BARBARA CALVIN RETIRES POST AT CHATEAU GIRARDEAU

Barbara Calvin remembers the morning well. She was leaving Sunday morning services at First Presbyterian Church when fellow church member Leta Bahn gently caught her by the arm.

Bahn asked Calvin if she would be interested in serving on a committee investigating a retirement community for Cape Girardeau. Calvin, who was new to town, decided it would be a good project.

Saying yes that Sunday morning lead Calvin to a 25-year association with one of the nation's most unique retirement communities, Chateau Girardeau.

Calvin is retiring. A reception will be held today from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Chateau. It is open to the public.

Chateau Girardeau has 300 residents in a continuum of care, from individual two-bedroom homes to skilled nursing care. The center has 165 staff members. Among the unique aspects of the Chateau is a "lifetime guarantee." After an initial investment, residents are guaranteed a home and care for the rest of their lives regardless of their ability to pay.

The center sprawls across the hillside at the corner of Independence and Mt. Auburn.

Bahn remembers 1973, when a feasibility study was started. It was a wooded hillside, and Independence was a gravel road.

"I was a volunteer at first," Calvin recalls. "It sort of evolved from there."

The idea for a retirement community actually originated in 1971 with a group from the First Presbyterian Church, which sponsored the feasibility study. Two years later, the study showed a need.

First Presbyterian Church, not wanting responsibility for development of the center, established Cape Retirement Community, Inc., a non-denominational, not-for-profit corporation to develop Chateau Girardeau.

A small office was built with a model apartment inside, but people had to be sold on the idea of a retirement community.

"I had a background in commercial art and advertising," Calvin said. She was recruited to do pre-construction marketing.

Once the center was built and people began moving in, Calvin figured her job was done.

"But after telling people all those years how great it was going to be, I decided I better stick around and make sure it really was great," she said.

She took a job as assistant administrator. In 1984, the original administrator left, and Calvin took over the top spot.

"I have enjoyed it tremendously," she said. "And it is a wonderful service to the community."

Chateau Girardeau has lured countless people from across the country to retire in Cape Girardeau. "We're not a retirement mecca, you know," Calvin said.

But for people with roots in the Midwest or ties to Southeast Missouri, Chateau Girardeau offers plenty of security, care and companionship.

"It is carefree retirement," Calvin said.

The program has received national accreditation twice from the only organization that accredits retirement communities.

And Chateau Girardeau has continued to grow over the years, Calvin said.

Plans are in the works for new projects, including the possibility of an activity and wellness center. The proposal calls for a building with personal exercise equipment, a swimming pool and an auditorium.

Calvin said she's been administrator long enough. "It's time to let someone else with fresh ideas take over," she said. "I will miss it very much."

New director Sondra Coughlin has already been hired and has been working with Calvin. She was administrator of a similar retirement community in Anaheim, Calif.

"She has a wonderful background and experience," Calvin said. "She was born and raised in the Midwest and wanted to come back."

Calvin said retirement for her will mean travels with husband, Judge Ed Calvin, who is retiring also.

"We intend to live here," Calvin said, gesturing out of her office to the Chateau Girardeau she helped develop. "It's the place to be."