Category: newsletter

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

April showers did indeed bring May flowers and we used the beautiful blooms to fill some colorful watering cans for our mantel. The arrangements made by Marjorie Taylor and Elisabeth Sommers were just gorgeous and certainly added a Springtime look to our recreation room.

The beautiful poises seemed to attract lots of butterflies which filled one whole wall of our room. We thank Alex Salmin and Paul Trouve for helping us to make them.

Day guest Catherine Budd helped us craft some pretty pink and white peonies for our hallway as did Angela Hampson and Ellen Anders. Also attractive were the daisy wreaths done by Jackie Johnston and Charlotte Hoffman.

May of course is the month in which we celebrate Mother’s Day and we shared our memories of our moms throughout the month.

At our word games and reminiscing program we talked about cloth diapers, mixing baby’s formula and sterilizing baby bottles. Lois Martucci recalled how we would test the temperature of the formula, before offering it to our baby, by shaking a few drops on our wrist.

We also challenged ourselves by recalling the names of famous moms and with other word games that focused on moms. Evelyn Grasso reeled off the final words to complete many of our ‘Momisms’, such as act your age, your room looks like a pig sty and the ever popular, wait until your father gets home.

Our volunteer piano player, Bob, gave a nice salute to our ladies playing all of their favorite songs including many with women’s names in the title. Philip Cantone knew them all and sang along with Bob as did Josephine Gross and Cara Manzella.

Mom’s trivia bingo was a hit with Tina Schillings and Ruth Beal. Both were fantastic at answering our questions and both won some nice prizes for their efforts.

We did put our moms, and a few dads too, to work as we mashed, measured and mixed the ingredients for our Black Bottom Banana Cake. We were happy to have the help of Antonia Levato, Lucy Palazzo and Larry Judson who have some great cooking skills. Our cake was simply delicious and we have promised ourselves to make it again soon.

The Friday before Mother’s Day we were joined by Vivian and John, a cute senior couple, who sing and dance. They gave a great show which was thoroughly enjoyed by Fran Skotko and Madeline Pedota. Celia Wysocki, Philip Cantone and Bobbie Smith enjoyed dancing with me during their program and we felt we gave Vivian and John some stiff competition with our fancy footwork. At the close of our show, all of our moms were given their choice of some lovely pillowcases made by Debra Curry and Mary Schordine’s daughter-in-law Jennifer.

Entertaining us also this month was Julie Franco who sang all our favorite songs from the 50’s and 60’s. Julie shared her mic with Joan Corbett, Cara Manzella and Ruth Beal all of whom sang beautifully. Julie also led us in singing “Happy Birthday” to Millie Verderosa and I enjoyed dancing to “Sixteen Candles” with her. Milllie reminded me during our dance that she’d be having a few more than 16 candles on her cake this year as she turns 94.

Bowling was a fun activity that we enjoyed throughout the month. Larry Judson had the highest score of the month, bowling a 240. Lots of spares and strikes too from Joe Gold, Robert Baumann and Bobbie Smith, all of whom had games over 200 during May.

Ending our month was a great sing along with guitarist George Missali. George’s great personality shines through all of his songs which are always lively and upbeat. Great singing by all, including Anna Wanamaker, Jackie Johnston and Celia Wysoki.

Congratulations to Larry Judson who was our bingo winner for the month of May. Larry scored 68 wins, out beating some true competition from Gilda Messina, Lee Kulakowski and Lois Martucci.

Congratulations Larry!

The Month of Brilliance
We’re now in the month of June
The trees are all pretty and green
And lots of flowers are in bloom
Our thanks to the one who reigns supreme
We often gaze out of a window
And marvel at the beautiful blue sky
Enjoying the magical sun and its glow
Caressing each bird flying by
Each night we kneel and pray
Grateful to the one above
For blessing us with another day
Filled with hope, happiness, and love
By: Tina Schillings

For your convenience, our newsletter and recreation calendar can be found on our website;
www.mcpeaks.com or our facebook page, www.facebook.com/McPeaksAssistedLiving.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

April showers and even a small snow storm did not dampen our spirits this past month. Instead, we focused on the promise of spring and its biggest holiday Easter.

The mantel in our recreation room suddenly sprouted green grass and was filled with adorable Easter bunny baskets made by Jackie Johnston and Antonia Levato. Our long eared friends looked so happy they made us smile every time we looked at them. Our room also took on an Easter look thanks to the clever crafting of Celia Wysocki and Paul Trouve. Their colorful Easter egg cutouts were hung on our wall and perfectly complimented our sunny bunnies.

The huge eggs that lined our hallway were decorated with care by Lois Martucci, Millie Verderosa and Bernadette Lawlor. They looked sensational as did the baby bunnies that were made by Angela Hampson and Marjorie Taylor.

With all our cute bunnies on display, it was only natural for us to engage in some bunny bingo. Our Easter themed game had us recalling the names of famous bunnies, holiday songs and spring flowers. Madeline Pedota and Tina Schillings were great at the game and won some nice prizes for their winning cards. Elizabeth Sommers was a winner too last month. Elisabeth won a little plush robin when her ticket was selected at our monthly raffle. Elisabeth thought the little fellow was just adorable.

Easter eggs were in abundance as we played our reminiscing game. Guests, including Larry Judson and Charlotte Hoffman, took turns selecting colorful plastic eggs each with a written question inside. We all answered the questions and in so doing shared memories of our favorite trips, movies and first jobs.

