Residents Demonstrate That at St. James Place,Participation Is Everything
Speak to any resident at St. James Place and what becomes immediately clear is how involved they are with their community. From participating in clubs and committees to planning events and trips, the residents are committed to working with the staff to make St. James Place fun, unique and special. After all, St. James Place is known as a resident-focused community. Resident involvement in all facets is one of the many reasons life at St. James Place is so eventful and fulfilling.
We gathered three of the most involved members of the community — Mary Dommert, chair of the library committee, Beverly Tipton, chair of the new resident welcome committee, and June Tuma, chair of the garden committee — for an informal chat about resident involvement in the numerous committees, clubs and associations at St. James Place.
What all three women share in common is a passion for involvement and a keen sense of humor. No reason you can’t have a lot of fun while getting things accomplished. Mary, Beverly and June all exhibit that shared playfulness while discussing what makes St. James Place so special to them, their roles in uniting the members of their community and thoughts about aging.
“The source of our books is usually residents who donate them,” Mary says, jumping right in to explain how her library committee works. “We don’t want too many books in our apartments, so we pass them on. Families donate them, and even prospective new residents will come in periodically and say, ‘I’m cleaning out my bookshelf so we can move to St. James,’ and they donate them. I have what I call 20 or 25 library angels who maintain the shelves near their apartments. We have shelves on every floor of every building, usually three or four. I would say there are books within 30 to 40 steps of almost every resident on campus. That really makes it easy for everyone. I encourage people to borrow books and return them to a different shelf so that a different resident can see them.”
Beverly follows with an explanation of how her welcoming committee works. “There are 22 neighborhood representatives throughout the campus. Each of those representatives welcomes new residents who move into their area. The first time a new resident spends the night in their new home, we give them a magnetic card to go on their refrigerator door with the name, phone number and residence number of their neighborhood rep, so they have an immediate friend.”
Keeping residents as active and engaged as they want is clearly a priority for these three committee chairs. “We have a garden committee that I head,” June says. The main thing I think it does for residents is provide an option for them to get involved. In my committee’s case, it’s with gardening. Some people had extensive gardens in their homes, so getting involved with the garden committee is very therapeutic for them. We have a community garden that we take care of. We have workdays where we keep it trimmed up, mulched and everything. We also have a butterfly garden, which is a jewel for St. James Place. It’s located near the Beauregard apartment building on our South end. “A lot of residents come to sit in the garden to enjoy peace and tranquility and to watch the butterflies and hummingbirds that the garden attracts.”
With the level of involvement in the St. James Place community, you’d think these women must have lived here a relatively long time. As it turns out, that’s not the case. Beverly and her husband Tip (who was featured in a blog about the OLLI program earlier this year and is the “star” along with Beverly of the new St. James Place TV commercial) moved to the campus a little over four years ago, making them the ranking residents of the group. “We’ve been here three and a half years,” Mary says. “I believe it’ll be three years for me in December,” June adds.
Even having been residents for such a relatively short period, the benefit of being active and involved in the community is something all three women agree on. “If someone wants to just be quiet and not get involved, that’s fine,” Beverly says. “But we encourage people because we believe the more active and social you are, the better your life will be. Studies have shown this to be true. The neighborhood reps from my committee try to find out what interests people just moving in have and get them associated with those particular activities, inviting them for meals and to meet other residents.”
“I’ve reached out to some of the quieter residents who don’t participate,” Mary elaborates. “I’ll casually say, ‘Could you maintain that one bookshelf down from your apartment?’ They’re usually delighted to have a responsibility and be contributing to the community. It’s all those little pieces coming together to make a person feel like they’re part of a neighborhood.”
With these three dynamic women being so involved, the question arises — Are their men involved as well? “The committee chairs change every two years,” Beverly says. “This year building and grounds has a gentleman leading the committee, and then I believe the dining committee also has a man leading it.” Mary adds, “I’m coaching a man to take over as library chair next year.”
Continuing the theme, Mary reminds everyone there’s a men’s club at St. James Place. “My husband served as president of the resident association last year,” she says. “We had men working on the koi pond where we moved fish, so they had a special koi pond project. And there were men involved when we needed the benches looked at and replaced all over the campus. Sometimes people will just create a temporary committee.”
Another topic the women agree on is how grateful they are for the staff at St. James Place. “Each committee has at least one staff liaison who meets with us,” Beverly says. “They’re instrumental in what we do,” June adds. But even more so, all three agree how important the staff is when it comes to pretty much everything they do for the residents. “We have some very loyal staff members,” Mary says. “They stuck with us through the pandemic. And they were so careful when they were coming in to work here. I think we all tried to show our appreciation. They’re very responsive to resident requests.”
There are currently seven official resident committees at St. James Place, not counting the numerous clubs. But that can change if someone comes up with a good idea, or a sudden need arises for a special committee to deal with a specific project. It’s also not atypical for people to serve on more than one committee, as Mary, Beverly and June all do or have done.
St. James Place is an active and engaged community. There are clubs, classes, events and committees that a large number of the residents participate in. So why, one wonders, do none of these women demonstrate a desire to pass the reins on to others, sit back, relax and enjoy a quiet retirement? “The idea of sitting in a rocking chair and doing nothing,” Beverly says. “Couch potatoes,” June adds, finishing the thought. Beverly sums it up for all three of the women, “not at St. James Place.”
If you’d like to know more about how you can become a part of this vibrant community, call (225) 314-5857 to arrange a personal tour.