Laclede Groves - A Lutheran Senior Services community

A group of independent living residents enjoyed a lovely morning tour with owner Tracy from Long Row Lavender Farm. She guided us through the farm of beautiful flowers and plants. We smelled lavender, had a delicious lunch, and saved time for some shopping.

Last week a group of independent living residents took a tour of the St. Louis Zoo Sustainability Program. They learned how hard the St. Louis Zoo is working to preserve our planets natural recourses and all the efforts they are making to “go green.”

Yesterday we let our creative minds wander with a group of our Care Center residents in the Art Studio with Rachel! 🎨 🖌️

Independent Living resident Harold Maness and his son Mark recently enjoyed a father/son trip to the Serengeti National Park in Africa. They ended up in a recent edition of the Webster Kirkwood Times holding a copy of their paper!

Today our Wellness Department hosted the first annual Laclede Groves Wellness Fair as part of National Wellness Month! Independent Living residents browsed health and wellness booths for useful information and resources and had the opportunity to participate in free screenings such as blood pressure checks and balance assessments. Thank you to the Laclede Groves team members, LSS Home & Community Based Services, and local associations and experts that made this event such a success!

Assisted living residents and guests enjoyed a fun filled Luau themed dinner party last week with great food, a scavenger hunt and hand drawn caricatures! Thanks to the lifestyle enrichment and dining staff for making it such a fun evening!

What a beautiful day to enjoy the nice weather and a sweet treat! A group of our Care Center Residents enjoyed a yummy concrete from Ted Drewes on the REACH patio today! ☀️ ☁️ 🍦

A fun afternoon planting party in the Crossings to add succulents and mums to the sun porches and courtyard garden! Thank you to the independent living residents that skillfully built our plant trellises in the wood shop!

It’s wine Wednesday! Last week a group of Independent Living Residents explored Italian wine one glass at a time with a wine expert. They enjoyed a sit down private wine tasting at Vom Fass.

Happy National Fajita Day! This week the auditorium filled with the sounds and smells of sizzling savory fajita quesadillas, made by independent living residents during Nutrition Kitchen class!

Crossings residents made cookie ice cream sandwiches for the perfect summer time sweet treat!

Independent Living residents served up some fun during recent seated volleyball games!

Enjoyable afternoon in the Crossings painting and decorating magnets!

A group of Independent Living Residents played in a nine-hole miniature golf course at the Sheldon. The unique golf holes featured designs from St. Louis area artists, architects, and creative agencies.

For the past few weeks we had the pleasure of our volunteer, Addie Akin, conducting a hymn sing group for our Care Center Residents! Addie is a music teacher at a local school and wanted to give back this summer at Laclede Groves with her music. We loved having her here! Thank you, Addie!

Independent Living residents celebrated the 2024 Summer Olympics with a French themed happy hour. They had Pommes Frites, Croque Monsier sandwiches, and macarons. We even played some summer Olympics trivia!

Balloons, Bridges and the Duke! What a fun trip to Iowa with Trips Unlimited! Here come the pictures!!
We enjoyed VIP service at the National Balloon Classic in Indianola, Iowa. The next day we enjoyed a wealth of knowledge learning about the laureates at the World Food prize hall, then enjoyed a delicious lunch and opera performance followed a honey tasting. Our last day was a busy one - we toured Winterset, Iowa where we got to see the amazing covered bridges of Madison County, the birthplace of John Wayne, quilt museum, a wine tasting and a visit to an Alpaca Farm!
We stopped at the American gothic home depicted in Grant Woods painting for a hilarious photo opportunity!!

Yesterday, Independent living residents continued this week of friendly competition with co****le! Do you think this popular Midwest game should become an Olympic sport?

On Monday, our Care Center residents had the pleasure of hosting a field day with St. Paul's Lutheran Church! They played many games, enjoy delicious cookies and refreshments, and shared many smiles and laughs. We truly enjoyed having them and were so thankful to share this opportunity together!

Even though there are only 21 more weeks until Christmas, we celebrated “Christmas in July” all over campus this month! Independent Living had their Christmas in July Happy Hour while Assisted Living, Memory Support and Care Center did a Christmas in July get together and watched the movie “Genie”. Residents and staff had loads of fun going along with the theme!

With the Olympics underway, Independent Living residents got some paddle practice in this morning with a few games of table tennis!

Assisted living kicked off the start of the Olympics with their own opening ceremony celebration with themed snacks and cocktail hour, entertainment by Tom winter & an Olympic rings candy jar guessing game!