Our baking project last month was a Sprite cake. Which, just as you might have guessed had Sprite soda as one of the main ingredients. Antonia Levato and Elisabeth Somers were great helping us to mix and measure ingredients to turn out a delicious treat thoroughly enjoyed at our afternoon bingo games.

We enjoyed our baking project this month which was a sour cream coffee cake. Elisabeth Sommers and Antonia Levato helped us mix and measure our ingredients and Jackie Johnston and Joe
Gold helped chop up the nuts we added. Our time was well spent on this project as we all enjoyed this delicious treat at our afternoon bingo games.

We were visited by three different pet therapy dogs this month: Belle a black lab, Toby a maltipoo and Ayla a Maltese. All won the hearts of Fran Zummo, Lucy Palazzo, and Joan Corbett.

Joe Gold continues to amaze us with his bowling scores which are regularly over 200. Larry Judson and Bill Jones are also excellent bowlers as are Ellen Anders and Marjorie Taylor.

Millie Verderosa won our monthly bingo championship though it was a close race right to the end with last month’s winner Gilda Messina. Fran Skotko and Lee Kulakowski also scored high this month as did Larry Judson and Ruth Beal.

Working off those cake calories was fun. We bowled and also participated in our afternoon exercise programs. Joe Gold and Robert Baumann are outstanding bowlers and had many high scores last month as did Evelyn Grasso and Bobbie Smith. Evelyn is also terrific at our exercise class, scoring some phenomenal basketball shots. Jackie Johnston is much more limber now from attending our workouts as is Lois Martucci and Lucy Palazzo.

Dancing also proves to be great exercise and Philip Cantone, Joe Gold, and Celia Wysocki, got their fair share of it when Bruce Schneider and his group performed here. Their great 50’s music was certainly appreciated by Fran Skotko, Mary Ditta and Jackie Johnston too.

The days before Easter brought special delight. On Friday, we had fun coloring dozens of eggs to fill a huge Easter basket that was displayed in our dining room. Those done by Ellen Anders, Bobbie Smith, and Millie Verderosa were simply gorgeous. We also had fun with our Easter egg roll which had us taking turns tossing a fabric egg down our longest hallway. There were some amazing distances set, but after everyone had completed their turn it was Joe Gold’s egg that had traveled the farthest. Larry Judson came in second and Bobbie Smith third. All three won some pretty Easter baskets filled with grooming supplies and of course some Easter chocolate too.

The Saturday before Easter, we were pleased to have a performance by the choir from The Church of The Nazarine. Pastor Bonfiglio who visits us twice a month helped arrange the performance by his church members and was here with the group. The choir’s performance was simply beautiful and was a fitting celebration for the true meaning of Easter.

Gilda Messina was restored to her position of monthly bingo winner by racking up an amazing number of wins last month. Gilda out beat Millie Verderosa who was last month’s winner by about 20 games and also beat some strong competition from Lee Kulakowski, Larry Judson and Jackie Johnston. Congratulations Gilda!

For your convenience, our newsletter and recreation calendar can be found on our website;
www.mcpeaks.com or our facebook page, www.facebook.com/McPeaksAssistedLiving.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

March came roaring in like a lion and though it did not exactly leave like a lamb, it was a fun month from start to finish.

To begin, we made our plans for the big holiday of the month St. Patrick’s Day. We decided to turn our recreation room into a cozy Irish pub and Bernadette Lawlor and Lois Martucci helped with our homemade decor. Their cute pub signs motivated us to line our mantel with an assortment of glasses filled with “beer”. Angela Hampson and Jackie Johnston’s were perfect with just the right amount of “foam “on the top.

Though we didn’t engage in any drinking games in our pub, we did enjoy some St. Patrick’s Day trivia. Tina Schillings correctly guessed many of the answers to our questions and she and Bobbie Smith won their choice of prizes which included some green teddy bears and some Irish Spring soap.

Marjorie Taylor and Celia Wysocki were looking over more than one four leaf clover as they crafted lucky clover wreaths for our hallway. We are all very lucky to have such talented ladies here to help with our displays. The ladies, along with Paul Trouve and Madeline Pedota also made some sparkling shamrocks which certainly made our Irish eyes smile.

Bob Shade’s piano solos this month included many Irish tunes that Evelyn Grasso and Josephine Gross sang along to. Bob’s visits always put us all in a happy and relaxed mood and we are so pleased he volunteers his time and talents here.

We couldn’t have been more Irish on St. Patrick’ day if we tried. Most of us were wearing the green as we attended our Irish luncheon which featured the traditional corned beef, cabbage, boiled potatoes and some delicious Irish soda bread. After the meal, there was entertainment by Tony Grant.

Tony’s program could not have been better as guests including Edwin Weinmann and Donald Wiggins will agree. Filled with Irish history, humor and of course music, Tony’s program was a delight from beginning to end. Delightful too was the green mint chocolate ice cream that was a hit with Bob Baumann, Arthur Johnson and Philip Cantone.

We enjoyed our baking project this month which was a sour cream coffee cake. Elisabeth Sommers and Antonia Levato helped us mix and measure our ingredients and Jackie Johnston and Joe
Gold helped chop up the nuts we added. Our time was well spent on this project as we all enjoyed this delicious treat at our afternoon bingo games.

