Honors the Aaron family Oct. 14

By Deb Silverthorn

The Legacy Senior Communities (LSC) will recognize seven decades of true legacy, of generations of support, of care to seniors and of dedication of a community to its own at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Omni Hotel Dallas. Yes! Event. The occasion will benefit The Legacy Senior Communities’ Financial Assistance Fund and will celebrate and honor longtime devotees Carol and Steve Aaron and their family.

“Since our founding 70 years ago, The Legacy has set the gold standard locally and nationally for innovation and excellence in compassionate care and service,” said Melissa Orth, president and CEO of The Legacy Senior Communities.

Orth is proud of The Legacy’s commitment to the community and ability to be responsive to its needs.

“Though our programs, services and campus communities have changed over time to meet the evolving needs of seniors, our organizational core values and commitment to seniors, their families and the Jewish community remain steadfast,” she added.

The Aaron family has played a central role in the development of The Legacy Senior Communities through their leadership in both volunteerism and philanthropy.

“Carol and Steve Aaron have provided passion, vision, engagement, advocacy and financial support over the years,” said Orth. “Rarely does one supporter provide all of these critical needs in significant ways, but that is definitely the case with the Aaron family. We would not be the organization we are today without their contributions. That is why it is so fitting that the Legacy Midtown Park campus has been named the Carol and Steve Aaron Family Campus.”

For 70 years, beginning at the Garland campus of Golden Acres Dallas Home for Jewish Aged, the organization has always been forward-thinking, never resting on its laurels. Today, The Legacy Willow Bend, which opened in 2008, is home to 290 residents; The Legacy Midtown Park, open since the spring of 2020, is home to 330residents. Both locations house independent living, assisted living, memory care and health care units. Another nearly 250 clients are served daily by The Legacy at Home.

“We have two state-of-the-art facilities, a vibrant home health program and hospice care. It requires an ongoing philanthropic effort,” said Fraser Marcus, LSC board chair. “Quality and commitment are longstanding. While we change and evolve, we are steadfast in remaining rooted in our tradition.

“I remember visiting my grandparents at Golden Acres and being a young Boy Scout and, with my Temple Emanu-El classmates, going there to volunteer and to host Purim carnivals,” said Marcus, who has had generations of family members who were and are residents of Golden Acres and The Legacy’s entities. “Today, we still have volunteers in all of our spaces, we have children from throughout the community visiting and we have people making connections.”

Marcus’ memories include visiting Fannie and Ike Sablosky, of blessed memory, among the organization’s initial founders. Today, in the hallway leading up to the doors of The Legacy Midtown Park’s Max and Nolan Glazer Family Sanctuary, is the office of The Legacy’s chaplain, Rabbi Michael Tevye Cohen, a gift of the Ike and Fannie Sablosky Foundation as well as stained-glass windows, commissioned in 1952, of the Sablosky Synagogue on the Golden Acres Campus.

The Aaron family

Carol’s grandmother Anna Bierner Weinberg, an aunt, uncle and cousin and Steve’s mother Sylvia Aaron, all of blessed memory, were all residents of the Golden Acres campus. Carol and Steve share memories of visiting them and so many of Dallas’ Jewish community leaders of the day.

“There are so many who put time and energy into The Legacy properties and programs,” says Carol Aaron, who has long sat on the board of The LSC and its parts. “Golden Acres was a wonderful beginning; in 2008 Willow Bend opened; and, three years ago, Midtown Park joined the ‘family.’ Each space was a vision that, with dedication and support from many, has become a reality.”

Carrying the torch of community leadership through many organizations, the spirit of l’dor v’dor, they share the example of community care, leadership and action down the generations.

Carol and Steve Aaron have five children: Todd, Nicole, Angela, Erica and Clay. Their family tree’s branches, extend three generations beyond Carol and Steve to Dawn and Todd Aaron, their children Morgan, Bennett (Amanda) and Molly, and Bennett and Amanda’s children Annie and Emmy; Nicole (Dallas) Bessant and daughter Taylor Blue; Angela (Doug) French and children Sam, Sydney and Max Horowitz, Erica Robins and her children Randal, Blake and Kate; and Clay (Tracy) Aaron and their children Reid and Davis.

Helping those in need is a touchpoint of the Aaron family and a tenet of Jewish life. With their assistance, every year The Legacy Senior Communities Foundation, with support from the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, provides more than $1 million in charitable care, including resident support and thousands of hours of personal assistance services provided by The Legacy at Home grant program.

“No one knows who ‘has’ and who ‘has not.’ We just help as many as we can with respect and dignity but there are so many more who need our support. This annual event makes all the difference in how many seniors we can assist,” said Carol

The 2023 Yes! Event will feature cocktails and dinner catered by Simcha Kosher Catering, music and a live auction with items including Dallas Mavericks floor seats, jewelry from the collection of Dolce & Gabbana and more.

“Celebrating our 70th anniversary is an exciting milestone and it is fitting that our event will benefit our financial assistance program,” said Andrea Statman, director of development, The Legacy Senior Communities.

She added, “The Aarons are an integral part of our history. Without their support and passion, we could not have so significantly impacted the lives of countless Jewish seniors and their families over the decades.”

Yes! Event co-chairs, many with generations of connections to The Legacy’s history, are Barbi and Scott Cohen, Sandy and Howard Donsky, Janelle and Larry Friedman, Linda and Dave Garner, Marion and Bennett Glazer, Amy and Harlan Korenvaes, Stephanie and Dan Prescott, Barbara and Shelly Stein, Jody and Kyle Stein, Gavin Susman and Lisa and Mark Zale.