Tis the month before Christmas
and all through our community things are astir.
It began on the evening before Thanksgiving with our lighting the
menorah for the first day of Hanukkah.
This year the fact that it coincided with Thanksgiving resulted in the
presence of the Jewish grandchildren of one of our residents being present to
lead us in the blessings and prayers.
Thanksgiving Day found lots of
visitors present for our Thanksgiving feast.
We are blessed with a dining staff that goes to great lengths to make
this a special day for us. Tables are
set up to accommodate family groups who come to share the meal with resident
family members. This saves time and
confusion when the group exceeds the size of our usual table setups. The menu includes special treats beginning
with things like lobster bisque, shrimp cocktail, and continuing through turkey
with all the trimmings, ham, and ending with desserts sicj as warm cherry
cobbler and bread pudding with caramel sauce..
For the past several years my son, his wife and their two teen age boys,
now 18 and 22, have joined me here. The
boys love being here for our holidays such as this and Easter and Labor Day.
As we move on our maintenance
staff bring out the holiday decorations from their assorted storage spots and
together staff and residents decorate our community. We are lucky that the staff takes on the job
of putting up outside lights and bows saving us the difficulties associated
with the cold weather and reaching high places.
Additional blessings have come to
us as outside groups such like the children of Centenary Methodist church who
brought us the delight of their Christmas pageant. For me this was a real treat because it has
been a number of years since I have been able to be at one of these. Along with the children cametheir energy and
enthusiasm. It was delightful to see
them skipping and running about as they prepared for the presentation.
Another blessing was the visit of
the Granville School Chamber Singers who presented a beautiful a cappella choral
collection of seasonal music. Following
their formal concert in our Amelia Gathering Room they walked through the halls
singing as they went thus taking their music to residents unable to attend.
We were also privileged once again
to a program presented by residents and staff members. The Kendaliers directed by Teddy Westlake
sang both serious and fun numbers including one about a hippopotamus and a
couple about pies - namely pumpkin and cherry.
They invited us to sing-a-long with them fpr several holiday songs. Seatee by a fireplace on stage Ginny Fletcher
read the well known Twas the Night
Before Christmas to the children of staff members. Kelly Corder played a beautiful violin
accompaniment to Silent Night and Away in the Manger as the Kendaliers and
audience hummed. On our way out of the Amelia Room we had our choice of pumpkin
or cherry pie to top off the evening.
On the thirteenth we gathered for
what has become our traditional holiday potluck. On this occasion the dining staff provides
the main entrees, shrimp cocktails, and some sides while residents and staff members
outdo each other by bringing mouth wateringm delicious appetizers, salads,
salads, sides and sinfully delicious deserts.
That event ends with a presentation of tokens of appreciation given to
staff members by residents who have contributed to the staff appreciation fund since
tips are not allowed.
Another thing that staff and
residents collaborate on is contributing to the Licking County program Families
Helping Families. This too is a
tradition.
These highlights of the
activities of this season illustrate what makes Kendal such a special place to live during the holiday season. The biggest blessing of all is that this
sort of thing isn’t limited to the holidays
but goes on the year round