We were visited by three different pet therapy dogs this month: Belle a black lab, Toby a maltipoo and Ayla a Maltese. All won the hearts of Fran Zummo, Lucy Palazzo, and Joan Corbett.

Joe Gold continues to amaze us with his bowling scores which are regularly over 200. Larry Judson and Bill Jones are also excellent bowlers as are Ellen Anders and Marjorie Taylor.

Millie Verderosa won our monthly bingo championship though it was a close race right to the end with last month’s winner Gilda Messina. Fran Skotko and Lee Kulakowski also scored high this month as did Larry Judson and Ruth Beal.

Our month ended on a high note, provided by Freddie Prinz and his hour long performance here. Freddie, as always, was great on the keyboard and his upbeat songs of the 50’s were enjoyed by all.

Celia Wysocki and Evelyn Grasso were outstanding on the dance floor. Bobbie Smith and Philip Cantone were up and moving throughout Freddie’s terrific show.

An Ode To Springtime
May this springtime and those hereafter
For the very rest of your life
Be filled with joy and lots of laughter
Free of hunger and free of strike
Let’s embrace one another
A never need to shed a tear
Just love our father and mother
And everyone else we hold so dear
May each and every month ahead
Be filled with happiness and fun
Not with suffering or with dread
Thus, look forward to springtime, everyone!
By: Tina Schillings

For your convenience, our newsletter and recreation calendar can be found on our website;
www.mcpeaks.com or our facebook page, www.facebook.com/McPeaksAssistedLiving.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

Love was in the air and on our minds at the beginning of February as we began preparations for Valentine’s Day. Our recreation room was filled with over a dozen hand-crafted vases filled with red, white and pink roses. Madeline Pedota and Antonia Levato were among the many guests who helped make the arrangements, which looked just gorgeous and received many compliments from visitors.

Our red and white cut-work hearts were equally lovely and we thank Tina Schillings and Tony Webb for helping with the craft. Guests, including Paul Trouve and Charlotte Hoffman, used their creative talents this month to help fashion the conversation hearts that decorated our hallway.

Bob Shade won our hearts with his piano favorites which included, “My Funny Valentine” and “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”. Lucy Palazzo and Angela Hampson sang along with most of Bob’s selections, as did Philip Cantone and Jackie Johnston.

Showing their love for us were the children of Holy Angels School, who made and donated some lovely fleece blankets. We loved the cute designs they chose for the fabric and had fun picking out our favorite to cover our beds and keep us cozy warm.

Everyone fell in love with George Missali as he played his guitar and sang for us. Robert Baumann and Joe Gold joined George in singing “God Bless America” and Evelyn Grasso sang every number George played.

Our two pet therapy dogs brought lots of love and doggie kisses when they visited this past month. Edwin Weinmann and Donald Wiggins always enjoy the visits as do Marjorie Taylor and Lucy Palazzo.

Bowling scores were amazing this past month with both Evelyn Grasso and Joe Gold scoring over 200. The top score went to Larry Judson who had 227. Millie Verderosa has improved her game as have Lois Martucci and Bernadette Lawlor.

Alex Salmin has proved to be outstanding at our exercise programs. Alex makes some phenomenal basketball shots as do Elisabeth Sommers and Bill Jones.

We had two great groups in to join us during February. First was Sasha’s Belly Dancers, who performed here on Valentine’s Day. Their hour long program was beautiful to watch. The dancers dressed in Fuchsia gowns covered with sequins, moved to the music with grace and elegance, charming the audience which included Lee Kulakowski and Artie Johnson.

Later in the month, Rocco and Natalie of Rockin’ Robin joined us. Their program consisted of music from the 50’s and 60’s which was lively and fun. Guests, including Philip Cantone and Tony Webb, just couldn’t stay seated and were up and dancing throughout. Celia Wysocki and Ellen Anders were up and dancing too, as were Alex Salmin, Tina Schillings, Evelyn Grasso and Bobbie Smith.

Gilda Messina was our big Bingo winner for February. Despite it being a short month, Gilda was able to rack up 68 wins, besting some strong competition from Ellen McCormack, Ruth Beal and Frances Skotko.

Those March winds will soon be blowing, ushering in a new month. We’ll be thinking green as we prepare our home for St. Patrick’s Day and get ready to enjoy the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner.

There will be Irish entertainment, crafts and games and lots of fun to keep our Irish eyes smiling. Get ready for another great month ahead!

For your convenience, our newsletter and recreation calendar can be found on our website;
www.mcpeaks.com or our facebook page, www.facebook.com/McPeaksAssistedLiving.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

December, the busiest yet most wonderful month of the year, was definitely enjoyed by all here at McPeak’s.

Our holiday preparations began early as we set up our recreation room mantel with lots of white lights and artificial snow. This wintery backdrop was perfect for the beautiful mini Christmas trees artistically decorated by Elisabeth Sommers, John Rissland and Ellen McCormack. Also bringing Christmas spirit to our room were the gorgeous wreaths made by Tony Webb and Frances Skotko. Using bulky green yarn and bright red pompoms Tony, Antonia and several other guests created a Christmas display that brought many nice compliments from holiday visitors.

Be-ribboned Christmas ornaments lined our hallway thanks to the crafting talents of Phyllis Levy and Ruth Beal. Tiny Christmas trees woven with a red ribbon added a festive touch too and we thank Paul Trouve and Larry Judson for helping us make them.