This week, residents from Breeze Park - A Lutheran Senior Services Community visited Laclede Groves and teamed up with our residents for some friendly competition and exercise while playing water volleyball!

Residents in the Crossings got a little crafty yesterday and made do it yourself flower wreaths! Great job ladies!

Another one of our Independent Living residents makes the news! George Ragland boasts about his 90-year music career in the Kirkwood Webster Times.

Check out the article here:
https://www.timesnewspapers.com/webster-kirkwoodtimes/laclede-groves-resident-boasts-90-year-music-career/article_06ea9954-3f9b-11ef-8103-1f9807a7180c.html

This morning a group of residents from the Crossings and Independent Living visited the Gentle Barn in Dittmer which is a farm animal sanctuary. We were able to get up close to the animals and give pigs belly rubs, brush the horses and visit the barnyard to pet turkeys, chickens, goats, picks and cows!

A big shout out to the residents and staff that helped with decorations to make the 4th of July parade a success! Congratulations we won first place in the novelty category!! Great job to all the winners!

Chaplain Jennifer and lifestyle enrichment staff organized a trip to the Basilica of St. Louis, The Old Cathedral, with Crossings residents where they were led on a guided tour of the church.

We had a beautiful morning for some gardening in the Crossings today! Independent living and Crossings residents got their hands dirty together to fill our new raised garden beds and planters in the courtyard. Can’t wait for many more opportunities to do this!

This week is Joy Week, one of our favorite times of the year. Our Affordable Housing Communities dedicate this week to celebrate and spread joy to our residents and their communities.

This year, Joy Week's theme is to “Spread Joy Like a Rainbow after a Storm.” Ezekiel 1:28 says, “Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.”

Here are some highlights from this year's Joy Week so far! We invite you to check on all of our Affordable Housing's pages to see all the celebrations.

A special thanks to MEI Total Elevator Solutions and Eureka Contracting and Roofing for helping to sponsor our festivities!

Centennial Plaza - A Lutheran Senior Services community Dunn Road Manor - A Lutheran Senior Services community Halls Ferry Manor - A Lutheran Senior Services community Hilltop Manor - A Lutheran Senior Services community Hylton Point Apartments - A Lutheran Senior Services Community Hylton Point II - A Lutheran Senior Services community Rose Hill House - A Lutheran Senior Services community The Village at Mackenzie Place - A Lutheran Senior Services community Westfield Manor - A Lutheran Senior Services community

The Webster Kirkwood times did a feature article on our two residents who won gold at the Senior Olympics this year! Congratulations again to Carol Gilker and Mary Ann Svoboda!

Click on the link below to read the article.
https://www.timesnewspapers.com/webster-kirkwoodtimes/webster-groves-women-win-gold-in-senior-olympics/article_26622826-3f99-11ef-ac6f-3b24ad21eaa9.html

Lutheran Hillside Village - A Lutheran Senior Services Community residents are staying active and having a blast playing chair volleyball. The activity has become so popular at the Peoria Life Plan Community that they meet three times a week to play! “It’s by far our most popular program,” said Joy Morris, Director of Community Enrichment.

Learn more about the fan-favorite activity in this special news coverage:

Lutheran Hillside Village seniors make new friends playing chair volleyball "I did not expect it to be this big."

As we celebrate with residents, clients, and team members, we wish everyone a safe and joyous Independence Day!

We’ve been busy celebrating welcoming the four Pennsylvania senior living communities to LSS. Our communities in Missouri and Illinois celebrated with Pennsylvania-specific cocktails and pretzels, while our Pennsylvania communities enjoyed toasted raviolis and gooey butter cake!

"As we warmly welcome Diakon’s residents and team members into the LSS family, we are looking towards the future," said Adam Marles, LSS President and CEO. "Together as one, we will continue to build community, trust, and belonging."

It’s official. Today Lutheran Senior Services (LSS) welcomes Diakon’s four senior living communities, 1300 residents and 700 team members into the LSS family.

We look forward to Growing Together. As one unified organization, we remain committed to creating opportunities for our team and delivering exceptional services and care for residents centered on our mission – Older Adults Living Life to the Fullest. We also wish Diakon great success continuing its child, family, and affordable housing services.

LSS is now the 12th largest nonprofit senior living organization in the country, serving nearly 15,000 older adults through our senior living communities, affordable housing communities, and home and community based services across Missouri, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Read more here: https://lsslife.org/LutheranSeniorServicesClosesWithDiakon

Welcome Buffalo Valley Lutheran Village - Diakon Senior Living Diakon Senior Living - Cumberland Crossings, Diakon Senior Living - Luther Crest, and Diakon Senior Living - The Lutheran Home at Topton.

