Kendal Institute on Community Engagement

The Kendal Institute on Community Engagement has been launched! What, you may wonder, is KICE? Well, let me tell you.

Late last summer Kendal at Granville was invited to submit an application for a grant of $5000 to help create programs that would promote the enrichment of lives of senior citizens. A committee of residents put the proposal together, choosing to focus on the importance of engagement with the wider community as a primary source of enrichment in our lives. In accordance with the ambitions of the granting agency, we were to try to devise a kind of program that would be useful not only for Kendal at Granville, but also, by replication, for senior communities anywhere in the country. It would, in short, be a model. We proposed to create the Kendal Institute on Community Engagement as the vehicle for organizing our efforts. Denison University accepted our invitation to partner with us as we moved forward in 2015. Early this month we received the happy news that our application had been successful.

Subsequent meetings of the steering committee have given shape to the activities that the Institute will soon sponsor. We have worked from with the basic assumption that people in retirement here at Kendal want to find ways in which they can share their talents, explore their hobbies, and cultivate new interests – all in the wider company of others who share these enthusiasms. What is often needed, we believe, is richer knowledge of the range of opportunities for participation that exist in our Licking County community. So the Kendal Institute will work to make such knowledge available – to link residents seeking opportunities with organizations that offer them.

There are, of course, all sorts of activities that invite the attention of seniors. Some appeal to the desire to be constructive volunteers in service endeavors; others appeal to those seeking a widening or deepening of their enthusiasms. But all promise to provide occasions for engagement. We decided to focus on three kinds of activities in this first year: 

1) organizations that seek to provide assistance to those in need of help or protection;

2) groups that invite participation in the arts, whether pictorial or dramatic or musical;

3) organizations that focus on the educational needs of society, whether children or adults.

Under the aegis of the Kendal Institute, Kendal at Granville will sponsor five events in the first half of 2015. All will be aimed at informing, exciting, and even inspiring residents to envision and reach for lives of fuller community engagement for themselves. In varying mixes these events will offer speakers, Q&A opportunities with community leaders, entertainment from school-associated performance groups, and of course – the essential ingredient of all successful meetings – refreshments. Most will probably occur at our new Amelia Gathering Room, but some might well take place off-site. All residents will be encouraged to attend these events, and non-residents from the wider community will also be invited.

To be more specific: in January we will kick off the Kendal Institute with a gathering that introduces all three of our focus areas for 2015 and that aims at generating some media attention. In subsequent months we will hold events that focus in turn on opportunities in the areas of social assistance, the arts, and education. We will conclude the schedule in May with a wider gathering that aims at celebrating our success in our first year (we are an optimistic group!) and at making plans for the future.

Clearly a lot remains undefined. But enthusiasm is high, and with each passing fortnight more and more of the details are falling into place. And so it is not too early to go public with the happy news that the Kendal Institute on Community Engagement has set sail. We hope you'll consider joining the voyage.

Photo Memories Follow U[

When due to technical difficulties Reed published for me my 12 October 2014 blog Photo Memories Gallery Exhibit, I did not have any copies of the photos to illustrate it.  Better late than ever here is a sampling of the photos in that exhibit.

    






                  Joh Kennedy tea rose
                 at home in Newtown
                 Square a Philadelphia
                  suburb


The band stand at Cape May, new Jersey on an
evening when the LuLu Shrine band from
Philadelphia was performing.


 Groundhog from back porch
of a Kendal resident.


Female turtle laid and hatched
eggs in back yard of that same
resident.

Zebras in Afr9ca

Deer in wooded area along Kendal hiking trail

 

Kendal Butterflies

  Black Swallowtail                                                                         European Skipper

 

 

                                  

Fall Reflection on Kendal at Granville Pond                         

 
 

 

 

 

 

Fitness at Kendal at Granville

Fitness at Kendal at Granville

Pick up any article on being fit as you age and it’s sure to put exercise at the top of the list or very close to top.  Here at Kendal at Granville we have many ways to exercise in order to maintain our fitness as we grow older.  Paved walkways throughout our campus make walking or running easy. and pleasant. In addition a hiking trail has been developed for those who enjoy exploring the grassy wooded area including our pond.  It is even possible to arrange to put a boat in the pond and exercise your arms by rowing.