We all worked together to get our lobby tree holiday ready. Antonia Levato, Alex Salmin and Millie Verderosa were among our very best popcorn stringers. Their talent with needle and thread was certainly put to good use as they helped us make the yards and yards of popcorn garlands needed for our tree.

Decorating the tree was a big project, but a fun one too, with guests gathering in our lobby to sing carols, enjoy eggnog and cookies and, of course, trim the tree. Tony Webb, Ruth Beal and Joe Gold were a big help, hanging on the many decorations made in recreation over the years, including our new white pom pom wreaths, which were made this year by Fran Skotko and Charlotte Hoffman. Tina Schillings led us all in the singing of “Silent Night” as we turned off the lights and admired the beauty of our fully decorated tree.

Our holiday party on the 13th was lovely, as always, with a wonderful buffet prepared by our cooks, Sue and Diana. Guests enjoyed a variety of sandwiches and salads, macaroni and cheese, lasagna and fresh shrimp. Champagne was served and used to toast one and all, while holiday music filled the hall due to the keyboard artistry of Freddie Prinz. Santa dropped by too, much to the delight of Lee Kulakowski and Robert Baumann. Santa’s bag was filled with Christmas presents for all and each seemed to be a perfect match for the recipient.

Also fun this holiday season were the word games and reminiscing programs we joined. We had fun talking about Christmas preparations from years back. Evelyn Grasso and Elisabeth Sommers talked of the wonderful baked goods they would make and Tina Schillings spoke of the Christmas star she would place atop her tree, which was hand carved by her husband.

We found the many holiday songs played for us by our friend, Bob Shade, to be just lovely. Celia Wysocki and Bernadette Lawlor exhibited great Christmas spirit as they sang along to them all. Also in fine voice were Philip Cantone and Angela Hampson, who joined in the singing of Christmas carols led by Pastor Bonfiglio at his Christmas service here.

Rocco of Rockin’ Robin had us just loving his one hour show, which featured both upbeat Christmas songs and music of the 40’s and 50’s. Rose Navatto was in fine voice, as were Alex Salmin and John Ritz. John, who was celebrating his birthday that day, was delighted with Rocco’s lively version of the “Happy Birthday” song too. Joe Gold, Evelyn Grasso, Tina Schillings and Josephine Gross took the dance floor during the afternoon and had a great time
dancing with me and with one another.

We all enjoyed our holiday trivia games and the prizes we won by playing, noting that some made perfect Christmas gifts for family members. Alex Salmin was perhaps the biggest winner of the month when his ticket number was announced during our raffle for a beautiful afghan donated by Ellen McCormack’s family.

Fran Zummo and Lois Martucci were pleased to receive so many kisses from our pet therapy dog, Dustin. Dustin certainly brought lots of cheer to all during his Christmas visit as he does throughout the year.

We tried to maintain our pre-holiday waistlines by lots of fun activities that kept us up and moving. Bill Jones, Joe Gold and Bobbie Smith certainly burned a few calories and had fun bowling. They also had our top scores for the month of December. Madeline Pedota is also a great bowler and enjoys our exercise programs too. She, along with Artie Johnson and Josephine Gross are great at our workouts and excel at our basketball toss.

Our New Year’s Eve party ended our year on a perfect note. With our dining room decorated for the holiday, we put on our party hats and joined entertainer Tony Grant as he did our countdown to “midnight”. We blew horns and used our noisemakers to usher in the New Year and enjoyed a sparkling cider toast to the year ahead. Tony’s songs kept us filled with cheer as we sang along and made our way to the dance floor. Tony Webb, Philip Cantone, Tina Schillings and Alex Salmin showed off some fine footwork at our party, as did Bobbie Smith and Joe Gold.

Our last monthly bingo winner of the year was Phyllis Levy. Gilda Messina, Larry Judson and John Rissland scored well, but Phyllis’ 68 wins just blew away the competition. Congratulations Phyllis!

For your convenience, our newsletter and recreation calendar can be found on our website;
www.mcpeaks.com or our facebook page, www.facebook.com/McPeaksAssistedLiving.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

The month of Thanksgiving found us with many things to be thankful for here at McPeak’s. Among them, good friends, good cheer and lots of fun things to do.

Decorating for the holiday was first on our to do list. Using vases, we crafted from old bottles, we created stunning floral arrangements for our recreation room mantel. Those done by John Rissland, Paul Trouve and Fran Zummo were just gorgeous and looked lovely amid our autumn leaves and orange lights.

The colors of autumn were further reflected in the framed leaves that decorated our walls. Our leaves looked extra pretty thanks to the beautifully fashioned button trimmed frames made by Lois Martucci, Elisabeth Sommers and Bernadette Lawlor.

Our autumn wreaths were filled with lots of seasonal color and those done by Joe Gold and Angela Hampson were just outstanding. Alex Salmin, Celia Wysocki and Charlotte Hoffman also added to our seasonal display with some brightly colored leaf silhouettes they made for us to enjoy.

Not only did we use autumn leaves for our holiday display, but we sang about them too. Bob Shade’s piano favorites this month included the old favorite, “Autumn Leaves” and we all sang along. Bob’s other offerings were also easily recalled by many guests and there was some wonderful singing by Robert Baumann, Celia Wysocki and Tina Schillings, who has an absolutely gorgeous voice.

