retirement community

What To Look For In a Retirement Community In 2021

February 16, 2021 by Southgate

Congratulations! You’ve worked hard and have reached an exciting new phase of life wide open with possibilities—welcome to retirement!

So what now? How will you spend all that newfound free time? Where will you spend all that newfound free time?

You’ve decided to live in a retirement community, but with so many options, how do you begin to narrow it down?

Will The Community Fit Your Lifestyle?

You will want to make sure your retirement community offers easy access to the lifestyle you enjoy. Amenities and conveniences come in many shapes and sizes, so you should be able to make sure you have access to what you need to maximize the enjoyment of retirement.

Whether you’re more into physical activity, like to spend time outside or in the garden, enjoy pursuing more knowledge or simply gathering in social places, communities like Southgate at Shrewsbury have a wide variety of amenities and conveniences to ensure you not only adjust to life in retirement, but love it! With our on-site dining options, handicap-accessible garden, woodworking shop, gym and spa, extensive programming and so much more, Southgate is a great place for anyone to find what they are looking for in retirement. Check out our amenities here.

Convenience Is Key!

Convenience is Key
The pandemic has taught us all the true value of convenience and efficiency, and these are absolutely traits you should look for in a retirement community.

This applies not only to what they have on-site, but what is nearby. Do you have access to the healthcare you need or the shopping you desire? How about good food?

As we age, having access to great healthcare in an efficient manner becomes more important. At Southgate at Shrewsbury, we not only have excellent on-site healthcare and wellness options, but are located near some of the most highly regarded hospitals and medical providers in the country.

In terms of shopping and conveniences, it is quite easy to make sure your favorite stores are nearby or that your favorite delivery services will ship to your community. Communities like Southgate even have convenience stores on site, along with other services like beauty salons and several different dining options.

Cleanliness & Friendliness

When looking for a place to spend your golden years, you certainly want to end up somewhere that is both clean and sanitary as well as friendly. A positive atmosphere goes a long way to ensuring you make the most of retirement.

When checking out independent living communities, be sure to inspect the common areas for organization and cleanliness. Does the staff seem to take pride in what they do? Do the residents take pride in their community? If the answer to both of those is “yes,” you will likely be greeted by a clean and organized facility.

Be sure to also check out the staff. Are they helpful and do they carry themselves with a positive demeanor? If you are to spend your golden years at a retirement community, the staff can be the thing that makes it extra special. This is a point of emphasis for all of us at Southgate at Shrewsbury. We both set the tone and encourage residents to be as involved as they want to be in helping to shape their community.

New Ways to Celebrate the Holidays This Year

December 16, 2020 by Southgate

With the pandemic still upon us for the holiday season, many of our traditions have been disrupted. As human beings, we have a remarkable ability to adapt over time, and will find ways to make the best out of this and any situation we are in.

The holidays are no different. We may not be able to gather around the Christmas tree or light the menorah surrounded by our loved ones, but thanks to technology and ingenuity, there are still ways we can enjoy the holidays together and create memories we will cherish for years to come.

Open Gifts Together Virtually

As the holidays approach, one tradition many of us cherish is opening gifts, together with our loved ones. Thanks to technology, we can still open our gifts with our families and friends virtually!

*** For a information about programs to use for virtual get togethers, check out our previous blog post about Keeping in Contact Under Quarantine ***

Be sure to mail gifts to your loved ones beforehand, coordinate a time, and you can keep this time-honored tradition going—even through a pandemic!

You can even coordinate and conduct a virtual gift exchange (Secret Santa & Hanukkah Harry are still well and ready to help!) with a group of friends or family members.

Enjoy Your Holiday Meal Together Virtually

For many of us, cooking and eating a holiday meal is our favorite tradition. This is another activity that can be coordinated and conducted, virtually.

You can even plan a menu so everyone is sharing the same holiday meal. If you’re celebrating Christmas, you can bake cookies for Santa, together (we hear he is still making his usual rounds). If you’re celebrating Hanukkah, you can get together to make latkes.

Decorate Your Front Doors & Build Community Festivity

Whatever holiday you may be celebrating, you can bring the holiday spirit to your community with a holiday door decoration spectacular!

If you live at a retirement community like Southgate at Shrewsbury, you have a large and diverse group of neighbors that all celebrate a little differently. Although we cannot get together to share it with each other in person, we can certainly decorate our doors so when residents are going on walks, they can check out the various decorations and soak in some holiday spirit.

Don’t let COVID-19 curtail your holiday spirit, this holiday season! With a little communication and ingenuity, we can make this holiday season one full of cherished memories that we will never forget. We can leave this legacy for future generations—to share the stories of how we found cheer, no matter how light or dark the times may be!

The Benefits of Living in a Retirement Community Right Now

December 4, 2020 by Southgate

With social distancing and COVID-19 becoming a staple in our current everyday lives, living in a retirement community has a plethora of additional benefits that should be considered when looking at life after your career.

You’ve worked hard to get to this point—you should ensure you set yourself up to enjoy your retirement, pandemic or not! Residing at an independent living facility has its perks, regardless. The following are some extra benefits the pandemic has shown us an independent living community has.

A Built In Social Network

With a large, diverse group of residents, living in a retirement community contains a built-in social network to help you maintain a vibrant social life. During the pandemic, socially distanced activities can still be planned. At a facility like Southgate at Shrewsbury, our residents and support staff alike are active in making sure our residents have something to keep them engaged despite the challenges a pandemic can cause.

