Category: newsletter

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

Early May found us getting ready to celebrate Mother’s Day. Together, we recalled the old poem that ends with the words, “a woman’s work is never done” and reminisced about our moms and the many jobs they did while we were growing up. Most guests felt their mothers were excellent housekeepers and we shared how they cleaned their windows with vinegar and water and dried them, streak free, using newspaper. We recalled mom’s china closet filled with sparkling dishes and handmade lace doilies. It was with that in mind that we tackled our first Mother’s Day project

We lined our mantel with some lacy white doilies and filled it with an assortment of framed silhouettes made by Fran Zummo and Marie Thompson. Our display was ever so lovely and definitely would have made our moms proud.

Dainty tea cups with tea bag labels dangling were on display in our room too, and were made by Olga Gallagher and Fran Branciforte. They looked adorable surrounding our sign which said, “You’re Tea-rrific Mom!”

We tested our memories as we sang along with piano player Bob Shade, who played “Mother” in honor of the holiday. Bob’s program also featured many other standards we favor and there were some terrific vocals by Philip Cantone and Josephine Gross.

We all agreed that the old saying, “a woman’s place is in the kitchen” was definitely not to our liking. We did however decide to try a little cooking craft just for fun. Together, we baked a delicious raisin loaf, which was a real treat at our afternoon bingo games. We thank Ruth Beal and Madeline Pedota for their help with the project which required a lot of measuring and mixing.

Julie Franco gave us a delightful afternoon of music which allowed many of our moms to have their moment in the spotlight too. Julie offered guests the opportunity to sing on her mic and there was much applause for Rose Starita, Angela Hampson, Mary Schorden and Rose Navatto as they completed their turns.

Delivering lots of love to all our moms (and dads too) was our pet therapy dog, Dustin. Dustin is a handsome Golden Retriever who just seems to adore everyone. I know he had lots of kisses for Muriel Lizak and Michael LaPlaca, who both adore our pet therapy visitors.

Pastor Bonfiglio set the mood for our second holiday in May, Memorial Day. The pastor’s service, which was thoroughly enjoyed by Doris Thompson and Fran Branciforte, included a special prayer of thanks for those who had served in the armed forces.

Several of our former service men, including Alex Salmin and Bob Hall helped to make the beautiful Memorial Day decorations which were on display in our hallway.

Rose Starita led us in reciting the poem, “In Flanders Fields”, which inspired us to make some red poppies to display. Those done by Joe Gold, Fran Zummo and Bill Jones were just perfect.

Nina Et Cetra finished their hour long program here just before Memorial Day, with some patriotic songs that had Evelyn Grasso and Phyllis Levy singing aloud. The ladies also loved the other offerings of the group, which included standards by Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash and Peggy Lee. It was nice to see Charlotte Katen enjoying our ice cream treats with her son, Will, and watching them enjoy a dance together after.

Also entertaining us this month was George Missali, who offered a morning program of sing along songs. George is a fine guitar player and his talents were definitely appreciated by Anastasia Wojtukiewicz and June Susinno. Madeline Pedota and Charlotte Hoffman proved themselves fine singers during the morning, as did, Alex Salmin and Josephine Gross.

Angela Hampson continues to shine at our exercise program as do Bobbie Smith and Doris Thompson. Angela is now shooting the distance with our other basketball pros, Bill Jones, Joe Gold and Celia Wysocki.

Our staff/resident bowling tournament was held on May 30th and was a nice way to end a great month. Our top six resident bowlers who were paired with staff members enjoyed a lively competition that was great fun for both participants and onlookers.

There were lots of spares and strikes by all. But at program’s end our pairs finished as follows;

1st – Evelyn Grasso & Janet
2nd – Alex Salmin & Myrna
3rd – Joe Gold & Debi
4th – Bill Jones & Carmen
5th – Bobbie Smith & Sue
6th – Robert Baumann & Diane

All resident players were awarded trophies in size order for their wins and staff members received cute summertime decorations for their homes.

Bingo scores were very close this month, with everyone being very lucky at the games, including new players, Anastasia Wojtukiewicz and Rose Starita. As always, Gilda Messina and Lee Kulakowski did well, but it was Marie Thompson who took the games. Congratulations Marie!

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

This past month, Mother Nature had some strong competition from guests here at McPeak’s as they too created Spring beauty for all to enjoy. Watering cans filled with spring posies added a powerful burst of color to our recreation room. Those done by Marie Thompson and Fran Zummo were artfully arranged and looked lovely on our mantel. The talents of Ruth Beal and Fran Branciforte were on display too and we thank them for crafting the beautiful spring flowers that decorated our wall.

