Kendaliers Sing-a-Long Exemplifies Life at Kendal

After hearing the Kendaliers sing on the evening of December 19, I decided to write my blog using the occasion as an example of one of the qualities that makes life at Kendal so special.  As a part of my preparation I asked another resident who had taken pictures that night if he would be kind enough to email pictures so I might include one in my blog.  Typical of the sort of answer that you get when you make such a request here, he said that he would gladly.  He sent me a group of pictures so I could make a choice.

Then I discovered that another of the Kendal bloggers, Reed Browning, had written a blog about the Kendaliers.  Upon reviewing it I found that his excellent description of the event provided the  perfect background for my observations.  Since we were going to have a double take on the event, I decided it was worthy of more than one picture and so published three as a separate blog.

Now as to what struck me in addition to all that Reed reported.  What I noted first of all was that it was a packed house.  Attendance was far in excess of that of the other seasonal things on our calenda. We filled all of our folding chairs.  Then we dragged additional chairs out of the adjacent dining room and library.  The lobby was filled and people were seated down the halls in both directions as well as in the library.  Those arriving at the last minute had to either sit on the floor or stand.

What brought out the largest crowd we've had for any of the other seasonal events?  I believe it was the fact that it was that special thing about Kendal.  The Kendaliers were made up of both residents and staff.  That's what is so special about Kendal.  It's the way that the residents and the staff relate to one another.  We work together on committees.  We plan and carry out special events together.  We see each other as individuals who matter.  We respect one another.  We are on a first name basis.  We care about each other. We do it in so many ways.  And so when we had a Christmas concert and sing-a-long we wanted to be there all at the same time in so far as it was possible.

It's one of the reasons I give thanks that I chose to come live at Kendal at Granville.

Kendalier Pictures

Teddy Westlake leading the sing-a-long.



The Kendaliers - Staff and Residents

The Kendaliers seated during sing-a-long facing audience.

Teddy standing facing audience to lead sing-a-long.

The audience - note standing room only.

Filled the lobby extending into the library

and down the hall in both directions.

Note how close audience sits to performers.

The house was packed!!



The Kendaliers

Good news – Kendal at Granville is no longer without a choir! On the evening of December 19, with a program of traditional Christmas music, the Kendaliers made their debut. They are a nine-member chorus comprised entirely of Kendal residents. The enthusiasm of the standing-room only crowd showed that the community appreciated the group's efforts, and the singers themselves said how pleased they were to have been given an opportunity to return to the hobby of choral singing they had once so much enjoyed. While it's not clear whether the Kendaliers will become a fixture on the Kendal scene, there's little doubt that many residents have been reminded of the lure of choral singing, and so it's likely that other efforts and experiments will soon follow.

The founder and director of the Kendaliers is Teddy Westlake. Having just retired from careers in which she directed both church choirs and community choirs – and a fine keyboardist as well – Teddy realized that she had talents to offer to her fellow residents. From her work as the guiding spirit of the Vintage Voices, Granville's community choir for seniors, she is familiar with the vocal limitations that adults in the seventies and eighties might experience, and she knows how to coax spirited and enjoyable performances out of mature vocal cords. She recruited her singers early in the fall and scheduled one-hour weekly rehearsals during which they learned to blend their voices, listen to each other, and overcome their discouragement that they might no longer have the resonant voices and vocal control that they recalled having had when thirty years younger. She also recruited two talented and non-senior singers, Sandy Wolfe (who works in our Wellness Center) and her daughter Brittany, to perform solos and duets.

The event was held in the large entrance hallway of Kendal at Granville, decked out with traditional seasonal trappings. The program celebrated Christmas, with choral settings of familiar carols and solo performances of reverential pieces, interspersed with a narrative telling of the Christmas story. Afterwards, the community joined with the chorus in singing Christmas songs of all sorts – the lively, the quiet, the rollicking, and the soaring. Several audience members enlivened the occasion by supplying, when appropriate, an aural backdrop of sleigh bells.

When the evening was over, everyone felt warmth about the occasion and gratitude toward Teddy – for her vision, her labors, her generosity. Moreover, the comments that have been making the rounds in the days after the concert suggest that there is a genuine appetite for more choral opportunities and performances at Kendal. Let's hope the Kendaliers have a future.

Better Late than Never

I planned to write this the day before Thanksgiving, but as so often happens in our lives in the words of  Robert Burns “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley.”   All sorts of things conspired to keep me from following my plans until today.  So here I am at last able to reflect on what there was and is to be thankful about my life here at Kendal at Granville.  One real big thing for me in connection with thanks giving is the very special way in which the Thanksgiving Dinner is handled here.

Our meal is served from eleven to three that day making it possible for us to eat a very leisurely meal.  The menu is fabulous.  So much so that when someone asked my daughter-in-law where she was going for Thanksgiving Dinner and she said she was going to eat with her mother-in-law who lived at a CCRC, and that person said, "Oh that's too bad," my daughter-in-law replied, "Oh no, it's a wonderful place to eat for Thanksgiving, we love the food there. It was our choice to eat there instead of at home.' The fact that my family which includes my son, his wife and two sons - one just beginning college and one a sophomore in high school,  all of whom like to come here so we can enjoy the meal together has a lot to do with making it something I'm very thankful for.

Our menu offered two soups - one a wonderful crab and corn chowder and the other a delicious roasted butternut squash soup.  In addition to the usual mixed greens salad with assorted dressings there were four special salads - broccoli cole slaw, a fresh fruit salad, lemon Seven Up salad and a tomato avocado salad.  The main entrees consisted of honey glazed ham, baked filet of sole with seafood stuffing and white wine sauce, and the traditional roast turkey.  My daughter-in-law told me the sole was really scrumptious and from the number of helpings my son and grandsons had of the ham I know it hit the spot. The sides included mashed potatoes, praline sweet potato casserole, corn bread stuffing, green bean casserole, creamed pearl onions, and cranberry sauce. Of course, there was plenty of gravy.   My daughter-in-law also told me that the sweet potato casserole was very tasty.

 As if all that were not enough for desser we had a wide assortment of pies and cakes crowned  with a luscious chocolate cherry cobbler and warm bread pudding with caramel sauce.   As always cookies and ice cream and assorted beverages were on hand.  Who could ask for anything more?

One of the nice things that the dining department does is check ahead of time to see who has family coming.  Tables are then set up and reserved so that when a family comes in they can be seated together without a great deal of rearranging of tables to get all of the family together.  There are also dining personnel available to help those who need assistance and to keep the tables cleared of used dishes.

Oops I almost forgot to mention that the dining room also makes sure that the tables are set with tablecloths and special cloth napkins.  In addition the dining room is decorated so that you don't feel like it's an institution but a very special dining spot suitable for a family gathering.  Add i tall up and you can see that the Dining Department is one for which I am very grateful here at Kendal

The many other things I'm thankful for here at Kendal are the convenience of housekeeping and maintenance services, drivers to take us to medical appointments, the caring staff, and the chance to live with a community of people who believe in the Kendal values.

Reading Rocks at the Library

Retired seniors famously fill the ranks of the nation's volunteers. They are the ones who often have free time, and since many want to be useful to their community and are therefore importuned to give of this time, they may well find themselves confronted with the need to make choices. Should I do this? or this? or maybe this?