One advantage of our large community building is that when the weather is inclement there are ample halls where we can walk – much more convenient than going to a mall to walk.

Our community building also has a large well-equipped fitness room and a beautiful pool.  The pool is open from seven in the morning to eleven at night.   

Twice daily our Kendal TV channel broadcasts an exercise class which allows  resident sto exercise in the privacy and convenience of their own residence.

We are also blessed to have Diane, our Fitness Coordinator, who conducts water exercises daily, works one on one in the fitness room giving individualized guidance in the use of the equipment and help with personal exercise/therapy routines.  Since I am blind and cannot see to set the various machines to suit my personal needs, I greatly appreciate the fact that she makes it possible for me to continue to use the equipment there.

 

Diane also offers a number of exercise classes on a weekly basis.  These include Pilates, Senior Wellness, Y9ga (with chair support), and Seated Strength and Stretch.

In addition we have a Physical Therapy Department to which we may be referred for specific therapy when it is needed.  This department provides general physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.

 Following major surgery several years ago I benefitted from the services of the PT department during my month long stay in the Health Center skilled nursing area.  I found the therapists competent, dedicated, and understanding of my individual needs.  They also made therapy fun even though it was hard work at times to do the things I needed to do to make a full recovery.

 More recently I found myself making use of their services once more.  Following a f al I had pain in my legs and feet which caused me to shuffle along rather than pick up my feet. I also needed additional pain medication.  With their assessment and program of therapy I am back to walking as I should and have discontinued to the added pain medication. 

 

Beyond a doubt all of the exercise opportunities here contribute to our overall fitness.  I would wager that if someone were to try to guess the ages of many of our residents they would miss the mark because so many of us take advantage of our opportunities to remain fit.

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Memories Galley Exhibit

 

[This entry was written by E. Wanda Quay.]

As we finished hanging our Art Gallery August-September Exhibit entitled Photo Memories I couldn’t help noticing that the photos taken by both residents and staff here at Kendal at Granville spoke about more than just their memories. 

First of all the response of both staff members and residents to the call for photographs about memories was an indication of one aspect of the unique relationship between residents and staff here.   It illustrates how we share in making Kendal a great place to live.

When I considered the varied subject matter which included beautiful scenery from widespread parts of the United States (i.e. from the Gulf of Mexico to Cape May, New Jersey to eastern Pennsylvania to the Smoky Mountains to Yellowstone National Park to Granville, Ohio), spectacular views from seven continents of the globe, fascinating snapshots of wild animals of Africa, scenes along the Amazon, and wash lines from around the world.  Closer to home  we  saw animal life captured by the camera from the porch of one of our resident’s homes, exquisite pictures of flowers and butterflies on our Kendal campus along with our pond and trail.  Taken all together they told me that we do not have to leave our homes here to find beauty.   They also spoke of the fact that our community is  made up of individuals who bring  a vast diversity of travel experience to our population.

When planning for this exhibit the Gallery Committee decided it would not require each photo to be framed since framing is costly.  Instead they would furnish photographers with large pieces of foam board to which several photos could be attached.  Any anxiety about the appearance of such a display vanished as the photos were hung.  It turned out our photographers could arrange their photos artistically.  One of the staff members enhanced her summertime fun photos with bits of decorative lettering and small designs.

Looking at each group of photo memories gave us insight into the lives of those who took them – another way to get to know each other – a way to discover common bonds – a way to develop our sense of community here.

