Park House Residents Profiled For Retirement Living Television
By Martha Slater

Park House director Juli Reiderer and the 13 residents of the Park House in Rochester had a hectic and exciting day Wednesday, March 7 when a TV crew spent eight hours there filming a segment for a show on a new television station called Retirement Living Television.

Geared for people 55 and over living on the east coast and in New England states, the channel is based in Maryland, and can be seen locally on Comcast CN8, Monday through Friday from noon-4 p.m. and on DirecTV Channel 364 Monday though Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Dick Krantz, the producer of the segment, interviewed the residents and hired a Vermont-based camera crew to handle the technical aspects of filming the piece. The crew filmed activities and interviewed folks at the Park House for eight hours and also ate lunch with residents in the dining room. During the filming, the residents gave their first performance of a song they wrote under the direction of Dorothy Robson this winter, with accompaniment on piano that day by Julie Marsh.

"We don’t yet know when the segment will be shown but they’ll let us know and we’ll also get a DVD of the piece and arrange a showing at the Park house," Reiderer told The Herald. She noted that the Park House was chosen for the TV show to represent an example of shared senior housing. It was recommended by Margaret Harmon, a former executive director of National Shared Housing, who was instrumental in getting Park House up and running.

Park House has been on the corner of the park in the former Rochester Inn building on Main Street in Rochester since 1991. Currently, there are 13 residents and several rooms are still available. Not only an elder housing facility, it has become a part of the community, hosting many community events such as the monthly brown bag concerts, dinners, etc.

"We’re very excited about the show and looking forward to seeing it," said Reiderer, who became director at Park House in January 2006, taking over from long-time director Judy Pierce. "It was a very busy day!"

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