V o lu me T h i rt y O ne , N umber 9
November 2017
Rain gardens: Why we have four, and will have more By Irene Borgogno
I was stopped at a light on Germantown Pike at Chemical Road. To my right were the old limekilns, with a planted area nestled behind them. I’ve driven past those limekilns countless times. This was the first time I had noticed the planted area. What was different? My perspective. I am a member of the Green Committee. Management of rainwater runoff is an issue of concern, and rain gardens have been discussed at many of the committee meetings. A small amount of research leads to a very different way of looking at land contours and an appreciation of the role of landscaping in groundwater management. What is a rain garden? It is a planted area designed to mitigate the problems caused by rainwater runoff. The location is low-lying, near the bottom of a slope that is the drainage route from nearby impervious
RAIN GARDENS continued on page 7
Photo by Barbara Stephens
Photo by Richard Stephens
SPRING: The rain garden’s pre-existing runoff grate is camouflaged by river stones and beautified by purple and yellow iris.
GAME TO THE FINISH, Dr. Richard Stephens, Beaumont’s globetraveling physicist and photographer, won first place in the senior (60-plus) division of the 5-kilometer “Stormwater Runoff ” October 14. The winding, rising and falling run began and ended at Flat Rock Park on the Schuylkill River in Gladwyne. The race was a fund-raiser for the Lower Merion Conservancy and the Lower Merion Township Environmental Advisory Council. Read about fitness page 8 and rainwater runoff starting on this page. Also see Richard’s visit to Romania page 5.
Former Inquirer reporter recalls day with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
DEAR EDITOR,
By Bobette Leidner with Mary Sinclair
When I was a reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, one thing that stands out in my mind forever is the day I spent alone interviewing Eleanor Roosevelt during World War II. Washington had sent her to Philadelphia accompanied only by a driver (who happened to be Secret Service). She was interested in tenements and wanted to see some. I didn’t know we had any in our area, but in North Philadelphia, we sure did have tenements! My editor assigned me to join Mrs. Roosevelt in the car, and we drove through North Philadelphia to this decrepit section of the city that I never knew existed. We drove up to a shack. The driver helped Mrs. Roosevelt out, and she knocked on the door. The woman of the house (who knew she was coming—it was all prearranged) invited her to come in and have a cup of tea. There were three or four almost naked children running around—it was really a place in the poorest condition I had ever seen. The First Lady was always a lady, charming and nice to the woman of the house. We drove to three different places and chatted in the car. I was so enchanted by Mrs. Roosevelt, who was very nice to me. What a lady she was, so charming and intelligent! I started reading everything I could get my hands on about Mrs. Roosevelt, and I still read books about her if I can.
I am so lucky that my parents found Beaumont at Bryn Mawr. It has changed their lives for the better and mine, too; I can sleep at night without worry. My parents have a beautiful apartment, but Dad now needs long-term care. He receives amazing care from nurses and aides like Crystal. He also participates in the numerous fitness programs, movies and trips available. Even with my dad in his wheel chair, my parents are engaged (Mom is chairman of the Marketing Committee) and cared for. What’s even more amazing is that my mom can live independently, but they can both be accommodated in the same facility. They have met wonderful friends, and my mom’s college roommate, Marlynne Clothier, even lives there, too! We have enjoyed great brunches and dinners with them in the Bistro. Did I mention my 14-year-old, Aaron, and husband, Mark Eliason, can play ping-pong, play pool or swim? What’s not to love? Thank you, Beaumont, for providing a fun, loving and safe home for my family! — Beth Glassman
WEDDING BELLS PEALED for Sarah Elizabeth Doherty and Dennis F. Koppen at the Wayne (PA) Hotel, on March 10, the fifth anniverary of their first date. Sarah Elizabeth is an RN on Beaumont’s Health Services team.
Photo by Amrit Gluck
CORRECTION In last month’s listing of boards and committees, Rod Ross was incorrectly listed as a member of the Beaumont Fund Advisory Board. Rod resigned and was replaced by Joan Bromley.