Starting with a drawing of a bare branch, Madeline Pedota and Bob Hall were able to bring it to life using tiny flower cutouts they carefully glued in place. Their projects were a blooming success and received many compliments from staff and visitors.

Phyllis Levy, Gilda Messina and Angela Hampson used their gardening expertise to answer many of the questions posed at our garden trivia game. They won some nice prizes for their efforts as did Bill Jones and Alex Salmin.

Fran Branciforte was a winner too in April, as she won our monthly raffle. Fran won a cute song bird that gave a charming chirp when given a squeeze. The raffle always follows our reminiscing game at which we share lots of memories and enjoy getting to know one another better. This month, we learned that Celia Wysocki was a true Rosie the Riveter, who worked on airplanes out in California while her husband was in the service. We also learned that Joe Gold was a track star and that John Rissland has been to Germany.

We all know now that apple blossoms turn into apples and that, with a little help from Evelyn Grasso and Angela Hampson, those apples turn into apple cake. We thank Evelyn and Angela for helping us to prepare a delicious apple cake that was served at our afternoon bingo games and was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Bruce Schneider and company helped us to feel younger than springtime as they entertained here with songs of the 40’s and 50’s. There was some great singing by Charlotte Hoffman and Rose Navatto and good dancing by Josephine Gross.

Rocco of Rockin’ Robin certainly had us rockin’ with his upbeat music that spanned several eras. Rocco’s lively tunes were enjoyed by Adelaide McKasty and Joan Corbett, who also loved watching Evelyn Grasso and Joe Gold dance the afternoon away.

Our art contest allowed us to utilize our artistic talents by creating a picture/drawing of our choosing. Using crayons, markers or watercolors, guests were given 45 minutes to create and frame an entry for our contest. Entries were labeled with only a number and staff members were asked to vote for their favorites. After the points were tallied, our winners were announced and ribbons awarded. They were as follows:

1st Place ~ Josephine Gross
2nd Place ~ Alex Salmin
3rd Place ~ Bob Hall

Honorable mention ribbons were awarded to all other participants including Doris Thompson and John Rissland.

Our next competition will be our semiannual staff/resident bowling tournament, slated for May 30th. We’ll be keeping tabs on all games bowled weekly and will select our top six bowlers based on their average score over the next four weeks. Looking good so far are Bill Jones, Bobbie Smith and Robert Baumann. Not only are they great bowlers, but they excel at our exercise program too, as do Michael LaPlaca and Olga Gallagher.

Can’t end this newsletter without congratulating Fran Zummo for being our monthly bingo winner. Fran, who had over 11 wins in one afternoon alone, finished the month with a total of 88 games to her credit. Congratulations Fran!

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

Bob Shade helped us welcome in the new month and get us into a lively Irish mood as well. Bob treated us to a variety of Irish songs which he played on our piano, offering a morning that Doris Thompson and Robert Baumann found most enjoyable. Evelyn Grasso and Angela Hampson sang many of the songs played and if we didn’t know better, we’d have sworn they were Irish.

We all worked together to finish the last of our Saint Patrick’s Day decorations in time for the holiday. Our big green shamrocks on plaid backgrounds were last to be done and looked fantastic due to the helping hands of Ruth Beal and Madeline Pedota.

Everyone enjoyed our Irish word games and reminiscing program at which Irish coffee and shamrock cookies were served. Celia Wysocki and Bob Hall shared their knowledge with us as we played, answering many questions and sharing some memories of days past as well.

Our St. Patrick’s Day party began with the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner served in our dining room, which was decorated with green linens and vases filled with green carnations. Ladies received green shamrock necklaces as they awaited the arrival of entertainer Tony Grant.

Tony gave a fine performance, singing, playing keyboard and engaging us in a great Irish sing-a-long. Stories of Irish history were interjected between the music and there was no absence of Irish humor during Tony’s program. Alex Salmin and Mary Schorden loved the show, as did Adelaide McKasty, who also gave a nod of approval to the green ice cream that we served.

Easter caught us quite by surprise coming so early, as it did this year. We were able to get our home holiday ready quickly though, thanks to the talents of Marie Thompson and Bill Jones. Marie and Bill helped to make the adorable Easter baskets, filled with colorful eggs that were on display in our recreation room. Alex Salmin and Fran Zummo were a big help too, crafting our cut-out Easter eggs and Frances Branciforte and Celia Wysocki helped make the cheerful white bunnies that lined our hallway.

Pastor Bonfiglio loved all our colorful decorations when he visited and gave a lovely Easter service, which was appreciated by Bobbie Smith and Angela Hampson. Bobbie and Angela also found the visit by the Seventh Day Adventist church choir to be much to their liking. This wonderful group visits us every year providing a wonderful program of spiritual readings and songs.

