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Dawn Duell in her previous roles at Wake Robin

As spring edges toward summer, we are in graduation season. We want to share a story of one of our own who liked to graduate so much, she did it several times!

Dawn Duell came to Wake Robin fresh out of high school. That was one graduation. She joined us in Dining Services and had a number of different responsibilities over five years. She intended to be part of our next training program for Licensed Nursing Assistants or LNA, but the start date was delayed. She took a brief break to start a family and came back to us in 2015 in the role of Dining Operations Coordinator.  According to Dawn, “I loved my position but my passion and love for nursing never went away.”

She researched what was required to get into a nurse education program and took online classes to take the prerequisite courses. Dawn learned Wake Robin had partnered with the State of Vermont for the Long-Term Care (LTC) Cohort Program, and she was eligible as a Wake Robin employee to be part of it. She won multiple grants and a Wake Robin scholarship to cover her training and then immersed herself in the pursuit of her goal.

Working a full-time day job, followed by evening classes and weekend clinical practicums, plus drive time to and from Randolph, Dawn flourished in the learning of her new career. She came back to Wake Robin as an LNA in our Linden Health Center to get some hands-on experience and also earned her Certified Practical Nurse designation. Another graduation. Shortly after, she became a Licensed Practical Nurse while still working here. Dawn continued her classes, earning the associate’s degree in nursing, generally recognized as Registered Nurse. On May 17 of this year, she was honored at one more graduation in recognition of this milestone.

Dawn says, “I absolutely would not have been able to accomplish this career without the support from the Wake Robin residents. The scholarship fund they contribute to has made a significant impact in my story.” An amazing personal drive led Dawn to a career she had dreamed about, and the support of the Wake Robin community helped her achieve it. Congratulations to our recent graduate!

Dawn with her coworkers at Wake Robin

Residents join together for the weekly Cup of Conversation

You have probably heard of the town-hall style meeting we have each week called Cup of Conversation. Its origin goes back to the beginning of Wake Robin while still under construction, as a means to keep everyone apprised of progress, changes, and updates.

These days, Cup is a forum for the exchange of information, and it is all over the map. We draw about 150 people as the live audience in our Meeting Room and more can join via the livestream camera. Meagan Buckley, CEO/President, presides at the podium with many guests over the course of the one-hour meeting. We get reports from various departments as well as announcements from committees and individual residents. After the meeting, we produce an electronic record known as “Written Cup” that serves as a summary of all that transpired. It’s fascinating to see the variety of issues addressed in one session.

At one recent Cup, details from a number of different sources were shared:

• The annual Pancake Breakfast for staff and residents celebrating the wonderful end result of the maple syrup production season.
• The schedule of maintenance from Environmental Services to service and repair heating and cooling systems in each home. There are 250 homes here.
• Announcement of the first session of the Russian Literature class.
• Part 3 of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Archaeology Series- Underwater Archaeology of Commerce: Steamboat and Canal Boat Wrecks of Lake Champlain.
• Scam of the Week identified by a resident who suspected something wasn’t right about the guy on the phone claiming to be from a prominent bank. The resident did not get fooled and reported the incident to the Vermont Attorney General’s office.
• Sign up for Green Up Day (statewide effort in Vermont to clean up roadside trash).
• An upcoming presentation from the Racial Justice Committee focusing on race and our criminal justice system. The speakers were two professors emerita from UVM.

From pancakes to racial justice…you never know where the next Cup will take you.

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.

On November 5^th, the first residents of the new Maple apartment building moved to Wake Robin. The first day had three moves. At the end of November, there are a total of fourteen homes that are settling into the Wake Robin Community at Maple.

A moving van outside Maple

Maple residents are just as diverse as the rest of Wake Robin. There are locals who have moved from the Shelburne area, and some have relocated from

The lounge on the second floor of Maple

as far as Arizona. There are new Wake Robin residents scheduled to move to Maple up until June of 2019.

Maple has 38 homes total with seven different floor plans ranging from 833 square feet to 2144 square feet. Homes in Maple have 9-foot ceilings with beautiful 6-foot windows. There is a lobby for residents to meet and a lounge area on every floor. Outdoor spaces on the first floor and the third floor offer views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks.

Maple shares the same amenities as the rest of Wake Robin. Included in resident’s monthly bill are: high speed internet, basic cable, heating & air conditioning, trash and recycling, home repairs & maintenance, tennis court & swimming pool use, and much more! The most important service included is long term care through Wake Robin’s five-star Linden Health Center.

Since the groundbreaking ceremony September 2017, Wake Robin has been eagerly awaiting Maple to be completed. Now that residents are moving in, Wake Robin is even more excited to welcome them into this bustling community.

If you are interested in taking a tour of Maple – call (802)264-5100. There are some Maple homes still available.

If you come to live at Wake Robin, the Sawdust Sisterhood can make you a bookshelf, a dining-room table, or a new leg for that treasured old couch. In our woodshop they’ve created mailboxes for the Burlington Land Trust, a farmstand for kids at Shelburne Farms, and over 100 projects for fellow residents here.

“I love wood — and I also like to create,” says Barbara, whose career took her around the world as a nurse battling polio. “And I don’t happen to knit!”

Others in the Sisterhood are: a retired classics professor and archeologist, a newspaper editor and educator, and a nurse with several master’s degrees. To each, making and fixing things is another way of doing good work in the world….and of making and keeping good friends.

“If you’re careful and precise, everything fits together,” says Ellen. “Which to me, is the most wonderful thing.”