Beaumont News April 2019

V o lu me T h i rT y T h ree , N umber 4

April 2019

Think sugar is only harmful for diabetics? Think again

By Frank Kampas

I have type-2 diabetes, a form that does not generally require insulin. Instead, I take medication and try to avoid food with much sugar in it (not always successfully). This has become more difficult since a lot of foods have sugar added, to enhance the flavor. For example, many brands of yogurt (which used to be considered a health food) now have considerable amounts of added sugar.

Recently I found out that added sugar in food is also a health risk for people who don’t have diabetes, and I have decided to share that information.

Ads on television for diabetes medications often state that these meds will help “keep your numbers down.” One of those numbers is the A1C, which is the percentage of your hemoglobin that has sugar attached to it. Diabetics are told to keep their A1C below 7.

Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen throughout the body. Sugar slowly attaches itself to hemoglobin. Since red blood cells last about four months on average, the fraction of your hemoglobin that has sugar attached is a good measure of your average blood sugar over the last

A bit of yarn, a pair of needles and a pattern create a Beatrix Potter bunny Text and photo by Linda Madara

It’s no secret that Louise Hughes’ sale in February has strange and wonderful treasures. This year while packing up for charity the few items not sold, Louise unearthed a knitting kit for a Beatrix Potter rabbit sweater for a little girl. It had not been purchased and she thought Beaumont’s Knit and Stitch ladies who meet together on Monday afternoons might have someone in their midst who would enjoy the challenge.

When the kit was offered to the nimble-fingered members of the group, Joan Greene stepped forward with enthusiasm. She offered to knit the sweater to benefit the Scholarship Fund’s coffers. Yarn and instructions were included in the kit, with a colored picture on the front of the packet.

Photo by Linda Madara

STAR MAGNOLIA is the earliest Beaumont magnolia variety to bloom in spring, followed by the Japanese magnolia (a.k.a. soulangeana or saucer magnolia). Both bloom before their leaves emerge. Latest to bloom is the Southern magnolia, an evergreen species with large, leathery, dark green leaves and fragrant blossoms that smell like lemons. several months.

A while back I asked a friend from college—a diabetes specialist—whether sugar only attaches itself to

SUGAR continued on page 6

Attack the project she did, and in an amazingly two short weeks Joan had completed the front, back and both sleeves. Sharon Kelly worked with Joan, stitching the pieces together and making the pompom for the tail. It was adorable when finished, but Peter Rabbit it wasn’t. The rabbit was Benjamin Bunny, Peter’s cousin, featured in the fourth of Beatrix Potter’s series of 23 books that she not only STORYBOOK BUNNY poses with creator Joan Greene wrote, but illustrated charmingly as well.

SWEATER continued on page 2

April foolery in the Mansion gives residents a chuckle or two

Rhetorical questions, stale answers, No time for scintillating conversation

By Mary Schnabel

Did it ever occur to you how many times a day someone asked you about the state of your health?

“Good morning. How are you?”

“Hi there, everything okay?”

“Good evening. All well with you?”

And so on go the salutations, as we pass friends in the hall here at Beaumont. We all do it. I do, and so do you.

It isn’t that we really want to KNOW; it’s just part of the ritual and pretty automatic.

Same with the response, which has to be, by necessity, a quick one. FAST—before the questioner is behind us and out of hearing range.

“Fine, thanks.”

“Great.”

“Never better!”

I had an uncle—a deliberate man—who always answered, when asked that question, “Tolerably well.”

It just didn’t work. Too many syllables in “tol-er-a-bly” to finish before the questioner was long gone.

There was, in the distant past, a resident here who thought she had a cute, quick rejoinder to the query. “Feisty as ever,” was her cheerful response to her greeter.

On the other hand, the meanest and best revenge is to stop in your tracks and simply say, “Well, let me tell you.”

Seen at the elevator near the bank

Posted outside the Wellness Center

MÉNAGE À TROIS: Grown from seed in the Beaumont greenhouse, three different kinds of tomatoes— Early Girl, Big Boy and Better Boy—reside in a single pot.

