Category: newsletter

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

Bruce Schneider helped us welcome a new month with a terrific one hour program featuring the songs of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Johnny Cash. Bruce’s three man band had Lenny Markowitz and Gilda Messina singing their hearts out while Mary Huben and Bobbie Smith danced together to some old favorites.

March was National Women’s Month and we used this as an opportunity to discuss the changing role of women throughout the decades during one of our morning programs. Josephine Caputo noted that she had seen lots of changes over the years and felt women had come a long way in many fields. A video on women in history was also viewed and discussed during the month. We were pleased to see the film pay tribute to our favorites, Eleanor Roosevelt, Hellen Keller and Jackie Kennedy.

Of course our major focus for the month was on St. Patrick’s Day. We were thinking Irish as we all helped Marie Thompson and Joe D’Angelo decorate our mantel with what looked like a pitcher and glasses filled with beer. Irish pub signs were also on view in our recreation room and welcomed all to such non-Irish spots as, Ignelzi’s, Hoffman’s and Manganiello’s Pub. With our work done, the atmosphere was just right to enjoy some beer (root) and pretzels. We all appreciated the nice treat as well as our fine decorating job.

Our four leaf clover wreathes, done by Paolina Bevacqua and Alfred Merrett, were easy to make and fun too as we added special gold coins left for us by the leprechaun. Several guests, including Alfred, told about finding real four leaf clovers, some right in their own backyard. All our four leaf clovers brought lots of luck to Alex Salmin, who was our March raffle winner. Alex won a genuine Irish Bear who was sporting his own four leaf clover, of course.

Two sing-alongs during the month were most enjoyable. Bob’s piano favorites were a hit with Muriel Lizak and had Virginia Kara singing along nicely to “Never on Sunday”. Dito Butigieg and John Kittell were appreciative of our talented guitar player, George Missali. John sang along to many tunes as did Juliette Gerlach. Of course all voices were heard singing “When Irish Eyes are Smiling”.

Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations were not to be topped. Green carnations were given to all as they entered the dining hall for the traditional Irish feast of corned beef and cabbage, boiled potatoes and Irish soda bread. Nice comments from Adelaide McKasty and Irene Huether on the meal kept our Irish eyes smiling. Lee Kulakowski had some nice words too for the fantastic show done by Tony Grant which followed the meal. Tony’s mix of Irish music, history and humor made our hour with him a very enjoyable one. Mary Billott sang along to most of the songs and Noreen Doohan impressed us all with her fine Irish Jig.

A less obvious date during March marked the 100th anniversary of the Oreo Cookie. We were happy to throw our own party for them as we sampled both the traditional Oreo and some of the newer varieties. All were just great and we’re sure they’ll be around for another 100 years. Toll House Cookies have been around for quite some time too and using an “original recipe” we came across, we were able to prepare and bake some of our own. Thanks to the skills of Muriel Lizak and Ruth Beal, our cookies tasted even better than the originals.

We greeted the first day of spring with some lively table games that had us vying for such seasonal prizes as floral scented room fresheners and soaps. Juliette Gerlach and Josephine Caputo won a few of these, while Bob Hall won a cute plush chick. Bob, who raised canaries years back, was pleased with his chick and also the very informative video on birds that was shown later in the day.

Strong competition and high scores kept our monthly bingo winner a mystery right to the last games played. The final score found Marie Thompson, Lee Kulakowski and Gilda Messina all with 54 wins and Bob Hall, our champ, with a total of 56. Congratulations Bob!

Freddie Prinz ended our month on a high note. His visit on the 30th provided us with a great opportunity to sing and dance and have a fantastic time. Freddie’s keyboard artistry was at a peak as he played all our old favorites. John Kittell, Bobbie Smith and Mary Huben were great dancing to his more lively numbers and received lots of applause from the appreciative crowd.

April will bring us a chance to have yet more fun as we color our eggs and vie for prizes at our annual Easter Egg Roll. Our staff/resident bowling tournament will take place late in the month and will pair our top six resident bowlers with members of our staff. Bowling averages will be tallied earlier in the month and the participants announced the week of the event. Looking good so far are John Kittell, who has bowled a 174, Alfred Merrett, with a high of 169 and Bobbie Smith, with a 164. With lots of crafts, games and entertainment too, April should be a fun filled month for us all!

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

There were many special days in February for us to enjoy. Early in the month, we eagerly awaited the appearance of the groundhog and were anxious to learn his prediction for the weeks ahead. We studied up on this clever fellow at our word games program and noted with interest that he was much larger than we thought (22 inches and 18 pounds). We also learned that, concerning seasonal change, his accuracy is a mere 40%. Nonetheless, we were pleased when our local groundhog, Holbrook Hal, gave his promise of an early spring.

To commemorate the day, we held a raffle for our own groundhog, Patchogue Pete, a cute little plush fellow wearing a top hat. Juliette Gerlach’s daughter, Lynne, picked the winning ticket which just happened to be that of her mother. There was lots of laughter from all as Juliette received her new friend and a small bouquet of spring flowers too.

Valentine’s Day, later in the month, offered us a chance to make some lovely changes to our recreation room. We decorated our mantel with lots of pink paper and added beautiful vases filled with artificial roses that were arranged by Julia Manganiello and Paolina Bevacqua. Red, white and pink hearts trimmed with ribbons and lace added a romantic touch to the room and were done by Mary Ignelzi and George Thogersen.

Bob and Frank visited on the 10th and played all our favorite love songs on the piano for us as we sang along. Lenny Markowitz filled the room with his beautiful voice and just amazed us all. Ted Gosnell and Alfred Merrett sounded great too as singer Julie Franco handed them the mic during her hour long performance here.

