A Message From Your Executive Director
Dear Residents and Families,
We continue to welcome more new residents to The Village. When you see new faces in the dining room or at an activity, please make them feel included. Being welcomed by friendly residents makes a huge difference in the lives of people just moving in so thank you!
In our continued efforts to offer opportunities for community service to residents, we are once again making dinner for the Hixon House at The Haven on Friday, March 10th. We will cook 2-4pm in Smith & Son’s. Please join us.
As many of you already know, Russell Hardeman, Director of Life Enrichment, has made the decision to return home to his beloved Tennessee. I’m so grateful for the energy Russell has brought to The Village in the 10 months he has been with us, and we wish him only the best. Please join us in the lobby/bistro on March 15th for a send-off social. The search for our next Director of Life Enrichment is already underway. I have received excellent response to my job posting and have already started interviewing. I will keep you all updated with any progress.
For some official business, please take a minute to read through the below policy regarding private caregivers or Personal Service Providers.
To ensure residents’ security and safety of all residents of The Village, the resident is required to immediately notify the Community’s administrative office when the resident has engaged the services of a Personal Service Provider, whether as an employee of the resident, independently contracted, or contracted through an agency. The resident will also be required to provide the Community with the name of the PSP. Further, the Community requires that the resident immediately inform the Community’s administrative office of the termination of a PSP.
For the health and safety of all residents at the Community, the Community will assist the resident in conducting and assessing a criminal record background check and sex offender check before the PSP begins working for the resident (at the cost of the resident). After the initial criminal background check and sex offender check, the Community reserves the right to request an updated criminal background check and sex offender check during the resident’s employment of the PSP. The process of conducting a criminal record background check is outlined in the Resident Checklist Regarding Personal Service Provider. If the PSP is employed by an agency, the employing agency must provide the PSPs criminal record background check and sex offender check.
For the health and safety of all its residents, the Community reserves the right to not allow the PSP on the Community’s property if the PSP does not have proper licensure or certification.
Have a happy and safe mud season!
Be well,
Nikki
Community Updates & Activities from Russell Hardeman
March Events 2023
Short Stories with Joan & Dianne (Resident led) 3/1/23
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 the members to read.
Dartmouth Dance Ensemble (Straus Dance Studio) 3/5/23
Led by director John Heginbotham, the cast of dancers shares choreography featuring a new work. (Free to Public)
Ice Cream Social 3/7/23
Chili’s Bar & Grill 3/9/23
Poetry Fridays 3/10/23
Come share in the love of poetry by bringing one of your favorite poems and reading it aloud or just come to enjoy listening to some good poems. This week come with your thoughts on what makes poetry a unique art form.
WOMEN OF PRIVILEGE DISCUSSION – “TENTATIVE” (led by Carol K.) 3/14/23
The story of a once-privileged family from the Hudson River Valley, whose neighbors included the Vanderbilts, Delanos, and Roosevelts, is told in Ladies of Privilege. It is a combination of biography and memoir with social history, based on diaries and journals and written by a family descendant.
Culinary Cooking Demo – Dolly Brandie – Lajoie 3/16/23
Join Mrs. Dolly for another great afternoon of cooking and tasting wonderful and delectable delights
Tip Top Pottery (Let’s Make Something Great) 3/18/23
Tip Top Pottery is a paint-your-own-pottery studio with everything you need at your disposal 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!
White River Indie Films (18th annual film festival) 3/23/23
JAM – Junction Arts & Media was created via the collaboration of WRIF and CATV. The goal of JAM is to foster community through media arts. JAM facilitates training on media literacy for people of all ages, assists Upper Valley locals with video and audio production, provides unbiased access to regional political problems, and conducts public events focused on film and media arts. A small group of movie enthusiasts founded White River Indie Films in 2004 with the goal of introducing underrepresented film genres to an appreciative public. White River Junction, Vermont hosted the first ever three-day festival in 2005. Our primary focus has always been on showing films that address social issues, holding forums for discussion, and collaborating with neighborhood organizations to spur change.
THE GOOD DOCTOR (Woodstock Town Hall Theatre) 3/24/23
What happens if a lowly city worker sneezes on their boss while a play is being performed? What makes the ideal lunch? Is watching someone drown worth three rubles? How is it possible to teach a governess to stand up for herself? What is the surefire method of luring a married woman? A writer who resembles Chekhov serves as the narrator in The Good Doctor and guides the audience through nine sequences that go from stupid to outrageous to charming and back again while reflecting on the creative process. The original stories were written by Chekhov in the 1890s, were adapted for the stage by Simon in the 1970s and will be performed by a cast of actors/directors this March by Barn Arts in the Upper Valley.