Found on the Stone Wall in the Lobby

Photo by Joyce Randolph

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

SWEATER continued from page 1 Joan was thrilled when fellow Knit and Stitcher Jane Garrison immediately said she would love Benjamin for her granddaughter! Done!!

The kit was completed, the finished product perfect, and the scholarship fund had been enriched. Joan, an exceptionally fine needle pointer, announced she was setting aside her knitting needles (didn’t say for how long) and going back to her needlepoint project presently underway.

Executive Editor Lynn Ayres Editor Emeritus Mary Graff Managing Editor Irene Borgogno Deputy Executive Editor and Production Manager John Hall Graphic Designer TJ Walsh Photo Editor Louise Hughes Contributing Editor Linda Madara Quality Control Jennifer Frankel Index Manager Nancy Harris Consulting Assistant Editors Mary Schnabel, Jean Homeier, Peggy Wolcott, Sis Ziesing, Wistie Miller

2

Hollywood comes to Beaumont with assistance from Resident Services

By Wistie Miller

Paige Welby, Beaumont’s Resident Services Assistant, is also our movie maven par excellence. But her real claim to fame is her “well-heeled” (pun intended) collection of shoes, which rivals that of Imelda Marcos!

Paige was born in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, in the central part of the state. She attended Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and worked in a retirement community throughout high school and college. After graduating with a B.A. in communications, Paige knew she wanted to continue working with older adults and relocated to Philadelphia, where she took a job in health insurance.

One evening in her Philadelphia apartment, she saw a commercial for Beaumont at Bryn Mawr while watching her favorite prime-time game show, Jeopardy. Paige immediately took to her computer, searched for job opportunities at Beaumont, and found an open position: Assistant Director of Resident Services. She applied Paige Welby for the job, was hired, and started at Beaumont in June 2015. Paige even remembers one of the people shown in the ad. It included Bob Herd shooting pool in the Bistro!

As assistant to Resident Services Director Caitlin Gardner, Paige is the purveyor of the visual entertainment in

the Ballam Theatre.

Along with the art history and nature films, the series on the British Royal Family and selected biographies and operas, she orders our weekly movies.

These she picks from the “sign-up sheet” posted on Photos by Lynn Ayres the bulletin board STAND TALL: Stiletto heels, thin straps— just outside the Beaumont Room, high fashion, low comfort and she can honestly say that 100% of the movies shown are resident-requested. She says that she genuinely enjoys researching documentaries and movies and pores over reviews to ensure films are “up to snuff ” for the Beaumont community.

Resident requests range from old westerns, classic comedies, war films and everything in between. Paige discovered that residents have a soft spot for romance, as theater seats were jam-packed during the month of February, which highlighted romantic movies from Gone with the Wind to Sleepless in Seattle. It can be hard to please everyone, but Paige really does try.

Whenever possible, she attempts to order more recent Academy Award winning films, which are shown three times during a weekend. The movie and documentary schedule is generally the same each week: Mondays & Fridays: documentaries at 1:30 p.m.

Thursdays: movie at 2:00 & 8:00 p.m.

Weekend movie: Saturdays at 2:00 & 8:00 p.m., Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

Third Wednesday of each month: opera film at 1:30 p.m.

Bocce players earn home runs in Fitness Center’s Spring Training Home runs in bocce?

Not quite.

From March 16 through April 13, the Fitness Center held a competition to encourage winter hibernators to get active for spring.

Teams were formed, each one named for a professional baseball team. Points were earned for participating in a number of activities, including attending fitness classes, using the fitness equipment, and participating in outside events.

More strenuous activities were given more points, the highest being a home run. Bocce was a home run activity for everyone who participated.

Beaumont's IT team was a winner for overall Spring Training.

3

1.

2.

1. BOWLER: Keep it low and steady.

2. LOFTER: Send it airborne.

3. TWISTER: Look at that wrist action!

Photos by Linda Madara

3.

New Director of Food and Beverage calls cooking ‘a language of love’

By Evelyn Isom

The unstoppable energy and ready smile of Zachary Margolis stem from an early passion for food and love of family.

Food was always an important part of family life. Home-cooked meals were both expected and special.

