Guy Fraley and his wife were living in New Smyrna Beach last year when their daughter, a resident of Ponte Vedra, said she wanted them to live closer. They began to look for a suitable retirement community and found what they wanted at The Palms at Ponte Vedra, an assisted living and memory care community on Solana Road.
“We went to two other places, and I’ll tell you right up front: This is the place to be,” said Fraley. “They’re good. They take care of us … I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
In fact, when his wife passed away a couple of months ago, Fraley’s daughter offered to help him move into an apartment.
“I said, ‘No, I want to stay here,’” Fraley recalled.
He said residents of The Palms at Ponte Vedra were blessed to be there.
Another resident, Pearl Levin, echoed his sentiments.
“The people are just so friendly and loveable here — the staff and the residents,” she said, adding that she would recommend The Palms at Ponte Vedra to anyone who asks.
Like other residents, Levin and Fraley enjoy the many activities available to them.
“I do water aerobics and water therapy,” said Levin. “Sometimes I do chair therapy, and bingo and bridge and the movies and flower arranging.”
She occasionally goes out to lunch, and in her spare time she likes to make necklaces from the many different types of beads that she brought from her former Sawgrass home in 2022.
Fraley does physical therapy and he enjoys the three Happy Hours offered weekly, but one of the community’s amenities is his clear favorite.
“The exercise room is just perfect,” he said. “I have learned how to use most of the machines.”
The popularity of the many activities is almost certainly due to the effective and enthusiastic management of Activity Director Brooklyn Santiago and her four-person team.
“We do activities all day,” she said. “We try to keep them real busy.”
She regularly takes residents out to lunch and shopping. They go to the beach, get ice cream and visit interesting places. They have motored down to St. Augustine, attended a Jacksonville Symphony performance, taken in a Christmas lights display and toured the library. Santiago is planning to take a group to MOSH, some wine tours and baseball games.
In addition, residents are able to take shuttles to church every Sunday.
To keep residents at the top of their game, the community holds exercise sessions every morning. On weekends there is tai chi and breathing meditation. Residents may receive physical and occupational therapy, and Santiago teaches an aquafit class.
Residents have a bridge club, poker club and book club, and movies are shown twice daily. There’s also a Parkinson’s group, which was started by Levin.
“It’s a really great place,” said Santiago, a native of Upstate New York who has been at The Palms at Ponte Vedra for about eight months. “The staff is great. Our management team is the best management team I’ve ever worked with. Our executive director, Barbara Matteson, is the most involved executive director I’ve ever worked for. She genuinely cares about the residents and the staff.”
Another thing that enhances the lives of the residents is the culinary aspect.
Sous Chef Dhurata Asllani, known by residents as “Mama,” has been with The Palms at Ponte Vedra for six years. Prior to that, she worked for 20 years at the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa. She oversees the cooking for every meal and residents praise her contribution to their lifestyles.
“You need to live here just to come eat with Mama,” Fraley said.
“I love every single resident,” Asllani said.
This is more than just an idle statement. She meets with each new resident individually to learn what they like to eat.
“I tell them, ‘This is your house. So, whatever you guys need, tell us. We work for you. So, come to me, whatever you need,’” she said.
Her homemade lasagna and steak with baked potato are among her most popular dishes.
“My big thing is, I tell my chef, ‘Taste the food. If you don’t like it, don’t put it on a plate. If you wouldn’t eat it, don’t give it to my residents,’” she said.
She also serves a variety of salads and tries to encourage residents to eat healthy. In fact, she grows some of the vegetables and all of her herbs in a garden on the campus.
The Palms at Ponte Vedra is located at 405 Solana Road. To learn more, go to palmsatpontevedra.com.
