News and Views

April 2017 Issue 75

Contributed by Marlen Boisvenue-Executive Director

There is nothing quite as jubilant as a Canadian in spring! The warming sun, the chirping of the birds that

have returned, the crocus and daffodils popping out of the earth and the crisp and sweet smelling air

put a spring in our step and a smile to our face! I have memories of walking home from school (a one-

room school in the country) and stopping to pick flowers, or stepping on a frost boil on the road. We al-

ways had a school spring outing , where we walked to the nearby swamp to identify plants and catch

tadpoles. I am sure the city school kids missed out on that!

Last month we were sorry to say goodbye to Jill Massie and Katherine Devall. I am sure they will both be

missed and we wish them well. We had a couple of empty suites for a bit, however with the nicer

weather coming I have had a lot of interest in St. Jacobs Place. Lorne and Helen Richmond arrived for

some rest and relaxation, and Sharon Farr came to recuperate from surgery. I am enjoying meeting so

many parents of former fellow classmates from high school, such as the Richmonds, Dorie , George,

Lillian and others that have come and gone! Please welcome our new guests, and perhaps we can per-

suade them to join our resident family.

As most of you know, Sarah Martin spent the last couple of years back in school to obtain her RPN desig-

nation. She has now graduated and we are so very proud of her! Sarah will now take over the position

of Director of Care. She has been here since 2001, so she has “learned” it and “earned” it! Michelle did a

wonderful job of taking over for Ruth when she retired, and both Michelle and Sophia will continue here

as an integral part of our nursing staff. With the changing care needs of so many of our seniors that

move in when already in their 90’s, we have made the decision to increase our registered staff hours to

cover weekends as well in order to provide the best possible care.

You will see a new gentleman around as well—we have hired James Liu to take over maintenance duties

and allow Mel to spend more time with his lovely wife in retirement. James has a great deal of experi-

ence in many areas, so he will be spending time at both St. Jacobs Place as well as St. Jacobs Home Lofts.

He will soon have the job of getting our outside areas cleaned and ready for use.

As the weather is getting warmer, and the days are getting noticeably longer, take this opportunity to

get out for a walk. Before we know it, we will be complaining that it is too hot!

Wishing all of our residents and their families a blessed Easter! Hallelujah!

The window is open and a warm, delicious lit-tle breeze comes wandering in. It smells of magnolias and dogwood and it whispers in our ears enticing little stories of gurgling brooks and cool woods. Yes, we have got spring fever and got it bad. ~Country Life, June 1922

Everyone is happy to have things back to normal!

Wait, is that

Dawn doing

laundry?

Everyone

pitched in dur-

ing outbreak.

Milt is happy to be

puzzling again!

Culinary Creations!

First Day of

Spring Seed

Planting

Bea is making her

own favourite

soup….because

she can!

The Life and Times of : Katie Kuepfer

For the month of April we have the privilege of getting to know a little more about the life of a very pleasant and sweet smiling Ka-tie Kuepfer. Tucked around the corner in room 115 she nestles in her cozy and lovely decorated apartment. She can be found peacefully resting or reading and you can often hear the sounds of family and friends joining her for visits.

Katie was born at home on the family farm in 1924 to a large Amish Old Order family in Topping, Ontario which lies east of Wellesley and north of Stratford. There were 14 children in her family growing up but 7 of them passed away in early childhood. She remembers sharing a room with her sisters.

Dawn: “What was life like growing up on the farm?”

Katie: “We had a 100 acre farm where we farmed cows, pigs, and chickens and also had grain, wheat and hay crops. My parents sold butchered chicken at the market and the milk we got from the 12 – 15 dairy cattle we would send their milk to Millbank to sell. I helped milk the cows and turn the milk separator. There were many chores to do on the farm. We worked hard together as a family on the farm and I helped out with milking the cows and tending the vegetable garden, where we grew potatoes, corn and other vegetables. During the harvest I would drive the horse and wagon into the fields and build the sheaves and stooked the wheat and grain. We didn’t have a lot of spare time to play but when we did we would play hide and seek and baseball. I remember the depression when we had to ration sugar and butter. Those were harder times but we always had food to eat. Sometimes we would shop in Welles-ley and other times we would shop in Stratford since our farm was pretty close to both towns. As I got older I would help as a farm help at other farms where I would mow lawns and work the gardens and the fields. The money that I made was given to help my family until I turned 21. We were given money from my family when we needed it and I was always taken care of.”