The music of Freddie Prinz was a hit with everyone. Freddie is just a genius at the keyboard and his musical selections offered something for everyone. Joe Gold and Josephine Gross did lots of dancing during his hour long program and Phyllis Levy and Rose Navatto sang along to many of the tunes.

Other musical entertainment during the month was provided by Vivian and John Goff. This cute, senior couple always gives us a memorable afternoon. Lee Kulakowski loved the Patsy Cline numbers done by Vivian and Ann Wojtukiewicz and Michael LaPlaca seemed to favor John’s renditions of famous Perry Como songs. Charlotte Katen and her son looked very happy dancing together, as did Josephine Gross and Bobbie Smith.

Right before Easter Sunday we held our annual Easter egg toss. It was just terrific this year, with some outstanding distances set. As guests took turns rolling their eggs down our longest hallway, its stopping point was tagged with their names. Going the farthest was Alex Salmin’s, followed by the eggs of Bill Jones and Joe Gold. All three of our winners won colorful Easter baskets filled with grooming products and a cute stuffed bunny too.

We colored over 5 dozen eggs for Easter. Celia Wysocki and Madeline Pedota made some beauties, which provided a cheerful display that we enjoyed all morning. They were appreciated at dinner time too when we all enjoyed our delicious egg salad sandwiches.

Phyllis Levy and Lee Kulakowski certainly enjoy our afternoon bingo games and had their fair share of wins for the month, but it was Marie Thompson who was our March winner. Marie won a cute stuffed monkey which I’m sure will serve as her lucky charm during the month ahead.

Our exercise program continues to be very much enjoyed by Joe Gold and Bill Jones who are both tops at our basketball toss. Both Joe and Bill also do well at bowling, with scores hitting just below the 200 mark. Evelyn Grasso is also an awesome bowler, as are Bobbie Smith and Robert Baumann.

Though April showers may be on the way, we look forward to lots of sunshine and fun times here at McPeak’s in the days ahead.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

Love was on our minds in early February as we began our preparations for the holiday of love- Valentine’s Day. Our recreation room was made lovely with many handcrafted vases filled with red, white and pink roses. Angela Hampson and Josephine Gross were among the many guests who made arrangements for our mantel which looked just gorgeous and received many compliments from visitors.

Looking equally beautiful were the red and white cut-work hearts that were on display in our recreation room. Guests including Bill Corley and Charlotte Hoffman did a wonderful job on this lovely craft. Bob Hall and Ellen Sminkey used their creative talents to decorate our hallway with a collection of hearts that we all fell in love with.

Bob Shade, who is our special Valentine throughout the year, arrived early on the day of the blizzard and warmed our hearts with his wonderful piano music. Doris Thompson and Muriel Lizak always enjoy our hour with Bob and Ruth Beal noted that this month’s opening song, “My Funny Valentine”, was a great choice.

Valentine’s Day was perfect from beginning to end it started with a visit from Emily Leiber, her husband and a friend, who brought us the most delicious treats for the holiday. Charlotte Hoffman loved the pink frosted cupcakes that were served and Charlotte Katen couldn’t get enough of their excellent sugar cookies. George Thogersen was delighted with the guitar music that was part of their visit and all loved the pretty Valentine’s cards they brought.

Our afternoon was filled with the exotic music and dance of Sasha’s belly dancers. Their hour long program was beautiful to watch. The three dancers, dressed in fuchsia gowns covered with sequins, moved to the music with grace and elegance, charming us all. John Ritz and Alex Salmin were delighted with the performance and Josephine Gross and Angela Hampson actually became part of the show. Both ladies danced beautifully. Bill Jones, Robert Baumann and Evelyn Grasso had a great time out on the dance floor too!

Our Valentine’s raffle, which was held after our resident council meeting, was fun and exciting. Raffled off were a dozen lovely blankets made and donated by the students of Holy Angels School. Guests took turns selecting hearts, each having the name of one of our guests on it. Marie Thompson, our council chairperson, made the first pick making Madeline Pedota an instant winner. Other winners that morning included Irene Huether, Ruth Beal, Pauline Bovino and Lee Kulakowski.

Freddie Prinz, who is a wizard at the keyboard, delighted the crowd with outstanding musical selections representative of many different eras. Doris Thompson and Kay Sheridan enjoyed the show as did Adelaide McKasty who also liked the apple pie that was served.

Frances Branciforte, Madeline Pedota and Marie Thompson have been getting some great workouts at our exercise programs. Virginia Kara loves shooting baskets during our workouts as do George Thogersen and Ellen Sminkey.

