Retirement Community Activities Director Has A Knack For Planning Events

Michelle Johnson holds the formal title of life enrichment director at Oak Tree Village Retirement Community, but said she wears many hats in her day-to-day job.

“My job is to make sure every resident is touched in some way every day,” she said. “... Touching 170 people a day could mean anything, from planning activities inside and outside of the community."

Johnson said she will have been in her current position for three years this August, and said she knows that working in this field is her calling. The path to her current position was a winding road through a career in real estate and being a stay-at-home mom.

Johnson is a mother of three, 16-year-old Savannah, 13-year-old Cloie, and 8-year-old Andrew, and has been married for 15 years.

In addition to having a family at home, she considers all the residents at the community her extended family.

“We are truly a family and we do whatever it takes to keep them here as long as we can,” she said of the residents.

In addition to planning events, she is also responsible for the community newsletter, and she writes and creates the company brochures.

A quick glance at the community calendar at Oak Tree Village shows there is no shortage of activities at any given moment, from a daily social hour at the community’s full bar, to spending time at the facility’s pool.

“Our residents say it’s like a cruise ship that never leaves,” she said of the activities.

Johnson said she tries to plan activities that get not only residents involved, but also their family members and the St. Charles County area community.

“The families enjoy coming here and the kids look forward to coming here, we do many family things to keep everyone active,” Johnson said.

Planning fund-raisers can be added to her list of job duties as Johnson said the retirement community has been raising money for the Walk To End Alzheimer’s event that will happen in September.

So far, the fund-raising efforts have included a garage sale, a resident bake sale and more events are planned.

“Our resident’s baked goodies raised $647 in one day for Alzheimer’s Disease,” she said of the bake sale.

Later this month the community will host a dinner and a movie fund-raising event open to the public. The affair has a 50s theme, and the community will show the movie ‘Grease’ with a spaghetti dinner to be served. The fee is $10 and all are welcome to join in the fun on Tuesday, June 21, 2011, the festivities start at 5:30 p.m.

For more information about this or future events open to the public, call Oak Tree Retirement Community at 636-928-3877 or visit their website.