V o lu me T h i rt y O ne , N umber 8
October 2017
Beaumont’s new IT director also loves music, children, video games, swimming, dogs, cats, community work . . . By Frank Kampas and Irene Borgogno
Mary Huff’s career has been guided by two mutually incompatible principles: her love of music and her father’s pragmatism. Musically, she favors percussion and piano. Her father favored a career that provided an adequate and reliable income. A native of El Paso, she earned a bachelor’s degree in music performance and education at the University of Texas. She began working toward a graduate degree in music therapy at Temple University, but an opportunity to play as timpanist on tour in Italy lured her away after one year. The tour, with the USA Puccini Festival Orchestra, was all she hoped it would be—until
IT DIRECTOR Mary Huff
Photo by Louise Hughes
a misstep resulted in a broken ankle and return to the U.S. Recovery and recuperation provided time to work further on her formal education. Her enjoyment of video games and persistent advice from her father convinced her to enroll at Temple University in information systems. IT Director continued on page 5
DEAR READERS,
If any reader of The Beaumont News would like to write for The BN, or consider writing, or just take part in an exchange of ideas about potential BN stories, or even complain about something BN-related, please do not hang back. This includes the Future Residents Club. Managing Editor Lynn Ayres and I invite all readers who might be inclined in one of those directions to join us at the monthly BN story conference, 10 a.m. the first Thursday of every month, in the Bistro. If you can’t join us October 5, or November 2, or December 7 (and so on), please make a note on your calendar of when you might come. If you have questions sooner, look at the new masthead on page 2—you may find someone you know. If you’re too busy or hate meetings and just want to write something, or suggest an idea, or complain, send us an email (address it to both Graffs18@Gmail.com AND MarilynAyres134@ Gmail.com), or send us notes through the Beaumont mail, at any time. —Mary Graff, executive editor
Photo by Linda Madara
ECLIPSE darkens sun but lights up Mary Schnabel’s face with joy and wonder. Story and more pictures on page 8.
CELEBRATING A CENTURY: Monday, September 11, marked the 100th birthday of Beaumont resident Alan Tripp. Alan entertained family and friends the day before with supper in the Beaumont Room, where Alan sang, Marvin Weisbord and his band performed, and the silver-tongued Tony Campolo spoke. By the end of the evening, muchpraised and knowing he was loved, Alan looked almost as young as the photo from 1980. Pictures provided and displayed at the party by Alan and family were photographed by Richard Stephens.
Opera buffs, other music lovers, listen up: Our own ninth opera season has begun By Shirley Novo
The ninth season of Beaumont’s own opera series has just begun. We hope you came to see Mozart’s Don Giovanni in September. The “Informal Residents’ Committee” that started in 2009 included the late Eli Burstein, Jeanne Cortner, Liz Dornberger, Tuppie Solmssen, and the late Dr. Franz Goldstein. For the last few years it has been run mostly by Eli alone. There had been rumblings in the halls about a lack of classical music at Beaumont, and showing operas seemed one way to help alleviate the problem. The theater was here, Wednesday afternoons were free, and DVDs could be borrowed. Or rented, if the local supply ran out. You’ll never run out of operas. The idea was extremely popular, and it added another good reason to improve the theater’s sound system. With people listening closely, it was found to be, let’s say, wanting. So it was replaced with the excellent one we have now. Audiences gradually grew until there were often full houses—and not just because of Wednesday’s homemade cookies.
We are trying to continue the tradition, without Eli Burstein’s much-missed expertise and enthusiasm. We’ll show the best DVDs we can find in the Ballam Theater at 1:30 on the third Wednesday of every month. There will be operas during the winter, with a ballet in January, and musicals in the summer, representing America’s unique contribution to musical theater. It’s the best tribute to Eli that we can think of. In October we are going to feature Verdi’s Macbeth, a week after the Shakespeare group has presented a movie of Shakespeare’s play. READERS: What do you think about contrasting the two art forms? Is it the kind of thing you’d like to see again? Are there any favorite operas you’d like to see? Feedback would be gratefully received. Enjoy the music!
In Memoriam Louise Averill September 2, 2017 Members of the Beaumont Community extend deepest sympathy to her family and friends. BEAUMONT NEWS The Beaumont News is published by the residents and staff of the Beaumont Retirement Community, 601 N. Ithan Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
The Beaumont News is published monthly from October through July, with the publication target date of about the 10th of each month. The deadline for turning in copy will be the 20th of the previous month (October 20 for the November issue) unless by special arrangement with Executive Editor Mary Graff (graffs18@gmail.com) or Managing Editor Lynn Ayres (marilynayres134@gmail.com). Copies should be emailed to both editors, or if emailing is not possible, written or typed as legibly as possible and given to Administrative Assistant Jennie Frankel to convert.
