Memory Care at Springmoor with Gail Ramsay, R.N.

Gail Ramsay

It’s no secret that Springmoor residents actively enjoy walking our peaceful grounds, dancing at our fun events and swimming at our brand new Pathways Wellness Center, but if you ask residents what else they like about our Northwest Raleigh community and they will tell you that it’s peace of mind, knowing that supportive services are there for them when they need them. 

This month we’ll feature the community’s memory care services, the Seay Wing within our Stewart Health Center.

January Landscape Blog: Planting Seeds for 2015

By: Thom Morgan, Springmoor Landscape Manager 

Thom Morgan

  

Each year the big nurseries offer up new plants that they think will be the next big thing in the landscaping industry, and each year I get excited to try all of their new specimens.

For 2015, those that are considered “new” have actually been around for a few years as trial plants in places like North Carolina State University’s JC Raulston Arboretum. There, staffers graded the trial plants on whether they performed as promised, and if the plants were marketable. If a plant made the grade, it became available to you and me.

This year, we have a group of more compact and disease-resistant forms of our old favorites.

Here is a list of the various growers that contributed and their new specimens:

Why Springmoor? The Neighborhood Feel

Find yourself walking along the many paths that weave between the tidy homes and beneath the towering evergreens on Springmoor’s 42-acre campus in Northwest Raleigh, North Carolina, and you’d have trouble convincing yourself that you’re at the center of a continuing care retirement community. With friendly neighbors, gorgeous grounds and helpful staff, it’s no wonder Springmoor residents have no trouble calling our inviting community home.

Neighborly Welcoming

Like moving to any new neighborhood, those who move to Springmoor often worry about meeting new people and making new friends, but their fears are immediately quashed when they discover Springmoor’s Southern hospitality. Residents are very welcoming to newcomers, going out of their way to meet their new neighbors and include them in their lives. They enjoy going to dinner regularly with large groups and out to nearby events and their favorite restaurants. Around the holidays, residents come together to help decorate trees and get everyone in the holiday spirit.

Springmoor Residents Express the Benefits of Not Owning a Home Anymore

Curtis and Barbara Freeze

Baby, it’s cold outside! When you’re a homeowner, colder temperatures can make a mounting list of home maintenance chores that much more difficult to tackle for aging adults: shoveling snow, sealing cracks, clearing dead branches and disposing of piles of leaves—all can take a toll on your back, hands and ticker. At Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community, residents don’t have to lift a finger in winter! Crews clear the sidewalks (and cars) of debris, leaves and snow and make all of the repairs! You won’t find Springmoor residents bundled up outside, trying to navigate and clear slick walkways. They’re all indoors, sipping hot cocoa, sitting by the fire, visiting with new friends and enjoying winter from the comfort of their homes or common areas at our beautiful Raleigh, North Carolina, community.

Springmoor Residents Curtis and Barbara Freeze moved to the community in April from Kannapolis, North Carolina, and are enjoying the perks of maintenance-free living immensely. They both are thankful for “the beautiful grounds to enjoy everyday, and the benefit of not having to keep it up.” Both of them grew up on dairy farms, so they know how hard it can be to get up in the mornings in cold weather and work outside.

Springmoor’s Promise of Life Care

Current residents give a variety of answers when asked why they chose Springmoor – from the food, to the gorgeous grounds, to the friendly and caring staff. However, one of the biggest reasons people move to Springmoor is our promise of life care for all of our residents. Once you move here, we promise to see to your health needs and care throughout all stages of life. Whether you live in independent living, supportive living, or in our health center, Springmoor will always be your home. As a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), Springmoor allows you and your loved ones peace of mind, knowing your health needs will be taken care of. 

Life is a Marathon

What does it take to be able to run a marathon? Some may think it’s purely a physical feat, but I

learned it is much more than that. On Oct. 19, I ran my first marathon. It took four months of training and after five hours and 35 minutes, I crossed the finish line with tears in my eyes.

Kari Richie

   As I was running and enjoying the scenery of Detroit, Michigan, I had plenty of time to think. Many aspects of the race and training made me think of what we go through in our everyday lives.

    Physical challenge: Running is most definitely a physical challenge of endurance. We must train our body over time and it will improve. We are constantly faced with physical challenges throughout our lives including arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, depression and more. Each day we must face the challenge and choose to “train.” This could involve taking a 15-minute walk, going to physical therapy, taking an exercise class or making social connections each day. This mindset is especially helpful for seniors to embrace; the mantra “age is just a number” is often held by people who challenge themselves to do great things and ignore how many candles adorn their birthday cakes.

Springmoor Floorplan Feature: Two Bedroom Villa

If you are thinking that Springmoor is the right place for you, it’s now time to figure out what floorplan would work best for you. We offer multiple floorplans for prospective residents to choose from. This allows them to find the new home that will fit them perfectly. One of our popular choices is the two-bedroom villa.

 

September Springmoor Blog from the Landscape Department

Thom Morgan

Storing Seeds for Future Use

September is unkind to vegetables. By now, your 90-day tomatoes are a withered mess, and the 120-day tomatoes have a few green tomatoes that are struggling to turn red. Eggplants are producing fruit which is one tenth the size of fruit a month ago. Face it, it’s fall, and if you haven’t switched over to fall crops by now, your garden is a pitiful mess.