Table top bowling also gives us a bit of a workout and we’ve seen lots of improvement in the scores of Angela Hampson and Charlotte Hoffman. Top scores for the month go to Bill Jones with a 197 and Bobbie Smith with a 171.

Alex Salmin was our bingo winner for the month of February. Though it was a short month, Alex was able to rack up 72 wins, beating some stiff competition from Bob Hall and January winner, Gilda Messina.

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 plus musical enjoyment provided by Vivian and John Goff and the Seventh Day Adventist church choir. So, get set for another great month ahead.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

The beginning of a new month and a new year put us in the mood for a fresh start. We carefully took down all the mini Christmas trees we had such fun decorating and with the help of Alex Salmin and Ruth Beal, packed everything away for another year. Our lovely display was quickly replaced by another thanks to the creative talents of Evelyn Grasso and Frances Zummo. The stately snow covered evergreens they made looked just gorgeous against our snowy backdrop.

As a few real flakes fell, we re-did our recreation room wall with an assortment of sensational snowflakes. Made by several guests including Frances Branciforte and Doris Thompson, our snowflakes were true to nature with no two being exactly alike.

We all chuckled a bit as we made our “We Love Snow” signs. With the possibility of a storm on the way it was difficult to assess our true feelings regarding this wintery “delight”. Still and all, we gave our best to this project and thanks to the help of Eleanor Giovia and Bill Corley, it came out great.

Bill Jones and Robert Baumann gave us a hand with our matching mittens craft. Our colorful mittens looked terrific in our hallway and while not really warming our hands, they certainly warmed our hearts. Warming our hearts too was a nice visit from our friend Bob Shand.

Bob’s piano selections this time included “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, both sung with gusto by Muriel Lizak and Charlotte Hoffman.

Scarfs and gloves were among the many prizes to choose from at our special bingo games. Ellen Sminkey won a cute pair of red gloves to keep her hands nice and warm. Madeline Pedota was also concerned about her hands and selected some hand cream to keep them hydrated. Marie Thompson and Bob Hall’s selections included some cute plush animals to bring smiles and offset the winter blahs we all suffer from this time of year.

Also helping to chase those winter blahs was the lively performance by Nina Et Cetra who joined us this past month. Their country-western music was a hit with John Ritz and Adelaide McKasty. Mary Schorden,

Irene Huether and Michael LaPlaca also had some very nice words for the performance.

An apple cake, topped with whipped cream was a wintery treat we earned after much mixing, measuring and stirring during our baking program. The end result was certainly worth all our efforts and we thank Alex Salmin and Virginia Kara for the fine job they did peeling and chopping all our apples.

We worked off those “cake calories” at our exercise program. Doing great with our weights are Geraldine Albrecht and George Thogersen and no one can shoot a basket like Bill Jones. Lots of fun was had by all as we had a mock snowball fight using white paper we had crumbled into a ball using only our dominant hand. Josephine Gross’ and Angela Hampson’s snowballs were right on target. Bowling provided additional activity in a fun form and many guests enjoyed our weekly games. Scoring high this month were George Sohmer, Evelyn Grasso and Bobbie Smith, who had games over 170.

Scoring high at bingo in January and taking the lead for the month was Gilda Messina. Congratulations Gilda-you’re a great player and I’m sure this is just the first of many wins during 2013!

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

Christmas is always a busy time of year and we found lots to do to prepare for our holiday.

Right after Thanksgiving, we made a new decoration to add to the tree that was to be placed in our lobby. Alex Salmin and Marie Thompson helped transform our red satin Christmas balls into cute Santa suits complete with black belts and silver buckles. We made decorations for ourselves, too: red and green jingle bell pins, which were just adorable. George Sohmer and Evelyn Grasso did a great job with theirs and enjoyed wearing them throughout the season.

Robert Baumann and Virgina Kara were a big help in stringing the popcorn for our tree. We all had fun with this activity, singing Christmas songs as we worked and, of course, eating our fair share of popcorn too.

Our recreation room was beautifully transformed for the holiday. There were lots of fluffy snow and white lights on our mantel, which was filled with the many miniature trees decorated by the guests. Those done by John Ritz and Joe D’Angelo were just fantastic.

Madeline Pedota always does beautiful work at our craft sessions and the wreath she made for our recreation room wall was just perfect. Those made by Muriel Lizak and Ellen Sminkey were gorgeous, too, and helped to create a happy holiday mood.

Anne Bello and Bobbie Smith created the cute display that brightened up our hallway. They made pretty packages tied with green ribbon for our display. We had fun talking about what great things could be inside such a tiny package; most extravagant suggestions were gold coins, folded hundred-dollar bills and a diamond ring. Noel signs made by Doris Thompson and Frances Zummo were lovingly done and were a nice addition to our hallway, too.

