January

2021

Program Ponderings

Director of Programs - Brad Ray

So, 2020 is officially over, huh? Well, so long, it’s been good to know you! Let’s be hon-est. 2020 was a real drag. I certainly don’t have to spell it out. That’s why we are embrac-ing 2021 as a long lost beloved relative returning home. With a vaccine on the horizon, a first step is being taken to help get our lives “back to normal.” This also means getting the ball cau-tiously rolling in regards to get-ting our Programs Department rolling again, along with the of-ferings from The Club!

As you may have noticed, the wonderful music organization “Summit Music” will be continu-ing their outdoor music concerts throughout the Minnesota winter. Talk about some hearty souls! For the winter months, they will be curtailing their concerts to two times per month. The dates and times for these concerts will be subject to change, of course, keeping the weather in mind as the driving factor.

In addition to the wonder-ful and diverse offerings from Summit Music, you can count on being entertained with live music from yours truly as well as my trusty sidekick Dezso. We are truly blessed to be able to har-ness our own talents to try our best to enhance your Village Shores experience. When a resi-dent tells us that “you really made my day with the music you brought to us”, it really drives home how working at Village Shores makes our lives so much richer. We thank you all for that.

January will mark the return of Dezso’s history classes, my “Stretch and Sing” and “Team Triv-ia” groups. We will be holding off on Karaoke for now. Of course, the order for bringing in outside enter-tainers, presenters, clergy, and vol-unteers has not been lifted, so it will be some time before the Village Shores choir gets started again, or we have groups like the Blooming-tones, The Minneapolis Police Band, or the Ropers back, but mark my words, once this pandemic is over, we will be right back to having fun and exciting entertainers, engaging and knowledgeable nature and his-tory presenters, as well as our fa-vorite religious leaders leading our spiritual groups. The best thing we can do is to adhere to the safety guidelines put forth by the Minne-sota Department of Health and be diligent about mask wearing, hand washing, and social distancing.

Keep in mind that our sched-ule will be subject to change and all of our programs cancelled in the name of safety. We will be keeping a keen eye on the numbers of posi-tive cases and Minnesota and our status will be directly affected if the numbers in the state go up. So please keep that in mind, and stay flexible. We certainly appreciate your understanding of the situation.

With all of our help, we can over-come the adversity that has been dealt to us in 2020. Let’s all do our part to make Village Shores the best place to live, grow, and enjoy what life has to offer! Happy New Year from Brad and Dezso in the Programs Department!

~Brad

Get to Know Bernice Crouch

Bernice was born on the farm just south of Kasson, Minnesota about 20 miles from Rochester. Almost the caboose baby, she was the ninth out of ten. Born Bernice Holton, her she never realized how inconvenient coun-try life was compared to city liv-ing. She walked 2 miles a day one way to country school. Bernice remembers always carrying water, and kindling for the stove. They had no modern conveniences. Being built with a sturdy frame, she did much more work that her smaller sized sisters. Growing up, Bernice’s sisters seemed preoccupied with the many boys that lived in the area. That wasn't the case with Bernice. She could throw a ball and swing a bat, just as good if not better than any neighborhood boy. She was always the first picked for team games. Her family was very musical. Her father played the violin and her brothers played banjo, piano, and guitar. The sisters all played the piano quite well, Bernice loved to sing. The three youngest sisters including Bernice would be called upon to sing for clubs, at church, or anywhere they would like a program. They would hitch up the team and trot to their engagements. After high school, Bernice entered beauty school in Mankato. She really enjoyed it. She re-members during training that she given a young student to do her hair. She noted to her instructor that “her head kept moving!” She later discovered that it wasn't the head that was moving, but head lice! She will never for-get that. After beauty school, she returned to Kasson work for a local hairdresser. After a year in Kasson, Ber-nice opened her own hairdressing business in nearby Dodge Center. She was having lunch alone at a café there in Dodge Center when she was approached by a gentleman who was dared by his tablemate to say hello to her. His friend came over to her booth to sit and visit. His name was Harley Luverne Crouch. He was 14 years older than Bernice and after a few visits, be made it clear that he had no interest in getting married to anybody. He was already 35! Six weeks later Bernice was wearing a dia-mond engagement ring and the rest is history. They mar-ried and to this union were produced three children. Garth, Betsy, and Kathy. They made their home in West Concord, which is near Kenyon. While living there, farm-ing, raising, buying and selling cattle, and her salon busi-ness she ran from out of her home kept them very busy. They lived there until Harley passed away a number of years ago. Bernice loves children, and was always active as a Sunday School teacher in her church. Bernice had family in the Twin Cites so she eventually moved here just a couple of years ago. One of her granddaughters, Na-talie, is the proprietor of Summit Music, a group that reg-ularly entertains here at Village Shores! Bernice still en-joys music, and visiting with people. We are blessed to have her in our community!

