Immanuel Lutheran marks 60 years with celebration

Immanuel Lutheran Communities will mark 60 years of service to older adults in the Flathead Valley with an anniversary celebration featuring Zino & the Bel Aires from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 16 at Buffalo Hill Terrace, 40 Claremont St., Kalispell.

Chartered by the state of Montana in 1953, the nonprofit Life Plan Community began with the opening of Immanuel Lutheran Home in 1957. Other milestones followed, including:

1976 — Opening of Bratsberg Memory Wing, one of the first congregate-living environments in the country dedicated to caring for people with dementia.

1986 — Construction of 100 residential-living apartments at Buffalo Hill Terrace

2000 — Addition of assisted-living services.

2012 — Opening of The Retreat at Buffalo Hill, offering personalized, post-hospital and outpatient rehabilitation and post-acute care in a resort-inspired setting; 14 new apartments; and the Assisted Living Commons, along with cafe dining.

June 2017 — Completion of The Lodge at Buffalo Hill, adding 24 memory-support residences with a memory-care garden, a country kitchen and other recreational spaces.

Construction of The Villas at Buffalo Hill with 36 spacious apartments for residential living, an indoor swimming pool, a 150-seat auditorium/chapel and under-building parking — now underway.

Through the years, the number of residents served annually has risen to 231. The original “home” was renamed Immanuel Skilled Care Center to better represent the increased level of services and therapies available.

A local board of directors elected by delegates of the Montana Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Synod congregations governs Immanuel Lutheran Communities, but older adults from all faiths are welcome as residents.

“The home will be operated as much like a home and as little like an institution as possible,” said Harry Westly, the first Immanual Lutheran Home head administrator. “No effort will be spared to provide a home-like atmosphere and kind and considerate treatment. Residents will have as much freedom as their health permits.

Attendants are selected on the basis of their patience and their desire to serve and minister to the needs of aged people. Visitors are always welcomed.”

All interested visitors are welcome at the Sept. 16 celebration. For more information, contact Tracy Bridges, director of marketing, at tbridges@ilcorp.org or 752-9148.