Each month, the Marketing Department sends out an e-newsletter sharing updates and stories about Vermont’s only Lifeplan Community. If you or someone you know is interested in learning about Wake Robin, this is a great way to discover the benefits and culture of our community.
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Wake Robin was recently featured in an article by VermontBiz recognizing the community’s sustainability efforts.
After Hours at Wake Robin
Wake Robin is an active, vibrant community offering many activities to suit the interests of our residents. After a busy day of living life on their own schedule, many people do a reset over dinner and decide how to spend the evening. Here is a sample of what was offered over the past few weeks.
Presentations
Laz Scangas – Grand Central Station
John Abele – The Collaboration Paradox
Wolfgang Mieder – The Government Of, By and For the People
Music offerings
Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival
Youth Opera Company of Vermont
The Stragglers Americana/Bluegrass String Band
Craftsbury Chamber Players Season Preview
Saturday Night Movies
In the Meeting Room on the big screen.
July titles included:
Driving Miss Daisy
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Brigadoon
80 for Brady
Cool Hand Luke
When the day is done, and you’ve done the shopping, finished the appointments, and put the canoe away, Wake Robin after hours has plenty to offer.
Wake Robin was awarded the 2023 Sustainability Leadership Award from Casella recognizing the community’s continued efforts in environmental stewardship.
Watch the video below to learn more!
It feels like life is an endless series of screens. It is difficult to break away from the digital world. On the other hand, it offers amazing opportunities for special connections. We asked a few Wake Robin residents how they use their internet pipelines to engage the world.
Geri A. gives talks to healthcare organizations on the various human aspects of healthcare such as disclosure of unanticipated outcomes, apology, communicating with angry people, informed consent, and the like. She regularly hosts virtual classes for UVM’s Olli program, and, for personal growth, Geri participates as a student in a series of classes in Buddhism being taught by a lama in Nepal.
Also pursuing peace of mind is Lucy B. who has been practicing daily meditation for 50 years! For the last 5 years, she has led a weekly international group of 25 regulars, half US/Canada, half UK, and one from Latvia. As a member of her international Christian meditation community, she also creates and runs its US national website, and manages its national Zoom platform.
Some professions have an international scope and digital communications are the key to making that possible. Bernie R. is a conductor who has worked with orchestras all over the world. He has a strong connection with classical musicians in Cuba and recently mentored a conducting student, living in Sweden, who is working to be accepted into a graduate program at the Royal Academy in London. From his home at Wake Robin, Bernie can help with the analysis of the score and critique technique, from Shelburne to Malmö!
We sometimes get asked, “How robust is the Wake Robin internet service?” It seems to be good enough to connect to the world!
It used to be that one of the major signs of spring in Vermont was the running of maple tree sap signaling the start of the sugaring season. Mother Nature has changed up her game in recent years and now the sap runs almost anytime from December through March.
John B. reports that the sugaring team at Wake Robin began collecting sap last December and they seem to be looking at a bumper-crop year. The sugar house at Wake Robin has a 300-gallon holding tank that has been full to the brim for the past several weeks. Resident volunteers take shifts to boil the sap transforming it into the glorious amber liquid we all love – Vermont-made maple syrup. The crew had a record day on March 3 when they drew off seven and a half gallons of Amber Rich. At a ratio of 40 gallons of sap to 1 gallon of syrup, that’s a lot of boiling! Last week, total production crossed the 50-gallon mark.
Wake Robin maple syrup is allotted to the workers who make it, and some is designated for Dining Services where it is the main attraction at the annual Pancake Breakfast and Maple Ice Cream Social. The syrup is part of the welcome basket for new residents and is sometimes given as an honorarium to guest speakers.
We all see the picturesque, bright, and steamy sugarhouse with sap at full boil, but once the sap stops running and the syrup is bottled, there is plenty more to do. The task list for the off-season is extensive. There is the major cleanup of buckets and evaporating equipment, shifting wood to fill the woodshed for next season, doing maintenance and repair on the sap lines damaged by squirrels and wind, rinsing the lines twice during the year, and taking care of the numerous little things that show up during the season. According to John, “I’m happy to say that we do have a large and faithful group of Sugar Makers.”
Maple sugaring at Wake Robin is a rite of spring, a labor of love, and the rewards are very sweet!
Residents of Wake Robin know that the Woodshop has a work order system. They will do repairs to furniture and assorted odd jobs. How odd? We asked Jim W. to tell us about some of the projects brought to them. Yes, they get the usual wobbly chair legs or a refinishing request but then it goes well beyond wood. “We’ve fixed a toaster, a pedometer, a bicycle, clocks, porcelain, and assembled plastic shelving. We cut down the handle of a toilet brush to make it the right size…actually that was wood,” Jim told us.
In addition to personal pursuits such as bowl turning, shelves, cabinets, and even a boat, the woodshop gang has also taken on commissions. Their work is in use at Sneakers restaurant, the UVM Book Nook, and Shelburne’s Pierson Library. Several of their pieces are on display around Wake Robin, too: the table outside the Meeting Room, the Humanities Committee cabinet next to the stairs, and the iconic icosahedron hanging over the main desk in the lobby…a 20-sided figure created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Wake Robin.
