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Lanark Village residents take the lead on 2026 activity calendar
From expanded gardening to collaborative cooking, resident requests are at the heart of this year's programming
3/6/2026
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Deron Hamel
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Fun co-ordinator Lisa Rathier (right) says Lanark Village's 2026 activity calendars will be shaped by valuable resident feedback.
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Lanark Village residents can look forward to a year of refreshed activities, including an expanded gardening program, collaborative cooking with staff, and the return of favourite day trips as the activation department builds its 2026 calendar around one guiding principle: giving residents the programs they want.
Lisa Rathier, the Kitchener seniors community's fun co-ordinator, says this year's programming lineup is being shaped almost entirely by resident feedback.
Once spring arrives, residents will be revisiting the gardening program, an activity that debuted in 2025 and proved to be a major hit with everyone, Lisa says.
Last year, residents planted tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and herbs. For 2026, the program, which Lisa says is “completely resident driven,” is being expanded to include more vegetables that both residents and the Village's team members can pick and keep for their own use.
Additionally, the culinary team will be using the vegetables and herbs in the meals they serve residents, Lisa notes.
Day trips have long been favourite activities at Lanark Village, Lisa says, and for 2026, residents will once again be offered a variety of outings that they have requested.
Some suggestions to date have included Niagara Falls and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Lisa says residents have been on outings to both in the past, and they have asked to return.
Residents have also requested picnics and river walks, Lisa adds.
“We love to travel here at Lanark Village (and) I am constantly asking residents where they'd like to go,” Lisa tells S&R Today.
Culinary programs are also favourite activities for residents, Lisa says.
Every second month, Mark, the Village's chef, runs a lunchtime program with residents, and that has returned in 2026. Dominicus, who works with Lisa in the activation department, “loves to bake,” Lisa says, and she runs a popular program that residents enjoy and will continue to be offered this year.
Lanark Village's breakfast program, lunch outings, a lunchtime program that Lisa runs, and occasional takeout dinners are also on the calendar for 2026.
Lisa underscores the importance of resident input when it comes to designing the programming calendars each month.
“I am continuously asking them what they would like to see on the calendar,” she says. “I think it's important that we make a calendar that reflects what our current residents want to be doing. I want them to enjoy their social time and be engaged in the overall planning of what we are doing each month.”
This is Part 1 of a two-part story.
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