In This Issue:

• Celebrating our Auburn Dads for Father's Day
• Waconia Employee Spotlight on Kirsten McGowan
• Memorial Day Observed at AHS
• "The Longest Day", a day to honor past and present Alzheimer's residents.
• The 27th Annual "Call to Care Classic Golf Tournament"
• Chaska Employee Spotlight on Jim Stai
• Patio Weather is Finally Here!
• Resident Spotlight on Ruth, Auburn Meadows
• June Activities
• AHS Employee Birthdays and Anniversaries
• The Pastor's Corner with Reverend Cathy Kolwey

Father's Day is June 18th

In honor of Father's Day, we salute our residents at Auburn Homes & services who are Father's.

Waconia Staff Spotlight on Kirsten McGowan

Name: Kirsten McGowan

Years at Auburn: 36 years

Job Title: Assistant Administrator/Director Nursing

Key Responsibilities: Manage and coordinate resident care and oversee the Auburn Home staff 

Family: married to my husband Gary and have two sons, Kollin and Karsten, a daughter in law Kate, and a grand puppy Buzz

Favorite Past-time: I enjoy camping, golfing, boating and vacationing in new places, warm ones with an ocean during the winter, and of course spending time with my family and Buzz

Favorite Travel Destination: St. Thomas Virgin Islands

When I retire I hope to: When I retire, I am looking forward to traveling in our RV to see the country and spending time by the ocean!

"I started working at Nightingale Nursing home as the assistant director of nursing. Nightingale was purchased by Moravian Care and we became Auburn West where I became the Director of Nursing. In 2008, we sold Auburn West and built a new building which became Auburn Home in Waconia. I transitioned to the position of Assistant Administrator/Director Nursing at this time. I have been in these roles for 36 years! I love my job because I am involved in many aspects within our facility. In my position I get to spend time with residents, families and staff, who are all amazing!

I am married to my husband Gary of 40 years and have two sons, Kollin and Karsten, a daughter in law Kate, who is married to Karsten, and a grand puppy Buzz! When not working, I enjoy camping, golfing, boating and vacationing in new places, warm ones with an ocean during the winter, and of course spending time with my family and Buzz! When I retire, I am looking forward to traveling in our RV to see the country and spending time by the ocean!"

Memorial Day Observations and Picnic at Auburn Homes & Services

Memorial Day is always a special time here at Auburn because many of our residents are brave veterans that fought for our country's freedom.

Our veterans were honored by local Chaska and Waconia military men and women for their service.

Our Chaska residents also enjoyed a Memorial Day/Kick-Off to Summer BBQ.

The Longest Day, June 21st,

National Alzheimer's Awareness Day

June 21st is National Alzheimer's Awareness Day, "The Longest Day", which gets it's name from it being the summer solstice. This year, Auburn Homes & Services is observing this day to honor our past and present residents and loved one's who suffer(ed) from this disease.

Both Chaska and Waconia will be holding special events throughout the day that include a memorial walk around campus, decorating purple children's rain boots and then planting with flowers to display around campus, having a BBQ, encouraging all staff and visitors to wear purple and special services provided by Reverend Cathy to commemorate the day's events. If you have any questions regarding the event, please contact Michelle Yelich for the Chaska campus, myelich@auburnhomes.org or Krista Buesgens for the Waconia campus, kbuesgens@auburnhomes.org.

Auburn Manor resident's decorating rain boots prior to being planted with purple flowers.

If you haven't already registered for our 27th Annual "Call to Care Classic" Golf Tournament, what are you waiting for?!?

Our annual golf tournament is just one way to give back to Auburn Homes & Services while having fun; proceeds from the tournament go directly to enriching the lives of our residents. The tournament will take place again this year at beautiful Stonebrooke Golf Club in Shakopee on July 10th.

Grab a few friends and enter as a team or register alone and get paired up with a group of golfers for a day that will be filled with great golf and fellowship.

For more information contact Bob Kuhlman at (952)361-0460 or register online here.