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Update on The Newark Earthworks

Last Friday Professor Richard Shiels spoke to a packed Emilia Gathering Room audience about the ongoing campaign to have the Newark Earthworks recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. This is an extraordinary effort, involving much local work and support from the United States Department of the Interior. But the focus of the effort is also something truly astonishing: we have here, in Licking County and beyond, the remains of what may be the largest mathematically-related configuration of prehistoric structures in the world. I'll repeat that: THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD. And, to bring the story home, we have here, on our own Kendal campus, a remnant of the civilization that created that configuration.

Here's a bit of the background: about 2000 years ago (say, 100 BCE to 500 CE) the dominant culture in this region of North America was what we now call the Hopewell Culture. (Two quick warnings: "Hopewell" is a modern term, adopted for convenience because we have no idea what the ancient builders called themselves; and it is not useful to think of the Hopewells as a "tribe," since we do not know whether one or many peoples were involved.) The chief legacy of the Hopewells is the structure of great earthworks (now the term preferred to "mounds") that they built. The most striking of these earthworks are not only large but startlingly geometrical – squares, circles, and an octagon. They stand as largely undeciphered monuments to the engineering prowess, mathematical sophistication and record-keeping inventiveness of a civilization that, so far as we know, did not employ writing. For more on the earthworks and the extraordinary Hopewell culture, check out the website earthworks@osu.edu.

Although the centuries of post-Columbian settlement have entailed the destruction of much of this legacy before the purposes of  farmland expansion and urban development, good fortune has left Newark, Ohio, as the home to several sprawling Hopewell sites and made The Ohio State University at Newark a leader in the study of North American archeology.

To demonstrate the immensity of the Earthworks site, Professor Shiels used PowerPoint to show how it dwarfed such famous monuments from the past as Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. He also explained that, for purposes of the nomination to UNESCO, the Newark Earthworks have been packaged with two other Ohio-based monuments of Hopewell creativity, the sites at Coshocton and Fort Ancient. For sheer present-day visibility of Hopewell achievement, however, the Newark site is clearly the most impressive of the three. If the Earthworks receive designation as a World Heritage site, Licking County is likely to benefit from enhanced tourist trade, and archeological study of the site is likely to attract more funding.

As for that remnant of Hopewell culture that sits on Kendal land, it is a small (burial?) mound, not unlike other unstudied mounds that lie scattered in Licking County along the valley of Raccoon Creek. Professor Shiels visited our mound just before his talk, and because it had never been archeologically investigated, there was little he could say aside from admiring it and confirming that it appeared to be authentic. But that was good to hear. For maybe, if the Newark Earthworks become a World Heritage site, we at Kendal will finally learn more about the significance of the small mound that sits atop the Kendal hill and in the process learn more about the bearers of Hopewell culture who resided on this very acreage two millennia ago.

THE READING GROUP

     Among the many interest groups at Kendal is the Book Group, which has been selecting a book several months each year, and after reading it, gathering for a group discussion.  According to the convener, there are only two rules: comments must focus only on the book, and only one person speaks at a time.

     This month's book? Doris Kearns Goodwin's 2013 history/biography THE BULLY PULPIT: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism.

      In August, the reading period was extended into September because of the length of the book--752 pages plus 115 pages of notes.  Still, the Group had it largest attendance (23), apparently because of both the topics and the author.  Of those, over half had read the entire book (13) or listened  on 18 hours of recordings (2).  Others were still reading with most intending to finish, and a few had not read it, but came to listen.

     Virtually every reader had been fully engaged with the story of how Teddy Roosevelt, Will Taft, and the progressive journalists of their period, had engaged individually, together, and sometimes in direct opposition, in working to change the direction of the U.S. government, amidst a burst of industrialization, from a laissez faire idea to a functional, regulated system, toward which we continue to struggle.

      Some did sneak in personal reasons for their interest: a shared home town or alma mater, a commitment to a similar cause, a family tie or memory, or a professional interest.  But most comments were either evaluative of a particular action or individual, analytical regarding the author's "take" on one or more of her subjects, or personal insights drawn from the text.  A new member of the community could hardly help but observe the intellectual capacity, and the willingness, of members to engage in a truly complex but exceedingly well wrought book, with individual insights, observations, and questions.