At five, with spatula and spoon in hand, he prepared meals with his beloved grandmother. Zack smiles as he remembers that he “learned to count by making three hundred sweet and sour meatballs for holiday dinners with Grandma Sandy.” He still has the recipe.

Zack’s dad, Len, was the family cook. His grandfather, Elliot, gave driving directions by citing restaurants.

Zack Margolis, Director of When his grandfather asked him, “If you were a sandFood and Beverage wich, how would you describe yourself ?” Zack answered: “A turkey BLT, of course. I’m conservative and between two pieces of bread—a lot to handle.”

He may have been “a lot to handle,” but from middle

school on, he handled a lot. At 13 he helped at a local catering hall, starting as a dishwasher and ending as a banquet cook.

During high school, he worked as a cabana attendant at a beach club, learning customer-service and relationship skills.

Zack entered Widener University to pursue a degree in Hospitality Management with a minor in General Business.

He volunteered in local soup kitchens. Organizing food banks and negotiating with operations like Wegmans and Trader Joe’s developed his executive skills. During spring breaks, Zack traveled with Habitat for Humanity to disaster areas to build and rebuild homes in Belize, Florida, Texas, New Orleans and New Mexico.

Zack believes that he learned the “language of love” at his family table. At dinner time he speaks this language for his wife, Jennifer, as he sets the table, pours the wine, prepares and serves the food. Zack does not cook at Beaumont. He explains that cooking is too much fun for him to make it a business.

This runs contrary to Zack’s early plans. In fifth grade he intended to own his own restaurant one day. He changed his plans during college and zeroed in on becoming a director of food and beverage somewhere. After retirement he may return to the original plan, but meanwhile we are lucky to have him here as our Director of Food and Beverage.

Anniversary Lunch on March 6, 2019, celebrates employee milestones

20/30-YEAR EMPLOYEES:

Back row—Susan Ravenscroft (BRSI); 30-year employee Jennifer Hyman, Health Services; Joseph Peduzzi, President and CEO; Ted Robb (BRCI); Front row—Roel Dixon, Food Services; Sonya Clarke, Food Services; Not shown—25-year employee, Anne Hill, Housekeeping; 30-year employee, Barrington Hill, Food Services.

15-YEAR EMPLOYEES:

Back row—John Armenio, Security; Fritz Lubin, Transportation; Carlton Drayton, Food Services; Joseph Peduzzi; Front row—Veronica Cleveland, Food Services; Kerry-Ann Patrice, Food Services.

10-YEAR EMPLOYEES:

Back row—Cynthia Rugart, Wellness Center; Sulan Booker, Housekeeping; Joseph Peduzzi; Front row—Miriam Kissi, Health Services; Alimatu Sodunke, Health Services; Not shown—Howard Barron, Housekeeping; Kristen Gaspari, Dining.

Photos by Louise Hughes

4

Strict new rules almost ruin traditional pre-program picnic

discover our picnic is verboten. Our bottles of water we could dump out, but the rest? Our carrots and sandwiches draw negative head-shakes from the young security team and their supervisor. When they then come upon my small bottle of prosecco,

By Virginia Rivers our prospects evaporate.

Leaving Beaumont at 5:40, before dinner, for a 7:30 In recent years, some numbers of us have relinquished event means we each pack a our full and half-full bottles of picnic bag. wine to pass unyielding security We have our carrots, personnel in airports. We sigh or our corn chips, our sandgroan and move along. wiches, cake, water and wine, But to forswear our with plastic glasses and paper prosecco picnic on a balmy April napkins. We’re used to easy evening? Never, if we can help it. picnics (minus wine) at the How lucky for us that Kimmel Center before our the security supervisor is a symFriday afternoon orchestra pathetic, gentle lady ready to both concerts. We expect the same enable and enforce. Rather than ease of picnicking at the very have us take to the curb with our recently renovated Metropolpicnic, she fetches two sturdy itan Opera House on North folding chairs and makes sure we Broad Street. are comfortably seated on closedVINTAGE POSTCARD shows the Philadelphia Met as it looked 100 to-traffic Poplar Street. There we This fine example years ago. Its façade has not been altered by the renovation. of Classical Revival open and down our prosecco architecture was built in 1908 by Oscar Hammerstein I, whose and an ample picnic (including one banana-and-peanut butter grandson wrote Oklahoma! and other famous musicals. It’s our sandwich, one ham-and-cheese). Passersby and theater-goers first time visiting this theater, and we are impressed by its stately, nod admiringly as they pass on the sidewalk. symmetrical proportions.