On Valentine’s Day, there was more dancing than singing as we welcomed Sasha’s belly dancers. The three performers wore exotic outfits trimmed with lots of pink, fuchsia and red sequins and captivated our attention with their amazing routines. John Kittell turned out to be quite a talented performer too as he danced with the girls. Pauline Bovino, as always, had fun on the dance floor as did Mary Huben. Alfred Merrett looked great wearing a turban and cape as he learned a few moves and in our audience we found Alex Salmin who made a most admirable King Tut and Lenny Markowitz as a very dashing shiek.

Adding a warm and fuzzy feeling to our Valentine’s Day were the beautiful blankets made for us by the children of the Holy Angels School. Presented to Mr. McPeak at a special ceremony at the school, they were a most welcome gift for our guests. Residents loved selecting their favorite from the many that we received and Tess Brana and Noreen Doohan were particularly pleased with their choices.

President’s Day did not go unnoticed as we shared our knowledge of presidents who have shaped our country’s history. Lenny Markowitz shared many interesting tidbits of information on past leaders that we found fascinating. We found, too, that most of us shared a high regard for Franklin D. Roosevelt. Also winning our votes were Truman, Kennedy and Reagan. The human side of our presidents was to be noted in a funny video entitled Presidential Bloopers. Josephine Caputo loved the film and was able to supply the name of every president and political leader shown in it.

Our creative sides took control as we made beautiful masks to celebrate Mardi Gras. Done in the festival colors of purple, gold and green, they made a gorgeous display for our hallway.

Those done by Alex Salmin and Madeline Pedota were simply amazing.

A visit from the Patchogue/Medford Key Club during February delighted all. Our young visitors brought some interesting games and had fun sharing them with Marie Thompson, Virginia Kara and Alfred Merrett among others.

Delicious was the only way to describe the apple cake we made during the month. Joe D’Angelo and George Thogersen peeled and chopped our apples and Ruth Beal and Bobbie Smith measured and mixed all our ingredients to perfection. Our cake was finished just in time to be served for our afternoon bingo rounds. As always, Gilda Messina, Lee Kulakowski and Marie Thompson did well at the games but it was Bob Hall who surprised us all that day with a record win of 11 rounds. Congratulations Bob, and to Alex Salmin, too, whose consistent wins throughout the month made him our bingo winner for February.

Bowling scores were phenomenal this month with Josephine Caputo and Virginia Kara definitely improving their games. Alfred Merrett scored his highest game ever, a 151, and John Kittell wowed us all with an amazing game total of 171.

We’ll be looking for leprechauns and pots of gold during the month ahead as our crafts and games reflect the approach of St. Patrick’s Day. Of course, we’ll be treated to the traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage and will enjoy some Irish music and entertainment too.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

January had us thinking about cold weather and winter storms. We reminisced about shoveling snow, snowball fights and warming up with our favorite soups or hot chocolate.

A forest of snow covered trees filled our mantel thanks to the creative efforts of Marcus Lloyd and Ted Gosnell. Also looking beautiful were the many blue and white snowflakes made by Noreen Doohan and Josephine Caputo.

Our snowmen were dressed for the weather, wearing cute earmuffs and scarves. They were made by Alex Salmin and Alfred Merrett and brought lots of smiles to all who viewed them in our hallway.

While doing our ice skates craft one morning we talked about our involvement with the sport. Juliette Gerlach recalled going ice skating at Eisenhower Park and Julia Manganiello shared memories of Belmont Lake. Later in the day, we all enjoyed a video of figure skating which featured Olympic winners Scott Hamilton and Kristi Yamaguchi.

To help us warm up after all that “snow and ice”, we had hot chocolate and doughnuts one afternoon as we enjoyed the talents of Richard Katz. Richard’s great vocals had us reliving the music of the 40’s and 50’s and loving every moment. Rae Bailey found the show delightful and sang along with many of the songs. Warming up the dance floor at the performance were Mary Huben and Bobbie Smith.

The team of Vivian and John warmed our hearts. This cute senior couple gave us a warm and fuzzy performance here resulting in many smiles from the appreciative audience, which included Adelaide McKasty and Gilda Messina.

We were pleased to welcome back our good friends from the Seventh Day Adventist Church on the 7th. Their choir comprised of both adults and children filled our hour together with spiritual songs and readings. Virgina Kara and Lee Kulakowski found their program to
be very inspirational.

Frank and Bob gave us a wintry mix of songs on piano and accordion during their January visit. Madeline Pedota and Ruth Faustich knew all the songs and happily sang along to most of them, including, Button Up Your Overcoat.

Juliette Gerlach and George Thogersen enjoyed our salute to Martin Luther King. Our program, which included music, artwork and discussion, was very informative and interactive with guests sharing their knowledge of changes in this country during the civil rights era.

Chinese New Year deserved to be recognizes during the month, as well. We ate oranges for good luck and received red envelopes with coins inside, as is the Chinese tradition. Virginia Kara found a special coin inside hers and was presented with a lucky bamboo plant for her good fortune. Everyone’s fortune looked rosy as we received our fortune cookies and read our fortunes aloud. Ruth Beal’s fortune certainly came true, as it promised her that her creativity would shine. Indeed, the next day, we all had to agree that she had done an outstanding job at our arts and crafts program!

Fun, too, was our study of the Chinese zodiac, which is based on the year not month of birth. Their zodiac also follows a 12 year cycle with a different animal representing each year. Checking out our birth years, we found Mart Ignelzi to be a loyal dog and Marie Thompson an independent horse. Two guests, Bobbie Smith and Alfred Merrett were born under the same sign as celebrated this year, the dragon, and are known to be lively and courageous.

