A Message From Your Executive Director
Dear Residents and Families,
Happy New Year to you and your families. As you will see from the photos below, the holidays were a festive time at The Village. I’m always sad when the holiday decorations are put away. As we enter the dark recesses of a New England winter it’s important to remember that it’s just 72 more days until we have sunlight until 7pm again!
We continue to monitor the covid community transmission numbers to help us determine when we may be able to allow guests back in our dining room. As predicted, we are seeing a post-holiday spike in numbers so we will continue to wait and monitor. As soon as we are able to make changes, we will let you all know.
We are making progress in repairing the issues with the front door locking mechanism. We no longer need to lock the outermost doors at night and the vestibule will go back to being open again. At this point any resident out after 8pm will still need to ring from inside the vestibule for a staff person to come let them in. We hope to have the rest of the repairs completed in the next several weeks. Stay tuned.
Visitors to The Village may have already noticed that we installed RESIDENT PARKING ONLY signs in some of the parking spots in the garage. I ask that all guests please be respectful of these designated spaces so we can continue to ensure safe parking for our residents who still drive.
As part of our initiative to provide opportunities for residents and staff to give back to the Upper Valley community, we will be making dinner for the Hixon House at the Haven on Friday, January 27th. We encourage residents to join in as we cook from 2-4pm in Smith & Son’s Kitchen.
We continue our efforts to recruit and employ talent people at The Village. To that end, residents can expect to continue seeing new faces among our staff throughout the winter. We have a new nurse, Jordan, with us now and next week we will welcome Bonnie, who worked for us previously, back to the nursing team. We also expect to bring on new folks as QLS/caregivers, servers, cooks, and a new driver.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2023.
Be well,
Nikki
Community Updates & Activities from Russell Hardeman
January Events 2023
Yoga with Katheryn Mill – 1/3/23 (2x/month)
Short Stories with Joan & Dianne – 1/4/23
When compared to novels, short stories frequently go unnoticed as an art form, but these unique literary creations merit great friends and examination of wonderful short stories. Short tales offer readers all the engrossing characters, dramatic action, and poetic language of great fiction. So, what is the formula for such powerful, expertly crafted gems? For this club, once a month, Joan and Dianne will distribute two short stories for members to read.
Film & Discussion Group / Sitting Bull: A Stone in my Heart (Every Thursday Evening) – 1/5/23
Lunch Outing – Three Tomatoes (Lebanon, NH) – 1/5/23 – Extra charge
Ice Cream Social – 1/10/23
Lunch Outing – Jesse’s Steak and Seafood (Hanover, NH) – 1/12/23 – Extra charge
Tip Top Pottery – Let’s Make Something Great – 1/12/23 – Extra charge
Tip Top Pottery is a paint-your-own-pottery studio where you can find all the supplies you need to make a unique piece of pottery. To inspire your creative side, we offer ceramic pieces (bisqueware), glazes, brushes, stamps, stencils, and a fun setting! It won’t take you long to produce your own masterpiece; all you need is a little imagination and a desire to have fun. Everybody is creative!
Pen Pal Party – Hosted by Richmond Middle School – 1/12/23 – Outing
Come for the yummy treats, awesome games, and creative crafts for past pen pals and potential new ones.
Lunch Outing – Lui Lui – 1/19/23 – Extra charge
An award-winning wood-fired pizza and pasta restaurant and bar.
Culinary Cooking Demo – Dolly Brandie-Lajoie – 1/19/23
Join Mrs. Dolly for another great afternoon of cooking and tasting wonderful and delectable delights.
“At the Hop” Film Event & Discussion “Till” ($8) – 1/20/23 – Outing
A world-famous visual artist and painter named Hebru Brantley collaborated with businesswoman and urban historian Dwamina K. Drew to create “The Revenge of Emmett Till.” Simeon Wright, Emmett’s cousin, provides firsthand testimony for the documentary film, which also highlights the impact of Emmett’s story through interviews with Brantley and renowned musician Lupe Fiasco. The documentary also identifies, investigates, and advocates practical solutions for resolving racial issues.
Cantabile Women’s Chorus: All Shall Be Well – (Adults $15) – 1/22/23 3:00pm
Founded in 2001, Cantabile is an auditioned chorus of 24 voices from Vermont and New Hampshire that performs a repertoire of women’s choral literature across musical periods. The name, Cantabile, is a musical term meaning “marked by a smooth, lyrical, flowing style.”
AVA Art Gallery – Unconditional/ A Group Exhibition – 1/26/23
Unconditional, An Exhibition About Dogs and Other Beloved Pets
Apple Hill String Quartet – Social Entrepreneurship and the Arts – 1/26/23 – Extra charge
In conjunction with Arts Careers Week at the Hop, the Hood Museum and Magnuson Center collaborated on this project. A small-scale performance and panel discussion on using the arts to make real-world impacts. After a brief performance of Dana Lyn’s composition, The Ceremony That Never Was, and a look at the artworks that served as its inspiration, Lyn and Apple Hill talk about their musical missions. This presentation is a component of Apple Hill’s 12-month residency at the Hop, an initiative to promote chamber music in the Upper Valley. (Hood Auditorium)
Upper Valley Baroque Presents: The Italian Baroque Concerto – 1/29/23 – Outing – Extra charge
UVB’s professional Chamber Orchestra will perform intimate, elegant, and lively Baroque concerti by six different Italian Baroque composers.
