Our family of senior living communities can be found in locations all over the southern United States. Each community takes on its own unique personality because of the wonderful, caring, and fun people who give it life.
Recently, we sat down with Beth Olson, Activities Director for River Oaks Place in Lenoir City, Tennessee. River Oaks Place has been part of the Senior Solutions family for over seven years, and in February 2016 Beth will 
celebrate her 3-year anniversary with the community.
Beth, originally from Chicago, has lived in Tennessee for the past seven years. Previously, she has worked as an Event Planner and Interior Designer specializing mostly in weddings, conferences, proms, and tradeshows. She eventually came to a point, however, when she felt like she needed to do something more meaningful with her life. For many years she had volunteered with elderly communities, and that experience convinced her that she needed to make a change. “I adore the elderly community,” she says, “You can learn so much from them and their amazing lives.”
Beth is a non-stop machine when it comes to activity options for the residents of River Oaks Place. She keeps some of the traditional favorites in place--“You don’t mess with Bingo,” she says—but also strives to come up with ideas that will get residents laughing, dancing, singing, and generally being active.
Hands down, Beth says, the favorite activities residents enjoy are any to do with live entertainment. During the holidays, community players, carolers, and groups of children will come in and interact with the residents. River Oaks Place has a good relationship with Lenoir City High School. They often see groups of Honors students, especially the ones who are interested in medical careers.
In addition to outside visitors, Beth makes sure there is plenty for everyone to do. A Coffee Club inspirational group meets every morning. Sometimes residents will go to local restaurants, like Le Noir Belgian Bistro, for dinner, and other nights the staff will bring in pizza. There are game nights, craft classes, two or three proms per year, and even a masquerade ball which residents look forward to. Any time someone celebrates their 100th birthday there is always a huge party. Once a month they set up a projector and have a special movie night, complete with freshly popped popcorn and candy. A recent hit was when Beth transformed the dining hall in to a 50s-style diner. Staff members dressed like waitresses to serve food and there was a jukebox for plenty of dancing.
Beth makes sure that everyone is included; especially residents of The Retreat, River Oaks Place’s memory care center. For these residents, staff takes the approach of a family-style setting to promote activity and interaction. Staff will try to involve these residents in every activity—even something as simple as setting a table.
Special jobs are not uncommon with the rest of the community, however. “I keep the residents very involved in the projects,” Beth says, “Whoever wants something to do will have something to do.”
River Oaks Place encourages their residents to give back to the community, as well. Independent living residents often get together for what they call the “Servants Heart Club.” They will do things for the greater community such as put together shoeboxes for Christmas Child or stuff dolls for Children’s Hospital. Last year, River Oaks Place residents created a special calendar with photographs of residents recreating some of their favorite movie scenes. It was a big hit, especially with families, and proceeds supported Lenoir City High School.
Beth stresses that she could not do all of this without the wonderful staff members at River Oaks. Everyone from care staff to nurses come together to make one big family. “This is what we do,” she says, “we try to make it extra fun.”
There are lots of shareable stories about past events at River Oaks. Recently, Beth scheduled a country singer to perform live for the residents. Beth was able to get a photograph of the singer beforehand, and apparently the ladies fell in love with him. They had pictures of him during the show and made themselves into “groupies,” Beth says. It made for an exciting event because they were tickled to have attention from him and they got up and danced during the show.
Beth is thankful that she can use her talents to help make someone else’s life more meaningful. She loves that she has the ability to make the last part of someone’s life the best part of his or her life. One of her favorite quotes is “Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” For Beth, this rings true. She feels like she has the best job she could imagine for herself, and she tries to make it as fun and exciting as she can.
Are you interested in learning more about one of our communities, like River Oaks Place in Lenoir City? Contact us to learn more and schedule a tour.
