The weekend also highlighted another way residents at Cedarhurst of Tesson Heights have turned an idea into an experience all their own. On Friday evening, eight members of the community’s resident-led cheer team took the main stage at Emerson Central Fields. In front of the Balloon Glow crowd, the team performed two cheers before dancing to “Dancing Queen,” bringing plenty of energy and an enthusiastic response from the crowd. Karen is a member of the cheer team herself. She also serves as a Resident Ambassador at Tesson Heights, and adventure has long been part of her story. She and her husband, Michael, spent six years participating in the Senior Olympics, competing in bowling, shuffleboard, miniature golf and bocce ball. Her story captured plenty of attention throughout the weekend, too. Karen shared her excitement about the upcoming flight with all three St. Louis television stations, FOX2, KSDK and KMOV, as cameras followed the story leading up to Saturday’s race.
Her flight capped a weekend in St. Louis built around a fitting theme for Cedarhurst: Where Dreams Take Flight. Throughout the Great Forest Park Balloon Glow and Race, Cedarhurst invited visitors to think about dreams of their own. At the Cedarhurst booth, guests wrote something they hoped to experience or accomplish on colorful hot-air-balloon cards and added them to a growing Dream Wall.
By the end of the weekend, 300 dreams covered the wall.
Some were ambitious. Others were wonderfully simple. Each represented something meaningful to the person who stopped long enough to write it down. More than 1,000 people visited the Cedarhurst booth Friday evening alone, part of an estimated 90,000 people who attended the two-day event.
But when Saturday arrived and it was finally time to climb aboard, Karen did not hesitate.
There were no signs of nerves as she climbed into the basket and prepared for takeoff. Her son Johnathan, who also lives at Cedarhurst of Tesson Heights, was there to watch, along with fellow residents and members of the Tesson Heights team.
For Cedarhurst, the idea behind the wall mirrored something happening every day across its communities.
Then, the balloon lifted from the ground.
“Dream Come TRUE is about learning our residents’ stories, their passions and the things that are meaningful to them, and then finding ways to bring those experiences to life,” said Ryan Davis, Cedarhurst Corporate Communications Manager. “Every dream is different. It’s about creating meaningful experiences and memories for our residents and their families.”
Karen waved to everyone below before turning her attention to a view she had never experienced before.
Her favorite part?
Seeing Forest Park from above.
“The pond was so pretty,” Karen recalled.
CEDARHURST SENIOR LIVING | FALL FLOURISH 2026 7
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