Katie started school at the one room school house when she was 7 years old and finished school to help out more on the farm half way through grade 7. When I asked her about skating or swimming she recalled not having skates or swimming but she did like to play in the water and run across the ice with her shoes on. She didn’t always have boots but her shoes went up quite high on her legs. Family meals were not only eaten together but Katie also helped with the cooking and baking. Knitting, quilting and making clothes were a big part of her life. Her dresses were plain but did have colour with coloured aprons for home. When they went out to church she would wear a white apron and a white cape and always a covering over her hair. Married women wore white hair coverings and single women wore black. Church was in different homes where they joined other families and sang together.

Dawn: “I’m curious how you met your husband.”

Katie: “I met Levi at a home church singing night. We started dating and we were married four years later. Our courtship was mostly spent talking, writing letters back and forth and being with our fami-lies. He was four years younger than I was so we waited until he turned 21 to get married. We were married in my family home in September of 1949. My mother made the food for the wedding and I wore a black dress, a white cap and a white apron that I made special for the wedding.”

After they were married they moved to their own 50 acre farm on Route 1 near Newton where they had pastures for dairy cattle. They also sold their milk supplies to a factory in Millbank. Eventually they bought a car and left the Old Order Mennonites due to the fact that Levi owned a welder which was not allowed by the Old Order Mennonites at the time.

Levi wasn’t as fond of farming as he was of being a machinist so he eventually did what he loved most and got a job as a lathe operator in Milverton. He also had a shop at the farm where he did some work as a machinist before he eventually went to work in Milverton. Levi was very talented with the lathe, welding repairs, working with metal, making farrowing crates, bins and a grain chopper. Katie was happy to stay home and be a very present mother for her six daughters, Velma, Verna, Eleanor, Darlene, Marcella and Donna. Suddenly and unexpectedly, in June of 1974, Levi had a heart attack and passed away at the young age of 45. They would have been married 25 years that September. “I wouldn’t have gotten along after losing Levi if it wasn’t for my older daughters helping a lot. My younger daughters were both under 10 years old when he passed away,” Katie said with tender emotion. Life carried on and she would raise her daughters to be caring and kind women with children and grandchildren of their own.

Before Katie came to be a part of the St. Jacobs Place family she lived at Sprucelawn and also lived with Selina Horst when her two younger daughters were still at home. There was also a time when she lived with her daughter Velma. I remember the day Katie came to live here at St. Jacobs Place and how her daughters were very present and even participated in a few programs as Katie was getting used to her new home. Today at St. Jacobs Place she can be found taking part in most of the programs available and especially enjoys playing dominoes, bingo, listening to the entertainment, tai chi class and armchair trav-eler.

Dawn: “How many grandchildren and great grandchildren do you have?”

Katie: “Oh boy, you will have to ask one of my girls.” There were 19 grandchildren in all and as she be-gan counting each of her great grandchildren she came up with 15 great-grandchildren plus one on the way. “Two of my granddaughters have passed away. All my grandchildren and great-grandchildren are very special to me.”

When I asked her if she had any special words of wisdom she would like to share with her family she said, “I’m not that good at giving advice.” As we continued to talk about what mattered most to her she continued to say that she loves each and every one of them. There were times when she gave extra help caring for her grandchildren but wanted to stress that they are all very special. “I wouldn’t want to be hurt myself so, I wouldn’t want to hurt others.” She didn’t even realise the wisdom and kindness that was pouring out of her heart as she simply shared with me her love for her family.

As our visit was drawing to an end I noticed a uniquely framed picture of her six daughters and their spouses’ wedding photos along with two pictures of Katie and her husband, Levi. We enjoyed a few more moments of talking about the importance of family closeness.

