Tina Brumage, 82, thought it would be a one-time thing when she and two friends at Brookdale Canyon Lakes were pulled in to film a broadcast. 

That was back in 2015, when Joe Green, then the resident program coordinator, had the idea to start a show.

Since then, “This Week at Canyon Lakes” has aired its 200th episode and will be celebrating its 10th year in June.

More than a dozen residents now take part in the weekly broadcast in various capacities. 

Brumage helps with the teleprompter, and Art Swoboda, 97, is known for his “Words of Wisdom” segment in each episode.

Others interview staff and residents and report on events for the week, and several members take on the role of hosting the show.

Green, now executive director at Brookdale Canyon Lakes, directs and edits the broadcasts. He estimated that they spend about four hours filming and he spends two hours editing the videos, which are about 20 minutes long.

“He makes us all look young,” one of the group members joked. 

The group has a weekly production meeting to brainstorm for the week’s episode. It’s also a time to come together as a community, and it’s one of Brumage’s favorite parts of the process. 

Over the years, “This Week at Canyon Lakes” has seen a lot of changes. It started back up earlier this year after a hiatus due to staffing changes and the pandemic.

Brumage recalled that they previously used cue cards or held papers on their laps. Now she runs an iPad teleprompter using a remote control. The group now has its own studio with a curtain backdrop and lighting as well as improved microphones. Members once visited a local news station to see how they did things.

“It’s grown in professionalism, I would say,” said Ginger Vetrano, 93. She’s been in touch with other Brookdale communities and doesn’t know of any others that have a broadcast like this.

The group has won two senior living awards, Argentum’s Best of the Best and McKnight’s Excellence in Technology awards, both in 2019.

Community broadcast

Their news broadcast is important to the community, but also important to the members who put it together. More than 55,000 people have seen the broadcasts, which are available on the video platform Vimeo, Green said. 

Residents, friends, family and members of the Canyon Lakes community regularly tune in. New episodes are posted every Sunday and are shown at Brookdale Canyon Lakes on Mondays, can be found linked on Facebook, and email notifications for new episodes are available. 

“We announce upcoming events, and I think that’s important for the new residents. They seem to be overwhelmed with what’s on paper, and hearing it helps,” said Ruth Ganser, 91. 

Marijke Kempees-Cook, 75, said the broadcast offers health tips, too, like “how to deal with … all things that affect us as aging people.”

The residents love Swoboda’s weekly “Words of Wisdom,” which come from different famous and historical figures. He started with the alphabet – for example, W was for “worried,” and Swoboda pulled quotes from various celebrities on the subject. Now, he’s moved on to wise words from U.S. presidents. 

“Not only do you get information, you get history, but you also get stability, because the program (runs) every week,” said Flora May Goodale, soon to be 90. 

“If I didn’t have the (“Word of Wisdom”), I’d probably be sitting here all day, working puzzles and reading,” Swoboda said. “This keeps me going.”

The others enjoy their various roles as well. “One thing I love that we do is interviewing the staff or residents because I learn so much about the different people here that are fascinating,” Kempees-Cook said.

For Goodale, the chance to participate in a group and express opinions also has been important. It “allows you to bring out of yourself what you don’t know is in there,” she said.

Green noted that the broadcast helps to “dispel the myth of aging and what seniors can do or are interested in doing,” he said. The group has filmed in various locations, from Alaska to Panama. 

The show’s standing introduction features an upbeat montage of group members zip lining, dancing, rock climbing, popping a cork off a bottle of bubbly, and reporting from various locations, such as a cruise ship, Hawaii, from the top of a ski lift and downtown New York City.

Marijke Kempees-Cook, from left, Joyce Cowgill and John Johnson hosted the 200th episode of “This Week at Canyon Lakes,” which aired Nov. 10. 

| Still image from “This Week at Canyon Lakes” video

Sharing the laughter

None of the group members had previous broadcasting experience, but that doesn’t stop them from putting together their production – and having a lot of fun along the way. 

There’s a script to follow along with for each episode, but there’s also a fair amount of ad-libbing. Every once in a while, they’ll even include bloopers in their episodes. 

“But we don’t do it on purpose,” Brumage said. “Well, maybe we do.” Everyone had a laugh at that. 

She was especially pleased with how their Halloween episode, typically a spoof, turned out this year. It included costumes, joke interviews, spooky backgrounds and a mock electoral debate.

The group also was particularly fond of an episode featuring an April Fool’s prank. In it, Swoboda launched a rideshare service to rival that of Uber using only a golf cart. The service’s name? Unter, to “unter-cut their prices.”

During the episode, Swoboda ran through a stop sign and close to a pond, driving erratically.

“Tina was kind of green when she jumped out, ran for her life,” he recalled. “We were going in the pond. And then I told people … I was negotiating with the city to drive on the shoulder of the road to the airport.”

That’s when they staged a suitcase falling off the back of the golf cart with a sign declaring “April Fool’s.”

“When we gather … we’re always laughing. It’s good for us,” Brumage said.  

“Laughing is good for the soul,” added John Johnson, 91.