Recently an opportunity came Kendal's way that many residents jumped at. Volunteers were needed for a program aimed at encouraging kids from disadvantaged families in the nearby Newark school system to imagine that a college education might be a real possibility for them. Here was a project with a clear and undeniably good goal, and so Kendal residents quickly enlisted – so many of them, in fact, that the list of volunteers soon exceeded the number of slots! This could well be the start of a grand and enduring partnership!

The background of the program is this. Some years ago, in an effort to increase the proportion of Newark high school graduates who go on to college, a support program named A Call to College was created. Its founders initially targeted just high school students, but soon decided that if the twin tasks of encouragement and enablement were to be fulfilled, earlier interventions were needed. And so in recent years the program has developed strategies for getting kids as young as second grade interested in, if not college itself (a rather foggy notion to a 7-year-old), then in READING. The plan is called Reading Rocks at the Library, and its aim is to get these youngsters into the public library – many didn't even know such a thing existed – and for them to have opportunities to engage with adults there whose words and lives and enthusiasm can validate the value of books in the opening up of opportunities. Kendal volunteers, living testaments to the values of reading, were asked to step into the role of the validating adults.

Social scientists will tell us that it's much too soon to know whether the strategy of Reading Rocks will have an impact. It will probably take ten or fifteen years before the results can be fully measured. But the Kendal volunteers, savvy in the ways of their young grandchildren, report that their own experiences with the program give them grounds for optimism. They also report that have been having a rollicking good time. After all, who wouldn't have fun walking among a gang of eager and happy seven-year-olds while sporting an odd hat or two, maybe teaching a few words in a foreign language, perhaps showing off a fancifully-attired doll or a gorgeous book, sometimes sharing photos of a childhood from long ago, and inevitably answering a staggering set of questions from primed and curious kids (e.g., did the navy make you bald?)? Art Linkletter never had more fun.

It is probably important to their success with the kids that these volunteers bring a number of different career backgrounds to their service – a counselor, a nurse, a small business owner, an athletic director, a writer, a service veteran. But it is more important that they can answer questions about their lives and (since they're a clever bunch) find ways to link these answers to their living testimony about the importance of books in the shaping of their lives.

Many people have observed how retired folks often draw pleasure and energy from seeing the young disport themselves. Through the Reading Rocks at the Library program Kendal residents are hoping that the young in turn can draw pleasure and a more focused energy from seeing seniors romp as a result of being able to read.

Above and Beyond

One of the blessings of living at Kendal is the manner in which our staff members go above and beyond to meet our needs and to make our life easier.  Just last week I saw an outstanding example of this as one of the maintenance men worked to install a new washer/dryer combo in my apartment.  Actually not a brand new one, but one that would better meet my needs.

It all began at one of the annual meetings which administrative staff hold with residents to discuss our concerns regarding Kendal services.  These small group sessions allow us to share with administration our concerns and to make suggestions about changes we would like to see in the services available to us.  Over the five years that I have lived here the outcomes of these sessions have proven to me how sincere our administration and staff members are in trying to make this a great place to live.  During the course of one discussion I learned that I could ask to have the washer/dryer combo in my apartment changed to one that would make it easier for me to see and operate the controls.

The standard issue washer/dryer combos have the controls at the top.  When you are as short as I am which is under four feet ten,  you can't see the top of the control where the On indicator is located.  If you are lucky, you get it right on your first try at turning the washer on.  More often than not you end up making several frustrating attempts before succeeding  unless you go get a step stool to stand on it so you can see the control.  That's a bit of a nuisance since there is no convenient place to keep the step stool near the washer/dryer.  So I was pleased to receive word that the maintenance department had a machine with controls located below the dryer ready to install in my apartment.

It so happened that I was confined to my apartment that day because I had a very bad head cold.   From where I was sitting in my living room I could see what was happening as the exchange of machines took place.  As I watched I realized how much above and beyond the call of ordinary work the installer had to go.  First  there was the difficult job of getting the old one out of the cubby hole in the bathroom where it was.  After managing to wiggle it out and disconnect it and remove it to wherever it went, the replacement washer/dryer was brought in. 

Now the real fun began.  The installer had to get behind it in that small space unlit by direct light so that he could make the necessary connections to power and water.  And they had to be exactly right or it wouldn't work or there might be floods or who knows maybe even worse as you read the warnings about the dangers of fire from improperly installed exhausts.  The next step was to push the washer/dryer combo partially back into the space with only  inches to spare on all sides except the front.  At one point when I looked up all I could see were the feet and legs of the installer as he lay on top of the dryer reaching over the back to finish making the connections.  It was then quite obvious to me just how far above and beyond these fellows go for us at times.

As he was leaving my apartment I thanked him for installing the washe/dryer. I told him that I did appreciate the fact that it would now be much easier for me to do my washing and commented that I couldn't help noticing what extraordinary maneuvering it took to do the job. His matter of fact response was that they called that "the belly roll"  which indicated to me that they just take that sort of thing in stride as a part of what they do for us routinely. I call it going "above and beyond" when you have to crawl up on top of a washer/dryer combo and hang over the top in a space that is just big enough to accomodate the equipment being installed. 

And this is but one example of the sort of thing that our staff does that is above and beyond.
Consider staying over night when there is a storm so they will be sure to be here the next morning to make breakfast.  Or taking meals to cottages and villas when the weather makes trips to the community building treacherous.  Or the time a few years ago when we had a power outage that lasted for several days, the housekeeping staff came around and helped us deal with the problems created by the food that was thawing in our refrigerators.  Need I say more?   Kendal is a great place to live because of a staff that takes going "above and beyond" as a matter of routine.

Latest Book Group Event

Kendal Book Group had a really exciting meeting today! Our discussion of three short stories by Anton Chekov was led by Dr. Carol Apollonio who is a professor of Russian Literature at Duke University. This is the third time she has been kind enough to enlighten us on some difficult and beautiful literature. Carol is the daughter of a Kendal resident so we have kind of an "in" which allows us this privilege. The group's assignment was to read three short stories by Chekov.

Some of us thought the stories, "Rothchild's Violin", "Lady with the Dog", and "In the Cart", depressing and pointless. Carol explained that an engaging plot is not always necessary, that a story can be told for other reasons, and that we can enjoy vivid descriptions, find hidden symbolism, and learn about the history and issues of the day. So we had a good discussion about the fact that plot is not always the basis of good writings, and that sometimes in a good book or story, it seems as if "nothing happens."

Two years ago our assignment was to read "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoevsky which was hundreds of pages and very difficult to plod through because the story was about a dysfunctional man who lived in poverty before the revolution. Last year we read "Anna Karenina" by Tolstoy which was easier to read because of the romance and the social life of the upper class. We always find it amazing when Carol uncovers for us meanings we would never have found on our own.

Next month we will read "Unbroken", a true story about World War II, as told by Laura Hillendbrand. We hope that the two men in our book group who fought in that war will enlighten us. So far, our group of twenty or so, have read sixty- some books over the past five years and look forward to more. We occasionally have a local professor to help us understand but mostly we just rely on each other's understanding. We have a good time!

Eloise

Never Too Old to Learn

Hedda von Goeben with Students in Ceramic Lab

This summer we saw a unique example of the application of the value expressed in this quote from a past Kendal Corporation  annual report, "The Kendal idea fosters the integration of continuing learning in all aspects of community life and work for residents, staff, and board members."  One way through which Kendal communities work to fulfill this value is to form links with local educational facilities.  This particular Kendal has been linked closely with Denison University in Granville since its inception.  Many of our residents are Denison graduates and some taught or worked there in other capacities.  Many of the speakers who provide programs for us are Denison faculty members.  Their art department has provided student art for shows in our Art Gallery.