Resident in The Spotlight January Birthdays

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THESE

RESIDENTS AND STAFF 1 Sadia Egal- – Staff LifeSprk 1 Deqa Ibraham – Staff – Lifesprk

12 Donald Timmons (702) 12 Violet South (901B)

13 Rita Boulay (817)

14 Char Chapin (614)

16 Kadidia Traare – Staff - LifeSprk 17 Roy Rincon (915B)

18 Joyce Rollay – (819)

20 Joanie Matthews (906)

21 Greg Johnson (711)

21 Robert Carroll (223) 22 Janice Parrott (1001B)

22 Glenn Kennedy -Staff-VS

23 Farrell Stiegler (414)

26 Joan Goering (1006) 29 Jane Parry (706)

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Executive Director News Rick Meyer—Executive Director

Silver Advantage

JANUARY 2021

Silver Crest is committed to creating sen-ior communities of excellence through vi-brant and engaging lifestyles of wellness, independence, dignity, and care. We want input from you about how we are doing at achieving our R.E.S.P.E.C.T. goals. Please visit our Silver Advantage Board on 1st floor and fill out a slip for our hardwork-ing staff. This is an incentive for them to be recognized by management. Here are a few kudos that were posted recently:

Are you feeling a new start, a new beginning, a clearing of the slate with the new year? My wish for 2021 is to remove COVID as a fear factor and health concern, so we can return to our normal social life, work life, recreation, and the freedom of coming and going as we please. It’s a balancing act to stay rela-tively safe, yet have a life that’s worth living. Village Shores has been committed to your safety and at the same time, we have wished for so much more. Let’s make it more this year.

Projects that have been completed or are near com-pletion include the addition of climate- controlled air exchanges in the Reflections neighborhood. It is a construction project that adds new ductwork, fans, and an HVAC roof top unit with the result that all will feel more invigorated with fresh air being re-placed every hour. We also added several surveil-lance/security cameras around the campus to be able to view and record incidents that need investi-gating. For example, our cameras will observe our front entrance, both garage doors, the Bistro, the first-floor elevator lobby, and the main dining room. Our Dec 15 planning meeting with Comcast went well in identifying the advantages and pitfalls of the conversion to Bulk Rate Cable TV. Their team will be on site January 25-29 working in each apart-ment. New boxes will be brought in to replace the ones you have now along with a new remote to get used to. A Comcast technician will be in your apart-ment about 30 minutes to install new equipment and help you learn to use it. Some of you have ex-pressed interest in a family member being here to get the training, so we will be putting out a schedule to help you know approximately when a technician will be in your apartment. You will receive a letter to inform you of the details as we get closer to the time. Beginning February 1, we will be including the $72/month charge in your monthly rent. Com-cast staff will help you end your current contract and charges and add you to the bulk rate group. Possibly, at the time of this reading, you have been notified of a schedule for the COVID-19 –19 vaccine administration and you have already completed the forms provided by CVS Pharmacy, who will adminis-ter the vaccine. We are pleased to help you with this. I hope you enjoyed all the Christmas trees and dec-orations around our community, the cards and gifts, special holiday activities, the music, and of course the wonderful meals that go along with it. We are all blessed. As we start a new year together, we wish all the best and wonderful things to come to you. As always, you are invited to stop at my office for a visit.