Photo by Felicia Gray
HAPPY FAMILY: Seated: Granddaughter Nicole Schulman, Howard Glassman; Standing: Eta Glassman, daughter Beth Glassman, grandson Aaron Schulman. 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
In Memoriam
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
Mary Spence Anna “Nan” Wood September 30, 2017 October 4, 2017 Fred Brenner October 12, 2017 Members of the Beaumont Community extend deepest sympathy to their families and friends.
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Tram ride through ‘American Treasures’ surprises and pleases Beaumont visitors Article and photos by Linda Madara
Before our recent secret-encrusted August trip to the American Treasure Tour museum in Oaks, Pennsylvania, Louise Hughes had promised over and over, “You’ll love this!” What was this unnamed phantom excursion going to be? The hype had included phrases like “being immersed in eclectic surroundings full of treasures!” The “Anonymous Donor”—the preferred title of the antiquities owner—was a collector with an appetite for owning things far beyond what most of us could have imagined. And he is still collecting! Following a short talk cum listening experience cum demonstration about theater and pipe organs, jukeboxes, nickelodeons and the collection’s star Orchestrions (instru- THIS LOVELY LADY was once used in ments that play music, an ice cream shop to advertise the freshness usually through pipes, of the milk in the product. and sound like full bands or orchestras), we climbed onto the tram for an overwhelming experience. The display area in which this vast, mind-numbing collection is located is 100,000 square feet, or 1/10 of the 1-million square-foot warehouse facility. It absolutely needed a tram to tour the space. Before us, stretching for what seemed like forever, were classic cars (mostly in their original non-restored condition) and antique band organs. Many old store-window animations (boasting origins such as Macy’s Christmas window displays) were plugged in and moving for our delight. Also very visible were the new-to-the-museum, largerthan-life figures of Disney’s Snow White and her Seven Dwarfs. 48-INCH DOLL is elaborately Truly beautifully hand gowned, coiffed and accessorized. crafted antique music boxes
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AWARD-WINNING DOLL HOUSE is photographed by Sally Randolph as Wistie Miller and guest Sandy Trump (no relation) study details.
were very much in evidence (from the first ones with punched paper rolls in the late 1800s to more recent ones with complicated brass disks that played 15 different songs for various orchestra instruments). Dolls galore of every size were stationed throughout the tour (some tall and stunningly costumed, while others had been endlessly loved). Stuffed animals abounded—large and small, domesTHE ABC AUTOMOBILE was built by tic and wild. Amedee B. Cole in St. Louis in the first decade of Fabulous 1:12 th the 20 century. scale dollhouses AMERICAN TREASURES continued on page 4
VINTAGE RADIOS CRAM SHELVES, with an occasional 45-rpm record player thrown in.
Global traveler Stephens reports, with pictures, facts gleaned from visits to Romania
Article and photos by Richard Stephens
Several months ago I received an unexpected job offer. Kazuo Tanaka, a colleague from my experimental past, wanted my help in setting up a beyond-the-stateof-the-art laser facility just outside Bucharest, Romania. I wasn’t looking to leave a very comfortable life here, but— Romania! I had never been there. And most people here know my weakness for new, preferably obscure, vistas. I had actually set foot in the country several years earlier, but that had just made the country seem more exotic and whetted my appetite. At that time we saw relics of three different ages: The first age was represented by Trajan’s Bridge, built across the Danube in 100 AD to allow the Romans to beat back the upstart King Decebalus of Dacia (a previous campaign had resulted in Roman defeat). Its other BUST OF DECEBALUS, King of the purpose was to Dacians, along the Danube River. plunder that country’s gold and silver (165 and 330 tons, respectively) as a way of restoring the Roman coinage, devalued by Nero a few decades before. Romans colonized the area, which led to several centuries as a Roman province. The second age is represented by the nearby World War II war monument. It shows a Romanian soldier taking the torch of civilization WORLD WAR II MONUMENT in Drobetufrom a Roman legionnaire. Turnu-Severin, showing the (That seems a bit of a stretch.) Romanian soldier taking the Along the way to the present, torch of civilization from a various Germanic and Mongol Roman legionnaire
tribes flowed in and out of the area; the polity split into kingdoms (the best known was Transylvania); it was incorporated into the Ottoman empire; it became independent, with various borders; then it was part of the USSR until the fall of the Soviet Union. Through it all, the state has maintained a vision of a people directly transmitting Roman ideals into the modern world. The third age is represented by a Roman Catholic church in nearby Osova. Constructed 1972-76 (by the Soviet government!), it was designed by Hans FackelGLOBAL TRAVELER continued on page 5
ROMAN CATHOLIC BASILICA in Orsova, communist-built in the 1970s.