Denison offers a Community Scholars program which grants persons 30 years of age or older the privilege of taking one course per semester as an auditor for a nominal fee.   Various residents have taken advantage of this program from time to time in the six years since Kendal at Granville opened.  What we saw happen this summer involves  one of those persons in particular, Hedda von Goeben.   The availability of the Community Scholars program was one of the reasons she chose to move here from her home in Connecticut.  Hedda came here with a lifelong love of art which over the years had developed into an extensive knowledge and understanding of a wide variety of art forms.   As soon as she moved here in the summer of 2005 she registered at Denison for any class in the art department with an opening for a Community Scholar.  She began with sculpture, then went into a class for life drawing, followed by a year of printmaking and painting and finally after waiting four years an opening appeared in her favorite - a ceramics class! 

In September 2010  upon the occasion of a show in entitled "One Thing Led to Another" in the Bryant Art  at Denison she wrote, "One thing has led to another and I have already registed for my eleventh semester in the Denison art department."   Residents here who were familiar with her work admired her creations and were therefore delighted to learn that this summer something new and different would be offered through the Denison art department.  Hedda would be given the opportunity to lead a class for fellow residents during the summer when students were off campus.  Thus the student became the teacher.

The class filled quickly with ten persons, all new to the study of ceramics with the exception of one who told me she had not done any work with ceramics for fifty years.  The class met from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for ten days.  One of the class members commented to me that they had a "wonderful time working together and getting to know each other better".  An exhibit of their works with a reception was held on the last day of class.  Everyone who came from the exhibit told the rest of us who couldn't make it that their creations were fabulous.

Fortunately, as the person responsible for our display cabinet I was able to get them to share their creations with us for the month of September.  I have also learned that they are looking forward to repeating their experience once again in January when the Denison students are again off campus. Obviously we are never too old to learn.  See samples of displays from original exhibit below.

 

Our August Seminar on Drinking

Guest speakers are a regular feature of evening life at Kendal. They come to share their ideas and lives with us, and they arrive representing all sorts of interests and backgrounds. Just this past year, for example, our roster of speakers has included business people, educators, local historians, collectors, poets, hobbyists, directors of philanthropic organizations, story tellers, physicians, and travelers. They acquaint us with facets of our world that our daily conversations with friends, our viewing of television, our reading, and our web-surfing are not likely to leave us informed about. And we recognize this. That's why it's not surprising that these evening talks, usually lasting an hour or so (including Q&A), are widely attended.

Part of the attractiveness of the speakers' program is that it isn't thematic. Speakers are scheduled as their availability allows. Consequently, one guest might talk of a school for clowns, the next about the origins of the universe, and a third about genealogical research. We don't get in a rut. Across the course of a year there's something for almost everybody. But sometimes something surprising happens, an unplanned linkage occurs, and unexpectedly we have . . . a seminar!

That's what happened earlier this month when, within the space of a little more than a week, two speakers, quite unknown to each other and without any prior planning, told us about beverages – with particular attention to alcoholic beverages. The result was a conversation among a number of residents about the character and implications of American drinking habits.

The first speaker, a chemist by training, told us about the importance of water for human life (no startling news there, of course!) and then identified the six major ways in which humans have made water more potable and tasty. The earliest device, perhaps as much as 10,000 years old, was beer, with wine coming along several thousand years later. Distilled beverages followed, and then arrived coffee, tea, and . . . yes . . . soft drinks. As he guided us on this historical excursion, our speaker enlivened the evening with anecdotes, forays into molecular structures (he had some building-block models to pass around), and bottled samples of his subjects. He gave us an information-packed hour of fun and instruction, and by the time it was over we all had a fuller sense of how the marvelous ingenuity of our forebears has supplied our own era with such a formidable array of beverages to choose from when we want to quench our thirsts.

Unlike this first speaker, our second speaker, who was an anthropologist by training, came with a policy purpose. A student of the drinking cultures of several continents, he hoped to persuade us that this country could be wiser in its choice of policies to address the problem of alcohol abuse. Again we heard amusing tales – but this time of African workers celebrating at the end of a long day of labor and of American college administrators coping with student resistance to under-age drinking laws. Again anecdotes enlivened the presentation, but they were chosen in part to challenge the assumption that rigorous anti-drinking laws are the best way for a society to address the harm that comes from excessive alcohol consumption.

Both talks were followed by lively (but never heated) discussions, as residents sought more information or clarifications from the speakers, or chose to speak of events in their own lives that bore on the subjects of the talks. The only element missing in our unplanned "classroom" experience was the opportunity to see the two speakers on-stage together, discussing (with us as participants, of course) the character of drinking in America. But even without such a fantasy face-off (and perhaps "face-off" is the wrong term: for all I know, they would have agreed on most points), we had contrived to create for ourselves a summer seminar. Those of us who attended the presentations are wiser for the experience.

Names Are More Than Labels

Names are more than labels.  In some societies and cultures to know someones name means to be able to control that individual so names are closely guarded.  In others names are given to hide or disguise the child in order to protect them from a jealous god. 

Not so in most of our society. .Often the parents who named us as children spent many hours before our birth picking out our names.  They may have looked up the meanings of names.  No doubt they considered how a given name sounded with the family name. In some families an old family name is passed on from generation to generation.  If you are lucky it's a well-loved name.  Sometimes a son ends up with his mother's maiden family name as his middle name which is then passed on.  Not infrequently that results in some odd middle names. e.g. Dingledorfer.

Then there are the times when the parents so want a boy and got a girl that the girl gets a feminized version of a boys name.   A quick look at a list of class names over a period of years will reveal that names go through cycles of popularity. There were four Nancy's in my sisters class all though elementary and high school.   Names may be picked from the Bible, movie stars, famous people, etc. 

Nicknames become attached to some people and become better known than the names given to them by their parents.  Some are closely related to the original such as Rob for Robert and Liz or Beth for Elizabeth.  Others have interesting stories of origination.

What's in a name that makes it more than a label? My husband used to say that a person's name was his most precious possession. Our names give each of us our unique identity

 In today's world where many entities assign us numbers as identities our names often seem to get lost. You may call for information from your bank, credit card company, health insurance, or Medicare and they don't ask for your name. Instead, they wll ask for your account number, your telephone number, your zip code and in some instances you may even have to give a password. By the time you get to that, if you are like me, you have to refer to your password reference list lest you give the wrong password and they hang up on you as an imposter!

Fortunately for those of us who live here at Kendal at Granville our staff recognizes that each of us are unique individuals. One important way they show this is by learning our names and then calling us by name whenever they come in contact with us.  I am constantly surprised and delighted to note how quickly new employees learn the names of all of our residents.  One place this is particularly evident is in the dining room.  As we go through the line to get our hot food or as they see someone in need of help each of them calls us by name.  It is a life affirming experience to be so recognized daily by our staff.  It tells us that we matter to them.  We may have numbers on our charts and in the accounting office, but all of the staff including the Finance Manager and the Billing Manager call us by name not by number. 

Groundbreaking!

We've begun!! The long-anticipated Phase II of Kendal construction was formally launched on Wednesday, July 20, with the official groundbreaking ceremony. The weather was sunny and hot for the outdoor event, but with the aid of spacious tents and a bit of a breeze, the overflow crowd could be accommodated relatively comfortably. The audience consisted of residents and staff; people who will be joining our community when the project is completed; local government officials who assisted us in the long planning process; bankers and financial advisers who helped us secure our financing; representatives of both the architectural firm that consulted with us in designing our plans and the contracting firm that will let us realize them; and officers from Kendal Corporation, whose oversight helped us every step of the way.