We baked a most unusual cake this month thanks to the help of Muriel Lizak and Joe D’Angelo. What looked like an ordinary pound cake actually contained a secret ingredient- Sprite soda. We were all a bit skeptical as to how it would taste and sampled it with a bit of caution. To our delight, our cake was simply delicious and earned a definite, bake again rating.

A very special cake appeared on the 26th complete with lots of candles and a big 100 on it. It was presented to Tess Brana on her very special three digit birthday. After singing Happy Birthday, guests broke into a round of applause for this fantastic lady, who, by the way, was able to blow out all her candles with just one breath!

Congratulations go out this month to Muriel Lizak who had the highest bowling score of the month-177. Congratulations also to Marie Thompson who was our bingo winner for January.

As we move into February, we will be learning about the groundhog and will be comparing the springtime predictions of Punxsutawney Phil and our own, Holbrook Hal. We’ll be putting our heart and soul into our Valentine’s decorations too and creating glamorous masks for Mardi Gras. There will be lots of entertainment as always and surprise events throughout the month.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

Everyone agreed it was a wonderful Christmas here, with so much to do and to enjoy. We began getting the house ready for the holiday right after Thanksgiving, decorating our mantel with lots of white lights, fluffy snow banks and some adorable mini Christmas trees. George Thogersen’s tree was beautifully done and Madeline Pedota’s, a true work of art. Victorian inspired wreaths were a focal point for our recreation room. They all looked lovely, but those done by Kitty Keegan and Marie Thompson were especially attractive. Our gingerbread boys and girls were fun to decorate with lots of faux icing and candy buttons. Tess Brana and Frank Hartman selected their “cookies” from our baking sheet and went right to work turning them into great decoration for our holiday hallway. Ruth Faustich and Joe D’Angelo were quick to solve and assemble our Christmas tree puzzle. Using the three cut-outs provided, they made cute trees that were then embellished with shiny silver and gold stars. Their much admired decorations looked great outside our dining hall entrance.

Julia Manganiello and Alex Salmin were a tremendous help stringing all the popcorn that was needed to decorate our holiday tree. The tree, which graces our lobby, is quite unique in that it is filled with ornaments made in recreation by the guests during my 24 Christmases here. Each year a new Christmas ornament is made and this year it was a red foam heart trimmed with holly. Inga Schulz and Ruth Beal did such a great job with the project that we had to agree that this ornament was our prettiest yet. Ruth Beal also did a great job in helping to decorate our tree as we gathered together on the 8th to sing Christmas carols, enjoy Christmas cookies and drink our share of eggnog. Bobbie Smith was a big help in decorating our tree, as were Alfred Merret, Josephine Caputo and George Thogersen, who got all the high branches for us. Once our tree was decorated to our liking, we turned off the lights and, as we admired it, were led insinging “Jingle Bells” by Muriel Lizak. With our home made ready to entertain, we were anxious to sit back and await the many visitors who were scheduled to join us during the month. Pastor Bonfiglio gave us a lovely Christmas service which featured the singing of traditional Christmas carols we could all recall.

Another old friend and regular visitor, Tom Swengross, visited twice during the month, bringing his best girl, Liberty Bell, with him. Liberty, wearing red reindeer antlers, was feeling festive as she visited with Marcus Lloyd, Rachel Nason, and Irene Huether. Our pet therapy pal received her own Christmas present during the visit, as she got lots of love and belly rubs from one and all.

The ladies of the Knights of Columbus held an evening of bingo games, bringing beautiful prizes and a potted Poinsettia plant for each of the players. Bringing the gift of their musical talents were Bob and Frank, our two volunteer piano players, who visit monthly. Taking musical holiday requests, we had an opportunity to enjoy again all our favorite songs. Ted Gosnell, Noreen Doohan and Tess Brana found their hour long program delightful. Lou Paioli, who, we all agree, sounds like Perry Como, transported us back to the 1940’s and 50’s with his great show featuring a mix of old standards and holiday tunes. Lee Kulakowski and Gilda Messina seemed to know every song played and sang along to them all. Two very talented performers from Blue Heron Entertainment helped make our holiday more memorable. They lit up our dining room with a light display and then entertained us with some fabulous music on keyboard and saxophone. Vocalist, Myra Shutt, was just fantastic and Charlotte Katen and Mary Billott were more than appreciative of her talents.

No one could out do the musical expertise of Freddie Prinz though. Freddie, who visits us throughout the year, was the featured performer at our Christmas party on the 16th. Our party was bigger than ever this year, with about 150 people in attendance. It was nice to see guests Ruth Faustich, Adelaide McKasty and many others enjoying our delicious buffet luncheon with members of their families. Our dining hall looked lovely too, with its red tablecloths, Poinsettias and decorative baskets donated by Juliette Gerlach’s daughter Lynne’s garden club. Santa was warmly welcomed to our party and we were so pleased with all the presents he brought- one for every resident.

After our cake and coffee were enjoyed, we relaxed with a video presentation of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show. Alex Salmin and Virginia Kara both found this a nice way to end our busy day. The most unusual performance of our Christmas season was given by the Long Island Ukelele Club. Their fun show had us all smiling as we enjoyed their unique sound. Accompanied by some youthful singers from Mount Carmel Church, we relished each of their selections and begged for them to repeat a few so we could enjoy them again. The voices of the youth choir from the United Methodist Church of Patchogue were appreciated by Josephine Caputo and Pauline Bovino. Their visit was also deeply appreciated by Hazel Nargi and Rachel Nason who are members of their church.