Chaska Employee on Jim Stai,

Maintenance Director,

retiring after 31 years of service

Name: Jim Stai

Years at Auburn: 31 years

Job Title: Maintenance Director

Key Responsibilities: Oversee the operations of the facility along with any needed repairs and building aesthetics.

Family: Judy (wife), three children, leah, Aaron and Chris; Five grandchildren

Favorite Past-time: Playing cards with friends, being outdoors and spending time with family.

Favorite Travel Destination: Hawaii, Maui and anywhere else that I haven’t been before.

"I have loved working at Auburn Homes & Services because I enjoy doing things for people and being here gives me the chance to help the residents and the staff. I wish I could do more, but there are only so many hours in a day!

I look forward to retiring after 31 years of service, and plan to spend lots of time with Judy, traveling and spending our winters in Hawaii. It has been a blessing working at Auburn for so long and I will miss my time with the residents and staff greatly."

All of us at Auburn Homes & Services thank Jim for his 31 years of loyal service to AHS and wish him the best on this next journey in his life. Happy Retirement!

Jim with wife, Judy.

Jim and Judy's children and grandchildren.

Grandchildren.

Jim and Judy's condo in Maui where they plan to spend their winters.

Patio Weather is Finally Here!

With the warm weather and sun shining bright, you know where you can find our residents...soaking up the Vitamin D or relaxing in the shade on one of our many patios! Here are a few pictures of our residents enjoying the beautiful summer weather.

Resident Spotlight on Centenarian,

Ruth, Auburn Meadows

Ruth, a resident at Auburn Meadows in Waconia, turned 101 on June 1. Ruth grew up on a farm in St Bonifacius, Minnesota. She had 8 sisters and grew up playing softball and other games on the farm. Growing up in the depression, her mother taught her how to sew and quilt. She married Simon Boll and they had 6 children, 4 boys and 2 girls. They lived and worked on their farm in St. Boni. “I have lived in St. Boni all my life, born and raised there.” she said. Ruth’s advice, “Live an honest life.” “Be kind to people.” and “Have faith.”

June is chock full of activities for our residents; outings to Target, The Dollar Store, "Choo-Choo's" in Loretto, Tommy's Malt shop, a fishing trip on Lake Minnetonka and an ice cream social with Dairy Princesses are just to name a few. There will also be Father's Day celebrations, "The Longest Day" observed, the always favorite "Singing Cowgirl" and much more!

Check out your resident's June Activities Calendar to see which ones are available to them by clicking on the appropriate link below:



Auburn Home, Auburn Meadows, 

Auburn Manor,  Auburn Courts, 

Happy Birthday to the following staff members

celebrating a Birthday in April:

Anita Schiro CORPORATE, 16

Thomas Gerace COURTS, 14

Merisa Stifter HOME, 20

Robin Dahl HOME, 15

Candace Eckert HOME, 17

Sydny Swanson HOME, 7

Summer Donabauser HOME, 8

Savannah Fox HOME, 14

Colleen Deafenbaugh HOME, 29

Evita Melluma MANOR, 25

Emily Maxwell MANOR, 24

George Akyeampong MANOR, 21

Megan Senden MANOR, 12

Victor Pantaleon Gomez MANOR, 29

Wanishka Duwadi MANOR, 18

Gabriela Alaorre-Robles MANOR, 18

Lisa Raddatz MEADOWS, 6

Mary Krant MEADOWS, 7

Birgit Schmidt MEADOWS, 27

Mindy Sarkinen MEADOWS, 19

Nathan Greenwald MEADOWS, 16

Fiona Williams MEADOWS, 8

Josephanie Kroells MEADOWS, 27

Shelly Stubbs MEADOWS, 27

Jeanika Lewis MEADOWS, 18

Anna Rosenlund MEADOWS, 18

Olivia White MEADOWS, 22

Dianne Robinson MEADOWS, 15

Thank you to our dedicated and hard working staff for their years of service:

Maddison Saulsbury CORPORATE, 1 yr

Curt Engels CORPORATE, 1 yr

Jessica Nepomuceno COURTS, 5 yrs

Tatyana Varvashenko COURTs 1 yr

Cheryl Haas COURTS, 1 yr

Katie Steinhagen HOME, 10 yrs

Elena Radke HOME, 1 yr.