When the project is completed in about eighteen months, Kendal at Granville will have twenty-four new apartment units, a broadly expanded health center, and a Gathering Room large enough to host musical and theatrical events, large meetings, and all sorts of major social and business occasions. I won't pretend that all residents look forward to the construction noise and the disruptions of life which will inevitably attend this project. But everyone at Kendal acknowledges that we will be a stronger and healthier community when the work has been done. And so we'll look upon the coming year-and-a-half as an adventure.

As for the groundbreaking ceremony itself, it was appropriately celebratory. Five speakers addressed the project. Doug Helman, our Executive Director, thanked all those who had contributed to the realization of the ambition of planting a CCRC in Granville, including the pioneers who, back in the years when the Kendal at Granville project was but a dream of some local visionaries, had given time, imagination, and money to support the idea. John Diffey, President of Kendal Corporation, congratulated us on our achievement and situated the project within the wider conspectus of Kendal's goal of service. Tom Mills, President of the Kendal at Granville board of trustees, commended the board for its hard work. William Mason, Granville Township Trustee, spoke of the amicable and mutually supportive relationship of Kendal and the town of Granville. Harriett Stone, Kendal at Granville's first board president and first resident, directed the minds of the audience back to the groundbreaking of 2003, when Kendal at Granville was launched, and invited us all to believe that similar success will attend our current endeavor.

Everyone has seen the iconic photographs that mark a groundbreaking occasion. We contributed our own set of images for future historians to consult – shots of small lines of familiar and not-so-familiar faces, everyone beaming at the camera while sporting hard hats and brandishing shovels. (Thanks to the foresightedness of the Marketing department, the hats bore the inscription of Kendal at Granville, and the shovels were gilded.)

Unlike many ceremonies of this sort, Kendal's groundbreaking ended before the scheduled termination hour, and given the mounting heat of the late morning, few attendees can have been regretful. At that point we repaired to the lobby, where, in the coolness of the interior, a grand buffet meal awaited us. Everyone will have his or her own favorite dish from the meal, but the offerings that stirred the most enthusiastic commentary afterward were the stacks of clams and the sinfully chocolatey dirt puddings.

The meal was a memorable conclusion to a meaningful morning. Everyone now knew that Phase II – for so long the subject of discussions, analyses, worries, hopes, and predictions – was under way. So let the fun begin!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Some weeks ago I was one of five residents who drove to Huntington Park to see a Columbus Clippers baseball game. The Clippers are the triple-A farm team of the Cleveland Indians, and if their play this season is indicative of what the Indians of the future will be like, Tribe followers should have smiles on their faces in the coming years – always assuming they can manage to keep the talent. But what drew us to the ballpark on this sunny day wasn't the success of the team but the prospect of watching minor league baseball in a fan-friendly arena. For Huntington Park, now in just its second year of operation, is widely acknowledged to be a model for successful minor league franchises in the changed world of the twenty-first century - open and clean, and with clear lines of sight, good food, lively inter-inning entertainment, and comfortable seats. Oh yes . . . it offers great baseball games too!

While driving into Columbus we shared tales of ball games attended in the past, of major league stadiums visited, of childhood team loyalties gratified and betrayed. As a son of New York, I had been a Yankee fan in my youth. Others had grown up cheering for less successful teams, suffering with and for such squads as the Reds and the Pirates. We all had our stories to swap. And of course we talked of much else too. If you get a bunch of gabby seniors together, shaped by lifetimes of challenges and joys, there's an agenda for conversation that extends far beyond the temporal confines of drives to and from the ballpark.

One thing we hadn't reckoned on when we bought the tickets in advance: the day turned out to be hot. Hot as hell, some might say. And our seats were in the sun. Why hadn't we chosen a night game?, we wondered. And so even though we had our headgear, our light clothing, and our sunscreen, many of us chose to spend some of game standing in the shade of a stadium overhang or seeking out the comfort of a food stand.

Which brings me to an important point. One thing that hasn't changed is the scrumptiousness of ballpark food. Hotdogs (I skip the mustard, but many don't), French fries, ice cream confections - wow! And I shouldn't forget the ballpark staple of beer, although actually, since I was driving, I passed up on suds for a Coke float on this day. Still, in either case, the satisfaction of feeling a cold drink flowing down a dry throat on a hot afternoon is intense and memorable.

An oddity of the day of our visit was that all the middle schools of the Columbus suburb of Dublin had sent their students on a field trip to a baseball game, and so there were what seemed like thousands of 12-to-14-year-olds doing their thing in the ballpark. Out in the left field stands, for example, a large group of junior high girls cheered on the Clippers with what were probably adapted football chants, while along the promenade that circles the stadium some of the kids ignored baseball completely and just kept strolling. One thing for sure: this is an age group that likes food and can pack it in. And, in what will pass as my only sociological observation, this is an age group that travels in large packs – packs moreover that are single-gender in character. That, we can only presume, will soon change. The sight of this school gang prompted us in the Kendal crowd to summon up childhood memories of the rather more uplifting and sober sort of school field trips in our youths – visits to such sites as museums, concerts, presidential homes, and wildlife preserves. I guess the change is a sign of the times.

What about the ball game?, you may by now be asking. Well, it was a good one. The visitors jumped off to a big lead, aided by some incredibly sloppy fielding by the home team. Then the good guys staged a comeback. But in the end it wasn't enough, and the Clippers went down to a rare defeat. We saw home runs, a double play, some gutsy base running, and several players who seemed destined for the Bigs. By the end, I think the Kendal gang was glad it was over, but even if we were all rather sweaty, we weren't wilted, and our conversation on the drive home was as lively as our earlier one. I suspect we all were looking forward to taking showers before dinner; and it's likely that when we next head off for a baseball game in Columbus, we'll choose a night game. But we'll do it again. For going to a baseball game is, in the final analysis, a very enjoyable experience and an occasion for generating memories. And we all treasure our memories.

A Teddy Bear's Picnic - Living Among the Young at Heart

The July first morning activities of the Gallery Committee turned out to be an example of what it means to "live among the young at heart." That morning we set up a new exhibit in our display cabinet. Its theme: A Teddy Bear's Picnic. Three factors led me to suggest this theme. The first was the indication by several residents that they had teddy bears available for our use. .The second was my quick association of the song "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" with any teddy bear activity. Thirdly I recalled the community picnic which is a part of the greater Granville huge Fourth of July annual celebration. What could be a better theme for an exhibit of teddy bears in July?

In April following my preliminary announcement of our intention to have a "Teddy Bear's Picnic" as the theme for our July-August exhibit I was surprised at how very soon I began to hear from the various persons wanting to bring me their bears. I had only asked at the time if anyone had a red checked tablecloth and/or fitted picnic basket we could borrow. I explained that I had no accommodations for teddy bears at my apartment. Each caller was advised that the anxious little bears would get written invitations in due time with all of the details as to the time and place to report.

Even so I continued to get calls from residents eager to give me the pedigree and personal backgrounds of their bears. Some wanted to let me know they had a Steiff or a Gund bear. Others told me about their bears hand made of fur, quilts, shirts, etc. Still others would be dressed in all sorts of outfits and some would just be bare bears. It became apparent that we would have wee bears, little bears, medium bears, and large bears. A surprising number told me they would bring their own chairs. There were bears who had helped their owners recover from surgery, bears who brought comfort, and bears who had been loved by several generations of children. Altogether the stories told by the owners revealed a rich variety of shared experiences.