Our New Year’s Eve Eve party on the 30th was great fun. We all wore special hats and had fun ringing in the new year with entertainer, Julie Franco. Our countdown to New Year was great with everyone blowing horns and shaking their noisemakers in celebration. A toast to a good year was made as we lifted our glasses of sparkling cider in celebration. There was lots of singing by Rae Bailey and Julia Manganiello and some fantastic dancing by Bobbie Smith.

Not to go unmentioned were all the fun games we had during the month, which had lots of seasonal prizes to be won. Ruth Beal and Madeline Pedota favored some cute ceramic Santas while Marie Thompson and Alfred Merrett prepared for the New Year by selecting a 2012 calendar for their win. Rae Bailey won our December raffle, which had a Christmas themed prize, and Juliette Gerlach was our monthly bingo winner for the second time in a row.

As we enter January, we’ve made some New Year’s resolutions. They include improving our bowling and bingo scores, challenging ourselves with our word and trivia games, singing more with all our entertainers and having fun, fun, fun each day!

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

November was a busy month with several holidays and events to commemorate.

As we prepared to turn back our clocks and welcome the shorter days that would lead us to Thanksgiving, we made seasonal decorations for our home. We had fun making vases for our mantel and doing some lovely autumn themed flower arrangements to fill them. Those made by Josephine Caputo and Joe D’angelo were just gorgeous. Adding to our recreation room display were the “Give Thanks” plaques that were done by Inga Schulz and Ruth Beal.

Autumn leaves filled our hallways with vibrant colors and were the handiwork of Madeline Pedota and Noreen Doohan. Autumn leaves were also used to add a colorful touch to our “Bless this House” signs that were made with love by Tess Brana and Mary Morris.

Special bingo had us enjoying ourselves too as we played the various rounds for a variety of prizes, including some with a Christmas theme. Muriel Lizak won a cute tree to display in her room . Gilda Messina and Lee Kulakowski were winners too, and both selected cute plush animals to help with their holiday gift giving.

We shared our memories of past Thanksgivings at our morning reminiscing program. Rachel Nason recalled some of the elements of a terrific Thanksgiving feast she’d enjoyed as a child and Juliette Gerlach recalled the wonderful holiday pies sold by Cushmann’s Bakery where her husband worked. Our word games for the month had us talking about clocks as we got ready to set them back for autumn and also discussing the war years as we focused on Veteran’s Day.

Tony Grant did a lively show here which offered a fine salute to all our veterans. Filled with patriotic songs we could all recall, Tony’s show had us all singing in celebration of our country and the fine men and women who have helped to keep it safe. Especially appreciative of the program were two of our veterans, Alex Salmin and George Thogersen.

We all praised the baking talents of Bobbie Smith and Ruth Faustich who helped make our two banana chocolate chip cakes. The cakes were a delicious treat at our afternoon bingo games.

Just prior to Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a special show by Bruce Schneider and company. His three man band wowed us with all our favorite songs that were made popular by such entertainers as, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bobby Darin. Pauline Bovino and Josephine D’elia were big fans of the group and did their fair share of singing during the program. added to the Josephine D’elia also sang along to the piano selections of Frank and Bob. Virginia Kara and Muriel Lizak, who both have lovely voices, added to the musical selections as well.

Reminding us of the many things in life we have to be thankful for was Pastor Bonfiglio, who visited twice during the month. His well chosen words are always appreciated by Jay Mercogiano and Hazel Nargi. Also paying us two visits last month was our pet therapy dog, Liberty Bell. Ted Gosnell, Charlotte Katen and Mary Billott were delighted with the visits and gave lots of loving to our furry friend.

Thanksgiving Day was memorable with a fine meal prepared by our cook, Sue. The vegetables, stuffing and of course, the bird itself were cooked to perfection and enjoyed by all.

Bowling helped us work off some of those holiday calories and there were some fine scores by George Thogersen, Ruth Faustich, and Alfred Merrett. Frank Hartman also did well at the games and Virginia Kara finished in the top three more than once.

November bingo scores were quite close with Gilda Messina, Marie Thompson and Juliette Gerlach all running neck and neck. A streak of luck near the month’s end put Juliette in the lead, making her our monthly winner. Congratulations Juliette! Congratulations also to Alfred Merrett who was our November raffle winner. Alfred won a cute plush Santa as his prize, which will make a fine decoration for his room for the Christmas season.

Right after Thanksgiving we put on our Christmas music and got busy for the biggest holiday of the year. Singing “Jingle Bells” and other holday favorites, we decorated the mini trees that would grace our snow filled mantel for the Christmas season. Joseph Giaquinto’s tree was just lovely as were those made by Kitty Keegan, Julia Manganiello and Madeline Pedota. More holiday decorating is coming up as we count down the days to Christmas, plus games, prizes, a great holiday party and lots of outstanding entertainment.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

October gave us two holidays to appreciate. The first was Columbus Day, which afforded us an opportunity to discuss our heritage. We shared our backgrounds with others and found that most of us had parents or grandparents who came from either Italy or Germany. Using a photo from Tess Brana, which showed her great grand-niece dressed in a kimono, we talked about how an individual’s background can often be determined by the clothing they wear. We talked about foods that were specific to certain cultures too and enjoyed hearing about some German meals that Inga Schulz prepared and the Italian dishes served by Josephine Caputo and Julia Manganiello. Of interest too was a video of the old ethnic neighborhoods which was viewed by Gilda Messina and Muriel Lizak.