~Rick Meyer

Executive Director

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This month a lot of us are busy making our New Year’s resolutions and thinking of how we can become healthier, loose weight, spend less money, and spend more time with family/loved ones. With COVID this last year some of those goals look dif-ferent coming into the New Year. COVID has made many things more challenging including being a care giver for a loved one with memory loss. Being a care giver for someone with memory loss, your 2021 goals may look different in general. They may include a goal that you have thought of for your loved one who is living with memory loss. There is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s but setting realistic goals for your loved one is not impossible regardless of where your loved one maybe in their journey. Some goals I have seen family encourage their family member with memory loss to set would be keeping their minds as active as possible. That may be attending 1 activity a day that he/she may enjoy or completing the word search in the daily newspaper each afternoon in their apartment. Even listening to music keeps the mind alert. Studies have shown that musical memories are often pre-served in Alzheimer's disease because key brain areas linked to musical memory are relatively undamaged by the disease. Being more physically active is a great goal to help a loved one set. This may look like encouraging walking to and from a meal each day or even attending an exercise class when it is offered weekly. Stretching different parts of the body, deep breathing or laughing even can be a form of exer-cise.

As a care giver it is also important to set goals to self-care this new year. Finding and building a good support team is important. Join a support group to get advice from others who are familiar with what you are going through. It is a great time to build a support network that is so important for your mental health. Every 3rd Wednesday of the month myself and Meagan, another Alzheimer’s care giver sup-port group facilitator has a group that meets via Zoom. Please reach out for more information on how to join and get connected. Another way to self-care when you are a care giver is to make your health a priority by exercising regularly, eating

healthy and making regular doctor appointments as needed. This should be at the top of the list as a goal this year because many studies show that dementia caregivers neglect their own health, putting themselves as risk of heart disease, depression—even Alzheimer’s disease. Lastly taking care of a loved one with dementia is not easy and not every day or a visit with your loved one is going to go as you may have planned. Being flexible and not being so hard on yourself when something changes is important. Cut yourself some slack!

Happy New Year!

~Hala

Reflections Hala Randall– Director of Reflections

Our Reflections Unit is our 3rd Floor Memory Care Floor

JANUARY 2021

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Maintenance Larry Webb– Director of Environmental Services

MAINTENANCE UPDATE

Finishing out a year that has kept us quite busy here in the Maintenance Depart-ment. Our crew has

been very diligent on staying on top of work orders, delivering packages, and keeping Village Shores running like a well-oiled ma-chine. We are finally putting the finishing touches on some of our projects. We will all be looking forward to saying goodbye to the construction crews. The duct work project on third floor is nearing completion. Once complete, our Reflections Unit will have its own separate air flow system, providing a constantly recirculating source of fresh air that will be flowing through 24/7. Unlike the other floors in our building, third floor is a sealed and closed unit, to provide safety for memory care residents. All of our other floors are open and receive the air flow through the massive intake and output vents, as well as open windows (in sum-mer), doors, etc. In other news, showers in some units are being installed at a rate of about three a month. For those of you still waiting for a tub/shower conversion, your time is near. Also, we are creating more parking spaces in the garage for an influx of cars. The garage and our storage spaces are being organized as well. We’re looking into tidying up our areas behind the scenes so we can be more efficient for you. Other than that, we ask all of our residents to ex-ercise extra caution in areas that may be slippery. We have our snowblowers all tuned up and ready to go as well as our shoveling and salting crews. Let’s all stay safe this winter and let’s look forward to making 2021 the best year yet here at Vil-lage Shores. ~Larry

Happy New Year to all of you love-ly Villagers! It was a tough decision to temporarily close The Club yet again, but I want to thank you all for being ex-tremely understanding about the sud-den changes we’ve made to keep eve-ryone safe and healthy. We appreciate all the sacrifices you have made and the positivity that you continue to dish out despite the pandemic. Here’s to high hopes that 2021 bring us all peace of mind, healthy living, and the amaz-ing social events we have all come to hold dear.