As I listened to all of these stories I was struck by the manner in which the community had caught the spirit of the theme and were looking forward to their bear/s taking part in an event which they saw as fun. To me it is evidence of how young in heart they are in spirit although they may not be so young in calendar years.

At the appointed hour on July first the bears began to arrive. Once each one was tagged committee members found places for each of them along with the picnic items which incuded a basket with containers labeled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and potato salad along with a couple of bags of potato chips. Setting on the red checked tablecloth was a container marked pink lemonade, a small basket of grapes, a jar of peanut butter and a jar of honey - a bear's favorite. Two ice coolers sat nearby.

As committee members worked residents kept stopping to ask questions and then staying to listen to the stories of the individual bears. Although it was work to get it all in place, it was the kind of work one enjoys because of the spirit that pervaded - a feeling that for at least awhile we were very young at heart as we joined the teddy bears at their picnic.

Voices of Love

One of my primary reasons for choosing to come to live at Kendal at Granville was the fact that I had come to know the reputation of Kendal communities for the quality of care. As a nurse who had taught geriatrics I had high expectations when I arrived. Now almost six years later I can say that I have not been disappointed. Largely this is due to what I think of as the many voices of love which exemplify the manner in which the underlying Quaker value of respect for others is shown here.


If anyone doubts that love still exists I would invite them to visit here and observe carefully the many ways in which love abounds. I not only see it and hear it in many ways every day, but I feel it as well. It is evident in the common ordinary actions of both staff and residents


It may be in the careful manner a young caregiver feeds a patient who needs help with eating. Often it's seen as a therapist walks slowly alongside a resident recovering from knee surgery. I felt it when the therapists turned some of our required exercises into games thus making them less tedious. Many times it is evident in the words of encouragement which keep us motivated when the going is rough. Other times I have detected it in the voice of one of our young aides coaxing a patient out of bed when they are reluctant to get up for needed exercise


I've observed it in the simple act of a friend nightly taking a cookie to a an old college buddy who is no longer able to come to the dining room for meals and staying with him for a brief visit. I've seen it reflected by a friend offering to shop for another resident who didn't feel quite up to par. Often it's demonstrated by a spouse pushing his/her life partner in a wheelchair so they can be together for activities


It can be heard in the voice of one resident reading to a another resident whose vision no longer allows her to read for herself. Or overheard when a husband or wife patiently explains once more what's offered on the menu when a spouse can't quite remember what's just been said.


It may be heard in the sound of familiar melodies being played on the piano after dinner by a talented residents willing to share her talent. One night as I went down the hall towards the mailboxes to get my mail I met first one person singing and then another humming the melody they had just heard in the lobby on their way back to their respective apartments having caught the spirit of that same music.

In the summer it may be evidenced by an able bodied resident going outside to pick a bouquet of flowers thus bringing inside a bit of the outside for a less able person. One person quietly shows her love for people by doing mending and alterations without accepting anything for her time and effort except a simple thank you.


Yes, this is a place full of love and loving deeds done quietly without fanfare - the kind of love that makes the world truly a better place to live - especially our world here at Kendal.

WELCOME DIVERSITY

The following quotation comes from Kendal's Values and Practices Booklet: "Kendal strives to create and support an environment for community members, board, staff, and volunteers that is welcoming to all cultures, backgrounds, and differences. Our commitment to diversity flows from Kendal's Quaker roots. We believe that a spirit of inclusion and culture of diversity enrich and strengthen our communities, people, and services."

Our Kendal at Granville is diverse in that we come from all over the United States, Europe, and Australia. However, we are all white and mostly Christian in culture if not religion. I remember at one of our membership meetings someone asked our director why we couldn't just be happy the way we are. The late Dr. Sylvester said that our lives would be so much richer in may ways, that we would learn from each other and have fuller and more interesting lives. Most of us agree that it is healthy and enriching but what do we do when we live in a homogeneous community like Granville, Ohio?

Three years ago Kendal Corporation asked that each community have a committee devoted to diversity and inclusion. Our Granville committee, made up of staff and residents, started meeting in April, 2008. The first few meetings resulted in this mission statement: The mission of the Diversity Committee is to assist in building community that celebrates and draws from the cultures, backgrounds and experiences of all Kendal residents and staff. We will work together to invite a diverse population and encourage inclusiveness among all community members."
So we planned speakers and events that expanded our knowledge and understanding.

So now, in December we celebrate Hanukka with the ceremonial lighting of the candles at sundown on each of the Hanukka nights. We do this in the lobby which has a big Christmas Tree and manger scenes as well as a Kwanza display. This coming holiday season we plan to learn more about Kwanza and properly celebrate this event. The other days we celebrate are Cinco de Mayo and International Day. We even celebrated the Chinese New Year with egg dishes and Chinese Lanterns. Black History Month, February, was celebrated with exciting African Dance brought to us by an African American Professor and his students from Denison's Dance Department. We plan to observe Gay Pride Month by having a couple come to speak to us who were welcomed as the first gay couple at another Kendal Community. Last fall a professor from Yemen talked to us about the experiences of Muslim families in America. Dr. Shiels, a Professor of Indian American Studies at OSU has made us aware of Indian Mounds near us and introduced us to Native Americans living in the area.

These programs have been very well attended and the comments afterward tell us we need to keep doing what we are doing. We did complete a Diversity Climate Survey, given to us by Kendal Corporation. The response indicated that most people, not all, are in agreement with Kendal's philosophy in this endeavor. So we will continue these interesting programs and enjoy as we learn.

College Kids at Kendal

Last Saturday afternoon Kendal was the site of a sparkling inter-generational confab, as a dozen or so eighteen-and-nineteen-year-olds joined an even larger number of residents, all of them easily half a century older than their young guests, in swapping good thoughts and happy memories. The exchange was a magnificent demonstration of Kendal’s grand fortune in being located so close to Denison University.

Here’s the background to the event. A Philosophy professor at Denison named Audrey – we’ll all go by first names in this entry – offered a freshman course this semester on the philosophy of aging. The major writing assignment asked students to interview senior citizens about their views and philosophies of life. Perhaps half of the students used their grandparents as subjects, but the rest, not having access to grandparents, were linked with Kendal residents. The interviews that followed were based upon a broad outline of questions prepared by the students. Basically they involved asking each senior to talk about his or her life. Last Saturday’s session was a celebration of the success of the project, the course, and the organizing idea that lay behind it.

We began by arranging the seats in the room into a big circle. Audrey then asked us all to introduce ourselves, explaining that the students might use their self-selected class names. Many did precisely that, and in that way the residents came to know such students as Ace, Kimpossible, Tiresias, Touchdown, and Trey. Audrey herself was Wondergirl. By the end of the introductions the residents were all wishing that they could be back in college, with teachers as imaginative as Wondergirl was.

In the ensuing discussion, energized by cookies and punctuated by laughter and applause, residents were encouraged to relate off-beat tales about themselves, and we wound up learning all sorts of interesting facts about one another. In his youth, for example, John commandeered a steamroller as a prank. Marie had once been the oldest student in a nursing Master’s program in the country. Cy interrogated North Korean prisoners. Larry once sang the alto part of the Brahms Requiem while standing next to a “ten-foot” tall singer (we gladly tolerated a bit of hyperbole on this festive occasion). Margaret’s grandmother barely escaped an abduction at the hands of a mounted Apache brave.