James Stai MANOR, 31 yrs

Nich Meng MANOR, 16 yrs

Evita Melluma MANOR, 15 yrs

Kimberly Koblas MANOR, 11 yrs

Marilyn Wagman MANOR, 10 yrs

Danika Matson MANOR, 6 yrs

Morgan Blomer MANOR, 3 yrs

Laura Hayes MANOR, 3 yrs

Joshua Litsey MANOR, 2 yrs

Natalie Roth MANOR, 1 yr

Gail Bartush MANOR, 1 yr

Samantha Hanson MANOR, 1 yr

Lisa Raddatz MEADOWS, 10 yrs

Jessica Willis MEADOWS, 9 yrs

Lillian Schneider MEADOWS, 3 yrs

Irene Nelson MEADOWS, 2 yrs

Allison Saunders MEADOWS, 2 yrs

Silke Castillo MEADOWS, 2 yrs

Ella Robinson MEADOWS, 1 yr

Candy Arvizu-Pacheco MEADOWS, 1 yr

Lucille Leuthner MEADOWS, 1 yr

Haley Mcdannold MEADOWS, 1 yr

Mya Wenger MEADOWS, 1 yr

Bryce Harper MEADOWS, 1 yr

Here is an important question: when is the last time you rested? I mean, really rested. When is the last time that you put aside all that burdens you heart and busies your hands, and took time to breathe deeply? When is the last time you sleep soundly through the entire night… for more than eight hours straight?



Rest is an important part of life. Intentional rest is what God refers to as Sabbath, and the need for it is built into the core of our very being. Pastor and author Mark Driscoll has been known to say, “If you can't take a nap, if you can't take a day off, heaven's going to drive you nuts.” 

It is true, God loves a good nap.

And our world runs at a pace that goes counter to the idea of Sabbath. We value busyness. We value packed schedules. But it comes at a price. The need for Sabbath is so engrained into our humanity, that we pay a cost when we do not honor ourselves with Sabbath time regularly. When we run ourselves ragged, we end up paying for rest in a different way. Wayne Muller in his book about Sabbath, reminds us “If we do not allow for a rhythm of rest in our overly busy lives, illness becomes our Sabbath - our pneumonia, our cancer, our heart attack, our accidents create Sabbath for us.”

One way or another, we get Sabbath.

As we celebrate that June is here, and the summer months with it, we have an opportunity for a reset. The summer months naturally turn our hearts toward slower schedules and restful time off. Whether is it fishing at the lake cabin or traveling to a beach somewhere, summer turns our hearts to find more Sabbath in our schedules. And as it does, we can choose to be more intentional about how and when we build Sabbath into our lives.

I invite you to choose a slower path this June… this summer. I invite you to be intentional about the deep rest that your soul needs. In invite you into Sabbath, the rest-time that God has designed for all of us to keep us balanced and at peace.



 “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,^[e] just as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest…”                                             Hebrews 4:9-11

May your summer be filled with intentional restful moments.

May you find blessings and peace in your summer Sabbath,

Rev. Cathy M. Kolwey

The Next Resident Newsletter will be mailed out on July 1, 2023

If you have a loved one with a unique talent,

history or great story that you would like us to share in the Resident Newsletter, let us know!

Email: myelich@auburnhomes.org

or call Michelle Yelich at (952)361-5076

Auburn Home Families

If you are a family member of Auburn Home in Waconia and are interested in forming a family council, please reach out to Ashley Seaver at 952.442.6702. 



These meetings are family led groups that provide support with the goal of improving communication, quality of care and supporting one another. 

Auburn Homes & Services

Mission, Vision and Values