Guests enjoyed a visit from Lou Paiolo, whom everyone says sounds just like Frank Sinatra. Lou certainly won the heart of Rose Navatto when he opened the show with her favorite song, “All Of Me”. Rose couldn’t resist singing along and we all agreed they did a wonderful duet. Joan Corbett also joined in several of the songs, as did Mary Ditta. Showing off their dancing skills during the afternoon were Angela Hampson, Antonia Levato and Josephine Gross.

John and Vivian, a cute and very talented senior couple, pleased us all with their hour long show. Vivian looked lovely in her chiffon and sequin gown as she sang the hits of Jo Stafford and Patsy Cline. Celia Wysocki said she felt like she was watching a Broadway show and loved every minute of their performance. Marie Huber and her husband also loved the show, as did, Lee Kulakowski. There was great singing also by our audience and some terrific dance moves by Bobbie Smith, Joe Gold and Philip Cantone.

There was certainly magic in the air when Ronjo the Magician appeared here on the 23rd. His clever tricks certainly entertained the crowd and left everyone just a little bit spellbound.

As Thanksgiving drew closer, we reminisced about the holiday and our many traditions and preparations of years gone by. Fran Skotko told of the cranberry sauce she always made and Tony Webb gave us a run down on how to make fried turkey. Evelyn Grasso said she always liked to bake for the holiday and indeed was a big help here when we made our cranberry nut loaf. Also helping with our cooking project were Ruth Beal and Elisabeth Sommers, two other great cooks, and thanks to everyone’s help, we had a delicious treat to enjoy during our afternoon bingo games. Our only complaint was that we did not double our recipe as so many people wanted seconds – next time!
Pastor Bonfiglio joined us for a lovely Thanksgiving service that was appreciated by Antonia Levato and Millie Verderosa. Filled with music, prayer and even a few jokes to make us smile, the pastor made us realize how thankful we are for his visit

Our staff/resident bowling tournament, which is held twice a year, is always a big hit and our recent one was no exception. There were lots of spares and strikes made throughout and much applause for everyone’s effort, but in the end, the teams finished as follows;

1st PLACE ~ EVELYN GRASSO & MYRNA
2nd PLACE ~ JOE GOLD & DEBI
3rd PLACE ~ ROBERT BAUMANN & CARMEN
4th PLACE ~ LARRY JUDSON & SUE
5th PLACE ~ BILL JONES & DIANA

Guests won trophies in size place order and staff members received holiday scented candles for giving their best effort at the game.

Thanksgiving Day was made extra special due to the culinary talents of our two cooks, Sue and Diana. There was turkey and dressing plus sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn and cranberry sauce served at the feast, followed by lots of delicious pumpkin and apple pie.

Thanks to all that wonderful holiday food and the promise of more to come, we will be doubling up on our exercise classes in the weeks ahead. Madeline Pedota and Fran Skotko say they love the classes and both Antonia Levato and Larry Judson have noted they’re feeling more fit from attending.

Looking quite fit these days is our pet therapy dog, Dustin. Dustin is a very handsome golden retriever who visits us twice a month with his owner Diane. Edwin Weinmann certainly enjoyed their last visit as did Artie Johnson and Mary Morris.

Many guests join us for our frequent afternoon bingo games. It is fun to try our luck and, of course, gather with our friends and chat a bit too. Doing well this month were Gilda Messina, Lee Kulakowski and John Rissland. Doing best this was Tina Schillings, who topped everyone’s score with 58 wins to her credit. Congratulations Tina for being our winner for the month of November.

Phyllis Levy has become the new president of our Resident Council. Phyllis presided over her first meeting this month and did an excellent job. We are all so pleased she has taken the position. Thank you and congratulations, Phyllis.

CHRISTMAS TIME
By Tina Schilling

We will soon have Xmas
A joyous time of year.
There will be stockings- plus
Lots of toys bringing good cheer.
Carols will be sung
About the Christ child And the miracles he has brung
We sing so tender and mild.

For your convenience, our newsletter and recreation calendar can be found on our website;
www.mcpeaks.com or our facebook page, www.facebook.com/McPeaksAssistedLiving.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

October was a busy and interesting month here at McPeak’s. To begin, we talked about Christopher Columbus at our word games and reminiscing program. We recalled the year he sailed and the names of his three ships and then went on to discuss the types of boats we had sailed on. Ruth Beal had been in a cruise ship, Alex Salmin an aircraft carrier and Philip Cantone a tugboat. We further discussed the need to be aware of the weather while at sea. Millie Verderosa was one of several guests who noted that they could tell by their arthritis when rain was on the way.

Of course, we were all anxious to begin preparing for our favorite fall holiday, Halloween. Our mantel was covered with autumn leaves and orange lights and featured the 3 dimensional pumpkins made by Antonia Levato, Tina Schillings and Bernadette Lawlor. Also in our recreation room was ahuge cobweb filled with some very colorful and creepy spiders made by Lois Martucci and Charlotte Hoffman.

Smaller spiders appeared on the cute “Boo” signs that we made for our hallway. Everyone loved them and we have Madeline

Pedota and Mary Costa to thank for lending their talents to create them. Flying just outside our dining hall were the many bats made by guests including Robert Baumann and Elisabeth Sommers. Our bats certainly helped put us in a spooky mood, as did our Halloween trivia, which had us recalling old horror films, ghosts, devils and witches. Ruth Beal, Frances Skotko and Gilda Messina were very good at the game and won some nice prizes for their efforts.

