At The Woodlands Retirement Community at APD Lifecare, hobbies and passions are encouraged and nurtured, so residents can stay active, engaged and creative. For resident Al H., woodworking has been a passion for over two decades. He takes simple square pieces of wood and transforms them into intricate works of art—a process that is not only rewarding but incredible to see through from start to finish.

Al’s journey in woodworking began more than 20 years ago, and what started as a hobby has grown into a fulfilling way to spend time at The Woodlands. Today, he helps run the woodworking shop activities, where about 12 residents can work on projects, socialize, and learn from each other. “Everyone comes at different times,” Al says, noting how the flexible nature of the workshop allows for a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.

A Well-Equipped Creative Space

The woodworking shop at The Woodlands has evolved into a well-equipped space, thanks to the collective efforts and care of many residents over the years. Outfitted with essential tools for a wide range of woodworking projects, the shop reflects the dedication and passion of the community.

Among the tools, the router and shaper are favorites, especially for residents like Al, who enjoy transforming simple pieces of wood into stunning creations. “Id like to get a few more tools in here,” Al mentions, but he’s quick to acknowledge that the shop is what it is today thanks to the many hands that have contributed to its growth. From selecting equipment to sharing knowledge and ideas, the shop is a true labor of love, constantly evolving with the combined creativity and support of The Woodlands community.

Building Friendships and Beautiful Creations

While the woodworking shop is a place to hone craftsmanship, it’s also a place where companionship thrives. The 12 residents that frequent the shop come and go as their schedules permit, but the shared interest in woodworking creates friendships. The woodworking shop is about having a place where people relax and enjoy what they do.

One of the recent collaborative projects was an art cabinet that Al and his fellow resident and friend, Bill, built together. This cabinet is used to store art from the community at The Woodlands. Al, and other residents will take on projects to not only challenge their skills but to give back to The Woodlands and leave a lasting mark at the community.

A Place for All Woodworking Enthusiasts

The woodworking shop is open to any resident interested in learning or expanding their woodworking skills. Before anyone can start working, however, there’s a short application process to ensure everyone is familiar with the equipment and safety protocols. “Safety is always the top priority,” the Director of Sales & Marketing, Carol, stresses.

Al is eager to assist anyone who may need help with the machines or guidance on a project. “I’m always available to help,” he says. Whether it’s someone looking to build something for their apartment or wanting to try their hand at a new technique, Al is there to support and encourage their endeavors.

In addition to the joy of working with wood, Al and the other woodworkers are always on the lookout for fresh ideas and methodologies. “We’re constantly learning from each other,” Al remarks. This spirit of curiosity and continuous learning is what keeps the woodworking shop such a dynamic and vibrant part of life at The Woodlands.

For Al and the rest of the woodworkers, the shop is more than just a place to build—it’s a place to connect, share and create. The shop offers endless possibilities for those who love the art of woodworking.

Jack DeGange built a successful 50-year career as a writer and editor before moving to The Woodlands in 2016.

A graduate of Bates College and an officer in the U.S. Navy, Jack started his professional career with newspapers in Stamford and New Haven, Conn. In 1968, he became the sports information director at Dartmouth College where, over nine years, many of his publications won national awards. He then worked in printing sales and marketing before spending a decade in the corporate communications field. A return to Dartmouth in the 1990s to work in fund-raising communications preceded nearly two decades as a freelance writer and editor.

For several years Jack was board president and campaign chair for United Way of the Upper Valley and also volunteered at David’s House in Lebanon where his wife, Jane, was executive director for about 20 years.

Jack became familiar with The Woodlands in 2010 while doing a freelance article for Trumbull-Nelson Construction, the company that built The Woodlands (and several other buildings on the Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital campus). His research included interviews over dinner he and Jane shared with three couples who were longtime friends and among the earliest residents at The Woodlands.

“After dinner, Jane and I agreed that one day The Woodlands would be a good option for us,” Jack said.

For 25 years, before moving to The Woodlands, their home was a large farmhouse on four acres about three miles from The Woodlands. When they decided the time was right to leave lawn mowing, snow blowing and splitting firewood behind, they didn’t look beyond The Woodlands.

“When making a decision about downsizing, I encourage people to plan early, while it’s still a choice, not a necessity,” Jack said. “The Woodlands was the right size for us. It’s easy to get to know everybody. We’ve acquired many new friends, there’s a great social atmosphere, the people are interesting, and conversations can go in any direction.”

