Virtual social hours help keep everyone connected at Riderwood

Silver Spring, MD - People who weren’t previously familiar with virtual meetings like Zoom may be surprised at how much they enjoy the opportunity to connect. Connecting online is easy for residents of Riderwood, a senior living community managed by Erickson Living, in Silver Spring, Md., because they have a team of staff members and state-of-the-art technology at their disposal to help facilitate virtual gatherings.

One of the best examples is the weekly Zoom social hours the community resources team started putting on last year. Produced via Riderwood's on-site studio and TV station, the weekly social hours air live on Thursdays for residents to join in the fun, and rebroadcast on weekends for people who miss the live versions. Each social hour focuses on a different theme and has an interactive element.

“The social hours allow residents to see and chat with their neighbors, and the community resources and TV staff,” says Amy Hahn, community resources lead coordinator. “Their faces light up as they see friends pop up on the Zoom screen. It allows them to socialize and do something fun, interesting, and sometimes silly.”

High tea and more

One of the first Zoom social hours was an afternoon “high tea,” complete with fancy hats and fascinators. Other virtual gatherings have featured a drum circle, geography trivia, a game of charades, Beatles trivia and music, a mixology class, and a pet party where staff and residents showed off their dogs and cats. There was even a live musical performance with music from the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s.

Some of the social hours have featured local experts giving talks or demonstrations. A scientist from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation spoke about progress on the bay cleanup and the status of key species like rockfish, crabs, and oysters. A Baltimore Ghost Tours guide shared stories drawn from tours of Fell’s Point and Mount Vernon.

Residents share talents

Several residents have had the opportunity to showcase their interests and talents during the virtual gatherings. Resident photographer David Ebert shared a presentation of photos he’s taken at Riderwood over the years. Resident Rhoda Sumner, who is a docent at the National Portrait Gallery, gave a presentation of portraits of female authors called “Her Story,” which coincided with the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote.

“Residents really enjoy the social hours,” Hahn says. “They love being able to safely see their Riderwood family and interact with others, they enjoy the variety of fun topics we offer, and they appreciated that we heard their requests and tried to bring in fun, interesting, new things.”

For some of the virtual social hours, the community resources staff has taken “field trips” to allow residents to experience new things from the comfort of their apartment homes. One week, residents got to visit the National Aquarium for a presentation on sea turtles and another week they enjoyed a live animal presentation from the Watkins Nature Center. Other social hours featured a virtual tour of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art and a private virtual tour of Sweet Farm in Half Moon Bay, California.

“For the virtual tours we hosted, residents enjoyed being able to ‘travel’ somewhere new and interesting while the pandemic kept them home,” Hahn says.

Staying connected

Resident Mildred Rust has attended several of the Zoom social hours and says they’ve been an enjoyable way to connect and have fun when staying home is the safest choice. Her favorite weeks have been the ones featuring National Park rangers, including one from Thomas Stone National Historic Site and another who talked about the geology and wildlife of Yellowstone. A third park ranger led a tour of Maryland’s Antietam Battlefield. During one of the social hours, Mildred had the opportunity to share her taxidermic sea turtle, which was given to her mother by a sea captain in the1890s when she was a little girl.

“It was fun to do that,” Mildred remembers. “One thing those programs offered was a chance to get into it if there was a personal connection like that.”

Hahn says that was one of the goals she and her team had in mind when they started the Zoom social hours. Even though residents are connecting through technology, the staff finds fun ways for them to interact. They draw people into the conversation by tapping into their unique knowledge and interests and deliver prizes to the homes of the people who win the games they play.

Meet and greet

“Even with the variety of topics and formats that we do for the social hours, we always want to make each one interactive and truly social. We always start the Zooms by greeting everyone who joins and chatting and checking in,” Hahn says. “We make sure to give them some time to greet each other as well. Also, depending on the format of the activity that week, we spotlight different people as they dance or perform or ask questions.”

Consider Riderwood if you’re interested in living in an active senior independent living community. Beautiful walking paths, gardens, resort-style amenities, an on-site medical center staffed by full-time medical professionals, and new friends await. Request more information today.

About Riderwood: Riderwood, one of 20 continuing care retirement communities managed by Erickson Living®, is situated on a scenic 120-acre campus in Silver Spring, Maryland. The not-for-profit community of more than 2500 residents is governed by its own board of directors, affiliated with National Senior Campuses, Inc., who provide independent financial and operational oversight of the community. Riderwood is located in Montgomery County. Additional information about Riderwood can be found at Riderwood.com

Written by Meghan Streit