By ELIOT SILL

Staff writer

Doris Ewert can think of only one staff member who’s been at Marion Assisted Living as long as she has. While the staff has changed, the service has remained the same.

“All I have to do is pull a cord and they’re here to see what the trouble is and how they can help,” Ewert said.

As the assisted living center celebrated its 10-year anniversary with a cookout and an open house Friday, residents and visitors were treated to cake, snacks, and refreshments in the lobby.

It was a chance for developer and manager Bob Brooks to look back on a decade of work, and for residents to look back on the time they’ve spent there.

“We wanted a place where the people who helped build Marion had a chance to stay here,” Brooks said.

In addition to the 18 jobs it provides the community, Brooks added that around 250 people have lived in the 18 apartments at Marion Assisted Living over its 10 year lifespan.

Ewert has been one of those residents for eight years.

Ewert said she and other residents like the assisted living center because of the freedoms it offers. Though she no longer has her license, the 96-year-old woman said she likes how residents who still drive their cars may keep them on the premises.

With her eyesight deteriorating as a result of macular degeneration, she can no longer read print well enough to satisfy her literary pangs. She spends her time listening to Christian audiobooks she gets from Emporia.

“I’ve always appreciated the help, being as I can’t see very well,” she said. “If I want someone to read to me, someone will come read to me.”

Hugh Polsen is new to the facility, having lived there for about a month. He moved from Council Bluffs, Iowa, near Omaha, Nebraska, to be closer to his daughter.

He said he’s liking the area — and the facility — so far.

“It’s really neat,” he said. “I don’t have any lawn to cut, don’t have any snow to shovel, and I get three meals a day. That’s good enough for me.”

It’s his first time living in Kansas since he was stationed at Great Bend with the military in World War II.

Director Bonnie Sawyer said Marion Assisted Living gives seniors who need help a chance to live more independently than were they to live in a nursing home.

“Basically what we’re here for is to just help the residents,” she said. “That way they’re still able to go out and enjoy the community.”