He now applies his experience as a contributor to the residents’ monthly newsletter and, as president of The Woodlands Board of Directors, encouraging residents to get involved in community life.

Unlike many other independent living retirement communities, the residents, with the support of The Woodlands staff, organize clubs, outings, and other activities for everyone to participate in and enjoy.

“This is our home and residents find it easy to get involved. In a sense, interests and initiatives energize the community,” Jack said.

Carol was one of the first residents to move into The Woodlands almost 13 years ago. After a visit to a friend living at Harvest Hill, she decided this was the retirement community for her on a beautiful, wooded campus with large apartments, great views, and a lot of activities to choose from. The Woodlands was still under construction at the time, but as soon as it was open, Carol moved in.

“Everyone is very friendly and I feel safe living here. If you need help someone is always available and the food is really good,” Carol said.

Carol grew up in Little Falls, New York. She earned an associate’s degree in science from the  Suny School in Alfred, New York and worked in a laboratory at the University of Rochester Medical School. Carol’s husband was a physician and his career brought them to Hanover, New Hampshire where they lived for 43 years and raised two daughters.

Carol is very active in the community serving as the Social Team Leader, the group that organizes events like the monthly social gathering open to all residents on the first Wednesday of every month, the Ladies Lunch-Out monthly outing, and Pub Night every Friday. Carol enjoys reading fiction and non-fiction, especially history, and is also on the Library Committee. The Woodlands has a substantial library for residents with a room dedicated to hardcover books and one for paperbacks and magazines. Carol and the other library volunteers make sure books are checked back in and shelved properly.

“I’ve made a lot of friends here, most of them from working on various committees,” Carol said.

When she is not arranging social gatherings or helping to keep the library ship-shape, Carol enjoys going to the many exercise classes offered at The Woodland taught by professional instructors. She also likes to travel to visit her daughters and grandchildren. Her daughter in Maryland is a judge for the Department of Veteran Affairs in Washington D.C. and when she is visiting they take in the many museums near the Capitol. She also loves visiting her daughter, a doctor like her father, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, spending time on the beach, and enjoying the many fun restaurants and shops in the area.

“The Woodlands is such a friendly place and the staff takes such good care of us. There are a lot of activities to choose from, a great menu with a lot of variety, and regular guest speakers,” Carol said.

Robert moved to The Woodlands four years ago drawn to the natural beauty surrounding the community and in his words, “all the well-educated, well-traveled, interesting, and nice people living here.”

Robert is one of those well-educated, well-traveled, interesting, and nice people whose family once owned the famous King Arthur Flour Company. He grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts and earned an economics and geography degree from Dartmouth College.

“I chose my professors rather than my courses and I took the classes offered by the ones I liked the best,” Robert said.

He entered graduate school but was called to serve his country during the Vietnam War, becoming a member of the Army Infantry and stationed in Berlin for two years. After that he spent six years in the Army Reserve, traveling throughout Europe, Turkey, Finland, and as far as Morocco.

“My travels helped me realize this simple truth; people are people no matter what color, what religion, or beliefs they have. People do things differently and have their own reasons for doing those things. Never judge people from what you see only from your point of view,” Robert said.

When he left the Army Reserve Robert joined the family business for a few years before moving to Washington D.C. to work for the United States government focusing on U.S. and Canada relations. His work with Canada expanded Robert’s worldview even more and he says the Canadian people were good to work with. While in Washington D.C. he also attended the National War College and worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for a few years.

When it came time to retire, The Woodlands was his first choice. He enjoys his first-floor apartment overlooking the courtyard, often inviting friends over for a glass of wine while they enjoy one of the many live music events held there. 

In nearby Lebanon, Robert enjoys taking classes at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Dartmouth which offers educational programs year-round for residents in the greater Upper Valley. He also likes going to the Dartmouth College rugby team games.

Al and Jo Horvath were high school sweethearts and married after graduating from college. They are still going strong 58 years later and are now looking forward to celebrating their next anniversary in August at The Woodlands.

“Peggy Cooper gave us a tour and was just wonderful,” Al said.

“The minute we walked on campus we knew this was the place,” Jo said.

Al was born in Schenectady, NY, but has lived in many places in the country and travelled the world with his career as an engineer with General Electric. When he was just starting out Al was involved with the Apollo space program to help put the first man on the moon and throughout his career he worked on radar, sonar and satellite systems for the military and several commercial satellite projects.

Jo is from New Hartford, New York and earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New York before obtaining a master’s degree in healthcare administration. Most of her career was dedicated to working with non-profits, primarily hospice and a nursing home in Syracuse, NY that took in indigent people.

