautiful furniture in our HCC lobby and his extensive owl art collection to the Lodge. Happy Birthday Louis!

4th of July with the Arizona Swing Kids

Residents were treated to the Arizona Swing Kids again this year for our Fourth of July celebration. The entertainment troupe is made up of members between the ages of 2 and 90 who perform World War II and Doo Wop era shows for seniors around the state.

The group was formed in 1999 and trains young participants to sing and dance with an overall focus on improving grades, preventing teen pregnancy, studying arts and American history, improving generational relationships, and preventing drug use. The lessons are free to the participants and no auditions are required. The Swing Kids have performed over 500 shows since their inception and have had over 1,800 youths perform in their programs.

Jan has already booked them for next year’s 4th of July celebration so look for the Swing Kids on July 2nd of 2009.

Sun Valley Lodge Hall of Memories

Visitors to the Sun Valley Lodge Health Care Center are taking special notice of the hallway off the lobby. It is being transformed into a memorial to past residents of Sun Valley Lodge.

The project is the brainchild of Social Services Director Ron Marinch. “I have wanted to do this for a long time,” reported Ron. “I have been saving unclaimed photos of residents after they pass away for years. These people were a huge part of the Sun Valley Lodge family and we want to celebrate their lives.”

The hall is lined with vintage photos of past residents and pictures from their years at the Lodge. Ron is using frames that he has purchased at estate sales and some that have been donated by staff members.

Ron said, “Visiting families are really touched by the project. We have had several family members of deceased residents visit and contribute photos.”

The public is invited to visit the hallway and contribute photographs. The Lodge will scan photos if the contributor does not want to leave the original.

AzAHA Recognizes Years of Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Michael Kloberdanz
Sun Valley Lodge
Phone (623) 933-0137
Fax (623) 933-5846
mike@sunvalleylodge.org
www.sunvalleylodge.org

Sun Valley Lodge Employees Honored

Sun City, Arizona – Monday, May 19, 2008 – Nine Sun Valley Lodge employees were honored last week at the annual Arizona Association of Homes and Housing for the Aging (AzAHA) conference in Mesa.

The conference celebrated AzAHA’s 25th anniversary and chose to recognize employees who had served member facilities for 25 years or longer. Sun Valley Lodge had more employees in this category than any other member organization.

Employees honored are: Maria Leyva, Mary Bustas, Ruth Ochoa, Estella Moore, Barbara Mendoza, Ollie Washington, Bertha Lopez, Stella Hernandez, and Lily Topete.

AzAHA is a not-for-profit trade association representing more than 50 facilities dedicated to providing quality health care, housing and services to over 12,000 elderly Arizona citizens.

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Excellent Grade For Skilled Nursing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Michael Kloberdanz
Sun Valley Lodge
Phone (623) 933-0137
Fax (623) 933-5846
mike@sunvalleylodge.org
www.sunvalleylodge.org

SVL Health Care Center Gets Top Marks

Sun City, Arizona – Tuesday, April 29, 2008– Sun Valley Lodge announced that its Health Care Center received an “Excellent” rating from the Arizona Department of Health Services. The review was conducted as part of the state’s required licensing procedure for skilled nursing facilities.
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Respite Care Apartment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Michael Kloberdanz
Sun Valley Lodge
Phone (623) 933-0137
Fax (623) 933-5846
mike@sunvalleylodge.org
http://www.sunvalleylodge.org

SVL Accepting Summer Respite Care Reservations

Sun City, Arizona – April 16, 2008 – Sun Valley Lodge announced that is now accepting summer reservations for its respite care apartment. The furnished studio apartment is set aside for short term stays of at least five days. The reservation includes three meals a day in the Lodge’s dining room, assisted living care from certified caregivers, transportation to local medical appointments, and access to all campus activities. For more information please call 623-933-0137.

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Wine & Cheese Party Features Garden Apartments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Michael Kloberdanz
Sun Valley Lodge
Phone (623) 933-0137
Fax (623) 933-5846
mike@sunvalleylodge.org
www.sunvalleylodge.org


Sun Valley Lodge Independent Living Open House

Sun City, Arizona – Monday, April 07, 2008– Sun Valley Lodge will host a wine & cheese party for its independent living Garden apartment residents on Thursday, April 10. The party is open to the community. Interested parties must RSVP by Wednesday, April 9 by calling 623-933-0137.

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Did You Know?

Visitors often comment that our campus is larger than they expected and that they were not aware of the independent living Garden Apartments that surround our rose garden behind the Lodge’s main building.

The Garden Apartments offer the best in independent retirement living. The two bedroom, 1 ½ bath units are 1200 square feet and are rented on a month-to-month basis.

The monthly rental fee includes basic cable, emergency call system, one covered parking space, water and sewer and the use of all common areas. One meal per day in our award-winning dining room is also included.

Portrait of a Volunteer

Lodge volunteers come from diverse backgrounds, a wide spectrum of ages, and provide our residents with a vast array of services. The one thing they have in common is that they enjoy helping others and are willing to share their time and talents.

Take Jennifer Lueck for example. Jennifer is a National Customer Communication Supervisor for Pulte Homes and is based in Surprise. During the work week she supervises a team of 14 people who create and develop marketing campaigns for the Del Webb, Pulte, and DiVosta brands. During her free time, though, Jennifer likes to garden.