Starting the year off with good news that The Club will be re-opening come Monday, January 4th. We will be stepping into this re-opening with ease, so this means that we will NOT have group exercise classes during the month of January. The Club will be back to our normal appointments where you can schedule the use of specific equip-ment/machines one week in advance. If you have any questions, please call, stop by, or find either of your Wellness staff, Bennet and Megan. We are very excited to see you all down in The Club again!

To the Wellness in our Village,

~Bennet & Megan

The Club News Bennet Woltjer - Director of Wellness

Club Hours

Mon—Fri 8:00—5:00

Closed on Weekends

612-746-4712

Work Orders

Please Call Reception Desk

Our Team Will Fix It For You

612-861-1186

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Health & Wellness

Campus Director of Life Care - Sarah McCauley

Stress Hurts. Meditation Heals

Are you under stress? Don’t stress out about it. In-stead, train your mind to help your mind—and your body. Meditate!

Meditation calms you. It gives you a healthier perspec-tive. It can also reduce your pain, boost your sense of wellbeing, help you sleep better, lower your blood pressure, and possibly improve your memory.

You might want to start with these 2 mediation tech-niques.

BODY SCAN - Become Mindful of Your Physical Self

While sitting or lying down, close your eyes.

Concentrate on one body part at a time, starting with your toes.

What sensations can you detect? Pressure? Tem-perature? Pain?

Stay focused. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back.

When you get to the top of your head, start back down.

4-4-8 BREATHING - Thought About Your Lungs Lately?

Sit or lie comfortably with your eyes closed.

Slowly count to 4 as you breathe in deeply through your nose.

Hold your breath for another 4 counts.

Release your breath through your mouth as you count to 8.

Without a break, do it a few more times.

It’s okay if you can only meditate for a few minutes a day at first. You’ll notice the biggest results once you work up to 20 minutes every day.

Talk to your Life Care Manager, or mindfully walk yourself to the Lifesprk office (focusing on each step) for other simple meditation techniques.

~Peace On

Food For Thought

Keith Karg - Director of Dining Services

Do you miss dining in the Dining Room as much as we miss serving you? Well n Jan-uary, all of our wishes will come true! Our tentative date to open back up is Monday, January 11, The Dining Room will be open and meal times will not change. This opening date will allow enough time for Vil-lage Shores travelers to isolate and not risk their fellow diners or kitchen staff. There will be no change in the meal sign up rou-tine. Just remember to call own to sign up. Please do not call Reception. Call the num-ber below, That goes directly to our Kitch-en and makes signing up a breeze. In ad-dition to our Dining Room, we are also ex-cited to get our Bistro back up and run-ning! Come on down to enjoy burgers, sandwiches, salads, and soups made fresh-ly and safely for you! James is doing an excelled job and every weekday there will be a $5.75 special featured that will tickle the tastebuds while being easy on your pocketbook. All of us in Dining Services wish you a safe and Happy New Year. Let’s make 2021 a banner year here at Vil-lage Shores!

~Keith

CALL THIS NUM-BER FOR MEAL

RESERVATIONS

612-746-4713

Welcome to Village Shores

Delbert and Gwen Bryan—#508

JANUARY 2021

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Announcements Salon News “The Shores” Hair Salon

Lani McConnell - Owner 612-746-4708

I hope you had a great holiday sea-son! Several of us may not have traveled lately, but people may still stop by to visit and carry that holi-day spirit. If you feel you should spruce up you hair, we're right here at your own back door to help get you looking great! The Holidays sometimes can be increasingly stressful for both men and women. They deserve the opportunity to es-cape and relax, even if it's for about an hour. Our trusted professionals can make you look and feel wonder-ful. Our salon is dedicated to provid-ing you with exceptional service that will help you with your beauty needs. Have questions as to what to do? Stop by, we can help.