AMERICAN TREASURES continued from page 3
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enticed us to think miniature, so perfect that they looked as if we could move in immediately. Displayed on every inch of wall and surface space was a wealth of kitsch and pop culture memorabilia: posters from movies, endless photographs of Hollywood stars, 33-rpm records. . . Antique wooden plane models hung down from the metal support beams. Halloween masks, locally made, decorated large wall sections abutting wildly glittering Mummers’ costumes from previous Philadelphia New Year’s Day parades. Our tram driver, bursting with assorted facts, wove us in and out of more treasures than one should be exposed to in a leap year. By the end, we were a bit numbed, as we each tried to process even the smallest amount of what we had seen on our fantastic tour into the past. Louise was right. We did love it!
GLOBAL TRAVELER continued from page 4 mann in the brutalist style—all concrete and stark lines, but with Jesus, Lenin, and John Lennon mixed into the murals on the wall. Built to show the regime cared about people, it was a replacement church for a town flooded out by the massive Iron Gate dam/hydro project (1972). PALACE OF THE PARLIAMENT, Bucharest
HIGH POWER LASER FACILIT Y near Bucharest, built with European Union funding.
The country’s current big project, as Kazuo told me, is a laser facility that will be a world center for cutting-edge research. That’s fascinating stuff for me, and I arranged to visit for a week of interviews to see how I could contribute. I also got a glimpse of Bucharest. It has been less than 30 years since the overthrow of dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu. The country is still the poorest in the European Union, so while modernization is starting, the past still stands over the city. The Palace of the Parliament, opposite my hotel in central Bucharest, is a concrete monument to an outsized ego (Ceauşescu). It goes eight stories underground to an atomic bomb shelter. It is the heaviest building in the world, the second biggest in volume, after the Pentagon. The most expensive administrative building in the world (Rupert Murdoch’s bid of $1 billion was rejected), it costs $6 million a year just to heat. It contains museums and a conference center in addition to the Parliament,
and stands 70% empty. However massive the past, Romania’s economy has been growing rapidly since they joined the European Union (underpinned by their substantial energy resources including the Iron Gates hydro facility). So people’s lives are steadily improving, as evidenced by the massive traffic flows I saw morning and evening. New apartment buildings and houses were also evident along my daily drive. But one stood out: a large house with roof upon gable upon roof as if Donald Trump had teamed up with Dr. Seuss. The ROMA HOUSE, Bucharest, with towering roofs house is, sprouting out of the towering roofs. (Photo credit: I was told, Gabriela Apeterei) a Roma (aka gipsy) palace, one of many in the area. Roma consider their house a statement of self-worth, and carry architectural bling to an astonishing extreme. These buildings are traditionally not finished, so as to avoid taxes. But that doesn’t matter; it’s the display that matters. Oh, and about that job offer? I turned it down.
BRIDGE AT BEAUMONT continued from page 6 her to help out. After Pauline’s death, Sis continued the program, now once a week in Personal Care. Bridge is not only fun and sociable but also definitely challenging. Whether you play rubber bridge, Chicago bridge or duplicate, you will find the game rewarding. It is said that the odds of your getting the same hand twice are nearly 5,000 to one, so the game is never boring. Since there is usually an ante (of sorts) involved, you might even win some money. It is never too late to learn! Bridge players now meet every second and fourth Monday at 3:30 p.m. in the Beaumont Room.
