Page 32 - BusinessWest January 6, 2025

ones to put a very appropriate spotlight on those individuals.”
The inaugural honorees, celebrated with a gala event in September, included Springfield Police Superintendent Lawrence Akers; Debbie Gardner of the Reminder; Jeffrey Greim of Jeff’s Granola; Ethel Griffin from Revitalize CDC; James Lagodich, who has been involved in local youth and adult sports; Maria Roy of the Indian Orchard Citizens Council; Patrick Sullivan, recently retired executive director of Springfield Parks; and Karen Tetreault of the Springfield Regional Chamber.
They were honored for a variety of reasons, from mentorship to volunteerism to leadership to simply inspiring change, and the selection process was challenging, Martin said, explaining that the public nominated individuals, and a small panel
of local community leaders evaluated the nomina- tions and made the selections.
“It’s been wonderful for us to hear people say, ‘oh, I wish we had done this 10 years ago,’ or ‘why
hasn’t anybody had this idea before?’ And it was really inspirational, I think, for everybody who was involved in the selection process, but certainly everybody who went to the event in September. I think we all walked out of there with a little lift in our step from hearing what all of these honorees have accomplished.
“And there are dozens more like them, so we’re looking forward to the opportunity in 2025 to select the next class of Age of Excellence honorees,” she went on, noting that event will take place on Sept. 3.
Challenges and Opportunities
Senior living is a challenging field in many ways, Martin said, but right now, one of the biggest is the continued generational shift as the average age of Americans continues to rise.
Kathy Martin (right) with the honorees at the inaugural Age of Excellence awards gala in September.
ferent way, by recognizing accomplished individuals over age 60 throughout the region in its first annual Age of Excellence awards program.
“That was really born out of a conversation among our board of directors about how we can have a hallmark event for Glenmeadow as a fundraiser,” Martin said. “We thought it was important to high- light the accomplishments and inspiration of those over 60.
“I think, too often, when you are approaching retirement, it feels like the end of something and that your best years are behind you,” she went on. “And we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight older adults that are doing amazing things. For some people, it’s a new career. For some people, it’s a new hobby. We wanted to be the
“We have about 10,000 new Medicare subscribers every day
Glenmeadow
Continued on page 34
“Home care is a nice gateway to Glenmeadow as a community. We do have residents who started as Glenmeadow at Home clients.
We also have residents who use Glenmeadow at Home for some additional care. So it’s an important part of our business model.”
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