Huron Expositor, 2016-07-20, Page 3In the front of Maplewood Manor is the owner, Sam Riad and the establishment's new
general manager. Recently the Maplewood Manor was honoured with a national award
for excellence.
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Wednesday, July 20, 2016 • Huron Expositor 3
Maplewood Manor one of the best in the country
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
When you become victori-
ous locally it can be a corking
booster to one's ego, imagine
taking it to the next level by
being the best in the country.
The owner of Maplewood
Manor, Sam Riad knows all
about that feeling -times two.
Last month the Maplewood
Manor was awarded at Toron-
to's Cambridge Suites with the
Most Outstanding Retirement
Living Management Team in
Canada for 2016. Out of the
four awards given, Riad walked
away with two awards. Under
the umbrella 'Comfort of Liv-
ing; which Riad owns three
other senior facilities. The oth-
ers are located in Orillia,
Southampton and Dresden, a
ventured accomplishment he's
managed to operate for the last
five years. In Southampton, the
residency known as Hampton
Court Retirement Home also
joined Seaforth in the limelight
as they won the Most Out-
standing Service Provider in
Canada in 2016.
Seaforth is the smallest out
of the four with 22 spots in use
of the 32 -person capacity. It's
an extraordinary feat Riad said,
considering the establishment
had been virtually abandoned
for five years. It took numerous
tradesmen alongside 60-70
labourers working around the
clock, 24 hours a day and
seven days a week for four
months straight to complete
the restoration.
"We had to rip everything
apart, ceiling, flooring, dry -
walling, all the washrooms, all
the bedrooms and carpets.
Even the basement was full of
water, it was a nightmare," Riad
told the Expositor in the front
entrance of his updated estab-
lishment where his new award
hung on the wall. He also
added the renovations cost $1
million -$2 million.
Riad has worked year -by -
year to construct the building
until it's in tip-top shape for
the seniors that he considers
being family. All that hard
work the Maplewood Manor
has done, through the revamp-
ing and the services provided
by the staff has paid off. It's
still all surreal for him, "I
almost had a heart attack," he
said laughing about winning
the two national awards.
Upon receiving the email a
couple months back, it made
him proud, not just because of
the recognition, but the
method that the winners had
been selected. He said the
organization that chooses the
recipients is called Seniors
Housing Canada. They send
out "secret shoppers" that
posed as children that have
parents who are interested in
potentially living there. They
did this routine for one year
and visited at various times. It
showed Riad that the 35,000
square feet, Seaforth establish-
ment provides the same ser-
vice no matter what time or
day of the week it is.
Joining the award winning
team is Colleen Conlin from
Windsor Ont., she comes pre-
pared with 25 years experi-
ence. She will be filling the
position as the new general
manager. She said she is pre-
pared to give her all at Maple-
wood, which means she's pre-
pared both emotionally and
physically.
"I'm a good hugger, if they
are not (into that), I step back
and give them their own
space," Conlin said July 14.
"I grew up in a small town
I'm used to a smaller commu-
nity, I think they are a lot nicer
to work with because every-
body knows everybody."
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