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Photo by Lynn Ayres
SCORING TIME: Beaumont players (left to right) Sis Ziesing, Anne Butcher, Peggy Wolcott, and future resident Gay Gervin tally their scores at the end of the game.
Shuffle, cut and deal them: facts about game of bridge
By Peggy Wolcott
HISTORY: Playing cards originated in China, where paper was invented in 1120. Originally the cards were used for fortune telling. In 1430, St. Bernardo said the cards were invented by the Devil. The English Puritans regarded cards as the “Devil’s Picture Book.” In the late 1500s Queen Elizabeth levied a tax on all playing cards with an official stamp put on the ace of spades, remnants of which are still found on the ace of spades today. In the 1700s the British played whist, from which bridge evolved. George Washington may have enjoyed bridge, and Americans began playing interclub Photo from Wikipedia matches. 1828 ‘OLD FRIZZLE’ duty In 1891 the dustamp on the Ace of Spades indicates plicate tray was invented that a one-shilling tax on the deck and originally called the of playing cards has been paid. Kalamazoo tray. Then in 1925, while on a cruise ship, the multimillionaire Harold Vanderbilt introduced scoring bonuses in bridge. With this change the game became known as Contract Bridge. In 1931 Ely Culbertson wrote the books called The Culbertson Summary and the Blue Book. The rest is history.
BEAUMONT: We have a long history of residents’ enjoying the game of bridge. Early records show that Doris Mohn was a leader before the late Jerry Lott assumed the chairmanship of the Bridge Committee in early 2000. When Marion Snyder moved to Beaumont in 2005, Jerry persuaded her to take on the chairmanship in 2006. Bridge was played every other Monday evening with five, six or more tables. The director was Adele Angelucci, with Judy Cohen as a substitute. In 2006 they introduced bidding boxes, and bridge was off and running. Bridge lessons started back in 2002 with Gus Katsaros as the teacher; Lisa Mito is our teacher now. In the spring of 2002 Waverly invited Beaumont for lunch and duplicate bridge. This challenge was to continue twice a year, with Waverly hosting matches in May and Beaumont hosting them in October. Beaumont also enjoyed resident bridge parties with bridge starting at 2:30. However, the time eventually changed to 3:00 p.m. and dinner with spouses followed. The parties always took place in January, with duplicate as well as Chicago tables run by Sally Herd. Prizes were awarded.
RANKINGS AND FACE CARDS: In the 1860s Europeans as well as Americans accepted card rank markings on the faces of the cards that declared their value. The French invented the patterns. Kings: Spades—David, King of Israel; Hearts— Charlemagne; Diamonds—Julius Caesar; Clubs— Alexander the Great. Queens: Spades—Minerva, Roman goddess of wisdom; Hearts—Judith, wife of Louis I or Charles VI; Diamonds—Rachel, from the book of Genesis; Clubs—Argine, an anagram of Regina, the Latin word for Queen. Jacks: Spades—Ogier, Knight of Charlemagne; Hearts—La Hire, comrade-in-arms of Joan of Arc; Diamonds—Hector, Prince of Troy; Clubs—either Judas Maccabee or Lancelot. (Most of the above was gathered from Internet sources.)
Photo by Lynn Ayres
WAVERLY HEIGHTS bridge players were welcomed to lunch in the Oak Room by Marian Lockett-Egan on October 19.