We all gathered for the trimming of our lobby’s Christmas tree on December 7th. With holiday music playing, we carefully placed the many ornaments crafted in recreation over my 25 years here on our tree. Robert Baumann, being a tall gentleman, was most helpful in decorating our top branches.

Ellen Sminkey was a very good tree trimmer, too, as were Alex Salmin, Evelyn Grasso and Ruth Beal, all whom were featured in a holiday photo which appeared in “The Advance.” We all enjoyed the eggnog and cookies that were served and appreciated Murial Lizak’s leading us in singing “Silent Night” as we admired our fully decorated tree.

Entertaining us this holiday season was Bob Shand, whose lovely piano melodies won the approval of Eleanor Giovia and George Thogersen. Everett Green has us rockin’ around the Christmas tree during a lively one-hour performance here. Everett’s songs had Lee Kulakowski and Muriel Lizak singing their hearts out and Charlotte Katen and her son moving to the music. Bobbie Smith, Evelyn Grasso and Ellen Sminkey proved they knew all the right moves as they danced to several songs much to the delight of their many friends here.

Our Christmas party was, of course, the highlight of the season. Our dining room looked lovely with red tablecloths and colorful poinsettias. Mr. McPeak started the party with a champagne toast, creating a festive mood that grew and grew throughout the afternoon. The buffet was definitely a treat with fresh shrimp, assorted cold meats, lasagna and salads. Freddie Prinz entertained our many visitors and guests with a lively assortment of Christmas music and Santa was on hand to give specially selected gifts to all.

Pastor Bonfiglio gave us a wonderful Christmas service, which Angela Hampson and Fran Branciforte were pleased to attend. The pastor also did an excellent job leading us in the singing of many Christmas hymns, including “Joy To The World” and “Away in a Manger.”

Anne Bello and Michael LaPlaca especially enjoyed the holiday visit of our pet therapy dog Reilly. Reilly was dressed as a reindeer and brought lots of smiles to our faces.

Christmas games and trivia with holiday-themed prizes helped make our season special, too. Ruth Beal loved winning a bright red scarf and both Alex Salmin and Bob Hall were pleased to win some holiday toys which were perfect for gift giving. George Sohmer was pleased with his special prize, too, in which he won for being our monthly bingo winner this December. George certainly topped the charts with his 57 wins for the month. Also having a great score was Fran Zummo and we were pleased to see both Kay Sheridan and Mary Schorden joining us now and then in December.

Our month and year ended with a terrific New Year’s Eve party. The dining hall was decorated and guests wore party hats and leis in celebration of the holiday. Bruce Schneider and his group provided the entertainment for a 1-hour show that began with a countdown to midnight and a champagne toast. George Thogersen and Bobbie Smith blew their horns in celebration and Paolina Bevacqua and Adelaide McKasty joined in the singing of “Auld Lang Syne.” All loved the performance which featured songs of the 40s and 50s and felt our party was just the perfect way to end another great year together!

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

September arrived with the ringing of my school bell and the opportunity for us all to recall the days of our youth. During our word games and reminiscing program we talked about the schools we attended and many were able to remember the exact number of their public school. Favorite teachers were recalled as well as our best subject which, for most, was english. We all seemed to have a bit of a walk to school except for Frances Branciforte who lived right across the street. We teased her about getting to sleep late in the morning unlike the rest of us. While “in school”, we tested our knowledge of math, geography and history and all finished the morning with an A+.

Apples were in our thoughts too during September, and we used them in many of our activities. Cute apples displayed on gingham paper were made by Evelyn Grasso and Madeline Pedota and surrounded a sign announcing ‘Grandma’s Apple Pie’. They were on view in our recreation room opposite our mantel which was decorated to look like Grandma’s kitchen cupboard. Mason jars filled with “applesauce” were crafted by Juliette Gerlach and Alex Salmin, making a wonderful addition to our room.

Lenny Markowitz told us that apples are an important part of the meals served during Rosh Hashanah. Prepared with honey, they are enjoyed during the celebration of the Jewish New Year. Lenny also helped us to create our ‘Apple A Day’ signs which were hung in our hallway. Viewed on the way to the Dining Hall, they reminded us to eat healthy.

Real apples were peeled, cored and cut by Dito Butigieg and Charlotte Hoffman and used to make a delicious German apple cake. Our seasonal treat was a hit with all and was extra delicious due to the newly picked apples we used to make it.

Bob Shade’s monthly visit was a hit with Mary Schorden and Ted Gosnell. Bob’s piano selections were right on key, providing us with an hour of lively tunes we could all recall and sing along to.