It is a well-attested truth that senior citizens enjoy associating with busy and bright young people. (I have to note that I find using these various age-group-specifying terms to be a bit awkward.) We are cheered, inspired and heartened by such encounters. They remind us of our own yesteryears, of course, but they also give us grounds for being optimistic about the future of our country and of humankind, and they reinforce the truth of one of the great lessons of life: that even as many things in the world about us are changing, many of the most important elements of life endure. On this occasion we were also warmed by the many assurances from the students that our participation in the project and the friendships that had emerged from the interviews had been instructive and – at least in some instances – deeply important to the students.

Two final quotes are worth noting.

When asked what important lessons of life the residents might give the students, John offered the following: “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.”

When asked whether she had enjoyed her participation in the project, Larry responded with a question of her own: “Who wouldn’t like talking about yourself for a full hour?”

I agree with both remarks. Our thanks go out to Wondergirl and her terrific students.

Flower Art Show - Celebrating Spring

Looking toward the opposite end of the hall this is what you see as you stand at the entrance to the hall designated as our Art Gallery. More about what you see further on. Last fall when picking paintings from those done by our residents I suggested to fellow Gallery Committee members that we withhold any that were of flowers with the intent of creating an all flowal art show to be hung just when we couldn't tolerate one more bit of winter. By the arrival of spring due to the productivity of our artists throughout the long cold dreary winter we were pleased to find ourselves with a plentiful supply of paintings from which to choose for the anticipated flower art show.

As we made our selections we found that the pictures available to us were in deed lovely harbingers of spring. So lovely they inspired us to expand our opening reception into a celebration of spring at which time we would not only honor our artists but also the people in our community who have particularly enhanced our lives here by what they have done with flowers. Thus special invitations went to a couple who have for several years created a huge oval garden planted with a variety of beautiful annuals from which we were all allowed to pick flowers, the members of our Landscape Committee, and a lady who has become known for the number of small bouquets she distributes throughout our small village to those celebrating birthdays or anniversaries or who may need perking upfor one reason or another.

The weeks just before the show was hung my particular responsibilities kept me busy as I framed ten of the recently completed paintings, sent out invitations, made labels to identify the paintings and name tags for our honorees, created posters, and arranged for the reception including flowers for table decorations.

Now back to those pictures at the top - twelve beautiful paintings based on calendar illustrations which had as their inspiration Monet's garden. My job was to figure out an arrangement for hanging that would be more pleasing to the eye than in a long straight line. To do this I ended up taking all twelve pictures to my apartment, placing them on my floor and experimenting with assorted layouts until I had one that suited me. Actually it was thinking about that oval garden that gave me the idea. Since it's been up people seem to like it, so it was well worth the time and effort.

On the morning of April 4 our entire commitee was on hand to assist with hanging the fifty-five pictures we had chosen. We were pleased that the favorable comments began even as were hanging the pictures. It took us several hours to get all of them in place to our mutual satisfaction. When it was finished we had assembled a kaleidoscope of colors ranging from pale pastels to brilliant reds, greens, purples, and oranges with all of the shades in between.

They ran the gamut you would expect to find in a large flower show (the kind I was privileged to see when I lived in the Philadelphia area and could attend their fantastic internationally recognized annual flower show). We had the twelve bits from Monet's garden; we had a beautiful pink dogwood tree in bloom in a local church yard; we had a tiny clump of snow drops heralding the end of winter along with bouquets, both large and small; mixed and single blossom; as well as a number of single specimen blossoms of many vibrant colors. We also were privileged to have what you wouldn't find at an actual flower show: several paintings done by artists who shared with us their special vision that allows them to see more than the ordinary eye perceives when looking at flowers in a garden.

Since the show has been up we have had the usual fickel April weather here - lots of gray skies and rain. We have even had to cope with tornado warnings and a power outage lasting for almost twelve hours. So it's nice to know that spring has arrived and remains constant in at least one spot. Although Easter Sunday here dawned as a gray grungy day we had a lovely spot where we could walk with our many visitors without getting wet. I know that's where my family and I headed for a stroll after eating brunch in our dining room.

Brunch at Kendal

Of all the meals at Kendal, the one Susan and I most enjoy is Sunday brunch. It's served from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., thus accommodating both those of an active bent who want to have a late-morning meal before setting off on an afternoon excursion, and those of a more leisurely cast of mind who prefer to spend their entire Sunday mornings and early afternoons at home, pajama-clad perhaps, drinking their coffee while reading their way through the multi-sectioned Sunday paper or catching up on email and web offerings (often with the TV chat shows purring in the background). Happily, the range of hours also suits the needs of church-attenders of all stripes. Susan and I tend to be part of the noon-hour crowd at brunch.

The fare at each brunch has its predictable features. There are muffins, bread, rolls, and bagels. There is an array of jams and jellies. There's an egg-bar, where a staff member stands ready to prepare eggs to order. And I shouldn't omit the omelets, the waffles, and the selection of vegetables, berries, melons, and fruits. But each brunch also has its special treat on offer. Yesterday it was a juicy roast beef, but some Sundays it's fish or fowl, and sometimes the staff complements the scheduled menu with an option of blueberry pancakes.

Another joy that brunch brings is the arrival of many visitors into our midst. It is, of course, not uncommon for friends and relatives of residents to be dining with the community on weekdays, but on weekends their numbers proliferate. The families become larger, as the children of residents arrive together to enjoy Kendal cuisine, and still younger children – grandchildren and great grandchildren of residents – arrive on the scene to take up the challenge and fun of navigating their way among the various food and dessert options. These guests lend a vibrancy to our brunches that is palpable and exciting.

Susan and I tend to be predictable in our choice of brunch foods. We go first for bread or muffins, toasting and buttering and jamming them to taste. Then we like to get our eggs, usually scrambled but occasionally fried over easy. To go with the eggs we generally choose from among bacon, sausage, and home fries. After that, we like to get a bowl of fruit. If we're feeling hungry or just adventurous, we might top the meal off with a dish of ice cream or a piece of cake or pie. Meanwhile, though Susan and I usually prefer to choose a table for two, we have conversations with friends who are seated nearby or making their way from one serving station to another. At brunch, as at all meals, there are staff members standing ready to help residents who need assistance in getting their dishes to their tables.

It's hard to put my finger on what makes a Kendal brunch so satisfying. In part, it's the food itself – ample and delicious. In part, it's the atmosphere of relaxed friendliness, the opportunities to swap thoughts with neighbors (and it turns out that lots of Indian fans are suddenly emerging in this spring of baseball wonders). In part, it's the evidence that the Kendal family includes a whole range of people who, though not seen here on a regular basis, want and mean to be part of a community that is home to people who are dear to them.

The Kendal Bus

I just saw the Kendal bus going past my cottage on the way to the grocery store. The bus makes two trips to the grocery on Tuesdays because senior citizens get a whole five percent discount on Tuesdays! The bus also stops at the dry cleaners and the drug store. John and I still have a car and drive, but sometimes I am tempted to go by bus because Tom, the driver, loads the groceries from the carts into the bus and then, when the bus gets back, he carries each of the marked containers straight into each individual kitchen. What service! Some residents like to shop at the mall in Newark, so on Friday either Tom or Dick drives the residents to the mall. Imagine when the weather is cold, and it is dark, and there are a few snow flurries, but you really, really want to go to that special concert at Denison. Well, the bus will be waiting outside the main Kendal building and someone will help you climb on, and then you are transported to Swazey Chapel and dropped off right at the entrance. And after a lovely evening of music, you walk out and the bus is at the door and takes you home. We do take advantage of that sometimes and leave our car at home. There are also necessary and not such fun trips to the doctor either by van or bus. But I will not write about those. I would rather talk about going to the plays at Newark on Sunday afternoon or to a special exhibit at The Works, or concerts at the Reese Center at the OSU Newark Campus. Thank you, Tom and Dick, and the Kendal Bus!

