Local Guests Enjoy Community Wellness Picnic at The Admiral

More than 60 older adults from Uptown, Andersonville and Edgewater – along with hundreds of residents and staff – enjoyed an afternoon picnic at The Admiral Wednesday, August 21.

The community picnic event was part of The Admiral’s larger goal of expanding its community ties and creating connections in the surrounding areas.

denise at vendor“We decided it would be fun to open up our annual Admiral picnic for residents and staff to our neighbors from the local community as well so that we might all have the time to socialize, share a meal, and to provide health screenings and education to the guests,” said Nadia Geigler, CEO of The Admiral at the Lake.

What is a resident-driven lifestyle? >>

Activities and Events at the Community Picnic

amber cooking demo

Besides food and music from Switchback, attendees enjoyed food and exercise demonstrations, blood pressure screenings, and a painting tutorial that showed the value of lifelong learning.

“Everybody loved it. The staff, residents and our guests – everybody was complimentary,” said Nadia.

She also said there was plenty of spontaneous fun at the picnic when some guests – and then residents – began to dance to the music

marie jeanne getting a plate of food

The event helped bring residents and community members together and provided an enjoyable, informational day for all.

“I think it was exciting having those activities so it was something beyond coming, eating, listening to some music and then going home. There were ways to engage with the community,” said Nadia.

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Planning More Events

ice cream being servedNadia said the current residents were a big help during the event and made the guests feel welcome as they moved about the grounds and first floor of The Admiral.

“We had so many of our residents, even up until the day before the event, volunteering to be greeters and hosts and make themselves available to guests who had questions,” she said. “It was pretty cool to see the community effort from our residents.”

In fact, the staff, residents, and guests gave such positive feedback that The Admiral staff is already planning more ways to engage the community in the future.

fred wackerle painting“Just today I contacted our staff and residents talking about the success of the picnic last week and asking about other ideas on how to reach out to the community in the future,” Nadia said. “I suspect we will be doing something, somewhere, along the way.”

A Resident-Driven Lifestyle

At The Admiral, our residents are a crucial part of planning activities, programs, and the community itself.

We call this a resident-driven lifestyle. Committees or groups plan activities like lifelong learning opportunities, excursions, social events, and more, all based on their own preferences and interests. And all residents are free to participate – or not – in these activities as they choose.

Learn more about life at a resident-driven community and see how our residents are empowered to shape their own community – and how you could, too.

Explore a Resident Driven Lifestyle


Take an in-depth look at five committees currently active at The Admiral and see for yourself how residents play a huge role in providing vibrancy to The Admiral’s lifestyle.

Learn More