Beyond Active Aging
For many years, in early fall, Cross Keys Village acknowledged the International Council on Active Aging’s “Active Aging Week,” with a week-long series of activities. Year in and year out, Active Aging Week at CKV was a large-scale undertaking, expertly coordinated under the auspices of our Wellness team. The ICAA’s model for Active Aging Week is wellness-focused. However, not all the week’s events at CKV were fitness related. If anything, some of the most popular moments of Active Aging Week at CKV tended to be the Villager and Team Talent Show, and a huge bonfire with musicians in attendance, not to mention grilled hot dogs and s’mores. Sunrise outdoor yoga was also a favorite.
While Wellness–in its various dimensions–remains a major element in a successful CCRC program, Lifelong Learning has progressively become equally important. Classes, art instruction, concerts, lectures, and trips are now a basic expectation of new residents in a modern retirement community. At Cross Keys Village, we have regrouped all the Lifelong Learning activities under the banner of Life Enrichment. Following some transition in our Wellness team last summer, Active Aging Week at CKV was “rescued” by our Director of Life Enrichment, Holly Fetting, who has been involved since 2020, and especially in 2021 when her team contributed a spectacular hobby show held outside under a large tent.
Interestingly, a new Director of Wellness, Jennifer Vintigni, joined the CKV team just in time to witness the 2022 Active Aging Week, one final edition in the twice familiar format. Since then, Holly and Jennifer have worked hand in hand on a “reboot” for the week-long celebration, with better integration of its various elements. In order to signal to our more than 800 villagers that a change was in the air, Holly and Jennifer decided to use a new title for the event, settling on Village Vitality Week. To their ears, Village Vitality conveys a more holistic, more contemporary message than mere Active Aging. If their vision resonates with the villagers, they plan to offer a Village Vitality Week more than once a year.
“A vitality mindset, be it more artistic or more athletic to start with, will encourage villagers to try something new,” says Holly. “The goal is to offer opportunities to sample unfamiliar areas of Life Enrichment and Wellness. If you are a swimmer, come try a photography class. If you are a quilter, come try cardio drumming.” Jennifer reinforces, “We put together a schedule with no overlap. Villagers can try it all! The artificial divide, starting in middle-school, between what’s good for the body and what’s good for the intellect needs to be erased. Each “side” doesn’t fully thrive without the other one.”