Lecture on Archaeoastronomy

A friend of mine, Bill Hoffman, has written the following account of a recent lecture at Kendal. With his permission I am putting it on our blog.

Dr. Michael Mickelson, J. Reid Anderson Emeritus Professor of Physics at Denison University, talked with Kendal at Granville residents on Wednesday, 9 March, about “Archaeoastromony.” Archaeoastronomy (also spelled archeoastronomy) is the study of how people in the past have understood phenomena in the sky, how they used phenomena in the sky and what role the sky played in their cultures.

The topic is one of local interest because the Newark Earthworks is some six miles to the East of Kendal at Granville. Granville also has a particular interest in the “Alligator Mound,” within the Village limits, and one of many small satellite circle mounds on the Kendal site – all part of the greater Earthworks complex. The Earthworks, which include the very large ‘octagon & circle’ [incorporates a golf course] and ‘great circle’ mounds, are attributed to the Hopewell culture dating some 2000 years before the present (BP). They have a complex lunar alignment, not discovered until about 1980. For more information, see http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/places/c08/greatcircle.shtml

Dr. Mickelson talked of sites all over the world that have solar and lunar orientations, notably Stonehenge and the Parthenon, and many of greater age, perhaps to at least 6000 BP. He did not discuss particular Egyptian or meso-American pyramids but they too have astronomical orientations.

It is curious that most temples and other important structures in Greece & Turkey have clear directional East/West axes – the rising and setting of the sun and moon – whereas Roman buildings are, in the main, without identifiable directional orientation, like ours; look at most of our curving sub-divisions. Some religious structures do still follow specific directional orientations.

Dr. Mickelson’s talk was part of an ongoing Speaker/Lecture series at Kendal at Granville with presentations occurring at least twice monthly. His presentation was based on his own work and that of his undergraduate students, primarily in the area of the eastern Mediterranean .

Our Pool

Here is a photo of our beautiful enclosed pool. It's another area where the philosopy and values of Kendal can be seen in action.. They are evident in the manner in which the policies by which our pool operates were developed and the way in which it is used.

The policies were developed by a committee of residents with representation from the staff because early on it was decided that residents wanted to share the use of the pool with our staff members. Opening the pool to our staff is one way we can let staff members know that they are respected and valued by residents. Because administration has the ultimate responsibility for safety and health issues there was consultation with the administrator about policies that impinged on these issues.

The pool is used for both physical therapy and recreation. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning there is a Water Wellness class designed to provide exercise suitable for those with arthritis. It is open to any resident who wishes to come. It has also been made available on a fee basis to a limited number of individuals in the Granville community who have had rehabilitation here at Kendal. Our physical therapists also use the pool to provide individual water therapy sessions. Our hydraulic lift facilitates getting handicapped persons in and out of the pool.

The pool provides a good place to get healthy exercise and is used regularly be some residents for individual or group recreational swimming. Some people use this time for doing personal exercise routine or lap swims. We have one small group of early morning swimmers. Each day they get a healthy start on their day by going to the pool for lap swimming and personal exercise routines. I understand that one of these swimmers didn't even swim until after moving here.

Both residents and staff members may bring guests to the pool during designated hours.
Children who visit parents and grandparents here seem to particularly enjoy the pool. For youngsters its a great way to work off excessive energy. It's also a fun way to interact with grandparents in the pool and then when the grandparents get a little tired they can relax poolside while letting the "younguns" entertain them with their water antics. I know that my grandsons almost always tuck in their swim suits when they come here.

I personally have gained much from my experiences with our pool. First of all I found myself some how or other chairman of the Pool Committee for the first five years during which we were establishing the basic policies which now guide us in our use of the pool. That experience allowed me to use my organizational and administrative skills. I enjoy participating in the Water Wellness Class and have been a part of it since its inception when I haven't had to stay out of the water for health reasons. As a final step in the recovery process after my open chest surgery in 2008 I benefitted from physical therapy in the water. Also, I have spent some happy times in and around the pool with my grandsons and their parents just relaxing and having fun. So I for one am very glad we have this great facility here.

Dining at Kendal

Last night I had the best sauerbraten ever! I thought no one could make it like I did, but I found out that Todd surpassed me. I debated on what to have because I saw that Francis had made chicken pot pie and I think Francis makes the best pie. I hope I get another chance. Every night is good but some nights are special and sometimes I am not sure what I want. Then I remember back when my kids would ask me what we were having for dinner and I remember the responses I would get.

We usually have our meal in the evening, but some residents prefer to have their meal at noon. Some nights we sit with friends at a small table, some nights we gather with lots of people around a big table, and sometimes, when we are not feeling especially social, we find a spot to be alone. And when there is an Ohio State game of any type anywhere, these diehard fans box up their dinner and take it home. In the evening we often have lovely piano music wafting through the dining room, a gift from D. Ellen.

The dining staff puts great effort into seeing that the food and service are of exceptional quality and that the food is nutritious. For this reason we have comment cards on the table. I am on the dining committee and once a month I and three other residents, and the chef, the dining room manager, and the general director of services, meet to read the comments. The rule is that the cards must be signed and the cards need to be dated. Sue, the chef, needs the date so that she can check her records to see who made the dish and what recipe was used. Often we get several comments that say the same thing, complimentary or not. But sometimes one resident will say the dish was great and another resident will write the opposite. If upon occasion some dish does not turn out well, I again think back to my own cooking and admit that occasionally I had a dish not turn out as expected.

The staff accomodates people who are vegetarians, people who have diabetes, gluten intolerance, lactose intolerance, or other special dietary needs. Sue, Stella, and Will are good listeners and want to please. I am most happy with our dining experience here at Kendal.

Who are "The Muggers"?

What would your first impression be if you learned that Kendal at Granville had a residents' group called - of all things! - "the Muggers"? Maybe you'd worry that we harbored a gang of street bandits? Or perhaps you'd surmise that we'd created an organization for people who liked to hog the camera's attention? I've heard both suggestions - and others as well.

Actually, the group is simply the men's breakfast club at Kendal. We meet in the dining room on the last Friday of each month to eat a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes; to share good conversation with each other; and to enjoy a presentation from an outside guest. And our name? Where does it come from? Well, it simply derives from the signature coffee mugs that each of us has left in the care of the dining service to certify our membership in good standing in the group when we appear each month. That's it: we have our mugs and so we're the Muggers!

Over the past three years the leadership of the group has brought in a variety of speakers and groups to get our days off to a rousing start. Nearby Denison University, for example, has provided us with musical entertainment and a small improv theater group. The local chapter of SPEBSQSA has entertained with a barber shop quartet. We've had light-hearted talks about the memorable film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, the National Road (US 40 to the uninitiated), and the contrast between gender relations then and now. A comedic ensemble from the Licking Players, our local theatrical group, has lightened our morning. We even turn serious at times, to learn for example about the global economy. One of the joys of the Muggers is that we don't know ahead of time what's on tap for each meeting: each breakfast brings its surprise.