Al and Jo have two sons and four grandchildren that they visit a lot. Before moving to The Woodlands 10 months ago, they enjoyed spending time at their home near Oneida Lake boating and fishing for bass and wall-eyed pike with their sons and grandchildren. Now they stay busy with community activities. Jo uses the gym several days a week and plays in a Mahjong group.

“Mahjong is complicated but good for the brain,” Jo says.

Al’s hobby for 30 years was woodworking, making gifts for friends and family and now he enjoys the community woodworking shop. Both he and Jo are on the Wii Bowling team, which he describes as, “a lot of laughs.”

Al and Jo says what they like most about living at The Woodlands is everyone is welcoming and friendly. They also like that the Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital is nearby on the campus and the great food served in the dining room where they enjoy socializing with the many new friends they have made since moving in.

“We knew right away we made the right decision coming here,” Jo said.

Bill and Lois first met as students at Tufts University and fell in love, but their lives would take them on very different paths. Their alma mater brought them together again over four decades later and now they are enjoying an active retirement at The Woodlands.

Bill was a chemistry major at Tufts University but was unsure of his career path. With the draft looming, he decided to leave college and enlist in the Army to have some say in the line of duty he was to perform.  He served with an army intelligence unit known as the Army Security Agency and after basic training, he was sent to a military language school and served in West Germany as a German linguist. After serving his three years of active duty, Bill returned to Tufts to major in German language and literature with a minor in European History. That is when he met Lois.

Lois and Bill dated in college but took separate life paths, married other people, and had families.

 Lois got an MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and worked for the Kennedy Administration finding volunteers for the Peace Corps. She later worked for the United States Information Agency and met her first husband, Matt Lorimer, in a State Department class. She was assigned to Berlin, Germany and he to Kampala, Uganda, where they married a year later. They had two daughters and a life of travel with assignments in Germany, Zambia, Finland, and Copenhagen, Denmark where Lois was a photo researcher for Time/Life Books. They also worked in Jamaica, Boston, and Washington, D.C. before retiring to Woodstock, Vermont.

After Matt passed away Lois decided to simplify life by saying “yes” to any suggestion, and as a result, she ended up working in both the clinic and the gift store of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, helping a childhood friend drive a moving van across Canada, and writing short stories, a few of which have been published.  She also said “yes” when Bill called to ask her out to lunch, after not having heard a word from him in 43 years.

Bill’s professional career was in the field of U.S. intelligence, principally with the National Security Agency, rising to the level of a senior executive. He and his first wife Barbara had four children. The family lived in Munich, West Germany for four years then returned to the U.S.  and settled in Laurel, Maryland where after a long illness, Barbara succumbed to a brain tumor.

Following retirement, Bill was recruited to serve on the professional staff of a congressional commission focusing on the role of US intelligence after the end of the cold war. He eventually started his own consulting firm, Strategies for Intelligence, working with AT&T, Raytheon, and the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.

When Bill saw Lois’s phone number in a Tufts University alumni catalog. He decided to call her and the rest, as they say, is history.

When it came time to downsize their home of 17 years in Woodstock, VT, the search brought them to The Woodlands.

“The Woodlands attracted us because of its reputation and moderate size. Most of the other communities we visited were much larger and felt more institutional than comfortable. The community is very professionally run too, so we knew this is where we wanted to be. We have a beautiful apartment with wonderful views of the mountains and sunsets every evening,” Bill said.

Lois and Bill enjoy an active retirement with Lois attending exercise classes several times a week while Bill enjoys the treadmill and weights in the fitness room. He also anticipates working in the community woodshop. The couple has always enjoyed the outdoors and often hike the many wooded trails near The Woodlands.

“There are more activities here than anyone has time for and we are always discovering new ones. The Woodlands offers wonderful independent adult living where we have met so many friendly, interesting people that we enjoy spending time with,” Bill said.

When they are not engaged in community activities both Lois and Bill are involved with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Lebanon. Lois has taken several courses there and Bill lends his years of experience and expertise as a teacher at Osher with classes like, “Understanding the Middle East, “ “The Road to Iraq” and “The History of US intelligence from George Washington to the Present Day.”

Bill and Lois are able to enjoy a carefree retirement without household maintenance worries, and access to amenities like the fitness center and woodshop while spending time with other retired adults also pursuing their passions in a safe and supported community. The Woodlands team is thrilled to be a part of Bill and Lois’s happily-ever-after love story.