Thank you for sharing your story with us, Katie. We have been sprinkled with sunshine having you a part of our family here at St. Jacobs Place. In the days ahead we look forward to your smile and the memo-ries we will make together with you!

Interviewed by Dawn Ward Approved by Katie Kuepfer

March Highlights

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Managers Updates: Life Enhancement -Dawn Ward

March 16 What a great experience listening to folk tales, stories and music with Brenda Byers from the Baden Story Tellers Guild. March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day and thanks to all who joined in on Wear Green Day! We had a fun day at our St. Patrick’s Day Party and also our happy hour with the Irish music of Jack Kalenderian with a green snack made at culinary creations by our very own residents. March 20 – We celebrated the first day of spring by planting a seed. We look forward to our seedlings growing and planting them in our back yard gardens. March 21 - We took a look at the life biography of John Wayne and then gathered in the Welcoming Place to enjoy some entertainment with Liz & friends. March 23 – In keeping with the St. Patrick’s Day theme, Lunch Bunch folks headed to Kennedy’s Irish Pub in St. Agatha for delicious pig tails, fish and chips and other Irish fare. March 24 – Bill Muir was here today to entertain us at Happy Hour. March 28 – Armchair Travellers flew off this month to the picturesque mountains and breathtaking scenery of Norway. March 30 at 2:00 pm – Marty Pullin was here from the Sheffield Museum to bring us a presentation on “A Musical History of Ireland”. A delightful and unique time of historical Ireland and musical instru-ments. March 31 – We celebrated our March birthday folks with the guitar music and antics of Australian Peter Shaw!

Upcoming April SJP Events

Saturday, April 1 at 8 am – You may not be able to or want to stand in line at the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival today for their pancake breakfast so we will bring you your very own pancake breakfast right here with real maple syrup! Sunday, April 2 at 7 pm – Our friends Louise and Bert will be here for our Hymn sing in the Welcoming Place. Monday, April 3 at 2:00 pm – Join us as we take a trip to the Fairview Mall to enjoy shopping at the many stores including Walmart, The Bay, Tim Hortons and more. (Note: Sears is open but they are under construction.) Tuesday, April 4 at 2:00 pm – Please come out and try your hand at drawing in Art Class with a great teacher and skilled artist, Robert Wanka in The Meeting Place.

Wednesday, April 5 at 10:30 pm & 11:00 pm – Warm up your feet with Bubbly Foot Baths in the Meet-ing Place. (Sign up is required) Thursday, April 6 9 am – noon – KmW Clothing is back with a great collection of clothing for sale. Be sure not to miss this clothing selection right here in the Meeting Place. 9 am – Hearing Clinic is here – be sure to sign up for free services such as ear cleaning and batteries! 2:30 – Calling all baseball players and anyone who wants a fun afternoon to Sandbag baseball in The Meeting Place. Friday, April 7 11 am – Join Krysta for a discussion on Current Events in the Meeting Place. 2 pm – Paul Schalm will be here to play piano for happy hour so “pull up a chair”, have a glass of your favourite drink and enjoy. Tuesday, April 11 at 2:00 pm – Don’t miss Town Hall today with up to date and informative news on what’s happening around St. Jacobs Place in the Dining Room. Thursday, April 13 – 9 am – Magnificent Manicures in the Spa. 11 am – Come with us for a fresh air stroll. Please meet in the Welcoming Place. 2 pm – We will be decorating Easter Eggs for our Good Friday breakfast in the Meeting Place. Easter Weekend is here and we wish you all a beautiful celebration. This weekend will be filled with special music here at St. Jacobs Place so invite family and friends to join you in the celebration.

