August 2016 • Volume 1, Number 7
www.santaynezvalleystar.com
Every Issue Complimentary Every Time
RONA’S VISION FOR GOLDEN INN & VILLAGE COMES TO LIFE
Project nears completion Campus intended as a place where low-income seniors can live safely and affordably by Pamela Dozois
Santa Ynes Valley Star Staff
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he Golden Inn & Village, a new senior-citizen residential complex on Highway 246 at Refugio Road in Santa Ynez, is coming down the home stretch after 16 years. The project by the Rona Barrett Foundation and the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara is expected to open in the first week of October. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for Saturday, Oct. 7 , which is also Barrett’s birthday, followed by the foundation’s annual fundraising gala. All proceeds from the event will be earmarked for senior services and programs for the residents of the Golden Inn & Village. It has taken Barrett 16 years of dedication and hard work to fulfill her vision of a place where low-income seniors could have affordable housing and care in the Santa Ynez Valley. The idea for the Golden Inn & Village came to her in 2000. Barrett’s mother died in 1994 and her father eventually came to
Greg Gruendyke has higher calling By volunteering and focusing on others
live with her, making her his main care provider for five and a half years. He began having small strokes and became a regular visitor to the emergency room at Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital. Eventually he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and passed away in 2003. “One afternoon I came home and my father didn’t recognize me,” she said. “I asked him, ‘Are you OK?’ and he said, ‘Who are you? Get out of my house!’ “I then began to think about what happens to all of the other people who reach 65, the fastest-growing segment of our population, and who live on low, fixed incomes and don’t have the money to hire care providers on a daily basis. What about those seniors who have been disenfranchised and unable to afford the high cost of living and medical expenses?” Barrett said. That night she laid on her bed with a yellow lined note pad and wrote across the top “Golden Inn & Village.” She wanted to build a campus, a place where seniors could live safely and affordably and not have to worry about their future. If they became ill, they could go to the assisted-living portion of the project or to the Alzheimer’s center on the campus and never have to worry again about moving. Her desire to care for seniors was not a new one. Over the years Barrett had contribPhoto contributed Across the top of a yellow pad, Rona Barrett wrote the uted the profits from her lavender farm and “Golden Inn & Village” as the first step toward achieving subsequent company, which made 40 vari-
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Foodie Tenley Fohl gets the picture
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Photographer combines her creative palettes
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a dream. Her foundation’s campus for low-income senior living is scheduled to open in October.
Local car show strives to help local charities Wheels ‘n’ Windmills supports by attraction by Casey Geier
Santa Ynez Valley Star Staff
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he Wheels ‘n’ Windmills car show has raised almost $250,000 for local charities over its 12-year run, and the folks running the show hope to eclipse that mark this year. “That’s really what it’s about, because that’s how the local charities get money, that’s how the merchants get money, and that’s how we keep the show going,” said Bob Stokes, founder of the event. The 17th Annual (12th in Solvang) Wheels ‘n’ Windmills car show will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, along Copenhagen Drive and several side streets in downtown Solvang. The charities the car show supports will set up booths at the event to help educate the public about their organizations. Some of those charities this year are the Buellton Senior Center, Old Yeller Ranch Rescue, and the Progeria Research Foundation. Stokes says the most important thing his committee does is to attract as many spectators as possible to the show to ensure the charities
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Todd Rogers looks School is getting back on great game ready to start Beijing Olympics is the top memory for local athelete
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Ballard Schoolhouse is one of the distinguished gems
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