One thing you can do before you pull up all the stakes and dead vines is collect the seeds.

Springmoor Residents Take On the Ironman Triathlon Challenge

When you hear the word “Ironman,” your mind may pull up an exhausted but excited young man or woman crossing the finish line after spending an entire day participating in an intense triathlon. You probably don’t imagine seniors taking part, but they do!

Does Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community have Ironman Triathlon athletes? Yes! Two of our residents, Mr. Bob McGaffin and Mrs. Harriet Ross, recently finished the Ironman Challenge!

H2O is the Way to Go!

Kari Richie

By Kari Richie, Springmoor Health and Fitness Director

This summer the Springmoor Health and Fitness department is teaming up with the dietitians from Sodexo, Springmoor’s food service provider, to encourage exercise and hydration! We will kick off our first Springmoor Triathlon Challenge and encourage healthy hydration at the Pathways Pool Party on Friday, July 11. Residents can enjoy a dip in the pool, a friendly game of water volleyball, and refreshments, delivered poolside!

Pathways Wellness focuses on prevention, which is why we are focusing on preventing dehydration this summer. Dehydration can be a serious problem for older adults and leads to confusion and illness. 

Father’s Day at Springmoor!

This Sunday is Father’s Day! Before you pick out a card, buy another tie, and head out to eat the exact same brunch as last year with your family, be sure to check out all of the great local events happening for Father’s Day weekend.

Zone Pushing

Thom Morgan

By Thom Morgan, Springmoor Landscape Manager

On the US Plant Hardiness Zone Map, I am in zone 7b so plants that are hardy in zones 9 and above need special attention if I want to keep them.

Why do I go through the trouble?  I like collecting plants no one else has, and I enjoy the challenge of pushing my zone.

Inheriting Independence: Springmoor Mothers Share Wisdom Behind Their—and Their Mothers’—Choice to Move to the Community

A sense of independence and adaptability: It’s a trait Dora Beal believes she inherited from her mother, and one she believes her daughters have inherited from her. It’s also the trait that led Dora’s mother to decide to move into Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community in the 1980s while she was still active, and what led Dora to move into Springmoor just one year ago.

“The wonderful thing about mother is that she was always adaptable. She saved me a lot of grief and worry, and made the decision herself to move here,” Dora said.

Charity Sisters: Springmoor Siblings Bond Over Food, Community Service

Sisters Elsie Eads (left) and Elizabeth Crawford
work together to share food and love with neighbors,
local charities.

Always very close, sisters Elizabeth Crawford and Elsie Eads love that Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community in Raleigh, N.C., allows them to live down the hall from one another and to combine their love of baking and volunteering.

Crawford enjoys baking and often bakes desserts for her friends at Springmoor; Eads likes helping others and giving back to the community, and spends her day working with several different, local programs geared at helping those in need.

The two decided to combine efforts: Crawford bakes desserts and meals and Eads travels to deliver the goods to different groups both on the Springmoor campus and in the local community.

What to Look for When Buying Trees and Shrubs

Thom Morgan

By Thom Morgan
Springmoor Landscape Manager

If you have ever bought a used car, you know that there are a few things you need to check before you purchase it. When buying landscape plants, you should approach it like you would when shopping for a used car. Landscape plants have been previously handled: someone planted it before selling it to the nursery, and the nursery is in business to sell the plant to you. 

Here are some tips to kick the tires, so to speak, when buying a tree or shrub:

Springmoor Gears Up for Pathways Wellness Center Grand Opening on March 25!

By Kathleen Loescher

The exterior of the new Pathways Wellness Center

“Wellness used to be treadmills,” said Springmoor Chief Executive Officer David Ammons, and when Springmoor opened its doors in 1984, the community reflected that: the exercise rooms were small and were filled with stationary bikes and treadmills; the aquatics pool was simply for those who enjoyed water aerobics.

Today, Springmoor views wellness as “whole-person” wellness through the Pathways program that grew from the roots planted in the community’s development. Physical wellness is still a component, but emphasis is also placed on a person’s emotional, vocational, nutritional, social, environmental, spiritual, and even intellectual well-being—aspects that were all taken into consideration in Springmoor’s nearly complete Pathways Wellness Center. 

The community will celebrate the grand opening of the Pathways Wellness Center on March 25 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Cleaning House: Sisters and Springmoor Housekeepers Give 30 Years to Community

Sandra Harris and Barbara Venson

When sisters Sandra Harris and Barbara Venson began working as housekeepers at Springmoor Life Care Retirement Community 30 years ago there was little for them to clean.

The community, which celebrates its 30^th anniversary this year, was made up of only a few buildings at the time. The sisters’ first duties were pulling stickers off of brand-new refrigerators, and sweeping construction debris off sidewalks. A few people lived in apartments, but not many.

Now, there are 391 residences, and 24 housekeepers. The residents—the sisters agreed—are the reason they keep coming back to work at Springmoor year after year.