On three different recent evenings the residents of Kendal at Granville have enjoyed the opportunity of hearing talented members of the Denison University faculty discuss their research and creative interests. That's one of the perks of living near a college. The talks treated topics in astronomy, history, and literature; our ensuing conversations with speakers were wide-ranging; and after the events were over the guests spoke with animation and joy about what a pleasure it had been for them to engage with a community audience that was informed and curious. Hooray for the Kendal-Denson tie!
One of the speakers was Ron Homan, who told us about his work with radio astronomy. He had great visuals, and with the aid of this set of colorful projections he helped us to understand how plumes expelled by special stars can appear to exceed the speed of light, and allowed us to peek back into the character of the universe in the microseconds after the Big Bang. One of the happiest aspects of Professor Homan's research turned out to be that it is fashioned in such a way as to present Denison students with authentic and challenging opportunities at research cooperation. So Granville is one of the sites where the scientists of tomorrow will come from.
Another speaker was Peter Grandbois, the author of the acclaimed recent novel Nahoonkara. Professor Grandbois read selections from this work aloud to us, commented on them, and invited questions. He also discussed the category of fiction often called "magical realism" – Nahoonkara is an example of it – and located it in the broader history of fiction writing around the world. Like any good speaker, he spurred some residents to zip off to the public library in search of other novels that might exercise the same enchantment.
Our third speaker was Bill Kirkpatrick, author of a recent book on the founding of our (and his) hometown of Granville. Professor Kirkpatrick used sketches, maps, and photos of the buildings and artifacts of the early settlement to show how, as complements to the documentary trail left by newspapers and correspondence, they can be used to pry out inferences about the character of Granville in the first decade of the nineteenth century. Since some of the residents here at Kendal have spent much of their lives in Granville, this was a talk that attracted a large audience and stimulated wide conversation in subsequent days.
What we appreciated about all our speakers was their quick realization that we were authentic students, perhaps not as young as the students they are accustomed to working with, but every bit as curious, eager, and ready to expand our intellectual worlds as a college-age kid. We probed their thoughts and engaged their interests, and they responded with respect and excitement. Collectively, they reminded us again of how Kendal at Granville is, among other things, a classroom for the curious.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Tower Lines
At the opening of each month, every Kendal at Granville resident receives a copy of the latest issue of Tower Lines, the monthly newsletter of Kendal residents. It is indispensable reading in the community, for its contents touch us in all sorts of useful ways. To give you a sense of what I mean, here's what the reader will find in the just-arrived issue of May, 2012.
On the front page, under a masthead sketch of the entranceway to Kendal (with its landmark tower), appears a report from the Executive Director. This is a regular feature of the publication, and Doug Helman uses the opportunity to bring us up to date on the kinds of matters that broadly affect the community – which, right now, are preeminently developments in the Phase II expansion project. The happy news he shares is that the community has more than reached its goal of raising $450,000 for our new and badly-needed Gathering Room. The additional funds will allow us wider latitude in determining how to furnish and decorate the facility.
The Executive Director's report is followed by a three-page introduction to Virgil and Jan Hoftiezer, a couple that has recently brought their energies and hobbies to the community. A photo accompanies the article. We learn of their pre-Kendal lives, we meet their children, and we are introduced to their enthusiasms – travel, the theater, Sweden, fabric arts, genealogy, and the veiled pastime (I'll spill the beans) of aviculture (look it up!).
This fine introduction is followed by another (with photo, of course) – in this case of Sue LeFevre, a world-traveler who is already known to many residents by virtue of her family ties to nearby Newark and her father-in-law's many generous contributions to the welfare of his hometown.
Next come three timely news items. The first treats important moments from the April monthly meeting of the Residents Association – news about our acquisition of a shredder, about the role of the Dining Committee, and about the ambition of our bridge-playing club to expand its membership. The second describes the planned and guided transformation of the prairie on the northeastern end of the campus. And the third tells of plans to honor our late neighbor, Wally Chessman, during the coming reunion weekend at Denison.
Tower Lines regularly features pieces on staff members, and this month the subject is Tom Mitchell, who at the present moment holds the title of Design and Construction Coordinator for the Phase II project here. The piece tells how Tom, though a resident of Granville, is in fact an employee of Kendal Corporation, and has been sent out by headquarters over the years to provide his coordinating gifts when Kendal engages in major building projects. A veteran of Kendal construction activities in Oberlin, Ithaca, Lexington, and Philadelphia, Tom smiles at his Granville friends from the photo that accompanies the piece. Immediately following the article on Tom comes an update on the recent progress of the Phase II expansion.