Also fun was our ICU bingo. Numbers for the game were written on plastic eyeballs and placed in my witch’s cauldron. We took turns selecting our eyeballs and calling out numbers. Among our winners at the game were Fran Zummo, Celia Wysocki and Tony Webb. Our baking project for the month was certainly seasonally appropriate- pumpkin bread. It was a bit more work than we anticipated, but thanks to the help of Bobbie Smith and Evelyn Grasso, we got the job done. Bill Jones was definitely a big help too, handling much of the mixing that had to be done. Bill seemed to enjoy the job, though, as he mixed the batter while singing along to a Mario Lanza CD which was a gift from Marilyn Kansich, Rose Navatto’s daughter. Bill is a fine singer and a talented baker as well, as we all agreed while enjoying a buttered slice of our delicious pumpkin bread.

Bob Shade led us into fall with some wonderful songs of the season, including “Autumn Leaves” and “Autumn in New York”. Angela Hampson and Mary Alfieri enjoyed the program and joined in many of the songs. Also in fine voice this month were Rose Navatto and Lee Kulakowski, who joined in the country western tunes played on the guitars of Nina Et Cetra. Joe Gold, who was wearing his cowboy hat, joined me in a dance during their performance, as did, Philip Cantone and Bobbie Smith. Bruce Schneider and his group brought their guitars too, plus keyboard and bongos, when they performed for us. We loved their musical selections from the 40’s and 50’s and there was singing by Josephine Gross and Evelyn Grasso. John Rissland and Leonard Doerler loved the vocal talents of George Missali, who led us in some spirited musical selections, which included, “Witchcraft” and “The Monster Mash”. Antonia Levato wowed us all when she sang “Momma”. Antonia sang the verses in Italian and gave a flawless performance that left us all spellbound. Antonia’s song also served as inspiration for a poem, written by our residents with the help of Stacy and Julie of The Poetry Connection, who joined us on October 9th. The residents’ poem, which is entitled “Musical Memories”, is presented here for your enjoyment.

MUSICAL MEMORIES
Fire and rain, loud and soft
dance and sing-
music moves me.
Heart racing,
sexy saxophones and jazz,
listen all day long,
and Tennessee Waltz
soar with Sweet Caroline.
Mama sings Italian songs
to us all day long.

Throughout the month, we have been enjoying our regular activities too, including pet therapy with our friend Diane and her dog Dustin. Mary Ditta, who is certainly an animal lover, was delighted with the visit, as were Joan Corbett and Mary Morris.

Bowling is always fun and this month there were several guests who scored over 200, including Bill Jones, Joe Gold, Larry Judson, Bobbie Smith and Evelyn Grasso. Everyone is, of course, trying to up their game so as to be in the top six and play in our staff/resident bowling tournament scheduled for next month.

Elisabeth Sommers, Madeline Pedota and Celia Wysocki have been working hard at working out. All three love our exercise program, as do Josephine Gross and Tony Webb.

Bingo is always a winner and we have many residents playing daily. There were good scores this month by Gilda Messina, Paul Trouve and Lois Martucci, but, Phyllis Levy took the top spot again. This is the third consecutive month Phyllis has been our monthly winner, so, congratulations, congratulations, congratulations, Phyllis.

Our month ended with a spectacular Halloween celebration that lasted all day. The morning found me in my favorite witch-wear, inviting guests for a morning of fun at our active games program. Our games followed a Halloween theme and were guaranteed to make us all feel like kids again. First up was our ‘knock down the witch’ contest, which we thought, for sure, would be won by one of our gentlemen with a strong throwing arm. Bill Jones did come close, knocking the witch off the table with three tries, but, petite Millie Verderosa bested him, doing it with just one throw.

Joe Gold and Mary Alfieri proved it was possible to throw the ring over our bottle of “witch blood” and both got not one, but two rings over. Our last competition was to flip the witch’s pancake in our skillet as many times as possible in 25 seconds. Mary Costa, John Rissland and Ruth Beal did very well with about 5 or 6 flips in the time period and Angela Hampson and Tina Schillings were both doing well, till they got the giggles and could no longer flip with accuracy. In the end, our top flippers were Alex Salmin, with 17 and Phyllis Levy, with 20. All winners were given their choice of prizes and all participants left with a Halloween goodie
bag.

Our afternoon found us enjoying the bewitching talents of Sasha’s belly dancers. Our dancers dressed in beautiful orange, purple and red sequined costumes. Using props such as cauldrons, brooms and lots of candles. The girls put on a fantastic show, which ended with some audience participation. Up and dancing were Mary Costa, Bobbie Smith, Josephine Gross, Joe Gold and Angela Hampson, who definitely caught the Halloween spirit and had a wonderful time.

For your convenience, our newsletter and recreation calendar can be found on our website;
www.mcpeaks.com or our facebook page, www.facebook.com/McPeaksAssistedLiving.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

September brought a new month and change of season for us to explore. At our word games and reminiscing program we discussed the sights, smells and even the sounds of autumn. We agreed we all loved the changing colors of the leaves and the smell of wood smoke, but disliked the sound of a cricket chirping in the night disturbing our sleep.

