Raffles, Refreshments, and Rallying

    On February 11 the Kendal Institute for Community Engagement held its second event of 2015, a rally for the distribution of information about social service opportunities in Licking County. It was attended by forty-six persons and regarded as a grand success. The speakers represented organizations that address in various ways the needs of many of the vulnerable residents of the county – the old and young, the hungry and homeless, the disabled and abused, the diseased in mind or body.

    This point about the range of problems addressed is perhaps best driven home by citing the agencies that were present: the Center for New Beginnings, the Center for Disability Services, the Food Pantry of Licking County, the Licking County Aging Program, the Licking County United Way, Mental Health of America of Licking County, the Salvation Army, and the YES Club Youth Organization. 

    While many residents were aware of the work of some of these groups, fewer had seen or thought about the spectrum of needs that confront the agencies whose task is to provide assistance – needs that almost crush the daily lives of many of our neighbors in the county.  As one representative said, our aim is to help those who are struggling, and our motto is “I see you; I’m here for you.” And more to the point, few residents had realized the range of volunteer opportunities that lay before anybody who was looking for a constructive way to engage in the social service work of the county community. “Volunteers,” we were reminded, “aren’t paid. Why? Because they’re priceless.”

    When the brief talks were over, residents were invited to visit the various stations that the agencies had set up around the Amelia Room. At these booths they could study posters about the work of the various agencies, pick up hand-outs about volunteer opportunities, and pose questions to the representatives. Meanwhile, refreshments were steadily available, and before the rally ended a raffle identified the winners of gifts from three sponsoring local businesses: Goumas Candy, New Day Spa, and Palumbo’s Italian Market.

    It is not hard to see why so many residents found the rally rewarding. It offered a rich combination of useful information, food, an opportunity for social engagement, and the fun of a raffle. Thanks go to the two super-organizers, Janie Drake and Susan Richardson, for all their work in staging this event.

    The next Kendal Institute occasion will focus on opportunities for engaging with artistic organizations in the county, and it will occur over several days in the second week of March, the 9th through the 13th. More news coming. Mark your calendars.
   

Thank Goodness for Housekeepers

In June 2015 we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the opening of this community.  As we do so I like many others have been looking back at all that transpired during that ten year period.  In preparation for writing this blog I looked back to see what topics I have written about since I began blogging in September 2010.

My review indicated that generally my topics were related to events and facets of life here which have made me appreciate my life here at Kendal at Granville.  Very often I have written about one or another of our staff groups who do so much to make life better for all of us who live here.  Reflecting on the ones I chose to blog about I found that for some inexplicable reason I never mentioned one of my favorite staff departments, namely housekeeping. 

Our housekeepers are invaluable because they keep things clean and orderly in both our individual residences and our common areas.  I shudder to think about how those areas would appear without their daily attention to large and small details there.

Every other week they clean our residences.  For those assigned to go to the cottages and villas this means going outside in all seasons  and all kinds of weather, not a fun thing to do in the heat of a hot summer day, nor on a rainy day, or a snowy wintry day.  Of course   they have big carts to push around with their basic cleaning supplies!   

Housekeepers are required to do a lot of things most of us would just as soon not do such as clean toilets.  In addition to this drawback there is the fact that most housekeeping tasks tend to be tiresome because they have to be done over and over and over again.  Yet I don’t hear any of our housekeepers complaining about having to do all of the routine tasks that are a part of their daily life.

In spite of the many challenges of their jobsI have found them to be consistently courteous, considerate, and pleasant.  They go about their duties quietly and efficiently.

For the most part their labors go unsung and unheralded so for my part I hereby take my hat off to them and thank them from my heart for all they do to make me glad I  came to live at Kendal at Granville ten years ago.

Addendum:  After posting this blog a fellow resident who read it wrote me a note about it which included the comments which I would like to add to mine.  “My wife and I feel particularly warm about our housekeeping staff for they are some of the nicest people, we as residents, in a building that is filled with nice people.  I am glad you focused on them.”