Stay safe and enjoy the rest of the winter!

~Lani

Thank You for Your

Holiday Generosity! We are so impressed by the generosity

shown by the residents at Village Shores this holiday season. Our annual “Toys For Tots” charity drive, as well as our “Holiday

Mitten Tree” were both very successful! We had a whole bus full of toys for children in

need and our tree was literally bursting with hats, mittens, gloves and scarves to help

the less fortunate keep warm during these chilly winter months. Thank you all for your

kindness and generosity! Here are some photographs of our Mitten Tree and Toys for

Tots drive.

HOURS OF

OPERATION

Monday - Friday

8:00 - 5:00

Walk-in or

By appointment

612-746-4708

Bus Full of Toys Mitten Tree

Victor Loading the Bus with Toys for Tots

Executive Director - Rick Meyer 612.746.4703 rmeyer@villageshores.com Administrative Services Manager - Pam Propper 612.861.1186 ppropper@villageshores.com Director of Marketing - Judy Koznick 612.746.4711 jkoznick@villageshores.com Director of Programs - Brad Ray 612.746.4705 bray@villageshores.com Director of Life Care - Sarah McCauley 612.283.4753 smccauley@lifesprk.com Director of Dining Services - Keith Karg 612.746.4710 kkarg@villageshores.com Director of Maintenance- Larry Webb 612.746.4701 webb@villageshores.com Director of Wellness - Bennet Woltjer 612.746.4712 bwoltjer@villageshores.com Director of Resident Services - Monica Whitson 612.746.4707 mwhitson@villageshores.com Director of Reflections - Hala Randall 612.746.4714 hrandall@villageshores.com Director of Housekeeping - Eve Morgan 612.746.4701 Marketing Associate—Kayla Beehler 612.746.4706 Housekeepers - Sattie Khublall, Marge Chism Bus Drivers - Vic Larson, Amy Miller, Bernie Haas 612.803.6718 Lead Receptionist - Nola Roberts Receptionists - Pat Coy, Pego Dailey, Barb Moltumyr, Patsy Kahmann, Jim Gullickson, Jane Long, Analisa Hillman Maintenance Techs - Juan Nicolas Noyola, Matthew Fahrendorff Activity Coordinator - Dezso Bartha Reflections Coordinator - Glenn Kennedy Wellness Coordinator - Megan Van Der Beek Chefs - Phil Sparish, Deparo James, Elle Aldrich-Goldstein Dining Room Supervisor - Crystal Wilson Dining Room Wait Staff - Lillian Hatley, Nan Thompson, Winny Amenya, Rachael Coulter, Mary Stratton, Sherry Partlow, Cheryl Partlow, Anna Nel-son, Linda Ricksham, Ben Bury, Edube Jideonwo, Tommy Lawless, Ennaoj Reed Dishwashers - Gemma Guthrie, Carlos Mayes

www.villageshoresseniorcommunity.com

6501 Woodlake Dr. Richfield, MN 55423

Things You Should Know

• We have a free shuttle for medical appointments, grocery shopping, banking, restaurants, and casinos. Talk to Brad if you have more ideas. (SHUTTLE CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE)

• The meal charges that appear on your monthly invoice

can be confusing. The date that appears next to your meal charges is the date that the charges were posted, NOT the date when you ate the meal. That date of posting includes all meal charges incurred over 30 days.

If you would like to refer a friend to Village Shores, please contact

Judy Koznick at 612-861-1186.

All Village Shores Staff members are available by calling reception at 612-861-1186.