Lou Paioli found an appreciative crowd when he preformed here on September 14th. Lou sounds exactly like Perry Como and has the same relaxed style and smooth delivery of the late singer. His musical selections had Ellen Sminkey and Irene Huether smiling and enjoying every note. Gilda Messina and Virginia Kara also loved the performance and sang along with many of the songs, while Charlotte Katen had a nice time dancing to the music with her son, Will.

Freddie Prinz gave his keyboard a workout with an eclectic mix of music that offered something for everyone. Mary Morris and Lee Kulakowski had only words of praise for his performance and Lenny Markowitz went so far as to call him a genius. I love Freddie too and am looking forward to him playing for us once again at our Christmas Party.

Pastor Bonfiglio and Carmine were warmly welcomed during September by Paolina Bevacqua and Muriel Lizak. Their twice monthly visits always include lots of singing, prayer and, of course, a thoughtful and appropriate message for all.

The message of unconditional love was well taught by Reilly our pet therapy dog. Reilly is a gorgeous Irish Setter who has a loving welcome for everyone and is a special favorite of Michael LaPlaca and Rachel Nason.

To welcome the start of autumn, we went leaf collecting right in our recreation room. We selected some very colorful ones to incorporate into a lovely display which was put together for us by Ruth Beal and Marie Thompson. As we worked on our project, we admitted that though we love all the beautiful leaves falling down, we are very happy we no longer have to rake them. Still and all, we do feel the need for some physical activity and welcome our exercise programs, which get us moving and having fun too. Doris Thompson and Frank Hartmann are great throwing the ball around and Artie Johnson and Evelyn Grasso excel at shooting baskets. Good exercise, too, is provided by our bowling program. The past month saw three players, John Kittel, Julia Manganiello and Bobbie Smith all scoring above the 200 mark. Good scores too in September by Muriel Lizak and new bowler, Andrew Brems.

Our top Bingo player this time around was Juliette Gerlach, with 72 wins. Bob Hall also scored high as did Lee Kulakowski and Ruth Beal. Congratulations Juliette and good luck in October!

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

It has been a busy summer so far with lots to do and enjoy. For our first summer craft, we arranged red, white and blue flowers in star covered tin pails to decorate our recreation room mantel. Small flags, streamers and shiny sparklers added a nice touch and helped Evelyn Grasso’s and Charlotte Hoffman’s arrangements to look extra special. We thank Marie Thompson’s family for the donation of many of the items we used.

Furthering our patriotic theme were the framed stars that were done by Bob Hall and Juliette Gerlach. Displayed on our recreation room wall, they were the perfect addition to our Fourth of July decorations. The flags done by Marie Thompson and Joe D’Angelo encouraged patriotic pride as we passed them in our hallway as did our “Loving the U.S.A.” display done by Murial Lizak and Bobbie Smith.

Alfred Merrett and Lenny Markowitz were the stars at our American history trivia game. The two supplied most of the answers to the questions and amazed us all with their knowledge. Red, white and blue bingo was great fun and made winners of Ruth Beal and Paolina Bevacqua, who enjoyed selecting a nice prize from the many to choose from.

Our piano player, Bob, had us singing along to the many songs of our country. Murial Lizak and John Kittel always appreciate Bob’s program as do Pauline Bovino and Alex Salmin. Pauline also appreciates the pet therapy visits we have twice each month, which are a hit, too, with Rachel Nason. We were pleased to welcome a new pet therapy dog to our home this summer-Rita. Rita is a gorgeous Irish Setter who is a retired show dog. Pretty outside and inside, Rita is a delight to have visiting us

Ray Lani is back for the summer. Months and aren’t we delighted! Ray’s guitar was in fine tune as he led us in a great sing along. Ray’s songs are always lively and fun and Joan Corbett and Evelyn Grasso were great singing to all his tunes.

Vivian and John provided a pleasant afternoon of entertainment that was a hit with Mary Huben and Gilda Messina. John and Vivian are an older couple who favor the romantic songs of the 50’s and 60’s. Their great voices, jokes and dancing skills wowed the crowd, who offered lots of applause for each number.

Freddie Prinz was also terrific as he played his keyboard and filled our dining hall with the most wonderful music. His offerings were a mix of slow to lively selections with something for everyone to enjoy. Adelaide McKasty and Hazel Nargi loved the performance and also the tasty ice cream that was served during the show.

Ruth Beal and Paolina Bevacqua used their baking skills to help us make our sour cream coffee cake. It was served at one of our afternoon bingo games and to say it was delicious is an under-statement. Here’s one recipe we will definitely be using again and again.