Safe & Enclosed Facility

During unusual circumstances like a pandemic, a retirement community functions as a walled-off safe zone, which further protects residents from the virus. At Southgate at Shrewsbury, our attentive staff ensures our campus remains free of unnecessary risk so our residents can enjoy a calmer lifestyle.

On-Site Support Services & Staff

If you’re considering a retirement community like Southgate, you’ll notice the many on-site services, amenities and conveniences that allow for less travel into the outside world. On top of that, the staff operating these facilities are always ready to assist residents.

At Southgate, you will find convenient medical care on campus, a convenience store, multiple dining options, a beauty salon, a health spa and much more. For your enjoyment, there is also a library, swimming pool, candlepin bowling alley, woodworking studio, handicap-accessible garden and more.

While the pandemic has brought with it many challenges, choosing to live in a retirement community can be a solution to many of them by providing you with a safe environment insulated from unnecessary risks. You will find an exciting social community, wonderful living facilities and enough conveniences, services and activities to keep you engaged throughout your golden years.

Making the Most of Your Time at a Retirement Community – Part II of our Ongoing Blog Series: You’ve Retired. Now What?

July 15, 2019 by Southgate

Here at our senior living retirement community, no two residents have the exact same definition of a fulfilling retirement. The world is truly their oyster, and they’ve earned the right to do as much or as little as they see fit. When they do feel like being active and engaging with the community, they are fortunate to find an unlimited variety of activities and amenities to inspire and support them in their pursuits.

In this blog series entitled You’ve Retired. Now What? we will discuss some interesting ways that seniors can make the most of their time at a retirement community that go beyond the amenities and the scheduled events and activities that are offered as part of our program schedule.

In this installment, we discuss how easy it is to get started with genealogy and how it can enrich your life.

Genealogy: Finding Your Place in Family History

Where did I come from? The vast majority of us have an innate curiosity to answer that age-old question. Perhaps it’s driven by a fascination to discover whether we’re related to famous historical figures. Or perhaps it’s an urge to better understand relationships between family members. Or perhaps it’s merely a desire to learn more about relatives we never had a chance to meet—or never knew existed.

Yet, despite the universal appeal of delving into our past—an appeal that seems particularly widespread at retirement communities—most of us never make a calculated effort to do so during our younger years. Quite often, that’s due to other, more-pressing demands. Between raising a family, working 40 hours a week and keeping up with endless everyday chores, there’s simply no time!

Yet, when you’re retired and enjoying the leisurely pace of retirement living, time is available as never before. So for those seniors who are interested in doing so, creating a fleshed-out family tree becomes is viable for the very first time. Furthermore, with today’s unprecedented wealth of information available in books and online, researching your background has never been so simple.

Getting Started on Your Genealogy Search Online

A great place to start your search is on the computer. You’ll find there are numerous online commercial genealogy sources. Some of the most popular of these include Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, Archives.com and familytreemagazine.com. Be advised, however, that there are often fees involved with these sites. You may find that the price is well worth the benefits you gain from one of these paid services, but make sure to read all of the details carefully before making your choice or providing any payment methods.

If you don’t want to use a paid service, there are still many free tools you can use. A list of free genealogy resources for every state can be found at FamilyHistoryDaily.com.

Start Creating Lists

An alternate way to start is by sorting through old family photographs. This allows you to begin developing the foundation for your family tree. Jot down all those individuals you recognize, even if you can only recall a first name or a nickname. Essentially, you’re trying to establish a checklist that you can use as reference throughout your research efforts. Chances are, you’ll begin seeing certain names come up again and again—which can lead down other paths of discovery. It can also help you sort out the members of one generation from the members of another.

Set Your Family’s Oral History Down in Writing

Another technique is to assemble a collection of anecdotal stories you recall having been told by parents, siblings and/or other relatives. There’s usually a very good reason such stories survive and get passed down over the years—including the purposeful effort to ensure that the memory of someone special is preserved. Here again, be on the alert for names or other hints that might provide the basis for further digging.

Use Your Living Family as a Resource

Don’t forget to treat your living relatives (and their basements, attics and any other hideaways that may be storing ancient family gems!) as the indispensable resources they are! Family members often don’t realize how much information about the family’s history is only known to one or two people in a generation. It’s important to collect that information before it’s lost forever. That’s where your checklist of names comes in handy. Ask the older members of your family what they know about the people on your list, and you may be surprised by the wealth of information you find. Local libraries, historical societies and town historians, too, can often provide valuable insights.

Good luck … and have fun doing your homework. And who knows? You may turn out to be royalty!

About Southgate at Shrewsbury

At Southgate at Shrewsbury retirement community, we offer a multitude of rewarding and fun on-site amenities. Examples include a four-lane candlepin bowling alley, indoor swimming pool, billiard and card room, 200-seat theater, arts and crafts studio, health club and spa, cozy library with fireplace, and woodworking shop. All of these offer ample opportunities to learn new skills, engage with neighbors, discover new interests and simply enjoy a relaxed lifestyle.

Of course, these amenities barely scratch the surface of what is available here at our highly acclaimed retirement community. If you’d like to discover all the possibilities available when you call Southgate at Shrewsbury home, please give us a call to schedule a tour.