Friday, April 14 - Good Friday at 2 pm we will be showing an afternoon matinee movie called “Risen”. Invite family and friends to watch and enjoy refreshments with you in the Meeting Place. Saturday, April 15 at 2:30 pm – The Stiff Family singers will be here with their inspirational Gospel Bluegrass music in the Welcoming Place. Sunday, April 16 at 3:30 pm – Join Henk and Janet Sonnenberg (Flo Kufske’s family) on Easter Sunday for an afternoon of music in the Welcoming Place. Monday, April 17 at 2:30 pm – Carol Burnett is on the Biography spotlight today. Come and learn more about the life and times of Carol Burnett in the Meeting Place. Tuesday, April 18 at 2:30 pm – Armchair Travelers will be experiencing “A European Easter” today in the Meeting Place. Travel with us to discover how countries of Europe celebrate Easter. Wednesday April 19 at 10:30 & 11 am – Don’t miss out on Bubbly Foot Baths in the Meeting Place to-day. Sign up is required. Thursday, April 20 -10:30 am – We are excited to have Shalom Counselling with us to share an infor-mative talk about mental wellness in the Meeting Place. 2:30 pm – Dutch shuffleboard will take place in the Meeting Place. Work together as a team to get points while having fun all at the same time! Friday, April 21 11:00 am – Come enjoy some friendly competition while playing indoor Bocce Ball in the Meeting Place. 2:00 pm – I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Happy hour today with the accordion music of Peter Bauman will also include an ice cream parlor treat in the Welcoming Place!

Sunday, April 23 at 2:30 pm - Gifted piano player, Steve Warner will be here to play hymns and share the history of hymns with us on a lovely Sunday afternoon in the Welcoming Place. Tuesday, April 25 at 2 pm – Take a trip with us to shop at Talize Thrift Store and find a treasure for an amazing price, enjoy a coffee at Tim Hortons and there’s even a drug store in the same plaza. Thursday, April 27 9 am – Magnificent Manicures in the spa today. 2:30 pm – Chat & Chuckle is a fun hour of taking the best medicine, laughter. Join us in the Meeting Place with others for a light hearted time together. Friday, April 28 11 am – Join us for Fun with Words in the Meeting Place as we exercise our brains with word games. 2 pm – Celebrate our April Birthdays Happy Hour with “Young at Heart” musical entertainers in the Welcoming Place. Enjoy your favourite drink, birthday cake and great music.

Food Services—Rosanne Weber

A few minor changes and repairs have occurred in the last month. A fan was repaired on the kitchen freezer, a new thermostat put on the convection oven, a new commercial can opener was purchased, and we now have two scoops for the ice box. With the flu bug we had in here this month we are all more aware of the ‘high touch’ areas and want to do what we can to eliminate the spread of germs! So we will put a clean scoop in the ice sleeve after each meal. In addition to that, I was wondering if we could all try to remember to sanitize our hands before and after signing the menu. The pen and the clip board is also something that gets handled a lot! There is a bottle of hand sanitizer located on the kitchen counter right beside the menu clip board for your convenience.

Also a big thank you to all of you for your patience with us during outbreak! I know you had to wait

longer for creamers, sugars, jams, etc. at meal time as they were taken off the tables, which made for a

lot more running around for the girls and thus required extra patience on your part. I think its fair to say

that no one really enjoyed the craziness of those three weeks, but we are SO THANKFUL to be back to

normal!

Wellness—Rhonda Martin

Whew! How happy and excited everyone was when we received the word that we were out of enteric outbreak! For all residents and staff it was a long 3 weeks. Now we really appreciate having ‘normal’ life back again. This month I’ll write about Skin Care and Aging. Our skin changes with age. It becomes thinner,

loses fat and no longer looks as smooth as it once did. Veins and bones can be seen more eas-

ily. Scratches, cuts and bumps can take longer to heal. But there are things that we can do to

protect our skin and to make it feel and look better. The most common areas for skin dryness

are on the lower legs, elbows and lower arms. There are many possible reasons for dry skin,

such as: not drinking enough fluids, staying out in the sun, being in very dry air, smoking, feeling stress,

losing sweat and oil glands (common with age) It can also be caused by health conditions such as diabe-

tes or kidney disease. Moisturizers like lotions, creams or ointments can soothe dry, itchy skin. They

should be used every day. Some people find that a humidifier (an appliance that adds moisture to a

room) helps.

