By Meghan Streit
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Beverly Rathje has been collecting photos and mementos in scrapbooks since she was a child. She now has close to 30 volumes documenting her life and her family’s history—from photos of her parents, wedding in 1920 to recent  snapshots of her many nieces and nephews.

So when Rathje moved to Sedgebrook in September 2005, she naturally began assembling a scrapbook documenting the lives of her new friends and neighbors, making her a kind of de facto community historian.

“I’m a keeper,” Rathje says.

Scrapbook documents community’s growth
Indeed, Rathje’s Sedgebrook scrapbook is full of photos, invitations, cards, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia that demonstrate how the community has grown since opening in 2005.  Beginning with her and her husband’s first Priority List trip to Fox Run, an  Erickson community in Novi, Mich., in 2004; to Sedgebrook’s second anniversary this past summer; and dozens of parties, trips, holidays, and special  events in between—Rathje has captured it all in her scrapbook.

“Every now and then I go through [my scrapbooks], and it brings a smile to my face,” Rathje says. “That’s what this is all about.”

A warm and outgoing “people person,” Rathje is also the chairman of the resident newsletter committee. The Sedgebrook Times, which is published once a month, documents special events, community milestones, and resident  and staff achievements. Rathje writes a recurring column called “Know Your Neighbor,” which features one resident every month.

“I try to become involved,” Rathje says. “It’s working with people that I enjoy.”

Introducing new neighbors
She says people are sometimes initially timid about being interviewed, but that everyone has come to look forward to reading the columns for a chance to learn more about friends and neighbors.