Many guests recalled going apple picking in the autumn and apples definitely found their place in our September arts and crafts. Since most of us felt the best way to eat apples was in a pie, we hung a rolling pin on or recreation room wall and surrounded it with some cute Granny Smith apple silhouettes, made by Charlotte Hoffman and Bernadette Lawlor. Mason jars brought back memories for many and we recalled the preserves and goodies put up by our mothers or ourselves. We filled our jars with “applesauce” made by Mary Alfieri and Bob Hall.

They made a charming display when placed on our mantel and added a homey touch to our recreation room. We learned about the many varieties of apples available and for most of us, Mackintosh was the favorite, with Red Delicious a close second. We also favored peeling and slicing our fruit before eating.

A cute craft which featured an apple from beginning to core was made by Marie Thompson and Paul Trouve and looked great in our hallway. Also cute were our apple day signs made by Alex Salmin and Madeline Pedota.

Alex was a great help with some genuine apples we used one morning to make a cake. Alex peeled most of them for us while Ellen Anders beat our eggs, Celia Wysocki measured ingredients and Larry Judson mixed it all together. Our cake was enjoyed at our afternoon bingo games and was so delicious that I’m sure we will not wait until next autumn to make another.
Bob Shade, our piano player, was our first entertainer of the month. Bob’s picks for his hour long program included many songs that were our favorites over the years and Evelyn Grasso and Angela Hampson sang along with them all.

Freddie Prinz had us all enjoying every moment of his show. From big band to Latin, Freddie’s selections won the approval of the crowd, which included, Adelaide McKasty, Fran Skotko and John Rissland. Julie Franco not only entertained us with her beautiful singing voice, but allowed us to become entertainers as well. Julie passed the mic to Rose Navatto, Tony Webb and Philip Cantone for some musical solos. Also in the spotlight was Joan Corbett, who has an amazing voice which brought a well deserved round of applause from all. Julie’s program also featured some great music for dancing and I enjoyed sharing the dance floor with Bobbie Smith, Joe Gold, Josephine Gross, Philip Cantone and Evelyn Grasso.

Keeping fit while having fun was certainly a part of our September days. Our exercise program had us increasing our endurance and strength while also enjoying a few laughs. Robert Baumann and Ellen Anders are great working with our weights and Elisabeth Sommers and Lois Martucci really know how to shoot a basketball.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

Our summer certainly passed quickly and was filled with many fun activities and special events guaranteed to please all.

We had fun recalling the summer days of childhood at our word games and reminiscing program. Toys from various eras were passed around to the group and we took turns trying a yo-yo, Slinky and kaleidoscope. Celia Wysocki recalled playing hopscotch as a child and Bernadette Lawlor and others remembered the fun of a game of jacks. Our gentlemen talked of building their own scooters and playing stick-ball. The days of our youth were further enjoyed with some Mother Goose trivia. We had more than a few laughs as we recalled the silly rhymes we remembered from so long ago. Evelyn Grasso was great at the game and won a lovely prize for her effort, as did Gilda Messina and Fran Zummo.

Bowling scores soared higher than the temperature as guests improved their games weekly. Bill Jones and Joe Gold are just amazing with both having games well over the 200 mark. Mary Alfieri is definitely our most improved player and Madeline Pedota and Robert Baumann continue to impress us.

The warmer days were no excuse to miss our exercise class. Indeed everyone was more eager than ever to work out. Alex Salmin claims he’s more fit from our program and Angela Hampson notes she never knew she could be so talented making basketball shots. Using our one pound weights has Tony Webb showing of his muscles and Millie Verderosa adores our bending and stretching routines.

Besides exercising our minds and bodies, we’ve been exercising our vocal cords too. Lots of fine singing this summer from Josephine Gross and Antonia Levato as they joined us for Bob Shade’s terrific piano selections.

Ray Lani’s bimonthly visits were most welcome. Ray’s pleasant voice led us in many delightful sing alongs where Philip Cantone and Marie Thompson both got to showcase their vocal talents.

We enjoyed the guitar of George Missali as he brought back many songs that Artie Johnson and Charlotte Hoffman recalled from summers’ past. Bob Hall loves his country/western selections and Doris Thompson is a fan of his Irish numbers. Robert Baumann surprised us all with his terrific voice as he joined George for “You Are My Sunshine” and he and Joe Gold were outstanding on “God Bless America”.

A new and, we hope, upcoming guitarist made her debut here at McPeak’s this summer; sixteen year old Ariana Roussis, who is a junior at Bayport/Blue Point High School. Ariana’s half hour program was appreciated by guests and offered them an opportunity to hear some modern day offerings.

Despite having to wear a fur coat in 90 degree weather, our pet therapy dog, Dustin, never once missed a visit. Dustin’s tail could not stop wagging as he received the attention of John Rissland, John Ritz and Mary Morris, who just adore him.

Pastor Bonfiglio and Carmine made several visits here during the summer months much to the delight of Fran Branciforte and Paul Trouve. We all enjoy listening to the pastor’s interesting sermons and his very funny and clever jokes never fail to bring us a laugh or two.

