Last Updated on August 5, 2024
Hello Charlestown, once more from the northwest section of Minnesota. While you have been sweltering, we have been cool, high 70s to low 80s most of the time, with lots of rain, resulting in plenty of the state’s second bird – the mosquito.
As you all know, the Residents’ Council’s President’s term lasts one year, from September to August. So, this is my last article since my term ends on August 31st. As the saying goes, the end of a one-year term means that once you feel you have learned the job, it’s over. Let me say quickly that it has been an honor to have the opportunity to represent you, all the residents, to the Board of Directors, to Erickson corporate executives, and virtually daily to the Administration. The Board has been attentive to our quarterly meeting questions. The corporate executives that we have met with twice have also been attentive to our questions and comments. And certainly, the Administration has been a pleasure to deal with, especially our Executive Director Don and our Associate Executive Director, Leslie, along with all the staff Directors. So, I strongly feel that my theme of Partnership with all these levels has been a success.
I do want to highlight some of the issues and programs in which I believe we have had an impact. As you will read in the Council’s Maintenance and Engineering committee article on these pages, we have had a very positive impact in helping to reduce the scope of flooding incidents. This has been a yearlong effort which is not finished. With the Council’s support, I do want to commend Jerry Donaldson, committee chair, and Ken Parezo for their unending efforts on this project.
Next, with the initiative of our Grounds committee chair, Dick Voelkel, we helped to influence the effort to reduce our deer population. This was done using a volunteer bow hunting team from Montgomery County. Unfortunately, the deer have been a significant nuisance on our property as they have often destroyed some of our plants, but more importantly have significantly damaged the forest floor so that the restoration of our forest will be hindered for years to come. Plans are for the bow hunters to come back when the deer hunting season resumes in September.
As has been the case for several years, the Health Services committee continued the very successful drug takeback program. As co-chair of the committee, Jean Tribulski has been the lead person on this project, with help from several of the committee members.
An unexpected issue came up when the new furniture was installed in Herbert’s Run and was found to be very unacceptable to many of the residents. Oh my, what a fuss. After several meetings with Don and Leslie, two things came out of this event. We immediately formed a team of residents from both Herbert’s Run and Brookside to discuss the concerns with Admin. With input from this resident team and with the support of Don and Leslie, some of the furniture was indeed changed to reach a level of acceptability. In other words, they heard US! Recognizing that this concern could very well continue into the upcoming renovations (repositioning) of St. Charles and now the Historic District, we have established resident teams to review Corporate/Admin plans for those areas before furnishings are installed. This has been a joint Residents’ Council/Administration partnership, with special thanks to Don for his guidance. I do hope that these teams will be able to move more into the decision-making process rather than just reviews.
Our Resident Life committee has recently decided to make the welcoming of new residents a more comprehensive effort. So, seven subcommittees have been formed to help new residents feel welcomed and more quickly acquainted with their new home. Some of these subcommittees will include A Meal on Move-in Day, the continuation of our very successful Friendly Visitors program, a Dining Ambassadors program, Dining Buddies, Welcome Tables, and more. Margaret Vincent, current co-chair of our Resident Life committee, will be providing the leadership for these teams.
And another part of the Resident Life committee has to do with the Tapestry program of guided social conversations. It has been a terrific program with very positive feedback which will continue into next year using a themed approach. Watch for further details on this one. Many thanks to Moffett Churn and Audrey Trapp for their dedicated leadership.
There is always the danger of not mentioning some other important and relevant programs, so apologies to those of you, on Council, that I have not highlighted. Your work is greatly appreciated!
Finally, I would like to say a huge word of thanks to my ever-ready Vice President, Joe Carrick. He has been an invaluable assistant to me, in some upfront efforts and many, many backroom helps. I look forward to his leadership in the future. Thank you, Joe!
Our work, as a Council, will never be done. New issues and solutions will always happen, sometimes planned and sometimes as a total surprise. That’s the fun part. Handling a challenge.
Thank you again for the opportunity to be your Residents’ Council President. It has been rewarding!
Submitted by John Remias