Get ready to celebrate the 4th of July with a delicious new recipe from Mark Shoopman, Director of Dining Services at Lutheran Hillside Village - A Lutheran Senior Services Community! Try his All American Grilled Foot Long Bean and Slaw Dog and add a tasty twist to your holiday festivities.

Check out the full recipe here:

Chef Mark shares tasty July 4th recipe All American Grilled Foot Long Bean and Slaw Dog “We salute the USA with two of America’s favorites on an All-American Foot Long dog”! By A.C.F. Certified Executive Chef Mark Shoopman, CEC, CFBE of…

Lutheran Hillside Village - A Lutheran Senior Services Community recently participated in a truly special event – the Greater Peoria Honor Flight. With the dedicated effort of Tom Myers, Director of Nursing, and a few other team members, nine veteran residents had the incredible opportunity to fly to Washington D.C. and visit several monuments and memorial sites.

Tom, who has been serving as the Head of Medical for the Greater Peoria Honor Flight for years, worked tirelessly to secure tickets for our veteran residents, ensuring they could participate in this unforgettable journey. The group met at 4 a.m. at the community for a celebration and were escorted by five squad cards to the airport.

Throughout their trip they visited significant historical landmarks, honoring their service and the service of their fellow comrades. Highlights of the trip included visiting Arlington National Cemetery to witness the changing of the guard, as well as the World War II monuments and several memorials across D.C.

“The residents loved it,” said Tom. “Many of them were able to see the memorials where their friends from service are honored.”

On the flight back home, all veterans had a mail call where they received cards and letters from their friends and family thanking them for their service.

The honor flight had such a positive impact on the residents that they now plan to meet monthly to talk about the flight and share their experiences from serving.

We are immensely proud of our veterans and are grateful for their service. A heartfelt thank you to Tom Myers for his dedication and to the Greater Peoria Honor Flight for making this experience possible!

An innovative Horticulture Therapy program is blooming at LSS thanks to Briley Tanner, Lifestyle Enrichment Coordinator at Concordia Village - A Lutheran Senior Services community.

Horticulture Therapy is proven to improve mood, reduce stress, and promote physical and mental wellbeing.

When Briley joined the Concordia Village team in 2022, she knew that she wanted to establish a horticulture program. In January 2023, she traveled to Southern California to learn more about horticulture. After six months of intensive learning, Briley returned to LSS ready to bring her horticulture dreams to life with the residents!

“My experience in California has really set me up for great success here and it feels good to utilize the tools I learned and apply them at Concordia Village,” said Briley.

Horticulture therapy is not just a passion of Briley’s, but a positive experience for all involved. “Horticulture helps anyone emotionally, socially, physically, and cognitively,” said Briley. “It’s not just gardening. It can really offer an overall health and wellness factor.”

Briley has received significant support in launching this program at Concordia Village. “My vision of bringing therapeutic horticulture to LSS has always been supported. My directors and team members have been advocating for me,” said Briley. “I was able to share the magic of horticulture and show how it positively impacts residents.”

In addition to team member support, Briley has garnered support from the Springfield community. She’s partnered with Greenview Nursery, who donated plants, and Lowe’s, who donated garden boxes for the residents. The Washington Park Botanical Gardens also collaborates with the community, offering tours and sensory activities for the residents.

Residents’ family members have provided a great deal of support, too. “Residents’ family members are super excited about this, they even help during activities,” said Briley. “They’ve seen their family member participate and engage, so we have their support.”

Briley recently held a training session about horticulture therapy activities for team members across LSS. She taught them about various horticulture therapy activities, gave a tour of Concordia Village courtyards, and led hands-on activities with the residents. Team members learned about the positive impact these activities have on residents and heard directly from the residents themselves.

Tamariane Smith, Lifestyle Enrichment Coordinator at Laclede Groves - A Lutheran Senior Services community, was inspired after seeing how much residents loved the activities. Working with residents in Memory Support at Laclede Groves, Tamariane had received requests for garden-based activities. She was excited to attend Briley’s course to learn how to incorporate horticulture at Laclede Groves.

“It was fulfilling to see the looks on the resident’s faces and how much they enjoyed the gardening activities,” said Tamariane.

After attending the course, Tamariane collaborated with the Laclede Groves team to acquire the supplies needed to start horticulture activities, such as garden beds and various plants.

“It’s going to make them feel appreciated and give them something to look forward to,” said Tamariane. “The residents are already excited!”

Briley’s efforts have enabled team members, residents, and families to “grow together” – an LSS core value.