 

The Kendal Institute is Launched, celebrating Volunteering, Exploring, Creating

To the rhythm of blue grass music, the Kendal Institute for Community Engagement burst on the scene on Wednesday, January 21. Created to promote fuller participation by seniors in the activities of the wider Granville/Licking County community, the Institute brought four guest speakers to the Amelia Room. After the entertaining performance by Big Red Blue Grass, a Denison student ensemble, the guests spoke briefly in turn, and their messages reinforced each other by highlighting three different routes by which seniors might engage more fully with their communities: as volunteers, as explorers, and as creators.

The audience of about seventy heard first from Denison President, Adam Weinberg, who explained how the university’s ambitions to become still more widely engaged with the Granville community coincide happily with the similar goals of the Institute and make a partnership between Denison and the Institute attractive. The next speaker was Connie Hawk, Director of the Licking County Foundation, who identified a diverse set of social service groups that stand in steady and compelling need of volunteer aides.

The third speaker was Jeff Brown, Superintendent of Granville schools, who spoke of the various ways in which school activities, both curricular and extra-curricular, offer a range of opportunities for senior participation. Jeff Gill, Pastor of the Newark Central Christian Church, was the final speaker, and he talked of many of the activities that the county offers to those who are seeking out encounters with the arts.

After the presentations, refreshments were available, as were opportunities for members of the audience to question the guest speakers. In some ways the array of opportunities that emerged from all of this seemed almost bewildering in its richness. The following are just examples:

VOLUNTEERING: with social service organizations; in and for the schools; as aides in museums and libraries; tutoring adults in the community; assisting people was tasks such as tax preparation and mastering English as a second language.

EXPLORING: through museum trips; with visits to places such as the Earthworks and the Dawes Arboretum; through taking classes at local universities or the Lifelong Learning Institute or, yes, at the high school.

CREATING: by experimenting with such activities as glass-blowing at The Works; by joining a community theater group; by learning how to play a musical instrument; by joining a singing group; by linking up with a class in painting.

The successful launch event triggered much conversation and interest in the Kendal community, and raised many questions about the crafting of follow-up steps designed to implement various ideas that were mooted about. On that subject, it's important to note that the next event in the Kendal Institute’s program for this year will focus on volunteer opportunities with social service organizations and is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, February 11.

Christmas Choirs at Kendal

For fans of choral music, the approach of the Christmas season offers the propect of enchanting concert opportunities. This year did not disappoint the residents of Kendal at Granville, for the Amelia Room was recently the site of two such concerts. 

On Sunday, December 14, the Chamber Choir from Granville High School performed a cappella a set of secular seasonal pieces. The choristers were talented and lively – think television's "Glee" – and their youth and enthusiasm reminded the audience of the jolly side of the season. 

The very next day, December 15, our home-grown choir of residents, the "Kendaliers," presented a thematically contrasting concert featuring carols and sacred music, reminders of the religious origin of the holiday. Under the leadership of Teddy Westlake, the Kendaliers have now performed in three consecutive Christmas seasons, and each year's performance has been better than its predecessor. The audience was invited to join in with the singers at various points, and the evening closed quietly as we all sang the moving prayer, "Dona Nobis Pacem." The residents have ample reason to be proud of the Kendaliers' fine work.

Observing Hanukkah atKAG

Beginning in 2005, our first year here at Kendal at Granville, members of our Diversity and Inclusion Committee have arranged for our observance of Hanukkah each year. 

This required a lot of study on the part of committee members since none of us were Jewish.  Much of the execution of the plan which evolved for our observance fell to Eloise and me.  This was probably due to the fact that Eloise lived in Granville before moving to Kendal and knew Jewish people in the area and over the years my husband and I had several close Jewish friends and had also participated in community dialogs between Christians and Jews in the Philadelphia area. 

Together with the full committee we established a simple format for our observance of Hanukkah.  Our menorah   is set up on a table close to the main entrance to our community building.  At sundown on the eight days of Hanukkah residents are invited to join in the lighting of the lights and  the saying of the traditional blessings and prayers. 

On some nights we have been privileged to have Jewish couples from the area join us.  These have been special times because they have shared with us the meaning of and the customs associated with Hanukkah.