       Rather obvious, of course, were the many vexing similarities of that historical period's issues to today's ongoing battles--a bitterly divided Congress, internally divisive political parties, policy bought by special interests, isolationism versus globalism, voter suppression, environmental concerns, etc.

      Of special interest to this group was the detail in which Goodwin explores the importance of the relationships between many players--fathers and sons, sons and mothers, husbands and wives, politician and journalist, journalist and publisher, even wives and wives.  The relationship theme caused some to believe that this richness was necessarily the product of a woman author, and most to decry the loss of letterwriting which would make such research unlikely if not impossible today.

    One reader likened the book to a love story and to The Bible--a collection of stories, each with its own meaning.  Another thought it was perhaps unfair in its evaluation of Taft, and of the value of different styles of leadership.  Some were surprised and disappointed by the older Roosevelt's behavior in his effort to retain power.  Others cited Goodwin's constant recognition of secondary players, local politicos, wives, aides, brother and sisters.

      Unfortunately, the one hour discussion was apparently insufficient for enough discussion of the roles played by the journalists, except for the opportunity they had for both thorough investigation and serious readership.  While true that tariff battles can seem boring, most of the major issues, and critical roles of Sam McClure, Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, Ray Baker, Jacob Riis and others could have received more discussion if there had been more time.  And no one mentioned Archie Butts....

meh 9/26/14

Candidates and Candidacies

Next week the Kendal residents – in their collective identity as KAGRA (the Kendal at Granville Residents Association) – will hold our September gathering. This September event is a big thing. Our by-laws style it the "Annual Meeting." What that means is that while KAGRA meets on a regular, monthly basis to conduct the ongoing business of the association, the Annual Meeting is a special occasion. It is here that we choose council members for the coming operational year (October 1-September 30) and select the residents to serve on our standing committees. It is also here that we approve KAGRA's budget for the coming year.

What I want to comment on, however, is not the responsibilities of these offices or the procedures we use to fill them, but rather what we can glean about life at Kendal at Granville from reading the information that candidates post about themselves in their brief bios.

First off, it's useful to note that the slate of six candidates – three women and three men – encompasses the full range of Kendal residential terms: that is, one is a "founder" – one of the original residents at the newly-opened facility in 2005; three are persons who have joined the community in the fifteen months since its expansion; and two are mid-range residents, neither founders nor newbies. Clearly a newer generation of residential leadership is moving forward. And that's how it should be.

But what is more interesting are the career backgrounds they bring to their candidacies. One is a teacher of public speaking, argumentation, and persuasion. One worked on the country's guided missile program under Dr. Wernher von Braun. One taught in the Columbus school system for three decades. One spent thirty years as a chaplain and pastoral care educator at large hospitals.  One handled the book-keeping for a small business. Two served in the armed forces.

Then there is the range of their hobbies and interests. One is a devoté of duck hunting and fly fishing. One is a proponent of nature photography. One is an antiquer. Still other enthusiasms include travel (everyone likes this option), bridge, book clubs, Pilates, policy development, gardening, library work, and church activities. Moreover, in some fashion or another, all are fans of programs of lifelong learning.

I should probably add that the persons on this slate are not in any sense running against each other. KAGRA has a nominating committee, which recruits a slate of candidates large enough to fill every vacancy, but no more; and while there is an easy way for alternative candidacies to emerge, no one in my seven years at Kendal has used this route. So when the elections are over, we can be confident that all of the skills, backgrounds, and interests I've mentioned will be at play in guiding the new office-holders as they make decisions for the residents.

Finally I must draw attention to this description of a strength one candidate offers the community: "trying to bring common sense and good humor to all such things." KAGRA will  be in good hands. If only Kendal could place such people in Congress!