Chaska Staff Spotlight on Joan Wiese,

Business Office Manager

Job Title: Business Office Manager

Year(s) at Auburn Homes & Services: 23 years

Key Responsibilities: Accounts Payables and Accounts Receivables

Family: Husband Kelly and daughter Courtney

Favorite Pastime: Watching paint dry and waiting on hold

Favorite Travel Destination: Alaska

When I retire I hope to: Wrestle a bear, climb Mount Everest, swim across the Gulf of Mexico and not break a hip!

"Working at Auburn has been a wonderful journey and this is truly my family away from home. When you spend five days a week together you really become close and get to know each other and I treasure each friendship I have made. When you have your rough days I know I can always count on someone to help me through it – even if just a hug (Jim and Nikki!!)"

Meet Molly Sandas, Auburn Courts & Courtyard's

New Life Enrichment Manager

We are excited to announce that Auburn Courts and Courtyard has a new Life Enrichment Manager, Molly Sandas. Molly will be scheduling the daily activities that our residents can participate in to stay active, sharp and most of all, have fun! Please join us in welcoming Molly and read on to learn a little bit about her family and personal life.



"I have 3 children, 2 girls Ava(14) and Summer (10) and a boy Keaton (6). My son and I love to hike together, we go all over the twin cities to do it. I also enjoy playing softball. I have played since I was 6 years old, I now play on a slow pitch women’s team in Excelsior during the summer on Wednesdays. I’ve been married to my husband Jesse for almost 17 years. We also have 2 dogs, Pickles and Zoe. I have a huge extended family that we see pretty much every week on Sunday dinners. The cousins all love to see each other, they are all pretty close in age. Our family loves to travel when possible, usually to the beach." 

Valentine's Day Festivities

The Love we have for our resident's was in the air (and in the food!) on Valentine's Day as both our campuses enjoyed special Valentine's Day lunches.

Auburn residents in Chaska received Valentines made by local school children from St. John's school for them to enjoy. The elementary aged children made over 100 valentine's to share with Auburn.

Laverna Rohwer Celebrates Turning 106 Years Old

Laverna Rohwer, a resident at Auburn Home, just celebrated her 106th birthday. Laverna was born in Appleton, Wisconsin and later moved to Minnesota. She grew up on a farm and went to school in a one-room schoolhouse in Bertha, Minnesota. Laverna would stay in town with a friend during the week for school and head home on Friday night. She said, “those were the good ole days.” She continued her education attending business college in St. Cloud.

Laverna married her husband in 1942 and had 3 children. She worked for Tonka Toys putting trucks together and resided in Mound, Minnesota. At the age of 100, Laverna won a champion ribbon at the Carver County Fair for her work on an afghan. She said she has lived a good life.

Her advice, “Do your own thing.” and “Take one day at a time.”

Laverna celebrating her 106th Birthday.

Photo of Laverna with her prize winning afghan.

Taking the Plunge!

In 2022, staff members from our Chaska campus took part in the Polar Plunge to raise money for the Special Olympics; they're at it again this year and hoping to raise even more money for this great charity, but they need your help! Please consider donating to the "Heart & Sole" Auburn team who will be taking the Polar Plunge on March 11th at Riley Lake Park in Eden Prairie.

Please consider making a donation today! Click here to donate.

Group shot of last year's team prior to taking the Polar Plunge

The 2023 Moravian Care Foundation Fish Fry

The Moravian Care Foundation Fish Fry is back! It's been three years since we have had this annual fish fry due to the pandemic and we are thrilled to once again have this fun and worthy event hosted by The Knights of Columbus. The fish fry will take place at St. Joseph's School in Waconia on Friday, March 10th from 4:00pm to 7:00pm. A portion of the proceeds goes to Auburn Homes & Services.

Come and enjoy some delicious fish and fellowship while supporting Auburn! For more information, contact Bob Kuhlman at (952)361-0460.

Resident Enrichment Activities from February

The month of February delivered bone-chilling temperatures and record-worthy snowfall, but that didn't stop our residents from taking part in fun, indoor activities that kept them busy all month long!

Enjoying a Relaxing Manicure

Watercolor Painting Classes

Playing the Dice Game, "Bunco"

Knitting Cozy Blankets

Ice Cream Social

Coffee with Friends and Staff

Ash Wednesday Service

Celebrating Mardi Gras with festive beads.

Waconia Staff Spotlight on Anna Remer

Name: Anna Remer CDM CFPP

Job Title: Dietary Director

Key Responsibilities: I assure appropriate nutrition/hydration regimens are set and maintained for all our Residents, complete MDS’s/plans of care, manage the dietary department, clean, cook, wash dishes, etc..

Family: I raised 4 amazing children and I am so very proud of their endless respect for others/things, they are kind and caring, hardworking, and all of them are very successful in their careers/life. They have also provided me with a dozen grand fur babies (5 dogs, 4 cats, 2 ferrets, and 1 hedgehog).

Favorite Past-time: Gardening, camping, being anywhere around-in-or on a lake, playing cards/games, fishing/water skiing, spending time w/my kids/family, and traveling. I play on a billiards league in the winter and happen to be able to travel places with our league winnings fortunately quite often.

Favorite Travel Destination: Hawaii (not won from the league ). Future destination trip: Alaska.

