Senior Living in Sedro-Woolley, WA – Gateway to the North Cascades

Sedro-Woolley, WA is located on the western edge of the Cascade Mountain Range, about 65 miles north of Seattle and 30 miles south of Bellingham. The visitor center, located on Highway 20, has lots of information about both the North Cascades National Park and the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Chain-saw, life-size wooden carvings of animals, loggers in vintage wear, and varnished folks from all walks of life stand in front of shops.

Sedro-Woolley is also a great place for senior living, with medical facilities close by, many senior housing communities, and a busy senior center. PeaceHealth United General Hospital has a pharmacy on site, and many physicians practice in the PeaceHealth Medical Group. Skagit Regional Health and Skagit Valley Hospital are in nearby Mount Vernon, with air ambulance flights to Harborview Hospital in Seattle if the worst happens.

People living in their own homes can take advantage of home health caregivers as they need them while enjoying the seasons and activities. Summers are usually warm and less dry than the rest of Western Washington, and winters are milder than expected so close to the Cascade Mountain foothills. The Skagit River serves as a border.

Senior Center

The Sedro-Woolley Senior Center offers more just than just card games, although people play Pinochle on Monday afternoons. $2.00 in the pot gets table time and refreshments. A variety of crafting activities are available, from ceramics to needlework, and a crafts club meets every week. SHIBA volunteers are there to answer Medicare and insurance-related questions, foot care is offered on selected days by appointment, and for the more active, exercise and Wii bowling are offered several times a week. Musicians play and sing on a regular basis. In the month of March, local performers include the Old Time Fiddlers, Paul Denning, The Esquires, and the Hometowners. The Lunchbox Radio Hour features a local announcer from the Skagit Valley College radio station KSVU, Lee Bo the Tarheel. For those who want to learn something new, ASL classes meet on Friday mornings.

There are regular support meetings held at the Senior Center for caregivers of people living with Alzheimer’s, as well as activities planned for those living with the disease. On the third Friday of every month, the Alzheimer’s Café is held at a local restaurant in Sedro-Woolley, the Magnolia Grill, with live music, companionship, good food, and fun. It’s open to people who are living with Alzheimer’s, the caregivers, family, and friends. The March for Meals fundraiser benefits Meals on Wheels and includes 4 separate bowling events.

By the way, don’t forget the food, both for daily lunches and the Meals on Wheels program! Every day the Senior Center is open, hot meals are served, with special offerings for holidays. For example, the menu for March includes a lot of spring offerings. Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo with King Cake cupcakes for Mardi Gras will make the lunch bunch feel like they’re in New Orleans, Pub Battered Fish with JoJo’s and Coleslaw will bring back memories at the waterfront, and St. Patty’s Day Casserole with a Pistachio Dessert will celebrate the wearin’ o’the green. The March for Meals fundraiser benefits Meals on Wheels and includes 4 separate bowling events.

For You and/or the Grandkids

Activities abound if the grandchildren come to visit. The Sedro-Woolley School District provides a comprehensive education from special pre-kindergarten programs through high school, including transfer opportunities to Skagit Valley College in nearby Mount Vernon and the Northwest Career and Technical Academy. The Central Skagit Sedro-Woolley Library offers fun and learning year-round. Check their website for the location, hours, and activities, as there’s always something new. Riverfront Park, on the south bank of the Skagit River, has more than 50 picnic tables, a covered picnic area, two shelters with barbecue pits, RV and tent camping, and a boat launch. Bingham Park, conveniently located near the roundabouts on Cook Road and Highway 20, has an upgraded playground and RV parking with utility connections. The Rotary Club built a skate park behind City Hall that hosts competitions if they (or you) are so inclined.

History and Fun Facts

Early settler Mortimer Cook, (1884), named his settlement “Bug” because of the mosquitoes along the river. His wife and later settlers didn’t like that and changed the name to Cedro, the Spanish word for cedar. Somewhere along the way, Cedro became Sedro and moved to higher ground.

During the lumber boom in the late 1890s, Nelson Bennett laid his track from Fairhaven (now southern Bellingham) to the new location of Sedro. The Fairhaven and Southern Railroad – known as the F & S – was completed a month after Washington gained statehood in 1899, and the F & S Grade Road still exists today.