Much of our month was dedicated to that most famous October holiday- Halloween. Wearing my favorite witch hat, I invited guests, early in the month, to join me for a little witchcraft. I had no problem recruiting followers and with lots of help from Ruth Faustich and Pauline Bovino, our mantel was soon filled with many tiny, smoking cauldrons. Amid lots of orange lights, our wicked pots were quite bewitching.

Though most people brush away spider webs from their walls, we chose to put one up. Our huge cobweb filled one wall of our recreation room and was decorated with a wicked amount of super sized spiders made by Marie Thompson and Kitty Keegan.

Listening to musical selections from “Phantom of the Opera” put us in the perfect mood to create our scary but cute Jack-O-Lanterns. Mary Morris and Madeline Pedota had fun with this craft which was actually an orange lantern with some spooky features added. Lined up along our hallway, they brought more cheers than fears from those who viewed them.

We were all going batty as we gathered to do our last craft before the holiday. Our cute bats, done by Nick Mazzillo and Inga Schulz, were just spectacular as they flew around our dining room hallway.

Halloween games had us all working our magic as we had fun while trying to win some seasonal prizes. Our scavenger hunt called for searching through magazines for items to be found on a witch’s wish list. Both teams did very well, finding black cats, black hats and, for this stylish witch, the perfect little black dress. Neither team, however, could find a broomstick and a tie match was called. All participants received cute paper pumpkins for their rooms and a candy treat too.

Special bingo rounds had lots of winners this month, including Lee Kulakowski, Gilda Messina and Josephine Caputo. The ladies loved their choice of prizes which included boxes of cookies, stuffed animals and, because winter is just around the corner, some colorful scarves and gloves. Spooky bingo games allowed us to engage our imaginations as we played rounds entitled, “Dracula’s Nightmare” (the cross), “Cyclops” (only one letter-I), and “Last Man Standing” (full card minus one). Every game winner was awarded a small chocolate treat to put in their witch’s cauldron and more goodies were also given for having the secret number on your card. All received magic wands (pretzel rods) to put some luck in their card and they certainly worked for Marie Thompson and Alfred Merrett, who left with their cauldrons full to the rim.

Juliette Gerlach and Josephine D’elia found they were experts on anatomy as they played one of the many table games I’ve created. “Body Parts” was a perfect pick for this time of the year and both ladies won prizes at the game, as did, Ruth Beal. Ruth was also the winner of our October raffle. The cute scarecrow she won looked great in her room.

A special treat for us all this month was the delicious pumpkin cake we conjured up during our baking program. We used a recipe provided by Nick Mazzillo and, with much measuring and stirring by Frank Hartman and Noreen Doohan, turned out a delectable snack that we all enjoyed.

Our times of reminiscing during the month had us focused on past Halloweens. Rachel Nason recalled the Little Red Riding Hood costume her mother made for her and Josephine Caputo said she dressed as an old woman to get her treats. Tricks played were recalled by Alex Salmin,
who would fill an old sock with ashes and use it to mark the coats of unsuspecting friends. George Thogersen gave a detailed account of how to move an outhouse as a prank and Juliette Gerlach recalled how she and her friends removed the gate from the cemetery one Halloween night.

We made some new memories this Halloween with a fun day filled with lots of great activities. Our morning program featured a variety of active games that had us testing our coordination while having lots of fun. Our first game had us trying out our throwing arm as we tried to knock down the witch. Muriel Lizak and Virginia Kara took prizes at this event and Ruth Faustich and Josephine D’elia won our poison apple toss. No one could flip the witch’s pancake in the frying pan like Alex Salmin, who had 17 flips in 20 seconds, though George Thogersen came close with 13. Prizes went to Tess Brana and Alfred Merrett for getting their rings tossed onto the neck of the bottle of vampire venom, a not so easy task. We all enjoyed the “poison apples” and “witch fingers” (cocktail franks) that were served and were pleased to receive trick or treat bags filled with goodies too. As the sound of thunder rolled in, we headed off to lunch and to celebrate Muriel Lizak’s Halloween birthday.

Our afternoon was great fun too, with Sash’s belly-dancers providing a lovely show for us all to enjoy. The girls’ beautiful costumes and colorful numbers were a delight and inspired George Thogersen, Bobbie Smith, Hazel Siegel and Muriel Lizak to grab a veil and get in on the fun. All were terrific!

As we end the month, we are pleased to note that Lee Kulakowski was our monthly bingo winner. Lee had 59 wins and outdid some stiff competition from Josephine D’elia, Nick Mazzillo and Ruth Faustich. Also note worthy this month was the bowling score of Julia Manganiello-212.

Before ending this newsletter, I would like to thank a few people who made this past month extra special. They include Marie Thompson’s family for the donation of prizes for our games and Julia Manganiello’s daughter for her donation of magazines. A big thank you to Josephine D’elia and family for the terrific gift certificates and trick or treat bags for the staff and for our two volunteer piano players. A special thank you to Frank Missali for freely donating his time and talent, once a week, to give Alex Salmin and George Thogersen piano lessons.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

We had bushel of fun in September as we celebrated national apple month. We discussed the many varieties of apples at our word games program and reminisced about our favorite recipes that included apples. We recalled that they tasted very good in a sausage casserole, baked or turned into an apple pie.

Julia Manganiello and Rachel Nason both related how they used apples to make applesauce which was just delicious. Both ladies were a great help making the apple recipe we chose for our monthly baking project, a German apple cake. Nick Mazzillo was a big help too, peeling apples and chopping nuts and Ruth Faustich stirred the batter to perfection. Our cake won rave reviews from everyone who tried it and we all agreed we will not wait for apple month to roll around again before we bake another.