Dublin Guitar Quartet (at Church of Christ at Dartmouth) – 1/31/23 – Extra charge
Modern, forward-thinking compositions by the “astonishing” and “impeccable” quartet (NPR)… First guitar quartet dedicated solely to new classical music is Dublin Guitar Quartet. The group has attempted to diversify its limited repertoire ever since it was founded at the Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama by commissioning fresh compositions and reinterpreting works by contemporary artists not typically performed on the guitar. The foursome has produced an original library of arrangements by composers including Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Arvo Part, Gyorgy Ligeti, and others using eight and eleven-string guitars.
Resident Spotlight
Annette Ullman
Annette was born in 1927 and raised in Omaha, NE. Her parents, Morris and Libby Segal, arrived in America in 1922 with Annette’s sister Betty, then age 9, as refugees from the pogroms targeting Jews in the Kiev region of Russia, now Ukraine.
Early on, Annette expressed interest in literature, playing piano, and play-acting. These interests have followed her through her life, personally and professionally.
At the age of 20, after graduating from the University of Nebraska, Annette moved to New York City where she lived in various neighborhoods including the Upper West Side, Washington Square, and Brooklyn for the rest of her life until moving to Vermont to be closer to her beloved nephew Jim.
During her career Annette had many amazing experiences in the Arts and Theater World. She is exceptionally proud of her work in the 1950s with Alex Cohen, an esteemed Broadway theater producer. She was also an administrative assistant to Rocco Landesman, a former president of the Jujamcyn Theaters Organization, which produced and hosted many notable Broadway shows. After that, in the mid to late 1980s she worked as the administrative assistant to the then-dean of the Juilliard School.
Annette was a regular for many years at the Metropolitan Opera and New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center, just a few blocks from her co-op apartment in Lincoln Towers. For many years she volunteered on the Lincoln Center information desk, directing visitors to the theaters and other facilities. Aside from the arts, Annette’s other favorite pastimes were reading the New York Times, and spending time in Central Park.
Annette enjoyed travel to destinations such as France, Italy, Spain, Israel, Puerto Rico, various Caribbean Islands, Belgium, England, Canada, and Netherlands.
Through a mutual interest in music she met her second husband and love of her life , Guido Ullman, a gems merchant, late in life; they married in 1992. Sadly, he died just five years later.
Annette has brought her passion for the arts with her to The Village and has been instrumental in providing recommendations for events for The Village family.
Memory Care Minute
December was a busy month for our Memory Care residents. Early in the month we got dressed up and our hair done for our Winter Dance in Miller Stage on the 4th floor where we danced the night away! We also had a great time with students from the Hartford High School Adopt-A-Grandparent program who came to help us make gingerbread houses. They came out so beautiful. In December we also had many scenic rides – our favorite was a ride to see the holiday lights at the Joseph Smith Memorial in South Royalton.
We prepared for the holiday season with live music by Elijah LaPlaca (piano carols), and Mark Harding. These were experienced on Miller Stage. We also attended the Village Christmas Party for staff and residents. During the party there was a visit from Santa who made a point to visit each Memory Care resident individually. The smiles and wonder on faces were so wonderful to see. During the party our residents made Christmas decorations and sang Christmas carols. It was a great day!!
In the new year we have plans to go out into The Village more as we try some new activities. We will be going to Latham Gym on the 3rd floor to participate in exercises. We are trying it one time a week and hope to increase our days. We also will be having live music on our floor with Jim Hollis. Jim will be entertaining us alternating months for 2023.
I will be sending out an email in the next few weeks to our families and friends. We will be starting a family support group and will be working with the Alzheimer’s Association who will be assisting me with resources.
Kathleen March
Memory Care Director
COVID-19 In Our Community
We are committed to keeping you informed of how COVID-19 is impacting The Village at White River Junction. We continue our robust commitment to following the guidelines from both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health authorities by:
- Based on our current Phase and the positivity rate in our county, the following protocols for visitation are in place:
- Currently we do not allow guests to eat in the dining rooms.
- Core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention will be enforced. These include:
- Screening before each visit
- Hand hygiene
- Mask use for all visitors and staff; It is currently recommended that fully vaccinated visitors keep their mask on when in a private area, even with a fully vaccinated resident.
- Requiring all staff to wear surgical or procedural masks and adhere to screening processes
- Maintaining the frequency and rigor of cleaning and sanitizing all surfaces
- Reviewing our emergency preparedness and response program
- Coordinating best practices across our large partner network
- Group activities are held
Helpful Links
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
- www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/index.html
LCS COVID-19 website
Local health department website
From the Governor
