Having won Berks County Living’s “Best of Berks” and the Reading Eagle’s “Reader’s Choice” for Senior Living Communities for 7 years in a row, The Heritage of Green Hills is well known throughout the region for its “Living It Up” wellness-focused lifestyle, beautiful 78-acre campus, stellar dining, state-of-the-art Care Center, and resort-style amenities.
One lesser-known fact about the lifeplan community in Shillington, Pa., is that it is home to one of the area’s best-equipped woodshops. “When people move into the community, they often donate their woodworking equipment to the shop,” explains long-time Woodshop Club member Dick Lewis. “If it’s better than what we already have, we keep it. If it’s not, we sell it and that’s the money we use to buy our lumber and our materials. We’re self-sustaining.”
At the moment, the Woodshop Club has 12 members, ¼ of whom are women. Membership, which grants access to the shop’s tools, equipment, shared materials, and large two-room workspace, is $5 a year, after a $25 initiation fee. “We all work on our own projects and make whatever interests us,” says Lewis. “Working with wood is relaxing, but it requires focus. It can be productive, therapeutic, creative, or just a fun excuse to make dust and noise. We’re great at making dust and noise!”
Kidding aside, Lewis mostly uses the woodshop to work on the frames that he and his wife, Rosemarie, use in their antique dealing business. “I repurpose old frames,” he explains. “I take them apart, clean them, repair them, and cut them down to suit the prints we sell at our antique stall.”
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
One of the most active members of the Woodshop Club is a man in his 90s who spends about 30 to 40 hours a week in the shop making Christmas presents for his eight daughters and other projects — some of which are a direct benefit for everyone at The Heritage.
“He recently made a new, wider stepstool for the bus using the wood from our scrap barrel,” Lewis explains. “Each side is several pieces of wood laminated together and the result is very strong and stable. It’s also got an anti-slip surface. His project had a threefold benefit: getting on and off the bus is now safer, the project was satisfying for the maker, and he cleaned out the wood shop’s scrap bin!”
Members of the club often do repairs and small jobs for other residents for a small donation to the club. “Right now, somebody in the club is cutting a board to fit underneath a neighbor’s new TV that’s a bit wider than the stand they planned to use,” Lewis says. “They cut the wood, make sure it fits, and then decide if they want to paint it, stain it, or leave it natural. The neighbor gets a nice-looking fix to their problem and saves money at the same time, while the club member enjoys the satisfaction of a job well done.”
Creating in Service of Others
Another member is creating wooden holders for electronic votive candles out of donated walnut and cypress. “He made a candle holder for each of his neighbors at Christmas, so the entire hallway had a nice unifying element for their holiday decorations,” explains Lewis. “This new batch will be sold to everyone else and proceeds will benefit the Heritage Resident Benefit Fund, which helps defray costs for residents who have outlived their resources. Other members of the club also donate pieces they created for the Fund’s silent auctions.”
This type of neighborly generosity is one of the community’s hallmarks.
“At The Heritage of Green Hills, neighbors care about each other,” says Lewis. “Before we came here 14 years ago, Rosemarie and I lived in a cul-de-sac in Maryland. Naturally, over time, the neighborhood changed. The people we raised – our children – moved on. New families with children moved in. This younger generation lives at a different pace, with different priorities and responsibilities. Had we stayed, we would have been very lonely.”
Far from battling the social isolation that many seniors face, the Lewises are thriving socially at The Heritage. “We’re both very active on committees and in groups and have as many friends as we did when we first moved in,” says Lewis. “People have come and gone, and we’ve missed them, but we are able to make new connections, which is incredibly important as you get older. If you come to dine with us here, you’ll see that there are very few tables for two in the restaurant. That’s because people here love to eat in groups to make new friends and get to know different people.”
A Day at The Heritage Open House
People interested in discovering the vitality, generosity, and creativity that The Heritage lifestyle embodies are invited to attend the “A Day at The Heritage” Open House on April 23, 2024. The event will be packed with demonstrations, classes, tours, and delicious chef-made meals that exemplify the community’s “Live it Up Lifestyle.” Visitors will also have the opportunity to meet residents, staff, and healthcare partners, and explore the community’s resort-style amenities.
RSVPs are required to attend the Day at The Heritage of Green Hills Open House. To reserve a spot, call 484-327-5456 or visit https://heritageofgreenhills.com/join-us/.
“The Woodshop will be open for guests who wish to see it,” says Lewis. “We’ll even make dust and noise for you on demand!”