Our monthly scavenger hunt had us thinking about baking too, as we divided into teams to hunt through magazines for assorted foods and cooking utensils. Teams were running neck and neck with 9 out of 10 items crossed off their lists when Ruth Beal found the coveted rolling pin and won for her team. Small boxes filled with mints were awarded to both teams for trying their best at the game.

Getting our recreation room in apple pie order was easy thanks to the help of Therese Tremblay and Inga Schulz whohelped make the adorable mason jars filled with “applesauce” and other “preserves” that lined our doily draped mantel. Our old fashioned kitchen look was further enhanced by the delightful gingham apple creations done by Juliette Gerlach and Bobbie Smith.

Our apple a day craft looked great in our hallway and was crafted by Chris Orth and Alex Salmin. To check the accuracy of this adage, we sampled not one, but three apples that day. Two were from Washington State and one was from New York. Guests voted on their favorite and it was the Fuji apple from New York that won, out-beating the Red Delicious and Paula Red.

Our final craft project for the month was a welcome to autumn, which featured some colorful sunflowers done by Charlotte Katen and Julia Manganiello. Surrounding our “Happy Fall Y’all” sign, they were a nice addition to our hallway.

Autumn bingo had us testing our knowledge of the season, including the flowers and animals that make their appearance or disappearance at this time of the year. Josephine Caputo was fantastic at this game as were Inga Schulz and Fran Schadock.

Our video travels took us to, where else but, the “Big Apple”. We reminisced about our times in New York City as we watched and recalled visits to the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building and Central Park. We also took to the sky, if you will, with a beautiful video entitled “Winged Migration”. The video, which follows the seasonal migration routes of various birds, was just gorgeous and especially enjoyed by Kitty Keegan and Noreen Doohan.

Special bingo rounds let us know autumn was in the air too. Prizes were seasonally appropriate and included some perky pumpkins won by Muriel Lizak and Lee Kulakoski and some pretty gloves selected by Madeline Pedota and Ruth Beal. Frank Hartman was a winner too this past month. Frank won our monthly raffle and received a not so scary scarecrow to decorate his door.

Volunteer piano players, Frank and Bob, offered us a wonderful opportunity to enjoy all our favorite songs including “Autumn in New York”. Virginia Kara sang in Greek when they played, “Never on a Sunday” and, not to be outdone, Tess Brana and Josephine D’Elia sang in Italian to their favorites.

Freddie Prinz thrilled the audience with his mellow selections including his beautiful version of “La Vie en Rose”. Lou Paioli had Maryann Conforti, Pauline Bovino and Hazel Siegel up dancing to his musical selections and we all enjoyed the guitar talents of George Missali who also visited during the month.

Highest bowling scores of the month were those of Julia Manganiello, Bobbie Smith and Muriel Lizak. Also doing very well were Jay Mercogliano, Madeline Pedota and Josephine Caputo. Bingo scores were high too this month, especially for Gilda Messina, Nick Mazzillo and Lee Kulakowski. Virginia Kara had the luckiest card of all though and won the most games for the month. Congratulations Virginia!

Lots more fun is on the horizon as we enter the bewitching month of October. I’ll have a few tricks up my sleeve, lots of treats and many activities that will provide a devilishly good time for all.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

We’re all asking “where did summer go?” It seemed to pass so quickly. But with all there was to do here it’s no wonder.

Our bowling scores rose higher as temperatures soared. Julia Manganiello, Ruth Faustich and Bobbie Smith were as always on top of their game and Jay Mercogliano came in among the top four with her score of 141. Team bowling kept us on our toes too and some interesting twosomes were created during the summer months. Josephine Caputo and partner Chris Orth finished in second place at one of our games and Muriel Lizak and Josephine D’Elia scored within the top three this summer also.

Dancing gave us some good exercise too and we had plenty of opportunity to get moving on the dance floor as we welcomed some very talented performers to McPeak’s.

Vic Victorrio gave a wonderful performance and encouraged us all to sing many of our favorite tunes during the sing along portion of his show. Lee Kulakowski was singing to all her favorites as were Tess Brana and Pauling Bovino. Bobbie Smith and I were singing and dancing too to one of my favorite songs “Singing in the Rain”. I also had fun on the dance floor with Mary Huben and Hazel Siegel.

Vivian and John Goff delivered an excellent program which was fun to watch. This cute older couple always leave us smiling as we enjoy their dancing, singing and John’s funny jokes. Vivian sang some lovely songs made famous by Patsy Cline while John’s selections were mostly Frank Sinatra melodies.

Bruce Schneider and his group brought some summer sunshine our way, offering songs easily recalled from our past. Played on guitar, keyboard and drums, the songs had us singing, clapping and yelling for more. Irene Huether, Noreen Doohan and Frank Hartmann enjoyed the show and Mary Billott, between spoonfuls of ice cream, did some fine singing with the group. Maryanne Conforti, Bobbie Smith and I had fun dancing and especially enjoyed forming our own kick line during the show’s final number, “New York, New York”.

Ray Lani paid several visits during July and August, all of which were just delightful. Ray is a talented guitarist and knows how to get us all involved in a pleasant sing along. This summer there was great singing to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” by Fran Schadock and Mary
Morris and Inga Schulz did a fine job with the song she requested, “Apple Blossom Time”.

Pastor Bonfiglio, who visits twice monthly, was welcomed to our recreation room throughout the summer by old friends, Hazel Nargi and Kitty Keegan. The pastor’s well planned sermon is always well received, as are his clever jokes which get us all laughing.

Also bringing laughter and smiles is our pet therapy dog, Harry. Harry is a Standard Poodle with a delightful temperament and he just loves visiting. Ruth Beal and Alfred Merrett love his visits as do Artie Johnson and Helen Lauten.

