I Can’t Believe You’re 20 Already!
Usually this line is delivered to one’s grandchild on the occasion of turning twenty, but residents of PVE are increasingly turning this expression of disbelief toward our retirement community at Paradise Valley Estates.
In 1997, our CCRC opened the gates and three couples, followed by large moving vans, drove slowly onto the campus. At that time, PVE looked raw and unappealing but those three courageous couples were soon followed by other new residents, confident that their choice of retirement living would be a good one.
They were right.
By the 10th anniversary, PVE was a bustling, landscaped, and growing community, with three spacious apartment houses and a neighborhood of individual, duplex and quadraplex homes. A skilled nursing building was in place called Laurel Creek Health Center. There were people, pets, and personalities dedicated to making sure their retirement community was headed in the right direction.
The program for this 10th anniversary includes a letter of congratulations by then-Executive Director Ron Ridley that read in part: Ten years might not seem like a long time to an anthropologist, geologist or historian. But to all those people who have contributed their expertise, work and lives to create the wonderful community of Paradise Valley Estates, it has been a glorious and successful time.
Mr. Ridley went on to remind residents that five years prior to the opening in 1997, this community had been planned by a dedicated group that made up the Northern California Retired Officers group, whose Board of Directors continue to serve pro bono to insure that PVE maintains its original mission statement.
The glossy program for the 10th anniversary also included a mini-history written by resident Joan Teague from the perspective of a satisfied resident. There was entertainment provided by residents; a Barbershop Quartet, a tap dancing group called “HotFlashes” and a mimic who lip-synched a Gracie Fields signature number about “the largest aspidistra in the world.” A dinner menu was featured, proving that Dining Services Director, David Kalbaugh was just as creative ten years ago as he continues to be today. A second dinner for employees who had served PVE for ten years happily names persons that we still see every day in 2017, proving that working at PVE must be a career opportunity worth twenty years.
Today, Paradise Valley Estates prepares for its 20th anniversary with a variety of events. First is a dinner party for “Originals”, those residents who have called PVE home since 1997-2000. This will be an elegant affair, with soft dinner music and time for lots of conversation among old friends and neighbors. Some of these initial residents have transitioned to other levels of care – to Assisted Living or Skilled Nursing, but all have lively memories of “when we were young retirees” to be shared with laughter and nostalgia.
Our campus still features lovely landscapes with stately ancient oaks that line Laurel Creek. Even the addition of new buildings like Quail Creek and the presence of an underground parking garage for employees, two bocce courts, horseshoe tossing court, a pavilion, Memory Garden, putting green and a Dog Park are tasteful additions to a campus that reflects a similar architecture and style.
Paradise Valley Estates, “I can’t believe you’re 20 already!”