What would summer be without ice cream? Adelaide McKasty and Lee Kulakowski enjoyed this delightful treat at our many entertainment programs this summer. Whether chocolate, vanilla or exotic coconut, this delicious confection certainly gave added enjoyment to the shows offered by Bruce Schneider, Lou Paoli and Rockin’ Robin. Entertaining too was watching our many talented guests show off their fabulous dancing skills. I loved dancing with Joe Gold and Philip Cantone, who are both outrageous on the dance floor. Bobbie Smith, who is an excellent dancer, found several partners, including Evelyn Grasso and Josephine Gross. We all had fun with the kick-line to “New York, New York”, which was the standard finale for all performers and featured all the already named dancers plus Tony Webb and Charlotte Katen’s son, Will.

Phyllis Levy, who loves our shows, is just outstanding when it comes to knowing the names of 50’s songs and artists. Her knowledge, which she shares at all events, could not go unrewarded. It was with great pleasure that I presented her with a small trophy proclaiming her our “50’s Expert” She is just great!

Phyllis is great at a variety of other activities too, including Bingo and was our monthly winner for August with a total of 75 wins to her credit.

Marie Thompson also did well this summer and took the games for the month of July.

As autumn leaves begin to fall, we’ll continue to enjoy the fun activities and special events which make McPeak’s such an enjoyable place to be.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

Memorial Day brought patriotic thoughts to mind and marked the start of the summer season. Both were instrumental in our choice of decorations to make for our recreation room.

Sand pails of red, white and blue were filled with like colored flowers made by Celia Wysocki and Anastasia Wojtukiewicz. They looked fabulous on our mantel, adding lots of summer cheer and color to our room. Patriotic wreaths brightened our room as well and we thank Madeline Pedota, Olga Gallagher and Bernadette Lawlor for helping us to make them.

Our hall display of red, white and blue stars was a wonderful salute to our country. Joe Gold, Fran Zummo and Marie Thompson can be very proud of the fine work they did to prepare this for us.

Table games, such as summer trivia bingo had us answering many questions related to the season. Gilda Messina and Philip Cantone supplied many of the responses and won some nice prizes for their efforts. Philip added a great deal to our word games and reminiscing program too, sharing many memories from his past which were of interest to the group. He, along with, Richard Tanner, recalled days spent at Coney Island, visiting the beach and having fun on the rides. Our mouths watered as we brought our minds back to Nathan’s, with its great hot dogs and yummy french fries. We discussed their annual hot dog eating contest and were amazed by how many wieners (63) the current champion had consumed in 10 minutes in order to win the crown. Most guests felt 2 would be their limit, but, Bob Hall did think he could probably manage 7.

Summer bowling scores climbed throughout the season, much as the temperature did. Bobbie Smith, Bill Jones and Robert Baumann all hit the 200 mark, and Joe Gold went one step farther scoring a 224. Josephine Gross increased her score during the summer, as did Paul Trouve and Madeline Pedota. We all feel that much of our improvement is due to the wonderful CDs we have been listening to while we bowl. We would like to thank Marilyn Knesich, Rose Navatto’s daughter, for giving us these great CDs we enjoy so much. We truly appreciate your kindness.

Dustin, a beautiful golden retriever with our pet therapy program, visited during, what else but, the Dog Days of summer. Dustin, along with his charming owner, Diane, brought lots of smiles to guests including, Fran Branciforte and Charlotte Hoffman.

Bob Shade gave our recreation room piano a workout playing all our favorite songs. Bernadette Lawlor and Rose Navatto were pleased to sing “In The Good Old Summertime” and Alex Salmin and Bobbie Smith showed their vocal skills with everyone’s favorite standard, “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”.

Freddie Prinz gave us lots of great music to enjoy too. His one hour program featured some lively Latin tunes that raised our temperature and spirits as well. Adelaide McKasty and Rose Starita enjoyed the show and applauded the great conga line formed by, Philip Cantone, Charlotte Katen, Evelyn Grasso and Josephine Gross.

Tony Grant’s performance offered a salute to our country and the patriotic men and women who served during WW II. Music of the era was played, including, “In The Mood”, which allowed Philip Cantone and myself to test our dancing skills. Philip is just great and I’m sure Angela Hampson will agree, after joining him on the dance floor too. I also had fun with another of our terrific dancers, Joe Gold. Joe and I danced to, “I’ll Be Down To Get You In A Taxi”, a song requested by George Thogersen and his daughter. Evelyn Grasso’s and Bobbie Smith’s dancing skills were appreciated, as well, as were the delicious ice cream sundaes that were served.

Pastor Bonfiglio and Carmine will continue to visit throughout the summer and indeed were both here on the 4th of July. During their special service for the day we sang, “God Bless America” and prayed, not only for our friends and loved ones, but for our country as well.

Summer would not be the same without our dear friend, Ray Lani, joining us twice a month. Ray’s guitar is always tuned and ready to play all our requests. Rose Navatto and Ruth Beal certainly enjoy his programs and were particularly delighted with his last visit, when he sang a duet with Charlotte Katen’s son, Will.

Liz Turner has joined our staff for weekend recreation. Liz is offering bowling, bingo and exercise during her Saturday and Sunday programs and Angela Hampson and Bill Jones are certainly enjoying their time with her.

Can’t end our newsletter without a special congratulations to Fran Zummo, who was our monthly bingo winner for June. Fran is a regular player and a lucky one at that. Her score of 57 wins for the month was certainly amazing. Fran won 2 cute beanie babies to add to her collection. Congratulations Fran!