Meanwhile, railroad developer Phillip Woolley built a town just north of Sedro, where two other railroads crossed the F & S. He set his sawmill, the Skagit River Lumber and Shingle Mill, close by on the Skagit River, and named his settlement after himself, Woolley.

Montana mining magnate Charles X. Larrabee built a coal mine close by, but the ore was only good for coking coal. The mining settlement Cokedale became part of Sedro.

Rival towns Sedro and Woolley joined in 1898 to become Sedro-Woolley.

In May 1922, Al G. Barnes circus elephant Tusko escaped from his railroad car. During his stampede, he demolished fences, laundry lines, trees, and a Model T Ford.

An episode of the paranormal reality show “Ghost Hunters” aired in 2007, centered around events at Northern State Hospital, and the complex itself is listed as a Haunted Place.

Actor Chad Lindberg, who grew up in nearby Mount Vernon, hosted 4 paranormal tours around the Sedro-Woolley Museum in December 2016. The name of the weekend tour? “The Spirits of Christmas Past”.

Focus on Northern State

Sedro-Woolley was known as the home of Northern State Hospital from 1911 to 1973. It became one of the largest mental hospitals in Washington State. At its largest capacity, over 2200 patients were housed there.

The master plan for the hospital complex was designed by the famous architectural landscape firm Olmsted Brothers, and the original buildings are on the National Register for Historic Places.

1500 patients are buried in the cemetery there, but there was only one tombstone at the time the hospital closed. An additional 204 canisters of unclaimed ashes were transferred to Hawthorne Cemetery in nearby Mount Vernon.

Onward… to the Future

The 225-acre site is being transformed by the Port of Skagit into the SWIFT (Sedro-Woolley Innovation for Tomorrow) Center. Some current tenants include Pioneer Human Services, a substance-abuse rehabilitation center; Telecare, a mental-health treatment facility; and Cascade Job Corps, who provide job training to 16-to-24- year-old students in a variety of occupations. Sedron Technologies (formerly Janicki Bioenergy) plans to construct its headquarters and manufacturing plan there.

Janicki Industries, high-tech manufacturing, and engineering company is based in Sedro-Woolley. NASA is one of their many clients, and Janicki is looking forward to the next generation by partnering with local schools in STEM activities.

Options for Senior Living

A wide variety of options exist for seniors in the Sedro-Woolley area, including home health care, assisted living, residential care homes, memory care, and skilled nursing facilities. Home health care agencies in the area include Visiting Angels, Home Instead, and ResCare. There are several residential care homes, as well as memory care and skilled nursing facilities.

Country Meadow Village, located in Sedro-Woolley, provides assisted living services in a rural retirement community. It is located adjacent to the PeaceHealth United General Medical Center complex, very near a local church, and has its own bus for transportation to activities and events near the area. Some of the fun events include Home Again Storytime, where seniors partner with 5-year-olds to read stories and play games; regularly scheduled holiday parties, and their very own consignment shop, Kathy’s Kloset. At the annual Christmas party in 2018, Country Meadow Village residents were able to donate $2500 from funds raised from their summer barbecue, holiday bazaar and buffet, and Kathy’s Kloset.

Residential care homes provide individualized service to adults in smaller groups. These services can be a boon to those seniors who no longer can live by themselves, but do not need 24-hour skilled nursing care. These homes provide such services as housing, dining, medication management, and administration, as well as help with housekeeping, laundry, and other activities of daily living (ADLs).

There are 3 Ark Adult Family Homes located near one another in Sedro-Woolley. Each one accommodates 6 adult residents and can assist residents with a variety of ADL’s, as well as providing individualized care, entertainment, exercise, music therapy, pet therapy, outdoor trips. Transportation to and from doctor’s and other appointments, shopping, and religious worship services is a plus.

Birchview Memory Care is a community located in Sedro-Woolley, on a quiet, residential street with a park-like setting. Lodging, well-balanced meals and snacks, 24-hour staff and nursing supervision, and caregiving assistance are designed to help individuals living with dementia/Alzheimer’s.

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