By Daniel Nash

The Courier-Herald

A fixture in the Sumner community that regularly houses men and women who have seen multiple U.S. presidents, wars and historic events will celebrate it’s 10th birthday in December.

Stafford Suites opened its doors in December 1999, offering 72 apartments with full meal service activities and options for assisted living care to seniors.

The senior apartment complex is at the edge of downtown Sumner, across from the Sumner Senior Center and two other senior housing complexes.

It will celebrate with an open house for current and former residents and their families Dec. 10.

“When we opened we had the hopes and dreams of being what we are today: a respectable community that has become an institution in Sumner,” Community Relations Director Laura Fehrenbacher said. “Former residents will come to visit. Even for some of the folks who have passed on, their families will still come and visit.”

Stafford management takes pride in fostering an environment that prompts some families to come back and visit even though they no longer have a relative living in the facility.

“I think it just boils down to a good reputation in the community,” Fehrenbacher said. “We take good care of our residents and by osmosis we care for their families as well. They sense our dedication to our mission.”

Such a connection wouldn’t be possible without a long-standing staff. Many of Stafford’s employees have been with the company since its first years of operation.

Two current employees, receptionist Barbara Butler and maintenance director Robert Rambeck, were both longtime team members who briefly retired and came back.

Fehrenbacher herself has been employed with Stafford since November 1999. Some former employees come back to visit.

Stafford has remained relatively full with little fluctuation in their population since two years after opening. Only four apartments are currently empty.

Like many senior facilities, there is a higher population of women than men, though the proportion of men is probably greater than other facilities, she said.

The lodge-style construction of the building and lobby, which includes a roaring fireplace, is relatively gender neutral. Paintings from American artist Norman Rockwell hung on the walls of the hallway. Pumpkins, straw and wooden fences decorated the lobby and will soon give way to winter-themed decorations for the celebration.

Bernice Overland checked her Facebook profile on the computer in the library just off the lobby. Her family had just posted some new photos. Overland, 89, has lived at Stafford for more than two years. She knows almost everyone in the building but generally spends her time with her 92-year-old husband, she said.

“I don’t have any beef with the place,” she said. “I enjoy it because it’s close to home and I’m able to go to the same church I went to when I had my own home.”

“It took some getting used to because I was so independent before,” resident Leola Johnson said. “(But) I was born and raised in this area, so I see many of the same people I did before. And I have made some wonderful friends.”