Our exercise program has Alex Salmin , Artie Johnson and Dito Butigieg getting fit while having fun. Our new basketball set up is being enjoyed bu Michael LaPlaca and Lenny Markowitz, who both shine “on the court”. John Kittel is a natural athlete while Charlotte Hoffman and Murial Lizak grow better every day. Evelyn Grasso loves our exercise sessions and they may be paying off for her in more ways than she imagined. Evelyn’s bowling scores have been steadily improving, with her last game a 174. Alfred Merrett’s new high score is a 184 and John Kittell, a 190. Top score of the summer, Bobbie Smith’s 241!

Our bingo winner for the month of June was Lee Kulakowski. Scores were close right down to the very end of the month, when Lee’s 4 wins on the last day of play gave her a 2 game lead over top competitor, Marie Thompson. Congratulations Lee!

There’s lots more summer ahead and lots more fun too, including performances by Tony Grant, Bruce Schneider and The Youth Group of Emmanuel Lutheran Church.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

Early in the month we finished our Mother’s Day decorations so we’d be prepared for the holiday. Baby bottles were fun to create and Paolina Bevacqua and Madeline Pedota did a good job with theirs. We talked about mixing baby’s formula and methods of sterilizing bottles as we worked. Juliette Gerlach recalled how we would test the temperature of the formula, before offering it to our baby, by shaking a few drops from the baby’s bottle on our wrist.

We challenged ourselves by searching for the babies hidden in the flower filled photos of Anne Geddes. The photos were then framed by us and used to create a lovely display in our hallway. Just for fun, we tried our hand at drawing our own flowers and thought that those done by Tess Brana and Ruth Beal were the most artistic.

We played mom’s trivia which was a hit with all and helped Murial Lizak and Julia Manganiello to win some nice prizes. Fun too was our word games program, which focused on moms. Charlotte Hoffman reeled off the final words to complete all 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. Bob’s songs included many with women’s names in the title including: “Sweet Sue”, “Mary” and “Sweet Little Alice Blue Gown”. Pauline Bovino knew them all as did Gilda Messina and both did some very fine singing during the morning.

Our moms had some help in the kitchen as they prepared two banana loaves for our afternoon snack. Alex Salmin, Lenny Markowitz and Joe D’Angelo helped mash our bananas and mix and measure the other ingredients that helped make our cake perfectly delicious.

Late May found our outdoor gardens in full bloom. Seeing so many colorful flowers outside encouraged us to add some color to our indoors as well. Brightly colored watering cans were used as containers for the floral arrangements made by Marie Thompson and Evelyn Grasso. Bringing our recreation room into full flower were the eye popping blooms made by William Corley and Bob Hall. Done in yellow, pink and orange, our perky posies were absolutely gorgeous. More dainty, yet just as gorgeous, were the wreaths of tiny pink flowers done by Virginia Kara and Tess Brana which were hung in our hallway.

Poppies were the flower that came to mind during our reminiscing program which focused on World War II. We recalled rationing, gold star mothers and women “painting” their legs in lieu of wearing stockings. Muriel Lizak and Juliette Gerlach remembered how they heard the news of Pearl Harbor on the radio and Alex Salmin, Lenny Markowitz and Bill Corley talked with pride of their military service. While discussing songs of the era, “Oh, How I Hate to get up in the Morning” was recalled and Joe D’Angelo told us he was the bugler everyone wanted to kill during his WWII years in the army.

Julia Franco entertained our troops with some fine songs that we could all recall. There was some great singing by Alfred Merrett, Mary Huben and Lee Kulakowski, plus some very nice comments on the show from Irene Huether and Annette Archer. Annette also enjoyed our video tour of the United States as did Bobbie Smith and Julia Manganiello.

Our afternoon exercise program had us blowing on some red, white and blue pinwheels as we did our deep breathing exercises. Evelyn Grasso definitely got hers whirling. Evelyn is also great at throwing our ball around and has tossed quite a few good passes to teammates, Dito Butigieg and Michael LaPlaca.

Getting their exercise from our bowling games and having lots of fun while doing it were John Kittell and Alfred Merrett. John’s high score for the month was a 176 topped only by the 181 of Julia Manganiello. Alfred Merrett also scored high during the month as did Bobbie Smith and Madeline Pedota.

Our bingo champ for the second straight month was Gilda Messina. Gilda’s a daily player and really racked up the games this past month with a total score of 63 wins. Gilda received a lovely precious moments statuette for her prize, which was donated by Lynne, Juliette Gerlach’s daughter, and just loved it!
Lots of fun activities are planned for the month ahead, including the return of singalongs with good friend Ray Lani!

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

Marie Thompson and Tess Brana helped us finish our Easter decorating just in time for the holiday. Their artwork, featuring colorful paper eggs, was displayed just outside our dining hall and was a visual treat.

