Agroup of friends (clockwise, from left) Nellie Halcin of DeTour, Freda O'Polka of Goetzville, Theora Bosely of Stalwart, Joyce Patrick of Stalwart, and Harold Crisp of Goetzville attend Cedar Cove Assisted Living community's first anniversary open house Thursday, August 31. More than 200 people celebrated the first year of operation at Cedar Cove Assisted Living Facility at an open house Thursday, August 31. Occupancy has now grown to 15 residents and is approaching the building's capacity of 20.

Leroy Pieri, who was named administrator of Cedar Cove, replacing Shelli Arnold in the spring, said of the first year, "Things have been going well, and we have a lot of community support."

Cedar Cove employs 17 people, full time and part time, and Mr. Pieri said another three or four full-time employees will be added when the facility reaches capacity.

Cedar Cove is nonprofit and operates under the guidelines of Baruch Senior Ministries, which emphasize "promoting quality heath care and lifestyle, personal dignity, and the value of every individual." It offers daily organized activities and hosts Cedarville's Independence Day craft show and checkers and bocce ball tournaments. Excursions have included a Stadtkapelle Wertigen Youth Band performance, the Fourth of July parade, picnics, the Les Cheneaux Historical Museum, and pontoon boat rides through the Les Cheneaux Islands.

More than 200 people attended the first anniversary open house at Cedar Cove Assisted Living facility in Cedarville Thursday, August 31, where Elizabeth Burrows and Betty Struble (far right) played music during the event. Most of the Cove occupants are single residents who need assistance with daily living, however, couples can live there, too, if one needs assistance but the other doesn't.

"One of the things we take pride in is the fact that some of the residents do return home after staying here," Mr. Pieri said. "Four of our residents returned to their own homes because they felt strong enough to return to independent living within their homes."

Cedar Cove was built with private investments and financing, and opened June 17, 2005. It was built to fulfill a need for assisted living units in the Eastern Upper Peninsula, particularly for senior citizens, who comprise one of the largest age brackets in the area's population, according to the 2000 census.

The facility also provides recuperative care.