CHENOA - While Mary Bash relaxed in her room Saturday at the Meadows Mennonite Retirement Community, a celebration of the community's 85th birthday took place on the grounds nearby.

She celebrated her own 85th birthday last month with chocolate cake in the nursing home where she has lived for a few months. Before that she lived in an independent living duplex on-site.

Always prominently displayed in Bash's home, wherever it may be, is an extensive collection of Indian arrowheads she gathered as a child with her brothers as they walked home from grade school in Chenoa.

"There's plenty of walking behind me," she said of the framed arrowheads that represented many childhood memories.

Outside on the campus grounds, more than 100 guests gathered to see the dedication of a new grove of trees planted as part of the 85th birthday celebration. Many of the trees were in memory of former residents, including Jack Roberts, who lived at the community from 1996 until his death this summer.

"He loved watching the farming here," said daughter Barb Hathway of Normal about the facility's pastoral setting. "He felt very peaceful here."

Hathway and her mother, Evelyn Roberts, now 92 and living in Peoria, attended the first meeting of the Alzheimer's support group at the Meadows center in 1996.

"It was a big help - lots of people need to hear stories (of how to cope with Alzheimer's disease)," said Hathway. She was an active member until her father, who suffered from the disease, died. She still attends periodically.

Mary Ann Watkins, director of development, said the ceremonies Saturday were part of a series of celebratory events this year which included a fundraiser and publishing a cookbook. A wall of commemorative photos will be completed later this year.

Founded in 1923, as the Mennonite Old People's Home by the Central and Defenseless Mennonite Conferences, it now has 109 nursing home residents and 44 people living in cottage-style duplexes. The original 1923 building now houses administrative offices, said Watkins, who as worked at the center for seven years.

For many residents, including the late Dora Capron, the complex became home, said her daughter Mary Ann Ekena. When her mother visited for family celebrations, and became tired, she would say, "It's time for me to go home," meaning the Meadows Mennonite Retirement Community.

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Meadows history

1901: Discussion begins on non-profit home for the elderly.

1919: Board of directors for Mennonite Old People's Home selected.

1922; Construction of home begins.

1923: First residents arrive on April 23; dedication service with 2,000 attending.

1952: Shelter care wing opens with 34 beds.

1964: Construction begins on a 14-bed nursing care unit, six shelter care rooms, kitchen and Laundry.

1976: Construction begins on 94 intermediate care beds.

1979: SHOW BUS begins service to McLean and Livingston counties.

1982: The Campus Center and Burt Village built with funds from Ethelyn C. Burt Trust.

1991: North Court Village opens.

1999: SHOW BUS expands to Ford and Iroquois counties in 1992, to Kankakee County in 1999 and to DeWitt County in 2007.

1997: The Arthur and Berdena King Alzheimer's Unit completed.

2003: $3.5 million phase II renovation completed.

2007: Medicare certification granted; assisted living in Normal approved.

2008: 85th anniversary celebration year.