Maxine Smith (left) and Kim Nikolai (right) worked on their projects while visiting with Lesley Young this past week at Club Prior.
Lesley Young hasn’t had much time to sit still in the past eight years. She’s been busy connecting with and entertaining more than 600 area residents who have a collective age span covering more than 50 years.
Young is the City of Prior Lake’s Recreation Programmer Assistant for senior activities at Club Prior. It’s a role she has found to be both rewarding and challenging. She admits she will miss the job and the people she has met when she retires at the end of the month.
Before one conjures up images of only bingo and chair aerobics being offered at the senior center, think again. Young may suggest you sign up for a class in line dancing or Zoomba. Others may want to check out the “Deer in the Dishpan” offering or Bunny Yoga. She is a believer in one mantra: “Just keep moving.”
During her tenure, the activities list has grown to 45 offered at Club Prior at various times throughout the year. The facility is open Tuesday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The age range of current participants is 50 to 101. Young said variety is a necessity because people are retiring earlier which forces staff members to constantly look at expanding program selections.
“People are looking at retiring earlier and the participant age has definitely dropped,” Young said, adding that she is working on a collaboration with the Three Rivers Park District in developing more programming that focuses on intergenerational activities. “Baby boomers are in the mix and want to stay more active. They’re looking to do activities not only with other seniors, but with their grandchildren, too.”
Young came to Prior Lake following more than 25 years of experience running various park and recreation programs in Colorado and two other Twin Cities suburbs. She organized farmers markets, concession stand operations and a variety of other community programs. It was in Shoreview, Minn., where she discovered her niche for working with seniors.
It was then that family life changed, children went off to college and her husband switched jobs which forced a move closer to the south metro. She perused job listings for recreation positions and applied for the vacant Prior Lake role. The job interview included a tour of the library and space dedicated within for Club Prior activities. Then she met some of the “regular” seniors, and a job offer soon followed.
“I embraced everything about role,” Young said. “I never worked in a senior facility that had its own space. Seniors usually have to fight for room or space to use each week within a community center.”
Young acknowledges that her excitement for certain projects occasionally gets the better of her. In the first weeks on the job, she showed up with her entire Christmas Village in tow, set it up and brought her mom, an artist, in to paint the windows of Club Prior with holiday themes.
She believes in changing up programming to reflect the needs and wants of local seniors, while making the club’s atmosphere inviting. While there is a small fee charged for some program offerings, some seniors attend regularly to play pool, cards, knit, sew and visit with others. Because the program’s offerings became so popular, Club Prior activities needed to be temporarily moved to another city building for a three-month period in 2024, while the space was renovated and expanded.
Free events are offered four times each year. The “Meat and Greet” gathering usually highlights a newly-elected official or city staff member. The fire chief grills hamburgers and hot dogs prior to meat raffle winners being announced.
Still wondering about Deer in the Dishpan? Several men who frequent Club Prior expressed their desire to teach grandchildren about hunting safety, along with how to prepare and preserve food that is harvested. In partnership with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, two white tail deer were butchered in Club Prior last fall. The animals were donated by the DNR and each of the 24 participants received meat to take home.
That event drew mostly male attendees, according to Young, so she felt compelled to create an event that would be appealing to women. “They like to be fussed over,” she said, so the Annual Spring Tea was organized and drew approximately 80 women to the more formal event.
Young said the most poignant memories she will take with her will involve seniors who come to Club Prior seeking help when the health of a spouse or significant other deteriorates, or they have recently lost a loved one.
“They’re hesitant at first and just need help,” Young said. “They need a place of refuge. Oftentimes they don’t know how to interact because they’ve never been without their life partner. Nine times out of ten, they just want to talk or they ask, now what do I do?”
Young said she has learned that the best thing she can do in those circumstances is sit and just listen. She is familiar with the senior services that are available and can suggest other options offered through the Memory Café, a Dementia Caregivers’ Support Group. Caregivers can attend with or without their loved one the last Tuesday of each month and meet with a licensed social worker to discuss their changing needs. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 952-767-7890. Individual appointments are also available.
As Young faces her final weeks on the job at Club Prior, she reminisces about the people she has met, what she has learned from the “regulars,” and key moments in her career. She is proud that she was named the city’s “Employee of the Year” in 2023.
Once her retirement is official, she is looking forward to several trips she and her husband plan to take in the next few years, including a cruise that stops at more than 40 ports of call.
Young says she has no worries about the person chosen to fill her shoes. He is someone with whom she has worked closely for the past year. Ethan Tracy, the current Recreation Programmer with the City of Prior Lake, will assume her role in March.
“I am most comfortable Ethan is taking over,” Young said with a smile. “I have his personal phone number. And he has mine.”
City to host retirement celebration
The City of Prior Lake will host a retirement celebration honoring Young on Thursday, Feb. 27, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in Club Prior. The event is open to the public.