And there is still more! An article on the coming "Commit to be Fit" competition, which will include a (virtual) "swimming" of the English Channel. Notes on the activities of the Granville Fellowship. An announcement that the resident display cabinet in the first-floor alcove will feature fiber art items in May and June. Excerpts from newsletters published by other Kendals. Items on health. Limericks composed by residents. Birthdays. Bridge results. A proposal for a visit to the Alligator Mound in Granville. (For the uninitiated, the mound was laid out in the thirteenth century by the Native American inhabitants of the area now known as Granville.)
Finally, on pages 12 and 13, appear descriptions of some coming featured events – including speakers, plays, and concerts – and a complete calendar of programs scheduled for the month of May.
Indispensable reading, indeed! There is no better source for learning about our new neighbors, about the staff members we regularly meet, or about what is happening in our community. The enterprise is guided by Betty Hullinger, the editor-in-chief, and so I'll conclude by simply noting that the community owes her a debt of gratitude for her labors on behalf of keeping us abreast of the activities that lend vigor to life at Kendal at Granville.
On the front page, under a masthead sketch of the entranceway to Kendal (with its landmark tower), appears a report from the Executive Director. This is a regular feature of the publication, and Doug Helman uses the opportunity to bring us up to date on the kinds of matters that broadly affect the community – which, right now, are preeminently developments in the Phase II expansion project. The happy news he shares is that the community has more than reached its goal of raising $450,000 for our new and badly-needed Gathering Room. The additional funds will allow us wider latitude in determining how to furnish and decorate the facility.
The Executive Director's report is followed by a three-page introduction to Virgil and Jan Hoftiezer, a couple that has recently brought their energies and hobbies to the community. A photo accompanies the article. We learn of their pre-Kendal lives, we meet their children, and we are introduced to their enthusiasms – travel, the theater, Sweden, fabric arts, genealogy, and the veiled pastime (I'll spill the beans) of aviculture (look it up!).
This fine introduction is followed by another (with photo, of course) – in this case of Sue LeFevre, a world-traveler who is already known to many residents by virtue of her family ties to nearby Newark and her father-in-law's many generous contributions to the welfare of his hometown.
Next come three timely news items. The first treats important moments from the April monthly meeting of the Residents Association – news about our acquisition of a shredder, about the role of the Dining Committee, and about the ambition of our bridge-playing club to expand its membership. The second describes the planned and guided transformation of the prairie on the northeastern end of the campus. And the third tells of plans to honor our late neighbor, Wally Chessman, during the coming reunion weekend at Denison.
Tower Lines regularly features pieces on staff members, and this month the subject is Tom Mitchell, who at the present moment holds the title of Design and Construction Coordinator for the Phase II project here. The piece tells how Tom, though a resident of Granville, is in fact an employee of Kendal Corporation, and has been sent out by headquarters over the years to provide his coordinating gifts when Kendal engages in major building projects. A veteran of Kendal construction activities in Oberlin, Ithaca, Lexington, and Philadelphia, Tom smiles at his Granville friends from the photo that accompanies the piece. Immediately following the article on Tom comes an update on the recent progress of the Phase II expansion.
And there is still more! An article on the coming "Commit to be Fit" competition, which will include a (virtual) "swimming" of the English Channel. Notes on the activities of the Granville Fellowship. An announcement that the resident display cabinet in the first-floor alcove will feature fiber art items in May and June. Excerpts from newsletters published by other Kendals. Items on health. Limericks composed by residents. Birthdays. Bridge results. A proposal for a visit to the Alligator Mound in Granville. (For the uninitiated, the mound was laid out in the thirteenth century by the Native American inhabitants of the area now known as Granville.)
Finally, on pages 12 and 13, appear descriptions of some coming featured events – including speakers, plays, and concerts – and a complete calendar of programs scheduled for the month of May.
Indispensable reading, indeed! There is no better source for learning about our new neighbors, about the staff members we regularly meet, or about what is happening in our community. The enterprise is guided by Betty Hullinger, the editor-in-chief, and so I'll conclude by simply noting that the community owes her a debt of gratitude for her labors on behalf of keeping us abreast of the activities that lend vigor to life at Kendal at Granville.
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