By Sandra Reynolds, Director of Lifestyle Services
The Holiday Season is one of our favorites here at Evergreen Lifestyles Management. Our communities in Southwest Florida are seasonal for the most part. During the end of the year our communities are full of residents, some of which are here away from their extended families. Our goal is to make our residents feel part of a larger family in their communities. This is one of the main reasons why we offer so many holiday events.
Del Webb in Naples, Florida had the town’s Hometown Holiday Event and every year they participate by joining the Golf Cart Parade. They had over 20 golf carts this year all decorated and ready to show off. Del Webb also had their 1st Annual 
Christmas & Holiday Home Decorating Contest. They had 15 homes enter and the residents were able to judge for 2 nights. They tallied up all the ballots and the top 3 homes received a bragging sign in their front yard along with the spotlight in the January newsletter.
Another event was their Night Lights in the Garden. They took a trolley to the Naples Botanical Gardens to look at all the Christmas Lights. Before residents got back on the trolley there was a table set up with Christmas cookies, hot coffee and hot chocolate to enjoy before the ride back. Once back on the trolley they drove down 5th Avenue S. and 3rd Street S. to see them all decorated for Christmas.
On December 22nd they had a Christmas Movie Night. They showed A Christmas Story and residents brought Christmas cookies to exchange and coffee, hot chocolate and egg nog were served for them to enjoy with the cookies during the movie.
River Hall in Alva, Florida is a diverse community with a variety of age and social demographics. They are a very family-friendly community with lots of activities for children as well as adults.
One of their favorite holiday events is their Annual Holiday Party that starts with complimentary wine and cheese with a balloon sale in the golf shop followed by a complimentary happy hour at the Caloosa Grill. They also do a golf cart dress-up contest with live music and hors d’oeuvres complimented with a toy for the Toys for Tots Foundation.
Another popular event here at River Hall is Christmas Cookie Decorating. They set up tables full of different decorative yummies for the younger residents to be able to decorate their own treat. Santa is there to supervise the children and take pictures with them.
Somerset Hall in Fort Myers, Florida started their holiday events with a toy collection for the Guardian Ad Litem Foundation, Interfaith Charities of South Lee County, and Mision Peniel of Immokalee with a great turn out!
We had a holiday bazaar which gives residents the opportunity to do some holiday shopping right there in their neighborhood.
One of their events is the Annual Holiday Lighting Ceremony. This event has been growing over the last few years. Residents get together to socialize while enjoying a few festive bites and drinks. The tree was lit up while listening to holiday music. This year they included an ugly sweater contest!
Somerset also had their Jingle & Mingle Holiday Party. They had a great holiday menu and a complimentary drink. The live entertainment had participants dancing through the night. Everyone enjoyed the great evening with their neighbors.
Their New Year’s Eve party was at the Golf Club. This event started at 7pm with delicious hors d’oeuvres and complimentary champagne all night. Dinner was served at 8:15pm, the club had a balloon drop at midnight, and live entertainment until the New Year started.
This is just a sampling of how we celebrate the holidays. All of the Lifestyle Directors take pride in what they do and most importantly they enjoy being able to make their residents smile.