Kendal Throws a Party

In case you hadn't heard, Kendal at Granville had a gala party last month. A Tenth Anniversary Party!! A party to make everyone happy! A party to remember!  I've been late in commenting on it because I wanted to give myself time to get my mind around what we'd done. I'm not sure I've accomplished that goal, but the clock keeps ticking and I don't want to be hopelessly late in posting this entry. So. . . .

The official birthday of Kendal at Granville was Wednesday, June 15. But preparations began much earlier, allowing expectations  slowly to spread. A planning committee was formed. Announcements started to appear, reminding residents to save the dates. Notices were emblazoned in issues of Tower Lines, the monthly newsletter. The Kendaliers began weekly rehearsals for a new Kendal anthem. A schedule of events was distributed. A videographer visited the campus, recording various activities. Gradually residents began to realize that something big was afoot and to talk ever more widely about the coming celebration.

On June 1 the first mark of the celebration burst on the scene when the gallery opened a month-long display of photos. They showed early residents and staff members struggling with the challenges of creating a new community amid mud and partially constructed housing units, organizing themselves into operational committees, enjoying their time together in parties, celebrating national holidays, and pausing to pose proudly as they settled in to their new lives with their many new friends in their new community. Some of those in the pictures have died over the past decade; but many still live at Kendal. All these faces reminded us in 2015 of the debt we owe to those who, in 2005, had the optimism and courage to sign on to the new venture. Nor surprisingly, the exhibit was popular with everyone, and almost any time you passed through the gallery you found people – residents and guests – viewing the display.

The next major event was held in the Amelia Room on the evening of Monday, June 13. It was a kind of preparatory moment, and because it was the occasion for the official group photo of all current residents, virtually everyone attended, some of them sporting Kendal gear of various shapes and colors. Amid laughter, chatting, and brief breaks for sobriety, we lined ourselves up and posed en masse for a three-part photo that, by the magic of photographic coordination, will be converted into a single horizontally extended picture of about 170 people.  

The Monday gathering provided an opportunity for other activities too. The new Kendal video was premiered, to wide approval. The new anthem was debuted and encored. The special commemorative issue of Tower Tales was distributed to all residents. It featured pieces by residents and staff who were present at the founding and color photos of many of the events and people from those founding days. A questionnaire about Kendal trivia was distributed, and residents were given two days – until 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday – to decide upon their answers. [Sample questions: how many pianos may be found at Kendal? Name the resident who was a Rhodes Scholar? Which staff member was once an employee of the Columbus Blue Jackets?] Cheating was encouraged!

The big day, of course, was Wednesday, the 15th –  the All-Day Anniversary Celebration. It began with a continental breakfast, attended by both residents and guests. A panel discussion (the Founders Reflection Coffee) followed, featuring a few individuals who had played determinative roles in the founding of Kendal at Granville. Above all, there was Jack Heller, Jane Heller, and Dave Richards, three members of the quartet (with Dave's late wife Dee) who first had the vision of creating a CCRC in Granville and the salesmanship to persuade the Kendal Corporation to buy into that vision. Also on the panel were Harriett Stone, the very first resident to move in; Bobbi Thios, popular director of marketing and cheerleader of the early enterprise; and Tom Mitchell, clerk of the works as Kendal at Granville rose from a field of ground southwest of the town. Interest in the panel was so great that the overflow from the Heller Room filled almost all of the Richards Room.

The mid-day meal was a community pot luck and luncheon, served in the Amelia Room and offering delicious options and surprises and a startling array of scrumptious-looking desserts. The crowd was so large that it spread out through hallways and public rooms. But wherever you went it seemed, there were instrumentalists providing lovely music. 

At 1:30 the Anniversary Tree was dedicated. A gift from KAGRA to the community, it was a sour gum or black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), a tree native to Ohio that flowers in the spring and provides breathtaking foliage in the fall. A slow drizzle did not discourage a crowd from gathering for the event.

At 3:00 the the trivia challenge awards were conferred, and against a background of giggles, chortles, and gasps as answers were announced, a variety of hard-researching or maybe just plain lucky residents won well-earned recognition as those among us who were most knowledgeable about our community.

The major gathering of the day – the moment for Celebration Remarks – drew a large gathering back to the Amelia Room at 4:00. Doug Helman, Executive Director of Kendal at Granville, honored the Hellers and the Richards and told the audience that Kendal at Granville's story was a tale of "self-determination, perseverance, generosity, and community outreach." [His full remarks were printed in the July edition of Tower Lines.] Mike Rapp, Chair of Kendal at Granville's Board, spoke of the importance of Kendal. Seth Patton, Chief Financial Officer of Denison University, our invaluable partner in the Kendal story, talked of Denison's role and commitment to Kendal at Granville. Finally, John Diffey, Chief Executive Officer of Kendal Corporation, spoke warmly of the happy months he had spent in Granville prior to the opening of Kendal, working with public officials and private individuals to help smooth the path toward eventual success. Since John has recently announced his coming retirement, and since for many of us he represents the values that undergird the Kendal project and mission, he was warmly received.

The speakers' remarks were followed by the public recognition of two important groups: staff members who have served here for ten years, and staff members who had recently graduated from degree programs.

Even after the meeting ended, many who had attended stuck around for some important photo opportunities. The first – the most significant of all – was of the more than fifty current residents who are classified as "founders" [defined as people who moved in during the first year of Kendal at Granville's existence]. Then photos were taken of the staff and of all Board members, past and present. Future historians should have no trouble finding images for any study of Kendal's glorious Tenth.

Credit for this unforgettable celebration is owed to many people. My own perspective is no doubt incomplete, but it seemed to me that the person who led the organizing of the celebration and oversaw the skein of events that constituted it was Ashley Wade, Director of Marketing. Many thanks should go to her. 

In retrospect I have been struck by how moved I was by the unfolding of the celebration. We were all having fun and didn';t care that the weather was disobliging. We learned about our history and the debt we owe to the vision and determination of the founders. We felt the power of the sense of community that knits us together. We gained a richer sense of the promise of the future as we thought about our role in the Kendal universe. We came together. It all left a nice, warm feeling.

And one thing is for sure: Kendal at Granville knows how to throw a helluva party!