Jim Emmons is just one of many active residents at Carroll Lutheran Village living the active aging lifestyle. You’ll likely find this nature lover hiking and biking on local trails, kayaking on the Piney Run Park Reservoir and taking pictures of animals, plants or other nature scenes. According to Emmons, nature is a great source of free energy.
When Emmons first moved into Carroll Lutheran Village at age 65 in 2013, he wasn’t sure how active the community would be and was not sure he was ready to move into a Life Plan Community. However, he was pleasantly surprised by all the things to see and do at Carroll Lutheran Village.
When not enjoying nature, Emmons is likely taking advantage of Carroll Lutheran Village’s activities. The avid painter learned to paint at the community’s art studio. His artwork – paintings and photography – of nature and animals has appeared in the resident fine arts publication, Creative Expressions, and now adorns his apartment’s walls.
He is an active Oakmont Senior Golf League member who also participates in the Carroll Lutheran Village golf tournaments, which supports the community’s Benevolent Care Fund.
Having never seen a Broadway show, he traveled to New York City with other Carroll Lutheran Village residents and residents from its sister community, Lutheran Village at Miller’s Grant in Ellicott City, MD, to see “Wicked.”
Emmons is no stranger to traveling. Before retiring, his profession required him to travel around the country. Now, his lifestyle, at Carroll Lutheran Village, enables him to take large-scale trips.
For example, in 2024, ever the outdoorsman, he packed up his truck and camper, which he keeps at the community, to spend six weeks traveling cross-country, as far west as Arizona and north to Minnesota. He visited his siblings and reconnected with old friends who he hadn’t seen in a long time. With friends and family by his side, he hiked on trails through the Canyons outside of Albuquerque, camped in the mountains of New Mexico and even took a hot air balloon trip through the Genoese River gorge in Letchworth State Park. Emmons also saw dinosaur footprints and achieved a childhood dream of walking with dinosaurs when visiting Clayton State Park in New Mexico.
“This isn’t just a one-shot deal. There are things I still want to see and do. There is a future of traveling and sharing my time with friends and family. Carroll Lutheran Village is now my base of operations for planning these trips,” said Emmons.
Emmons’ next trip is to Croatia with another active resident at Carroll Lutheran Village. In the meantime, he is planning trips to West Virginia so he can visit and hike with more of his siblings, New Mexico to fly in his brother-in-law’s pre-WWII plane and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN.
Now, you might think Emmons has done it all, but he does not see it that way. He keeps pursuing his goals, which include writing a sixth book about his six-week trip and extending that to delivering educational presentations that touch on how active aging is beneficial to health and well-being.
Emmons credits Carroll Lutheran Village with supporting his active aging lifestyle of traveling, painting and writing his books. He is glad he moved to the community when he did.
Read about another resident, Owen McFadden, who keeps himself busy with volunteering and more stories more about CLV’s wonderful residents and team members.
If you are a CLV resident or team member with a story to share, we would love to hear it!
