Couple enjoys hobbies, activities offered on campus

Carol and Wil Prenger retired to Ohio Living Dorothy Love nearly five years ago, but that doesn’t mean they’ve been sitting back with their feet up. In fact, they’ve barely taken the time to sit at all! With freedom from home upkeep, the Prengers have a lot more time to participate in the many activities they love and enjoy.

Wil, 87, is restoring a Model A car, a hobby he has enjoyed for decades. This makes the seventh vehicle he’s restored, including a school bus. He swears the huckster in his garage will be his last restoration, but only time will tell! Carol, 83, has made 24 queen-sized quilts in her lifetime. She and some fellow quilters at Ohio Living Dorothy Love continue to create warm covers for fire victims, hospitalized children and hurricane survivors.

But one hobby each would never be enough for this pair! Wil does woodworking and chair caning, while Carol enjoys basket weaving and sewing. She also makes crafts with a resident group that meets twice a week. One of their most popular projects is making greeting cards using the iris folding technique. The cards are sold in the campus gift shop and the proceeds benefit our Life Care Commitment, which helps ensure that residents will always have a home here, even if, in good faith, they run out of the funds meant to see them through.

In addition to their personal hobbies, the couple participates in campus activities on a regular basis. “We just had a meeting to talk about where we can go on the bus trips they have every other month,” said Carol. Wil noted that the trips always include a meal at a nice restaurant as well as a tour or performance. The Prengers also enjoy monthly Saturday night get-togethers and the annual ice cream social for residents and their families in celebration of Grandparents’ Day.

They often visit the Aspen Club, a recently-renovated area of our campus apartment building, to enjoy “A Taste of Culture.” This popular program features a different country every month, where a presenter shares details and local foods are sampled in addition to cheese and wine.

Wil, an Army veteran who served in the Korean conflict, likes to attend the monthly military canteen. Here, he and fellow resident veterans meet for breakfast, listen to a featured speaker and reminisce about their days in the service.

If you ask what brought them to Ohio Living Dorothy Love, the Prengers have a unique answer: Carol’s knees! She had developed problems that made going up and down the steps in their family home difficult and painful. “A doctor told me, ‘You don’t need surgery; get rid of the steps!’” Carol explained. So she and Wil began to research their options and settled on Ohio Living Dorothy Love. They liked that our campus had multiple options for independent living – apartments and single-family homes – as well as the variety of programs and activities available. “We go to the fitness center (on campus) three times a week.

The knee problems have pretty much gone away,” Carol said. As they begin their fifth year as residents here, the Prengers are busy and happy. “For me, it’s a great place to be,” Wil shared.

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