Ruth Beal and Juliette Gerlach were among the many guests who helped us color more than 5 dozen hard boiled eggs. Guests traded dyes to create unique colors and each egg was its own gorgeous creation. After the program, we had to smile as we noted the day’s dinner menu featured egg salad sandwiches!

It was a fabric egg that went flying down our hallway as guests competed in our annual Easter Egg Roll. Thrown underhand, our egg traveled some pretty phenomenal distances. There were many good tosses, but our top three were:

Lenny Markowitz (48 feet)
John Kittell (46 feet)
Alex Salmin (40 feet)

Each of our winners received a cute Easter Basket filled with grooming supplies, plus lots of cheers and applause from a watchful crowd.

Pastor Bonfiglio delivered a lovely Easter message when he visited us right before the holiday. His service was appreciated by all, including Dito Butigieg and Hazel Nargi.

Spring cleaning was the topic of discussion at our weekly word games and reminiscing program. Julia Manganiello recalled washing her windows with vinegar and drying them to a fine shine with old newspapers. Joan Corbett added that lace curtains were usually hung around those sparkling windows and were dried on a special frame which consisted of dozens of needle like appendages that would stretch the curtains perfectly. George Thogersen noted that for men, spring cleaning usually meant getting the lawn mower ready to run and tidying up the flower beds.

Flowers were the subject of a video we enjoyed during the month. Charlotte Hoffman found the film to be just beautiful. Lenny Markowitz, whose wife was a horticulturist, noted that the film’s narrative was very informative.

After Easter, our thoughts turned to Mother’s Day. We had fun decorating our mantel with attractive picture hats made by Muriel Lizak and Mary Ignelzi. They reminded us of the ones our moms wore as did the lace trimmed white gloves which were also on display in our recreation room and were the handiwork of Ruth Beal and Bobbie Smith.

Our Mothers were put to work with a great baking project that had Muriel Lizak and Paolina Bevacqua mixing and measuring our ingredients to perfection. Our sour cream and apple dessert required lots of graham cracker crumbs for its crust and we called upon several of our gentlemen to help with that. Using canned goods from our pantry, Joe D’Angelo and Lenny Markowitz crushed our graham crackers to the exact consistency needed. Thanks to everyone’s efforts our dessert was just delicious and our recipe went on file to be used again.

A cute video on wildlife babies was shown during the month. It depicted mother animals teaching their offspring the ways of the world. Bobbie Smith and Julia Manganiello loved every moment of the film.

Ted Gosnell and Pauline Bovino enjoyed what was our last pet therapy visit with Liberty Bell and her owner, Tom. The two have been loyal visitors to our home and we will miss them greatly, but at age 11, Liberty felt it was time to retire. In the weeks ahead, we will be enjoying our Pet Therapy time with Barbara and her Irish Setter, Rusty.

Our entertainment for the month could not have been better with our old friend, Everett Green joining us for a lively afternoon. His musical mix had Bill Corley and Mary Morris singing along to their favorites. I had fun dancing the Lindy with Mary Huben and Bobbie Smith and enjoyed a wild Merengue with John Kittell.

A new group, Nina Et Cetra, gave a fabulous performance with keyboard, guitar and harmonica featured plus the outstanding voice of Nina herself. Their country western style was well appreciated by Bob Hall, Alex Salmin and Mary Billott. Nice comments from residents on the performance were instrumental in my inviting them back for another show on August 3rd.

The highlight of our month was the resident/staff bowling tournament on the 26th. Our top six resident bowlers were paired with members of our staff for a morning that couldn’t be beat. Strikes and spares were plentiful as was the applause and cheers from the crowd. Everyone bowled very well, but at morning’s end the scores were as follows:

1st Place – Alfred Merrett (150) & Debi (225) – 375
2nd Place – Julia Manganiello(146) & Myrna(203) – 349
3rd Place – John Kittell(140) & Janet(179) – 319
4th Place – Joe D’Angelo(109) & Maria(140) – 249
5th Place – Muriel Lizak(133) & Aida(115) – 248
6th Place – Bobbie Smith(114) & Diana(92) – 206

Trophies in size/place order were awarded to our resident bowlers and there were gifts for our staff as well. The real reward, though, was the fun and companionship we all shared during this event.

Our monthly bingo competition was won by Gilda Messina, who had a total of 58 wins. There were high scores for Lee Kulakowski and Marie Thompson too, but Gilda managed to get two games ahead and win for the month of April. She received a special prize for her win and our congratulations too!

May will be bringing us lots of crafts featuring , what else – May flowers. There will be games and prizes plus group discussions and trivia fun. We’ll also be looking forward to more terrific entertainment as we anticipate the performances of Richard Katz and Julie Franco.