Bernie Dulas, second from right, helped coach and keep time for TRYathlon team members cranking their arms during a training session at Heritage Pointe Senior Living on Wednesday morning. The physical challenge program is just one of the ways Dulas volunteers at Heritage Pointe.

MARSHALL — Mornings are busy at Heritage Pointe Senior Living, Bernie Dulas said.

On Wednesday, a group of residents were ready to start their day by training for Heritage Pointe’s TRYathlon challenge. Team members lined up for a relay of arm and leg cranking exercises, and all the while Dulas was there keeping time and giving encouragement.

“I try to cheer everybody on,” he said.

“It gives me a purpose to do some of this stuff,” Dulas said of volunteering. “It gives me a chance to get out of bed and go to work.”

Recently, Dulas was honored for his volunteer work at Heritage Pointe. Care Providers of Minnesota, a statewide association, named him Volunteer of the Year at their annual convention in November. Dulas was invited to speak at the convention, and was presented with the award.

Sara Dolan, executive director of Heritage Pointe, said Dulas is someone who is always thinking of ways to bring residents together, whether it’s through activities, guest speakers or clubs.

“He takes that initiative on himself,” she said. “I think it gives him that spark of purpose, too.”

The Volunteer of the Year award recognizes people who have contributed to the quality of life or work environment in places like assisted living or other care facilities, Dolan said.

Dulas said he’s tried to stay active in his community ever since he moved to Marshall in the 1960s.

“Most of the time that I’ve lived in Marshall, I’ve been volunteering for different things,” he said. When he moved into Heritage Pointe in 2022, it felt natural to get involved there as well.

Dulas has been active with Heritage Pointe’s challenge programs, including the TRYathlon. The TRYathlon is a physical team challenge organized by Lifespark, the senior services provider Heritage Pointe is part of. The Heritage Pointe Dragonflies compete against teams at other facilities in Minnesota, measuring the number of total miles they walk and pedal in relay events.

“We try to get as many people involved as we can with that,” he said. “They’re pretty well committed. We even practice on Saturday mornings.”

Dulas said helping lead the team meant being like a coach, and paying attention to where team members’ energy levels were at, and how much activity they could do.

In addition to the Lifespark challenge programs, Dulas volunteers with the men’s club at Heritage Pointe, and helped organize programs for residents like the “Purple University.”

“We would get different documentaries, about different things that happened in the U.S. and around the world,” he said. For a while they also had a “Travel Channel” program learning about different places around the world.

Dolan said Dulas also volunteers to help residents at Heritage Pointe.

“He enjoys helping others. He’s been a good resource to residents in memory care,” she said. Dolan said Dulas also led a prayer group, and volunteered to bring Communion to residents.

Dolan said nominations for the 2025 Volunteer of the Year were submitted last spring. To support Dulas’s nomination, Dolan said Heritage Pointe staff gathered letters of recommendation from staff members, Bernie’s family, and even from Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes.

Dulas said learning he had been named Volunteer of the Year came as a surprise this summer.

“We were doing bingo down at the memory care unit,” Dulas said. During some announcements, “All of a sudden, I thought I heard my name.”

Then Dulas saw that his children were gathered in the room for the news. “I figured this had to be something serious,” he said.

“The smile was amazing to see on his face,” Dolan said of the surprise.

Heritage Pointe staff and TRYathlon team members said the news wasn’t a surprise to them.

“Bernie does so much,” one team member said Wednesday.

Dulas got the chance to attend the Care Providers of Minnesota award ceremony in November, and give a short speech.

Dulas said it’s been a positive experience getting to volunteer and work with people at Heritage Pointe, as well as Dolan and community life director Laurie Ourada.

“I enjoy living here. I enjoy the people that are here,” he said. “I enjoy every minute of it.”