When I retire I hope to: When I retire, I hope to have a cabin by a lake to relax and spend time w/my kids/family and perhaps have some real human grandchildren by then

Pastor's Corner with

Reverend Cathy Kolwey

Lent is here… with the hope that spring will follow soon! But what is Lent?

Lent is the 40 days before Easter, when we concentrate on re-focusing our commitment to our faith. Traditionally, Lent has been a time for fasting and prayer; a time dedicated to deeper our faith through extra spiritual practices. Throughout history, Lent have left us with some unexpected traditions. For example:

·        Did you know that Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) was originally a church celebration where communities came together to use up their butter/sugar/meat/yeast in preparation for the 40 day fast? My, how things have changed!

·        Did you know that pretzels were originally made by a monk specifically to give out during Lent, when people fasted from any sort of leavened bread? They were shaped in the form of “prayer arms.”

·        Did you know that the Friday Night Fish Fry came about during the season when people gave up red meat only on Friday? Yet, we still celebrate these in churches today.

Our society has moved away from a traditional fasting for this season, but we still mark the 40 days of Lent by “giving up” something… maybe chocolate or coffee or video games. Now we also try to “add” to our days by doing something extra during the season, like adding prayer, meditation, or extra Bible time into our schedules. Here at Auburn, we are adding in Lenten Taize Meditations and reflecting on the Stations of the Cross as our “extra” Lent practices. And all of this is done to help us to focus on the coming Holy Week, on Easter and ultimately on Christ’s resurrection.

So what is YOUR Lenten practice? Maybe you will find a way to fast from technology or wine or red meat (on Fridays). Maybe you will add an extra time of the day (morning or bedtime) and devote it towards extra prayers. Maybe you will commit to doing one act of kindness every day for 40 days. Whatever you decide to do, let it be your daily reminder that Resurrection is coming once again. Turn your hearts towards that Easter promise as you wait through these holy Lenten days.

Blessings and peace to you always,

Rev. Cathy M. Kolwey

But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,  so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.                            

Matthew 6: 17-18

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

Julia Sarcletti CORPORATE, 3

Michelle Yelich CORPORATE, 3

Jennifer Lopez Escober COURTS, 2

Abby Nelson COURTS, 3

Grace Tierney COURTS, 2

Amber Brueggemeier HOME, 1

Debbie Christian HOME, 2

Ava Eckhoff HOME, 1

Kristi Falk HOME, 27

Christine Huber HOME, 3

Emma Kelzer HOME, 1

Merisa Stifter HOME, 18

Karmel Vollmer HOME, 23

Peter Wagman HOME, 7

Kieran Boran MANOR, 1

Kaitlyn Borela MANOR, 1

Stacia Boyum MANOR, 12

Kylie Fick MANOR, 9

Sado Ismail MANOR, 4

Cynthia Musyoka MANOR, 1

Mary Musyoka MANOR, 1

Hattie Pettit MANOR, 1

Marcelina Reyes MANOR,1

John Senden MANOR, 3

Lourdes Zamora MANOR, 16

Zachary Carlson MEADOWS, 5

Sydney Hawkinson MEADOWS, 1

Jessica Hoese MEADOWS,1

Rachel Jorgenson MEADOWS, 2

Josephine Kroells MEADOWS, 1

Grace Rosenau MEADOWS, 1

Emily Stieve MEADOWS, 1

Happy Birthday to the following staff members celebrating a Birthday in January:

Carly Gernbacher CORPORATE

Cathy Kolwey CORPORATE

Annie Menden CORPORATE

Julie Senden CORPORATE

Samuel Odeng COURTS

Grace Sveum COURTS

Gabby Dulas HOME

Kjirsten Harvey HOME

Betty Hayes HOME

Katherine Hubert HOME

Elena Radke HOME

Katina Yancey MANOR

Sofia Berggren MANOR

Morgan Blomer MANOR

Randy Borka MANOR

James Dollerschell MANOR

Laci Garcia MANOR

Sandra Garcia MANOR

Magdalyn Hall MANOR

Tiffany Martz MANOR

Misty Maxson MANOR

Ra'Niah Walden MANOR

Kathi Waller MANOR

Sienna Hawkinson MEADOWS

Sydney Hawkinson MEADOWS

Brianna Meier MEAD OWS

Misty Perschau MEADOWS

Alexis Pogreba MEADOWS

Tara Stahn MEADOWS

Madelyn Traver MEADOWS

How does the saying go, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb"? Well, if coming in like a lion means 35 degree weather and rain, we'll take it! Perhaps it's "March" showers that bring "May flowers"?

No matter what the month brings, our residents will have plenty of things to do including outings to Maynard's, Chanhassen Legion, Perkins and Kohl's. And, of course, there will be parties to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

Check out your resident's March 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, Auburn Courtyard

AHS Family Notifications

Auburn Courts Families:

If you are a family member of Auburn Courts and interested in forming a family council, please reach out to Scott Moe at (952)361-03o4.

Auburn Meadows Families:

If you are a family member of Auburn Meadows and interested in forming a family council, please reach out to Mary Krant at (952) 442-6604.

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

Auburn Homes & Services Estate Planning Seminar

The Next Resident Newsletter will be mailed out

on April 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 Homes & Services

Mission, Vision and Values Statement