Executive Editor Mary Graff Managing Editor Lynn Ayres Deputy Executive Editor and Production Manager John Hall Graphic Designer TJ Walsh Photo Editor Louise Hughes Quality Control Jennifer Frankel Index Manager Nancy Harris Consulting Assistant Editors Mary Schnabel, Jean Homeier, Peggy Wolcott, Sis Ziesing and Wistie Miller
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This year’s scholarship winners inspire many cheers and a few tears By Mary Wells, Human Resources Director
This August marked another inspiring Beaumont Scholarship Education Award (BSEA) ceremony. The ceremony was hosted by James Zug, Beaumont Fund Advisory Board Chair, and Joseph Peduzzi, President and CEO of Beaumont. Although the structure of the ceremony remains consistent each year, it is the staff ’s heartfelt speeches that make this a very popular annual event. While some staff members stick to prepared speeches, others feel more comfortable speaking in the moment. Even those unable to attend wrote grateful messages to be shared with the community. The BSEA is made possible by generous donations to the Beaumont Fund during the year from Beaumont residents, family and friends. This year we matched a memorial name to the name of each recipient, creating an even stronger bond between residents and staff. The audience included families of those former residents or staff members as well as families of scholarship recipients. I am not sure who did not have a lump in the throat when Greg Martin, a 17-year employee, choked up during his speech when attempting to discuss his scholarship in memory of Maintenance Director Warren Gillings. Greg has worked at Beaumont in various departments, but spent his longest time working with Warren until his death last year. Both staff and residents made donations in Warren’s memory.
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Scholarships continued on page 4
1: China Fletcher, Dining Services 2: Adrian Carranza, Dining Services 3: Joann Chow, Dining and Nursing Services 4: Megan Drozdowski, RN, Wellness Center 5: Tara Hopkins, Nursing 6: Crystal Jones, Nursing 7: Sarah Koppen, RN, Nursing 8: Greg Martin, Maintenance 9: Elizabeth Nesmith, Dining Services 10: Alexis Singleton, Dining Services 11: Michael Wodack, Dining Services 12: Phylicia Walton, Dining Services 13: LaTonya Turpin, LPN, is flanked by presenters Joseph Peduzzi, Beaumont President and CEO, and James Zug, Beaumont Fund Advisory Board Chair. Not shown: Lauren Aaronson, MSW, Social Services; Elsie Asare, RN, Wellness Center; Angela Dorvil, Dining Services; Miao Wu, Dining Services.
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All photos by Louise Hughes
STAFF APPRECIATION PART Y: On July 20, staff from all departments gathered for their annual summer party. The event includes food, music and fun. Each employee gets a check from the Staff Appreciation Fund, which is primarily supported by resident donations. The theme was Keep on Truckin’— because food trucks were used to give kitchen staff a break from cooking. There were also a DJ, a caricaturist and lots of peace signs and flower-power decorations.
Photo by Eta Glassman
17-FOOT SUNFLOWER towers over residents’ veggies and flowers in Nalle Garden. Proud planter Brook Gay started several sunflowers from seeds. He encouraged the blooms by singing You Are My Sunshine to them.
Photos by Mary Wells
Flower children: Yolanda Phillips, Mike Bailey, Marquita Henry. Love bus: Lynn Plasha, Marjorie Harding. Caricature: Carlton Drayton Scholarships continued from page 3
There are bittersweet moments during the ceremony. Because we are so proud of our staff, it makes it a little easier to say goodbye as they leave us to concentrate full time on their studies. We wished Joann Chow, Elizabeth Nesmith and Michael Wodack good luck in their studies, and we hope to see them return next summer. Other employees including Tara Hopkins, Crystal Jones and LaTonya Turpin impressed everyone with their personal stories of balancing full-time jobs, families and school. Elsie Asare, RN, inspired everyone with her personal history of relocating from Africa to the U.S., determined to be a nurse, after caring for her sick father. Elsie described walking into Beaumont on a friend’s recommendation almost three years ago and feeling “peace,”
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knowing she wanted to work here. The final speech by former recipient Samantha Figueroa encapsulated the true family environment of Beaumont. Sam has received the BSEA several times, which makes sense since she has been with Beaumont for 20 years. We were her first employer and watched her mature from a teenager to a wife and mother. She has grown into the role of Assistant Director of Dining Services thanks in part to the educational benefits she has had here. After the nervousness of giving a speech was finally over, it was time to party. There were lots of selfies, hugs and laughter exchanged during the post-ceremony reception. What a tremendous way to kick off a school year!