Our word games and reminiscing program helped shake up our sleepy summer days with some difficult quizzes that kept our minds working. We reminisced about games we played as children such as jump rope, stick ball and jacks. We talked about our home-life years ago and recalled some of the items we used then but no longer see. Rachel Nason was quick to describe a darning egg and Maryann Conforti filled us in on phonographs and records.

We engaged in some armchair travel this summer with a great video of the U.S.A. Our trip across America brought us to all our favorite sites and had guests such as Josephine Caputo and Virginia Kara relating some travel experiences they’d had in these locales.

As always, we enjoyed our Bingo games, especially the ones where prizes are awarded for winning the rounds. Madeline Pedota had lots of luck at these games and won some lovely ceramic statues. Josephine D’Elia was also a big winner and selected several stuffed animals as gifts for her great granddaughter, Emma. Bet Emma is happy that her great grandma is so lucky.

Our monthly Bingo winners were Gilda Messina for July and Nick Mazzillo for August. A big congratulations to both!

With September at our doorstep we’ll be busy getting ready for autumn. We’ll be talking about preserving foods and using mason jars as part of a creative display for our mantel. We’ll be “apple picking” and taste testing a number of varieties to find our favorites. Apples will be showing up in several craft projects we’ll be doing to decorate our hallways, as well. There will be lots of entertainment too and we look forward to visits from Lou Paioli, Freddie Prinz and George Missali.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

It’s been a star studded, spectacular summer so far here a McPeak’s. Our crafts reflected the joy to be found in our favorite summer holiday – July 4th. Patriotic stars were made by Nick Mazzillo and Kitty Keegan and added a nice burst of color to our hallway. Sand pails in red, white and blue lined our mantel and were filled with shiny decorations, tiny American flags and streamers. Done by Josephine D’elia and Juliette Gerlach they offered a perfect salute to our star spangled holiday.

Shouting out our allegiance to America were our U.S.A. plaques crafted by Fran Schadock and Joe D’Angelo. Covered with red, white and blue stars, they were a nice addition to our recreation room. Completing our summer makeover were the attractive stars and stripes decorations that were made by Julia Manganiello and Ruth Faustich.

The summer solstice on June 21 was cause to celebrate and that we did, with our ladies receiving pretty flowers to wear in their hair and our gentlemen flowered leis. Gilda Messina looked summer ready wearing her orange bloom as did Lee Kulakowski with blue. Our toast to the new season was with some delicious root beer floats. Chris Orth and Alfred Merrett said they were just fantastic!

Ruth Beal was delighted to be our summer raffle winner. Her prizes were carefully selected to include a blue scarf, red rose and some Hershey Kisses in a white bag. Ruth also had fun at the reminiscing game which preceded our raffle, as she and other guests shared their memories of times gone by.

Summer visitors were many and all brought additional sunshine into our days. Frank and Bob shared their talents with us, doing duets on piano and accordion. Melodies we could all recall were fun to sing along to and we noted some lively vocal duets by our own Hazel Siegel and Kitty Keegan.

Julie Franco has a superb voice and large repertoire. Equally adept at singing rock or country, Julie has a song to delight everyone. Muriel Lizak was pleased to sing along with her favorites and it was great to see Pauline Bovino and Bobbie Smith out on the dance floor.

Everett Green got us all in a party mood with his mix of upbeat favorites and Calypso. Shaking our hips and moving to the music was fun and it was a delight to see Noreen Doohan and Virginia Kara having such a grand time dancing the afternoon away.

Ray Lani, who has been a visitor here for years, was back again for his first appearance of the summer. Ray loves to play his guitar for us and is especially fond of playing tunes introduced by Elvis Presley and The Beatles. Therese Tremblay truly loved the show as did Madeline Pedota. Madeline’s favorite song was the Ray Charles classic “Georgia On My Mind.” Madeline shared with all that she chose the name of her daughter based on that lovely melody.

Our dining hall was decorated for the glorious fourth with red stars and streamers and served as the perfect setting for a great performance by Tony Grant. Tony’s program included all our favorite songs plus a musical salute to our country. Lee Kulakowski and Hazel Nargi were proud to join in singing “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and Bobbie Smith showed her patriotic fervor by urging all to stand for the singing of “God Bless America”.

Our summer fun also included an afternoon with our friends from the Patchogue/Medford High School Key Club. Fifteen students, both male and female, joined us for a fashion show that depicted the changing styles from the 1950’s through the 1990’s. Musical selections from each decade played as our models walked the runway. An ongoing narrative by one of the students helped us recall what occurring in our country was during each time period. It was fun to see our 1950’s models wearing shirtwaist dresses and carrying baby dolls to illustrate the 50’s homemaker era. We recalled the bell bottoms worn in the 70’s and the bright fluorescent of the 80’s. We visited with the students after the show, commenting on our favorite outfits and sharing with them some of the clothing choices we made during these years.

It wouldn’t be summer without the tempting aroma of hot dogs and hamburgers cooking on the grill filling the air. That’s just what we all enjoyed as we made our way outdoors to enjoy a spectacular barbecue just in time for the Fourth. Our favorite music played and bubbles danced in the air as we dined on the delicious foods grilled by James and Martin. Soda, cold salads and juicy watermelon were a real treat too!

Both regular and team bowling have been keeping us active this summer. We all look forward to the games and try our best to score lots of spares and strikes. Muriel Lizak has had some phenomenal scores as of late, her highest a 184. Julia Manganiello, who took the first place trophy in our staff/resident bowling tournament earlier this year, continues to be a leader with a summer high of 197. Random pairing of guests for teams has had some interesting results and some great scores too. Ruth Faustich and Jo Caputo made for a great team as did Bobbie Smith and Chris Orth.

