Cheers to 40 Years! Celebrating St. James Place
We’re turning 40! To commemorate a milestone this significant, we thought throwing one big anniversary bash just wouldn’t suffice to properly show our appreciation to our residents, staff and folks in the greater Baton Rouge community who have helped make St. James Place extraordinary. Instead, we thought it would be better to mark this momentous occasion with ongoing celebrations throughout 2023.
So, that’s what we’re doing—and the response to our events thus far has been so tremendous that we wanted to share some of the highlights here. We also want to thank the LSU graphic design class for creating the unique 40th anniversary logo we’re using to promote these special events.
January: The Rededication of St. James Place
We kicked off our celebrations with a rededication service led by Rev. Canon Bishop Shannon Duckworth, Bishop of Louisiana, Fr. Mark Harmon of St. James Church and Fr. Jerry Phillips. We replicated the original dedication service program from January 1983 while the Episcopal High School Choir blessed us with beautiful hymns.
February: Mardi Gras
In true Louisiana fashion, we had a huge Mardi Gras celebration for Carnival! It featured a festive parade followed by a King and Queen Party at Duplantier Auditorium, where the coronation of residents Butch and Margaret C. Hart as the St. James Place 40th Anniversary Mardi Gras King & Queen took place. Our 2022 royals graciously passed on their crowns as a receiving line quickly formed to congratulate the Harts. Laissez les bon temps rouler!
March: Team Appreciation Week
We don’t mean to brag, but we have the best staff members around! From our facilities crew to healthcare professionals, our dedicated and compassionate employees are the reason we can provide unrivaled care and a fun life-affirming culture.
Every day for one week, we treated our employees to a wide array of fun activities that included:
Yoga at The Lake
An inspirational speech by Dr. Damon Arnold, director of player development at LSU
Learning from peers about playing blackjack or making boudin king cake (to name a few) via TalentShare
Playing the St. James Place’s version of Family Feud (aka Department Feud)
Campus-wide scavenger hunt
We wanted our team members to feel our love and appreciation for all the hard work they pour into the community.
April: Celebration at The Oak
Jazz, food, drinks AND family? What could be better? We loved seeing many of the St. James Place residents with their families, from ages 1-100, picnicking under the Duplantier Oak while listening to the Baton Rouge Jazz Ensemble. And to top it off, it was a beautiful day!
June: Jambalaya Cookoff
In June we celebrated with the first responders who have faithfully served us over the past 40 years. This includes Baton Rouge police officers, firemen, EMS workers and FireQuest Fire Alarm associates. To thank them, we hosted a jambalaya cook-off in front of Duplantier, where four teams—The Pangburn Group, Charles Carter Construction, The Knights of Columbus St. Aloysius Council 3743 and CMC Corporate Solutions—each cooked a 30-gallon pot of jambalaya.
A panel of community leaders judged the event and crowned CMC Corporate Solutions the winner of the inaugural cookoff. After the judging, the St. James Place team served all the dedicated workers who came to cheer on their teams and then delivered 800 jambalaya dinners to our first responders and local emergency departments.
Sincere appreciation to Cardinal Solutions for manning the serving line, Iverstine Farms Butcher for donating the sausage donation and Rice & Roux for donating the white beans.
And we’re not done yet! In November we’ll hold the grand opening of The Square, where we will recognize and thank our donors for the project. Cheers to the past 40 years and we look forward to celebrating our 50th in 10 years!
If you’re interested in seeing WHY people love St. James Place, schedule a visit by calling (225) 215-4510.