Doc makes a honey of a find: bees in tall clover right nearby
Unbelievable that an ex-beekeeper like myself, after first recovering from the excitement of seeing so many bees, would immediately question the safety of pure, sweet-clover honey because sweet clover is an herb and can be poisonous to livestock. I’ve now done some research: Merck Veterinary Manual and Web MD. Coumarins are the problem. Under certain
degrees of spoilage, the coumarins in the stems and leaves are converted to dicoumarol, a potent anticoagulant and vitamin-K depleter. Dangerous stuff. I could cry. Why did I not know what beekeepers in ancient Greece knew—that sweet clover is a wonderful honey plant? I did not know that honey supers (beehive storage boxes) fill twice as fast because the sugar content of sweet-clover nectar is twice that of other honey plants. And that is significant. Would you believe it takes 12 honey bees their entire lives to make a single teaspoon of honey (a product reputed to be one of the healthiest subA HONEY BEE GATHstances on the planet), and as ERS NECTAR AND early as 1890 Kentucky became POLLEN from a raceme of one of America’s great honey sweet clover flowers. A bee’s states when at least 50,000 “pollen baskets” are structures farms had over 200,000 hives. on their hind legs where the Yet I plodded along, happy yellow pollen is compressed with as little as 50 pounds of and stored until taken back to surplus honey per hive, oblivithe hive as an additional food source. ous to the value of sweet clover. Photo by Ivar Leidus Buckwheat was my honey plant, and bees hated it. Please do not share this with my grandchildren. They might turn on me. The real benefactor of the sweet clover stand, I suspect, is over the hill at historic Harriton House. The sweet clover must be what makes their bees’ honey so special.
IT Director continued from page 1 After two semesters she transferred to the Maxwell Institute of Technology in Norristown to obtain the degree, at which time she was offered a job at a manufacturing company where she remained for 2 ½ years. She then moved on to a job in the U. S. Probation Office in the federal court system, where she was responsible for the operation of the IT department. This position required in-depth and extremely current knowledge of telephone systems, including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in the cloud, which is the kind of system used at Beaumont. In such systems, the telephone signals are converted into a number of “packets,” chunks of data that contain the encoded speaker’s voice as well as routing information, so the packet can be correctly directed when passing through various intermediate stations. This could be compared to a family going from Bryn Mawr to Northeast Philadelphia, with the various family members taking different routes and reassembling at the destination, in order to avoid congestion. This method of travel is less efficient
than if they all traveled together. This type of system is also more complex and harder to troubleshoot if something goes wrong. The main goal is to optimize the system so that all the packets get to the destination via the shortest route, rather than having to take different paths due to system congestion. After 28 years with the Probation Office, Mary accepted a buyout. She did not actively look for a new position, but a recruiter contacted her and suggested she look at the Beaumont opening. It seemed like a match. Mary currently lives in Wallingford/Swarthmore. She has two children, teenage twins, a boy and a girl. She also has two dogs, two cats and two baby grand pianos. She has done community work throughout her career, utilizing her training in musical therapy, and she intends to keep this up. In her spare time she also judges swim meets, co-chairs the band boosters association at Strath Haven High School in Wallingford and has decided to learn to play the French horn.