Pat Boyer April 1

Evelyn Prostebby April 3

Audrey Smith April 8

Bea Beaulac April 11

Paulene Doerr April 20

Marg Boland April 21

Resident and Building Services—April Allen

In Facility Services:

James Liu has been hired as an employee for the maintenance department and we are happy to

have him performing regular duties as well as occasional tasks.

Clean up and paint 4 suites in March to prepare for respite and admits

Repairs to a heat pump and r/o drinking water tap in the Hildebrand Friendship Center

Spring steam cleaning furniture, stairwells and corridors

In Resident Services:

A lot of clean up from the outbreak in suites had started out our month

Schedule changes for April were organized Our annual cleans on Friday are an option to you and are scheduled in advance for a once a year clean of walls ,lights, curtains, steam clean carpets and areas we normally don’t get to, when we clean weekly. If you do not wish to have this done, you may speak to me in advance and we can remove you from the list. We ask that if we are cleaning the suite, that you have your shelves, walls and tables clear of valu-ables or breakable items to prevent damage from occurring.

Chaplains Corner—Ray and Margie Brubacher

Where does the word “Easter” come from? Many scholars claim the word comes from “Eastre,” the name of an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess of renewal and rebirth. The direction of the sunrise, East, is named after her. The annual feast in her honour was celebrated in the Spring, around the same time Christians celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. After many Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity, they “converted” their celebra-tion of Eastre into the celebration of the resur-rection of Jesus. For us who believe that Jesus, through his death and his resurrection, takes away the sins of the world and gives eternal life, maybe it would be more clear to call Easter “Resurrection Day.”

Dutch Shuffleboard

Upcoming Community Events

April 1 –The 53rd Elmira Maple Syrup Festival. 7:00 am - The Worlds Largest Single Day Maple Syrup Fes-tival April 7 & 8 – ScrapFest 2017 – Kitchener Memorial Auditorium - this event caters to scrapbookers, card-makers, stampers, and mixed media artists. There is something for everyone April 8 – Township of Woolwich indoor Garage Sale- 7:30am-1:00 pm – Join us at the Woolwich Memo-rial Centre for the largest indoor garage sale in Waterloo Region April 14 – Easter Egg Hunt for Dogs – Bingemans Park – 10:00 am - 19th Annual Easter Egg Hunt for Dogs in support of National Service Dogs April 15 – Easter Bunny Train from the Market – 10:00, 12:00 & 2:00 - We have a very special guest on board! The Easter Bunny! Please join us for our heritage train ride through historic Mennonite country April 16 – Easter Brunch – Holiday Inn Kitchener - Enjoy a Delicious Buffet at Holiday Inn Kitchener on April 16th! Seatings available at 11am, 12pm and 1pm. April 21-23 – Waterloo Region Food & Drink Show – The Aud - 1,000’s of hungry guests eager to indulge in gourmet food and beverages at a dynamic cuisine event. Guests can sample fine wines, cold craft beer, local food, signature recipes and enjoy live cooking demonstrations April 22 & 23 – Elora Antique and Vintage Show – Elora Community Centre - Fifty five vintage and an-tique dealers set up at the Elora Community Centre to put on the 26th annual Elora Antique Show

Community Church Events

St Jacobs Mennonite Church Thursdays 1:15 pm-3:15 pm Seniors Solo Sunday, April 2 – 5-7 pm Sunday Supper - An informal potluck for all ages to fellowship together. April 13, 2017 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m - Maundy Thursday Prayer Walk - We will gather outside the church for a prayer walk, walking the last steps of Jesus towards the events of the cross Calvary United Church Sunday April 2 – Church Potluck 12:00-1:00 pm April 12 – CCC Luncheon 11:30- Entertainment starts at 1:00 April 27 – 50+ Group – 12-3 pm – Lunch at Mother’s Restaurant 2:00 pm Tour of Toyota Plant. Reserva-tions required St Jacobs Lutheran Church Saturday, April 22 – 8:00-12:00 am – Breakfast for Cancer – Charity Fundraiser Breakfast at St. Jacobs Lu-theran Church