And gardening is the talent she shares with Sun Valley Lodge for a few hours every month. She is helping us plant and maintain the flowers and shrubs that surround our apartments and keep our campus bright and cheerful. Jennifer calls the time she spends at the Lodge a “terrific opportunity. It is great to get to know residents and connect with so many people from different backgrounds.”

If you have a talent you would like to share, please give us a call.

“If I Can Make You Laugh, I Can Laugh Too”

There is good news for fans of Sun Valley Lodge’s resident comedienne. Eleanore Zahorcik has begun archiving her huge collection of jokes and will make them available for her fellow Lodge residents to look through.

You might think that someone with as many ready jokes as Eleanore has would have lived a carefree life, but nothing could be further from the truth. Eleanore grew up on a farm in western Wisconsin and along the way, she has milked cows by hand, raised eight children – and buried three, tended bar, managed a grocery store, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and taught special needs kids.

Rather than knocking the starch out of her, all this living eventually led Eleanore to the creation of her life philosophy: “If I can make you laugh, I can laugh too.”

After leaving the farm, Eleanore managed a grocery store/beer bar. She credits her experience tending bar as her education in joke telling. “I learned to tell jokes from the Norwegian (immigrants) who would stop in for a drink.”

Eleanore’s sense of humor and ability to tell jokes not only helped her sell beer, but later allowed her to communicate with her students. In between having children, Eleanore launched a teaching career and worked with special-needs kids and children whose first language was not English. “If I could get those kids to laugh, they enjoyed school and they learned.”

Eleanore began actually collecting jokes after her youngest daughter died. A few months ago, her grandson David told her he would like to archive her collection and put it in a bound format for family members. Eleanore and David broke the jokes into several categories and began picking favorites. Their first volume of jokes has been assembled and Eleanore will make a copy available in the library. She is hoping to have five volumes by the time she is finished.

Sun Valley Lodge Honors Dedicated Staff

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Michael Kloberdanz
Sun Valley Lodge
Phone (623) 933-0137
Fax (623) 933-5846
mike@sunvalleylodge.org
http://www.sunvalleylodge.org/

Sun Valley Lodge Honors Dedicated Staff

Sun City, Arizona – February 19, 2008 – Sun Valley Lodge recently honored its most dedicated staff members with a small party and awards ceremony. Among the honorees were nineteen staff members who have been with the Lodge for 15 years or longer. Six of the 19 have been with the Lodge for over 30 years.

The following staff members have been with Sun Valley Lodge for at least 15 years:

Jeanette Lewis-15 Years
Carl Hockenberry-15 Years
Gail Hale-15 Years
Judy Cohoon-16 Years
Felipe Cruz-16 Years
Lynn Kisseberth-17 Years
Frank Hernandez-19 Years
Mary Bustos-20 Years
Norma Avila-21 Years
Karen Jones-22 Years
Josie Perez-23 Years
Maria Leyva-25 Years
Ruth Ochoa-28 Years
Estella Moore-32 Years
Barbara Mendoza-34 Years
Ollie Washington-34 Years
Bertha Lopez-34 Years
Stella Hernandez-35 Years
Lily Topete-38 Years

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Sun Valley Lodge is a nonprofit organization and has been providing independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing care in Sun City, Arizona for over 40 years.

The Ambassador

Jim Green is no stranger to most residents at the Lodge and certainly not to the staff. He served as Sun Valley Lodge’s first development director from 1996 to 2002 and has volunteered his time in a number of areas ever since.

In 1996, Jim was planning to retire from the Phoenix Urban League where he had spent the previous 12 years as development director when he received a call from the SVL board president at the time asking for Jim’s help in creating a plan to guide the Lodge’s future. When Jim agreed to the challenge, his first task was to write his own job description.

During his years at the Lodge, Jim helped develop a working budget and created a fundraising timetable. It is notable that the Lodge raised the funds for the renovation during Jim’s tenure. And, he oversaw 2 ½ years of the renovation projects while an employee of SVL.

Thankfully, Jim did not leave his friends at the Lodge after he retired. He made himself available to the staff for a variety of tasks and serves as an ambassador-at-large representing us in the community to this day. He also runs a monthly men’s club for residents.

As a small token of appreciation, Lodge management elected to honor Jim with the annual Helene Pfeifer award at the staff recognition party on January 31st. The award is named after late resident Helene Pfeifer and is given to the volunteer who best exemplifies Helene’s spirit of giving and dedication. Past recipients include Irene Lincoln and Dorothy Mills.

Garden Apartments

One of our beautiful independent living Garden Apartments is coming available next month. This is an online ad I posted ...

Sun Valley Lodge was the first retirement community in Sun City and our Garden Apartments offer the best in senior living. Our comfortable lifestyle reminds one of home: good food, neighborhoods, and friends.

Our two bedroom, 1 ½ bath Garden Apartments are 1200 square feet and are rented on a month-to-month basis.

The monthly rental fee includes basic cable, emergency call system, one covered parking space, water and sewer and the use of all common areas. One meal per day in our award-winning dining room is also included.

Visit our website at www.sunvalleylodge.org for more information on Lodge living or call Mike at 623-933-0137 for details.