By Dean “Doc” Snyder
On this day ( July 16, 2017, 4:30 pm) I documented a phenomenon unique to these parts! Believe it or not, across Ithan Avenue near Harriton High School resides a solid stand of sweet clover in full bloom. This is not your usual garden-variety clover. Sweet clover grows seven feet tall, topped with 12-inch racemes covered with rows upon rows of tiny white flowers—and on it were honey bees by the handful for the entire length of the stand. Unbelievable! A STAND OF SWEET CLOVER growing among the trees follows the road on and on. Photo by Louise Hughes
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Jaffes both take big move in stride; paintbrush in his hand; cards in hers By Mary Schnabel When I first called Lewis and Sondra Jaffe about making a date for this interview, I was startled to hear they had been in residence only a couple of days. However, Lew Jaffe was cordial and undaunted about setting the date for exactly one week after their move. He also invited me to come to their apartment, 269 Austin, even after my suggestion that it might be easier for them to come to Sondra and Lewis Jaffe mine. I saw evidence of the move before I even got to their door. The hall was lined with empty cartons, obviously awaiting pickup by Housekeeping. But, across the threshold, things were surprisingly orderly‌definitely not settled, but no cartons in sight and lots of art everywhere. Both Sandy and Lew are Philadelphians, Lew from Overbrook, where he played on their championship basketball team. He went on to the University of Michigan and, after graduation, was a Naval gunnery officer during the Korean War. He served on the heavy cruiser USS Newport News, and then acted as a duty officer for Admiral Arthur Radford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. While in
Washington he also managed to take some graduate courses at George Washington University. As soon as he left the Navy, he began his 56year career in the stock broker business. Although his company changed hands many times during his tenure, he said he stayed at the same desk until his retirement five years ago. He and Sandy met after the war when she had graduated from Olney High School and then went to Temple University. Before her marriage she worked as a legal secretary but became a stay-at-home mom when her three children were born and until they went off to college. She then worked for the Delaware County court system in Media. She was recruited by a court reporting agency and became one of those amazing people who sit at a machine and take verbatim testimony in court trials and private depositions. She told me the training on those machines is long and tedious. The Jaffes’ two daughters live in the area. Son Mark is in Shelburne, Vermont. Meanwhile mother and father are wasting no time learning about this new neighborhood. Lew, a painter, already has a space for his art equipment in the Arts and Crafts Room, and I was able to see several examples of his colorful paintings hanging in the apartment. He is looking forward to exhibiting in the next Beaumont resident art show. Sondra is an avid bridge player and expects to get back into the game with our own avid players here. Lew played a lot of tennis when he was younger, and both still love art, Broadway musicals and cruising. DEMONSTRATION OF MOSAIC PAINTING by Ardmore physicist and restaurateur: On July 30, Dr. E-Ni Foo captured the attention of his granddaughter Angela Qi, along with Beaumont residents. The artist uses water-based house paint to achieve his effects, painting the outlines first and then filling in colors representing ceramic or stone. Left: His lotus flower floats on dark blue water.
Photos by Lynn Ayres
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By Jennifer Frankel
The Go-to List for 2017-2018
BRCI (Policy) BOARD: Birchard Clothier, Chair; Ted Robb, Vice-Chair; Michael Churchman; Isaac Clothier; Jean Homeier; Rod Ross; Suzanne Steigerwalt. BRSI (Operations) BOARD: Tony Parrotto, Chair; Vernon Stanton, Vice-Chair; James Egan; Joseph Peduzzi; Roland Morris; Susan Ravenscroft; Bertram Wolfson. SUPPORT COMMITTEES DINING COMMITTEE: Dr. Evelyn Rosen, Chair; Jean Homeier, BRCI Board Rep; George Hollingshead; Carole Morgan; Nina Morgenstern; David Randolph; Minney Robb; Bobbi Rosen. FINANCE COMMITTEE: Adolf Paier, Chair; James Bromley; Birchard Clothier, BRCI Board Rep; John Lloyd; Tony Parrotto, BRSI Board Rep; Charles Peterson; James Zug. GREEN COMMITTEE: Dr. Richard Stephens, Chair; Dr. Frank Kampas, Vice-Chair, Irene Borgogno; Isaac Clothier, BRCI Board Rep; Alida Lovell; Roland Morris; Ann Reed; Vernon Stanton. GROUNDS COMMITTEE: Sally Randolph, Chair; Peter Abel; Helen Ballard; Louise Carter; Susan Denious; Ted Robb; Suzanne Steigerwalt, BRCI Board Rep; Peggy Wolcott. HEALTH CARE COMMITTEE: Caroline Kemmerer, Chair; Michael Churchman, BRCI Board Rep; Minney Robb; Marvin Weisbord; Debora Zug. HOUSE COMMITTEE: Julie Williams, Chair; Jean Churchman, Birchard Clothier, BRCI Board Rep; Norma Fabian; Katherine Hutchinson; Grace Madeira; Dorothy Weisbord; Leslie Wheeler.
