Celebrating Christmas is a priority at CRISTA Senior Living during the months of November and December. As residents in a Christian retirement community in Shoreline, WA and Silverdale, WA, our seniors love to focus on the real reason to celebrate—Jesus Christ’s birth—and they do it with style.
Cristwood in Shoreline and Crista Shores in Silverdale pull out all the stops to decorate for Christmas, with common areas lit up with lights, trees, and manger scenes. Residents decorate the doors to their apartments and often have decor in the hallways between apartments. And, of course, each resident decorates as they choose within their private living space.
Sharon Lumsden, life enrichment manager at Cristwood Park in Shoreline, describes how residents lead in the decorating process: We divide Cristwood Park into sections, with each section having a resident as lead decorator. On the morning after Thanksgiving, a team of staff and volunteers put up eleven trees with the décor for those trees at the base of each one. The lead decorator invites a team of residents to help them decorate. By the following Thursday the whole place is lovely.
Students from King’s High School provide extra help by decorating with the seniors and the accounting department at CRISTA helps residents make wreathes for the doors of their apartments.
In addition to decorating, residents at CRISTA Senior Living enjoy plenty of gatherings to sing carols and listen to Christmas music during the holidays, as well as scheduled concerts and events with King’s Schools and the community. And our own Cristwood choir of more than 30 singers performs several Christmas concerts during the season.
The Dickens Carolers come for our Tree Lighting Ceremony where we thank those who helped decorate and honor Jesus as our Light of the World. We pack out the Main Lounge at Cristwood for this event and have a “figgy pudding like” dessert by our chef, Heather Bean, with warm things to drink like coffee, hot chocolate, and apple cider.
Blessed with a community that includes people of all ages, our residents in Shoreline enjoy concerts brought in by our junior high and high school choirs at King’s, as well as carolers from the community, elementary classes coming to carol, and special performances like the Dicken’s Carolers and the Winds5 Quintet performing at Hymn Sing.
A special event that seniors at CRISTA Senior Living enjoy is a Scenic Drive to see Christmas lights, led by bus driver Pete Steen. And, because of CRISTA’s proximity to lively communities, our residents often attend these events:
Edmonds Tree Lighting Ceremony – Saturday, November 30 from 2-5 PM. Kick off your holiday season with the annual lighting of the town tree. Free to attend - come for the live bands, treat vendors and of course, a visit from Santa.
Taproot Theatre’s Happy Christmas, Jeeves – November 27 – December 28 Taproot is a popular theatre for our residents to attend. It’s close to Cristwood and has easy access. We love their shows!
Edmonds Driftwood Players Miracle on 34th Street – November 22 – December 15 Our local community theater always puts on a great production!
Silverdale Tree Lighting Ceremony – Saturday, November 30 from 2-4 PM. Tractor rides, Old Town Scavenger Hunt, Port of Silverdale bonfire, local holiday entertainment, and Santa.
The Nutcracker with Peninsula Dance Theatre – December 7 and 8 matinees and evening. Enjoy the show and while you’re at it, have tea!
A 1940s Christmas Carol at Jewel Box Theatre in Poulsbo – November 1 – 24 Visit the charming town of Poulsbo, stop by Sluys Bakery for a homemade treat, and attend this delightful comedy about a performing group that must improvise to pull of the classic tale “A Christmas Carol” for listening audiences.
At CRISTA Senior Living, we know how important celebrating Christmas is for our residents and we love celebrating it in style with them. To find out more about CRISTA Senior Living and visit us for a tour, call (206) 889-5505 or go to Christian Senior Living Communities | CRISTA Senior Living
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