Devie Andrews and Sis Ziesing took over as co-chairmen of the evening games in 2012. In the spring of 2017 Marian Lockett-Egan and the late John Gregg took over the chairmanship. Judy Cohen retired as director and Jim Abrams took over. It is pleasant to recall the names of some of the loyal players who are no longer with us, including Patsy Dushane, Chick Simpson, Jerry Lott, Marion Holt, Maury Webster, Mary Freeman and, most recently, John Gregg. In the early 2000s, Pauline Foster, a dedicated player, initiated a bridge program once a week for patients in the Health Center. Soon after, Sis Ziesing joined BRIDGE AT BEAUMONT continued on page 5
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RAIN GARDENS continued from page 1
rating on a project to install rain gardens as a way of preventing storm water runoff from the I-95 expansion from surfaces, like roofs or parking lots. Large, sloping lawn flowing into the city’s overtaxed system and overflowing areas are also candidates for rain gardens, because comwastewater treatment plants.” pacted lawns are almost as impervious as asphalt in a What about Beaumont? We have the benefit rainstorm. Appropriate rain garden plants are wetland of our first rain garden at Beaumont: the Strong Rain edge vegetation with deep and variable root systems. Garden, located in the Greenhouse Courtyard, downslope Native plants are the ideal, since they will provide from the bocce court and putting green. It is part of the habitat and food for native fauna, but non-native plants system for dealing with runoff from the roofs of the adapted to local soils and climates are acceptable. Fitness Center Why and the Austin plant a rain and Baldwin garden? The wings that face plants form a the courtyard, physical barrier in addition to that slows the runoff from the rate of movecourtyard itself. ment of runoff. The plantThe root sysings surround tems form a thick mat that Photo by Lynn Ayres a pre-existing when early flowers finish and later flowers grate, which is acts like a sponge, LATE SUMMER: The rain garden has a different look flourish, including cimicifugas, black-eyed Susans and purple coneflowers. almost totally providing great concealed beneath large white river pebbles. The vegetaabsorbency, allowing a large amount of the rainwater tion includes witch hazels, bayberries, cimicifugas, Shasta to soak into the ground rather than flow over it. This daisies, black-eyed Susans, purple coneflowers, asters and increases the quantity of groundwater available to reflag iris. The result is visually attractive year-round. plenish nearby bodies of water as well as improving the The Green and Grounds Committees have begun quality of the available water, since pollutants (such as installing more rain gardens around the Beaumont camagricultural chemicals and roadway contaminants from pus. The first new one is located in “the Alley” on the east vehicles) are filtered out by the intervening soil and side of Austin Hall, across from the administrative offices. soil-dwelling microbial populations. The smaller amount Two additional rain gardens have been installed of runoff that is lost to the storm drain system is less in the secluded Mansion Courtyard between the Manpolluted: Slower movement allows more time for sussion and the Baldwin wing, and can be seen from the Sun pended pollutants to settle out. Erosion is reduced. Porch, the Oak Room and the Bistro, as well as from the In cold weather, less water is present on roads and Baldwin apartments on the courtyard. pavements to turn into ice. Additional rain gardens will be installed as ap Rain gardens are also low maintenance. propriate locations are identified and vetted. The Green The plantings grow and spread, blocking weeds and Committee hopes to add half a dozen more before the forming a visual hedge. An established rain garden end of the year. should need little attention other than deadheading and If you know a location that you think would some weeding around the edges. benefit from addition of a rain garden, please forward Use of rain gardens is becoming an important the idea to the Green Committee in care of Dr. Richard environmental tool. The Philadelphia Inquirer recently Stephens or Dr. Frank Kampas. reported, “PennDot, Villanova and Temple are collabo-
DEMONSTRATING OIL PAINTING TECHNIQUE to attentive students is Bonnie Mettler (seated, right) returning for another series of classes in drawing and painting in oils, acrylics and watercolors. From left: Betsy Stull, Julie Williams (seated), Jean Homeier, Joan Bromley and Marby Sparkman. Photo by Linda Madara
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Gymnastics, dog parade, peripatetic poker put the ‘Active’ in Active Aging Week
SEPTEMBER 25-29 SPECIAL EVENTS began with a Poker Walk and Wheel. Participants walked (or wheeled) to five stations, collecting a playing card at each. The best poker hand at the end of the 3/4-mile walk determined the winner. A lunch party in the Arts and Crafts studio followed. Other special events were Bocce and Brownies, the Second Annual Dog Parade (exercise for owners and pets) and a group-drumming session with Joseph Tayoun. Organizers were Diana Dimeglio and Karen McFee (Fitness) and Jenny Hadfield (Recreational Therapy). Caitlin Gardner and Paige Welby (Resident Services) organized the Dog Parade.
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Photos by Linda Madara