The Woodshop has a binder of their projects, a fun photo history of people and the work they have done. There are several photos documenting the journey of a particular tree that fell during Hurricane Irene in 2011. It was a large maple that Bob W. sawed into logs, and a flatbed carried it to Shelburne Farms where it was dried and milled into lumber. Those planks came to be stored at 35 Crabapple, and they are now in the shop as stock for new projects. The circle of life of one Wake Robin tree.
The Wood Shop at Wake Robin is here to do a repair, help you learn a new skill, or just make some new friends.
If you think the idea of making a New Year’s Resolution has been around for a while, you’re right! We can trace it back to the Babylonians over 4,000 years ago. A common resolution then was to return borrowed farm equipment. The ancient romans ran with the idea as did medieval knights with the “peacock vow.” Americans in the early 1900s took a spiritual tack on self-improvement resolutions such as “build a stronger moral character,” or “develop more restraint in the face of earthly pleasures.” Today, we have our own take on making positive changes in our lives.
Not surprisingly, the majority of responses were “I don’t make resolutions!” but some people still make the effort. Jo-Ann B. offered this: “My resolutions EVERY year are to be kind, stay healthy, be physically active, and engaged with life as a Vermonter, American, and world citizen. The pleasure and privilege of another year to me are indeed a blessing and a gift. As for sticking with these broad resolutions, I persevere and persist and remember that humor and a good laugh every day always help.”
Another realistic approach came from Candace P. “Hah! Every year I fail to get my Christmas letter to friends and family written and sent before Christmas. So, my New Year’s resolution is often to send a New Year’s letter in January. I fail more often than I succeed. If I’m lucky, my friends receive a Valentine’s letter instead!”
Incoming residents are often surprised to have so much leniency in the planning of their garden spaces. Some residents tend to their own gardens, hire local landscaping companies or even use Wake Robin staff to do upkeep. The gardens surrounding the cottages can be as simple or as intricate as a resident would like.
For example, there is a cottage in Sycamore surrounded by flowers; sunflowers, black-eyed susans, cornflowers, and white trillium. The residents had also added ferns and a wildflower garden by the woods. Another home in Hickory includes peonies and a perennial garden under an apple tree. The hostas under the fruit tree came from her home in Williston, Vermont. Some homes include sculptures, hummingbird feeders, or bird baths.
There are also community gardens located by the tennis courts. Residents can sign up for a raised bed and plant fruit, vegetables, flowers, or whatever will grow in the space. The flower committee’s raised bed boasts Crocosmia Lucifer, Echinops ‘Nitro’, a deep gold Chrysanthemum Ticonderoga, a Sanguinosorba tenuifolia, and deep red and white peonies. A raised annual bed nearby is filled with giant zinnias, and always a Verbena bonariensis (vervain). These flowers are used to create bouquets that are placed throughout the Community Center.
The surrounding public gardens throughout Wake Robin were created to be durable, easy to maintain, and to attract pollinators. The health and wellbeing of the natural landscape and wildlife has always been kept in mind.
Wake Robin separates itself by being more than just perfectly manicured lawns. It is a dynamic community that welcomes diversity and creativity – not just with residents but with the landscaping as well.
Wake Robin has really awakened to the joys of kayaking. With Lake Champlain literally at its feet and the sport was given a boost by the popularity of new, super lightweight (15 lbs.) Hornbeck kayaks, there are now at least two dozen Wake Robin kayakers on our lakes, rivers, and ponds. For an early morning paddle, you can put in at neighboring Shelburne Beach or nearby Bay Road fishing access and check out the coves accessing the broad lake of Lake Champlain.
There is the delight of winding your way up the totally protected waters of the La Platte River, a mecca for birders during the spring migration. A variety of sites – Waterbury Reservoir, the Lamoille and Winooski Rivers, and numerous stunning lake coves are within forty-five minutes of the Wake Robin campus.
Some of us try to get out whenever the weather permits, and go to different places two or three times a week. Some like to go early in the morning and see snowy egrets, cormorants, herons, turtles, and other wildlife in the placid waters of the La Platte.
Although kayakers have been on the Winooski River with its mild rapids, most of the paddling is on rivers or lake bays and inlets where the wind does not whip up disturbingly large waves. The Wake Robin paddlers are not into daredevil kayak racing or fast-moving waters. They prefer the calm paddling that most of our waters provide so they can enjoy the health benefits of leisurely, relaxing paddles and observing nature rather than marathon adventures.
Those who have the light Hornbeck kayaks usually keep these watercraft in their garages to avoid the effects of UV light. Several others store them on the very popular outside kayak rack… which is full at the moment. Since the outside rack is consistently full, we are considering building another (with the help of the woodshop crew).
Kayaking residents have such an enjoyable time on the water taking in all that nature has to offer. We would be happy to welcome any new resident kayakers and share with you your favorite kayaking spots.
© 2024 Wake Robin.