Our baking projects offer us a chance to display our culinary talents and to enjoy the familiar scents of the added ingredients. Our apple cake was fun to make and there was some great preparation work done by Nick Mazzillo and Alfred Merrett (who peeled all our apples) and Tess Brana and Josephine D’elia who were our top mixers. We all helped with the eating stage of the activity and found that our apple cake turned a group effort into a group success.

Special bingo rounds allow us to enjoy some instant gratification as we select something special from our prize table for each of our wins. Summertime prizes included a great straw hat won by Alex Salmin and some nifty sunglasses won by Madeline Pedota. Juliette Gerlach chose some shampoo in a fruited summer scent and Virginia Kara selected one or two of our garden angels.

There are still lots of summer days ahead and we’re sure to be having fun during them all. Read about more of our summer adventures in our September newsletter.

By Linda Ohlsen, Recreation Director

May brought the beauty of spring to our outdoor gardens and the lovely flowering trees and shrubs we saw filled us with inspiration for our arts and crafts activities this past month. Our recreation room wall took on a fresh look with the many pretty blooms fashioned by Alex Salmin and Frank Hartman. Our lovely pink and yellow flowers brought a pleasant pop of color to our room which was a nice distraction from the drenching rains that were a large part of the month too.

The daisy chains we made as children flashed across our minds as we made the cute daisy wreathes to fill our hall with some springtime splendor. Those made by Madeline Pedota and Kitty Keegan were especially well done.

Everyone found the mini shopping bags given out at one of our craft sessions to be just adorable and all wondered what we’d be putting inside them. There were some terrific guesses made including the ones by Jo Caputo and Virginia Kara. Jo suggested M&M’s as a nice filler and Virginia hopefully suggested diamonds. Both good suggestions, but in keeping with our Springtime theme, it was artificial flowers that won out. Chris Orth and Muriel Lizak had fun picking posies from my flower patch and arranging them in their bags for a beautiful display that turned our recreation room mantel into a lovely indoor garden for us all to enjoy.

Thanks to our hard work and creative efforts we were able to complete our Spring make-over in time for Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day activities included a piano salute to our moms from entertainers Frank and Bob. Their selections included “I Want a Girl Just Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad” and, of course, the song “Mother”. During our word games and reminiscing program, we shared parenting advice and also memories of our own moms. Robert Hall related that his mother was not a very good cook, while Tess Brana noted that her mother’s meals were outstanding. We counted the number of children we had and compared them to the offspring of our parents only to be amazed at the decline in family size after just one generation. It also got us wondering how our mothers were able to accomplish all they did with so many children to raise.

Freddie Prinz, our favorite keyboard artist, delivered an outstanding afternoon of musical favorites guaranteed to please all our moms. Music from the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s brought back some lovely memories and had us all singing along to the many tunes we could easily recall. There was great dancing on display too, with Virginia Kara dancing to the theme from “Never On Sunday” and Bobbie Smith shaking her hips to the music of the “Peppermint Twist”.

Tony Grant also performed during the month playing some Latin favorites in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. Pauline Bovino was loving the music and did a great Samba out on the dance floor with her partner, Estella, of our staff. Hazel Siegel and Walter Colligan also showed off their dancing talents and there was some fine singing by Mary Billott and Lee Kulakowski.

As the month drew to a close we focused on Memorial Day. A decorative craft which paid tribute to the Stars and Stripes was done by Ruth Faustich and Noreen Doohan. Hung outside our dining room, it gave us all an opportunity to remember how very proud we are of our country.

Our group discussions also led us to celebrating our patriotism
with such topics as gold star mothers, war time shortages and air raids. Maryann Conforti described a typical air raid drill for Americans while Elizabeth Czeher told us about such drills in England. We found it interesting, though a bit scary, that during the European drills one would be carrying a gas mask.

A special program of patriotic selections was offered by guitarist George Maselli. It was nice to be able to raise our voices in song as we paid tribute to our country. There was some wonderful singing by Josephine D’Elia and Kitty Keegan as well as Hazel Siegel and Lillian Diamond.

Also fun during the month was our regular Monday morning bowling games. Scoring the highest this month was Julia Manganiello with a 196. Bobbie Smith had games in the 180’s and Ruth Faustich did well too with a high of 159. Alex Salmin’s game has improved and new bowler Lillian Diamond exhibits fine technique.

A visit from our pet therapy dog, Harry, is always fun. Harry is a standard poodle with a pleasing temperament who is always as happy to see us as we are to see him. Irene Huether gave him a warm welcome on his last visit but it was Adelaide McKasty who won his heart by sharing her cookie with him.

New guest, Elizabeth Czeher, had a terrific streak of luck at our special bingo rounds. Elizabeth won lots of goodies plus a lovely shawl, hand knit and donated to us by the Sayville Congregational Church. Also doing well at the games were Juliette Gerlach and Josephine D’Elia.

Regular bingo rounds are always fun and always a bit competitive too. It was a three way tie at month’s end between Gilda Messina, Nick Mazzillo and Muriel Lizak. When the last games were played through and scores were tallied, it was Nick Mazzillo who was our monthly winner. Congratulations, Nick!

Our June calendar shows lots of fun activities scheduled and we’ll be looking forward to all of them. Planned events include some sparkling red, white and blue crafts for Flag Day plus entertainment by Ray Lani, Julia Franco and Everett Green. Also in June a special fashion show presented by the Patchogue/Medford High School Key Club.