Resident’s receive a taste of Germany with Oktoberfest at StoryPoint

Resident’s receive a taste of Germany with Oktoberfest at StoryPoint

The sounds and smells of Germany filled the halls of StoryPoint Chesterton on Thursday for their first Oktoberfest. Residents, their families, and other visitors feasted on a specially curated menu of German foods and beers while enjoying live polka music.

StoryPoint is one of the newer senior living communities in the Region, and in their first year, they have already organized many events for their residents. Live concerts, cookouts, and even a luau all packed the schedule. Oktoberfest, hosted in their cafe and bistro, offered the residents a chance to celebrate the start of fall in style.

“Everything comes back to our residents and having fun with them,” said Judy Kukelka, Business Development Specialist at StoryPoint Chesterton. “A lot of them have never attended fun events like this, with the Oktoberfest theme and different foods, so it’s big to offer this to our residents.”

Executive Chef Angie Palmer, who leads StoryPoint’s culinary crew, wanted to craft an authentic experience for the residents and their guests.

“You could approach it in two ways, one would go outside the boundaries of German food,” she said. “The other is to stick purely to food that you’d find in German pubs and bars. I’ve been to Germany, so thankfully I knew about these classic German dishes which are very heavy and meat-centered.”

Palmer and her team work with the residents every day, and she never takes the chance to serve them for granted.

“Everyone here really loves the residents and we’re all dedicated to that,” Palmer said. “It’s nice to give back, and one way we can give back is to truly love these people and feed them well.”

Palmer’s attitude is universal at StoryPoint, and Executive Director Courtney Fokianos takes great care in building the team that works at the community.

“It’s always about the people,” Fokianos said. “We have a beautiful, bright building and a great team that puts the residents first. Everything we do is done with the residents in mind.”

Oktoberfest Open House 2019

Oktoberfest Open House 2019 25 Photos
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Many of the residents donned german hats and raised their glasses in a toast to the live polka performance. Events like Oktoberfest, in addition to StoryPoint’s massive array of amenities and services, make it a true community that residents love to show off to their families.

“We want to have fun, we want our residents to have fun, and we love showing their families how well they’re doing living here,” Fokianos said. “Our residents are starting to feel more and more that this is their home, and they’re proud to invite their families.”

To learn more about StoryPoint Chesterton, visit www.storypoint.com/chesterton-in/.