MEMBERSHIP AND RESIDENT REVIEW COMMITTEE: Joseph Peduzzi, Chair; Lauren Aaronson, Social Services; Ann Thomas, Resident Care Coordinator; Cathy Leahy, Marketing; Heather Marozsan, Nurse Practitioner; Dr. James Morris, Medical Director; Lynn Plasha, VP Health Services; Miriam Quinn, Director of Wellness; Audrey Walsh, Director of Marketing. RESIDENT SERVICES COMMITTEE: Deborah Bishop, Chair; Barbara Benson; Jean Churchman; Jeanne Cortner; Fytie Drayton; Norma Fabian; Eta Glassman; Sally Morris; Nina Morgenstern; Linda Parrotto; Bobbi Rosen; Rod Ross; Mary Schnabel; Marion Snyder; Betsy Stanton; Susan Woolford. SAFETY AND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Sally Morris, Chair; Michael Churchman, BRCI Board Rep; Sophie Donaghy; Peter Godfrey; Nell Mecray; Carol Ryan; Charles Wood. ACTIVITY COMMITTEES ART SHOW: Rosalinda Madara, Chair BRIDGE COMMITTEE: Marian Lockett-Egan, Chair LIBRARY COMMITTEE: Carole Morgan, Chair; Jean Churchman; Jane Garrison; Joan Greene; Dede Shafer; Tuppie Solmssen; Betsy Stanton; Joan Thayer and Peggy Wolcott. MUSIC COMMITTEE: Dr. Robert Morgan, temporary Chair; Jean Churchman; Dr. Carlos Gonzalez; Katherine Hutchinson; Sally Miller and Dr. Sylvia Yedinsky. WINE COMMITTEE: Bertram Wolfson, Chair; McBee Butcher; Birchard Clothier; Lon Homeier; Robert Kessler; Marian Lockett-Egan; Alan Tripp; Susan Woolford. OTHER BEAUMONT FUND ADVISORY BOARD: James Zug, Chair; Helen Ballard; Joan Bromley; Marian Lockett-Egan; Rod Ross; Paula Spiegel; Joan Thayer; Bertram Wolfson.
MARKETING COMMITTEE: Eta Glassman, Chair; Peter Abel; Marlynne Clothier; Mary Graff, Ex-officio; Roland Morris; Joyce Randolph; NOMINATION COMMITTEE: Ted Robb, BRCI Board Rep; Paula Spiegel; Mary Schnabel, Chair; Norma Fabian; Sally Miller; Marvin Weisbord. Marion Snyder; Tuppie Solmssen.
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Eclipse fever at Beaumont: ‘It’s there! It’s really there!’ By Linda Madara Across the country the buzz was palpable: “Eclipse, Eclipse! ECLIPSE! An important astronomical event, the path of the eclipse on August 21 was to bisect the U.S. from coast to coast, which had not happened for 99 years. The media had us in a frenzy. Bryn Mawr was not in the path of total blackout, but it was at 75 percent and that made us special, at least in the eyes of our alert and hard-working Resident Services team. How could the eclipse be celebrated at Beaumont? The planners produced wonderfully educational material they stuffed into every mailbox for resident edification. Then what to do? Obviously, turn the whole event into a party! The observation site was the lawn outside the Fitness Center, complete with white-clothed tables (never mind that the white cloths all blew off ) and carefully placed chairs that were moved into the shade of two small dogwoods. The sun was out for much of the event and it was hot, but wildly successful… especially the eclipse! Each and every onlooker was taught the extreme danger of watching any part of the eclipse (even for the smallest second) without the protection of the world’s ugliest (but super effective) glasses. Caitlin Gardner and Paige Welby distributed these sight-saving tools early and assured all the guests that everyone would share if the glasses supply ran out. “Put on your glasses! You have to put on your glasses!” “Do they come in bifocals?” “No peeking under the glasses!” “You are already almost deaf; I don’t want you blind as well!”
By 1:21 p.m., both the eclipse and the resulting ooh’s and ah’s had begun. In between a rogue dark cloud or two, how thrilling it was to watch the moon cross through the path of the sun. It looked like a round chocolate cookie someone had taken a large bite out of. “I never thought I would see something like this! I am not going to sit down!” “Wait until I tell my grandson in Florida! He won’t believe it!” “I can’t see a thing through my glasses!” “Well, open your eyes!” “It’s there! It’s really there!!” echoed as onlookers pointed skyward in delight upon sighting the small image millions of miles away. “Do the glasses go under my regular glasses or outside them? “My glasses keep Photo by Linda Madara slipping off…” “Tuck them behind NEW TWIST on the pinhole box projector: Frank Kampas shows Sally Randolph your ears.” the twin sun images projected through “OH? Okay!” binoculars onto his writing tablet. Our resident rocket scientist didn’t have a pinhole projector, but he used binoculars the same way. Dr. Frank Kampas pointed the binoculars at the eclipse and held a white tablet near the viewing end. Two identical images of the eclipse showed on the paper. Mother Nature and Resident Services really knew how to grab our attention. When it was over and the crowd of close to 100 began to slip away, a small, disappointed voice was clearly heard, “Isn’t there anything else to see?”
ECLIPSE SEQUENCE: 2:33 pm; 2:41 pm; 2:48 pm. Patchy cloud cover at “totality” actually made photography easier.
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Photos by Lynn Ayres