This year it has been our very good fortune to welcome into our Kendal community two new residents, Steve and Connie, who are Jewish.  They have joined enthusiastically in community activities bringing us fresh new ideas. .  Our Hanukkah observance was greatly enhanced by their participation.  One particularly interesting aspect was their nightly show and tell about their collection of menorahs.  I personally learned from them and look forward to learning more as I get to know them better.

 

December-January Fiber Arts Exhibit

The first week in December the Fiber Arts Group and the Gallery Committee were busy with the final steps involved in hanging the fourth Fiber Arts Exhibit in our Art Gallery.

Preparations began late in the spring of 2014 with a call to residents and staff members to identify who had fiber arts works available for an exhibit.  Apparently the majority of our fiber artists had spring fever because the response to that call was almost nil. After pondering as to the reason for such an unexpected poor response it was decided to put out a second call based on the assumption that the timing of the first missed the mark. 

This time there were so many responses it was decided to divide them into two groups: one a show of works made by residents and staff members and another of pieces they owned but made by others. Thus began the process of planning the exhibit

Items were brought to the Fiber Arts meetings for inspection and a detailed list was prepared with a brief description including the dimensions of each preparatory to creating a plan for hanging and the necessary labels.

The Sunday and Monday before the exhibit was to be hung items were brought to the Fiber Arts Room where they were checked to be sure they were ready to hang.  When  needed,  hooks and wires were attached.

 

On Tuesday morning everything was transported to the Art Gallery and the Gallery Committee hung them.  At 5:00 p.m. a wine and cheese reception officially opened the show which includes quilts and quilted wall hangings; quilted and knit vests; knit, woven, and stitched jackets; knit sweaters and cardigans; knit scarves; hooked rugs; a variety of counted cross  stitch  pieces (beaded, black work, and samplers);  and items woven from home spun yarn which had been hand dyed; and more.

 

The reactions of those viewing this exhibit indicate that the results are worth all of the time and effort that went into its creation.   Not mentioned above are the many behind the scenes efforts of the maintenance, housekeeping, and dining staff essential to the success of an exhibit.  All of it adds up to illustrate how residents and staff come together to make Kendal at Granville a good place to live and work.

 

A Hip Hop Farewell to a Kendal Favorite

Kendal at Granville residents were startled earlier this fall to learn that Tiyana Payne, our Human Resources director, will be leaving us for California in January to pursue a career as a hip hop artist. You read that right. An HR expert during the week, Tiyana has been a performance artist on the weekends and in her spare time. We had known of her hobby and were cheering her on. But now she has decided to give full time to her career in music. We feel her imminent departure as our loss, but we stand with Tiyana in hoping and believing that she will find success and fulfillment as a performance artist.

Happily, before heading west, Tiyana agreed to give a concert for her friends here at Kendal. It was a memorable and lovely gift.

The day chosen for the concert was last Sunday, November 30, and by the 4:00 p.m. starting time the Amelia Gathering Room was filled with well-wishers. Tiyana spoke of how she had enjoyed her time at Kendal. She introduced her mother, Tina Pearce, who was helping out with keeping the sound system operating in an appropriately supportive fashion. Then Tiyana sang. Her first piece, written to honor her mother, rang with the love that an adult child feels for a parent whose guidance had been pivotal in the child's development. Three other songs followed, generally crafted to capture Tiyana's ambitions and efforts to establish herself as an artist in the world of hip hop. On two of the pieces she was assisted by her gifted daughter Tatiyana. 

                                                                photos by Vic Feldmiller

I'm no music critic – and I know almost nothing of hip hop – and so all I can say about the concert is that I was overwhelmed by the driving energy, exuberant wordplay, and propulsive rhythm of the songs. They seemed literally breathless. They conveyed excitement and happiness and determination. They were uplifting. 

When the concert was over, an audience that was at once charmed, delighted, and impressed thanked Tiyana and Tatiyana with full applause and then moved forward to wish them well personally. Tiyana leaves Kendal with her fans hoping that her career will bloom and that we can all come to say that we knew her when . . . !