Jeffrey Lauck’s title may be activity assistant but when he’s escorting Jean and other Vista Prairie at Copperleaf residents on their new Trishaw, he’s a pilot. And there will be many such rides to come as our Willmar, MN community enjoys its latest antidote for isolation.

“I love it!” Jean exclaims after the ride. “Going on this bike makes me feel so good.”

When the Trishaw arrived from its manufacturer in Copenhagen on June 23, it could not have been more welcome. The arrival culminated a $10,000 drive, with major funding provided by Willmar’s Vision 2040 organization, the United Way of West Central Minnesota, the Willmar Area Community Foundation and generous individual donors.

“Our residents are simply enjoying the great outdoors,” says Copperleaf Executive Director Jennie Marcus, who led the fundraising effort. “Appreciating nature, watching the frisbee golfers, people fishing, pelicans hunting fish, wildflower gardens, admiring the golf course and waiting for golfers to shoot a hole in one!”

With Copperleaf’s location near Robbins Island Park the opportunities will be limitless.

“The first time I saw the Trishaw bike, I thought here we go, that looks like fun,” recounts Evelyn, another resident. That’s high praise coming from a woman who has enjoyed a lifetime of powder puff racing on her snowmobile and still rides occasionally on a Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Evelyn went on to say, “Before COVID-19 I looked forward to taking the Copperleaf bus and going out for my groceries. That outing helped me feel more normal as far as being part of society. For me this bike has helped me feel free again.”

Getting ready to take residents for a Trishaw trip, requires two training sessions to be certified as a pilot. Most of that training is led by one of Copperleaf’s Registered Nurses, Ginna Calvin, an avid bike rider who inspired the idea for the community to obtain its own Trishaw.

Copperleaf senior living community offers 55 one-and-two-bedroom Assisted Living apartments, 20 Memory Care Suites and seven Care Suites, providing 24-hour continuous senior care.