An organization like the Muggers is valuable at Kendal, for, like most retirement communities, our demographics show a preponderance of females. That circumstance makes it useful for the men to get together occasionally - not to fall back into locker room banter, but to recover the tones and contours of male conversation and friendship. I can speak only for myself in advancing this observation - which is to say that neither Kendal nor my wife might agree! - but it seems to me that, whether from nature or nurture, certain gender differences are inexpungible. The monthly meeting of the Muggers affords Kendal's men an hour or so of male-bonding time, and the group thus becomes another of Kendal's many and various resident organizations.

Quite a show

Our various Residents Association committees arrange for a lot of performers. Denison faculty speakers often come to Kendal. One of the best we have had took place Sunday in front of a good sized and enthusiastic audience. Stafford Berry , Jr and his accompanist, Terence Karn brought a company of Denison students to perform African Dance. Berry is a visiting professor at Denison. We also occasionally get speakers from Kenyon and Ohio State. As we have retirees from all three as residents, we have the necessary contacts.

This performance took place in the Heller room. Karn played, and explained, several drums. Berry got the audience involved, teaching us some native words and phrases. Although no resident actually danced, we did do movements and replied in the words he taught us.

The students were wonderful. There were about 8 dancers, only one a man. They came in costume and sang and danced. The dances were incredibly acrobatic. Although only two students were of African ancestry, they entered into the dance with obvious joy and enthusiasm. It was easy to see why Berry, although a native of Pennsylvania rather than Africa, is able to so inspire students.

It was a terrific afternoon for which we thank the Kendal Diversity Committee and Denison University,

Our Drivers

Let me set the record straight for our readers as to what kind of driver I am referring to since the advent of computers has added yet another possibility to the list of driver definitions. By drivers I am referring to the gentlemen who provide an invaluable service to those of us here at Kendal at Granville who no longer drive our own vehicles.

Among the services which they routinely provide are weekly bus trips to the nearby supermarket for grocery shopping every Tuesday afternoon. They don't just drive the bus to and from the market but they assist those who need help with getting the groceries loaded into individual large containers on the bus for the trip home and then they help with getting the groceries to the individual apartments, cottages, and villas.



Likewise on Friday afternoons they provide a shopping trip to nearby stores according to the needs of those who have signed up for the trip. This may include stops at the library, the post office, the bank, the Indian Mound Mall, drug stores etc.



Arrangements can be made for them to drive the bus for groups attending concerts, plays, and other special trips such as to the Columbus Zoo. Depending on the distance and the purpose there may be a charge which is divided among the number requesting the service. There is no charge for group trips to the polls to vote or to view the Fourth of July parade or other similar Granville community events.

What I personally have come to appreciate most of all is the fact that we can schedule individual trips for health care appointments. There is no charge for trips within a twenty mile radius. Miles in excess of this amount are billed at the current IRS mileage rate. Transportation service for health related issues that exceeds two hours is billed at $10.00 per hour regardless of the appointment location.


I refer to our drivers as gentlemen because the men who hold this position are in deed gentle men. For example they assist those who need a steady hand getting in and out of the various vehicles used to transport us. They patiently load and unload walkers, rollators, and wheelchairs. They make sure safety belts are fastened. They accompany those who need help in getting to a particular office in a medical building or a department in the hospital. They either wait with us or leave a number that can be called for us where they can be reached to come back to pick us up. And they do it in a sensitive manner managing to maintain our dignity and keep us feeling safe no matter what the weather and traffic conditions.


I would be remiss if I failed to mention that this transportation system operates smoothly because of the efficiency with which our Facility Services Secretary handles the scheduling of all of the many requests for trips. We owe her a debt of gratitude for the skillful way in which she works out the problems which occur such as when times overlap. She takes it all in stride and in a calm manner works with individuals to make adjustments that will make it all work.

Greyhound used the slogan "Leave the driving to us." Here we can leave it to our drivers with confidence.

THE HELP

I am sure many of you have read, or at least heard about the current bestseller, "The Help." This is a story of maids and housewives in the sixties in the South. Their relationship was not happy. The housewives treated the maids unkindly and thought the maids less than equal human beings. The maids in turn had no respect for their bosses and did not trust them.

Please let me tell you a story about the "the help" at Kendal. Last night we had a forecast of freezing rain, ice, and snow. Many of the staff live some distance from Kendal and were worried about being able to get here in the morning. They worried about who would cook our meals and do other important tasks. So on their own, six staff people, including the chef, dining room manager, and housekeeping manager, volunteered to stay over night in an unoccupied residence. They had a sleepover for our benefit! Early this morning I heard the maintenance staff plowing and salting sidewalks. They will be vigilant all day. I know from experience that tonight, if we have more ice and snow, the dining and kitchen staff will call and ask if we would like our meals delivered.

We in turn are grateful, and try to express our appreciation and gratitude by being respectful in our interactions. Please and thank you are important as well as acknowledging that the staff cannot work miracles, even though I have seen them try. We have mutual respect. Part of this comes from the orientation we residents had when we first learned about Kendal. The new staff is given orientation classes on the "Kendal Way." Kendal, as a Quaker Community, is ultimately responsible for this way of life. In our booklet "Values and Practices", I quote : In all matters involving staff and community members, we strive for open communication and seek to preserve a sense of community." I am grateful for our community.

Rumors and Phase II

For well over a year the Kendal community has been following the development of plans for Kendal's expansion. Not surprisingly, an undertaking of this sort -- we call it "Phase II" -- has been concentrating the attention of residents. Groundbreaking is scheduled for the middle of this coming summer. Once Phase II is under way, it will bring construction machinery with its attendant surprises and inconveniences to the community; and, when the project is completed, it will have brought us new neighbors, wider opportunities, and an expanded range of activities. We can all anticipate -- with shifting combinations of joy, excitement, puzzlement, and irritation -- eighteen transformative months.

No one can quarrel with the need for expansion. Envisioned from the inception of the Kendal at Granville project, it will involve building over twenty new apartment units and adding significantly to that section of our campus that provides care for those in assisted living or in need of skilled nursing. We will also get a badly-needed Gathering Room. Improvements of this sort are predictable for any CCRC as it moves from its moment of opening into its era of developing maturity, and in carrying them out Kendal at Granville is declaring to the world that it is right on course as it advances from its infancy to its -- shall we say? -- adolescence. (I'm a hopeless addict of metaphors.)

From the beginning of the planning process, and at its very heart, there has been a commitment to a sharing of views among administrators, residents, trustees, architects, and project engineers -- all to the end of getting wise and frequent feedback from the various camps that have a stake or an interest in the project. This turns out to have been a smart way of proceeding. Happily, it's also very much the Kendal way. But as we've recently discovered, we can never be too attentive to the need to practice openness.

What has happened is this. As our groundbreaking approaches and excitement mounts, so does curiosity -- and curiosity feeds the human propensity for attending to rumors. And so we've rediscovered the old truth about big undertakings: it's crucial to get accurate information about the project out in order to forestall the rumors -- there are delays! oh no, there is a cancelation! -- before they acquire wings of their own.

I wouldn't be noting this down if we hadn't slipped up a bit. But having now chased down a few rumors and identified new or unused avenues for getting accurate information out to residents, we think we are back on top of the situation. From now on we'll be better at using our newsletter, our closed-circuit TV channel, our bulletin boards, our regular meetings, and postings to our boxes to keep the community updated. We all have enough drama in our lives without having to cope with misleading tales about our future. As is the Kendal way, we will allow truth, not confusion, to bind our community.