Classicopia: Black Brilliance / in Music 3/25/23
Pianist Daniel Weiser and Borowsky siblings Emmanuel (violin) and Frances (cello) offer this rescheduled program to celebrate Black History Month, from ragtime and spirituals to blues-inspired compositions. They’ll play music of Scott Joplin, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Undine Smith Moore, Florence Price, and William Grant Still. Adults $20, FCC members $15, children free
Afternoon & Evening Movie – GONE WITH THE WIND (Part 1 &2) / HBOMax 3/26/23
(This movie will show in two parts: Part 1 starting at 2:00p.m. and Part 2 will start at 7:00p.m.) Gone with the Wind is a novel by American writer Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936. The story is set in Clayton County and Atlanta, both in Georgia, during the American Civil War and Reconstruction. Scarlett O’Hara’s battle to save her beloved Tara and find love during the Civil War.
Resident Spotlight
Dianne McFarland (born Dianne Oursler), daughter of Paul and Thora, was born in and spent her early years in Chicago, IL. The eldest of two girls, she adored her younger sister Betty, and loved being the big sister, even to this day. She had a loving and carefree childhood surrounded by her parents and grandparents. Paul worked in the menswear industry, specializing in neckties, which were all the rage. Thora was an x-ray technician in the early days of radiology. From Chicago, the family moved to South Bend, IN, where Dianne attended junior and senior high school.
Dianne attended Hanover College in IN, and Westminster College in PA, receiving her BA in Elementary Education. Upon graduation, she taught elementary school in East Orange, NJ, and in Germany for Army dependents, and returned to the US to teach at the Brick Church Nursery School in NYC.
Dianne met her future husband Tom on a blind date at Westminster. They married in 1961 and spent their first three years in Mount Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA. It was there that Tom began his successful career in publishing while Dianne taught at Mount Lebanon Elementary School. Tom then accepted a position at Johns Hopkins University Press in Baltimore, MD, where they lived for 10 years and where their daughters Ellen Dianne and Cara Suzanne were born. The young family moved to Lafayette, CA, where they lived for six years and where Tom worked for The University of California Press. The McFarland family moved to the Upper Valley when Tom accepted the position of Director of the University Press of New England, and Dianne taught at Hanover Nursery School and as a substitute teacher at the Ray School.
Over the years, Dianne and Tom traveled extensively to destinations such as England, France, Austria, Czech Republic, Scotland, Germany, Turkey, Greece, India, China, The Caribbean, and Scandinavia. Tom arranged for the entire family of nine to travel to Cuba to celebrate his 80th birthday.
Dianne took a storytelling class with a Master Storyteller and began telling stories at local schools and libraries, sharing the vast world of children’s literature. She also taught “Godly Play”, a story-based curriculum.
Dianne has always been a lover of the arts. She sang in the Handel Society and church choirs. She and Tom have been very involved with Opera North for the past 35 years, chairing several committees and housing principal artists in their home. They were also involved with AVA Art Gallery and Northern Stage. These interests were an integral part of their lives. After sixty-one years of marriage, Tom died in November of 2022.
With her love of the arts, Dianne is an essential player in starting a short story reading group and a poetry reading group here at The Village. Dianne also enjoys solitary pleasures such as writing haiku, and reading fiction and poetry.
Dianne frequently reminds us that “family is everything.” She calls her grandchildren Morgan, Taylor, and Riley her Sun, Moon, and Stars.
Staff Spotlight
At our February all-staff meeting we were pleased to announce Camden Lebrun as our Employee of the Month. Camden joined our QLS staff in October of 2021 and has been a valued member of the team ever since. Camden has grown leaps and bounds during his tenure at The Village, forming strong relationships with our Memory Care residents and his coworkers alike.
We encourage all staff to share their personal interests and hobbies with our residents and last month Camden did just that, planning and executing a party in honor of the Daytona 500 race. From the photos I can tell that a good time was had by all.
When he is not working, Camden enjoys watching football and being outside. He loves burgers from Five Guys, the New England Patriots, and shopping at Bass Pro Shops.
Thank you, Camden, for all that you do!
Memory Care Minute
The Month of February was full of parties and everyday fun for our Memory Care residents. We had another visit from the students from Hartford High School’s adopt a grandparent program. They worked with residents to make Valentine’s paintings. On Valentine’s Day we went all out with a Valentine’s Day dance. Everyone was dressed in red, staff brought in special treats, and some families and friends joined us for an afternoon of movement and fun.
Also in February we celebrated some sporting events. First was our Super Bowl party and later in the month our QLS staff, led by Camden, hosted a Daytona 500 party.
We have been enjoying going on our scenic drives. We love to explore our beautiful countryside, even in the cold weather. Memory Care residents have been working hard at our daily trivia and word games. It is super fun to see this every day! We are looking forward to seeing Jim Hollis preform for us on the floor as well as an upcoming lunch outing. We are planning a St. Patrick’s Day party on March 17th – if you visit be sure to wear green! We will also be doing some arts and crafts and continuing to enjoy our trivia and word games.
We will be holding another family support meeting in March. Look for an invitation in the next week or so. If there is a topic that you would like to cover, please let me know.
Thank you—
Kathleen March
Director of Memory Care
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