Now fed and eager for the show, we are admitted into Gaining access, however, involves a security force at the the elegant theater. Happily, our uneaten chips and cake are entrances. waved through.

Security? Unaccustomed to this except at airports, we The auditorium is classic and fresh-feeling, with do not expect so much of it at the program on Saturday, April strategically placed railings to assist descent from the lobby 13, featuring Bill and Hillary Clinton. A former President loses and elegant boxes hanging out over the front side seats of the Secret Service protection only by dying, and Secret Service orchestra. The Met has 3,400 seats—with cup holders at personnel have spent the past two days checking every inch of every one! Around us, others drink soda, wine and beer from the building. Our tickets give no security warning: printed at plastic containers bought from concessions onsite.

Christmas, they were a gift for Granny. I’m the lucky friend It felt good to be in an audience filled with many varietinvited to join her. ies of middle-aged and young folks. We returned from And so we attempt to enter the building at 6:30 and an enjoyable evening well nourished in every way.

SPRING HAIRCUT:

Last year’s new crop of fast-growing twigs and branches (called “watersprouts”) reached skyward to a height nearly as tall as the tree itself.

Spring pruning eliminates the “porcupine hat” and contours the tree to its desired shape.

Photos by Lynn Ayres (winter) and Linda Madara (spring)

5

Rats! No…mice!

Text and photo by Linda Madara OK! I am at fault. I admit to having had a case of “the lazies” and not attending to cuttings I had made of my mother’s begonia plants that I inherited 15 years ago. They were a joy, happily residing in the front window of her Villa #7.

They have continued to flourish, and to control the plants I took cuttings that rooted in glasses of water—begonias are a snap to root in water. There were the days I arrived at a meeting or luncheon with any number of small potted begonias and invited friends to choose a begonia with my blessing.

About a year ago the annual begonia sheering took place. Once again, I cut back vigorous growth, stripped the bottom leaves, and placed each stem in a glass of water.

“Rooting Begonias 101” couldn’t be easier.

A few weeks later new roots could be seen, which grew with wild abandon, filling a good part of each glass.

The water levels were kept close to the top of the rim.

No green thumb needed.

Summer moved into fall. The rooting project was so successful that the upper part of the cutting was also sporting new leaves. The begonias were actually growing both at the top and bottom in just the water.

In early January my “lazies” were replaced with something called “guilt.” How long did I plan to keep the begonias, happy as they were, in the glasses to see if they could survive, or was I just too wrapped up in other things to attend to them?

Something had to be done. The next warm day I ventured into the porch locker and brought in the huge bag of potting soil. After assembling the necessary pots and saucers I began to scoop soil into a large bucket to which I added nutrients and poured warm water to moisten the soil and make it warm enough to avoid shocking the roots of the plants.

Easy! I have done it many times before (although not in my kitchen, which became covered in topsoil). The job complete, the kitchen sparkling, the newly potted begonias—all nine of them—were placed under lights for a head start. And because they were used to living in water, I intentionally “over-watered” them for a couple of days, then began reducing the moisture so the roots could become accustomed to the soil environment.

SUGAR continued from page 1

INTRUDER ALERT! Begonia sprouts are on the left. On the right are sunflower sprouts that hitched a ride and want to take over.

About four days later when checking on “my babies,” there appeared a large, newly germinated seed with a set of huge cotyledon leaves. (Every seed has a set of unrelated leaves that show up first to begin to give the seed the nourishment it needs to grow.) There had been a stow-away in my soil! Zap! Out it came.

That was the end of that! Well, not quite. The following day there were two more visitors in that pot and some in at least four other pots. Not good.

Potting soil is sterilized to prevent vagrants from taking root. What was happening? Each morning I found myself saying “Rats! Here I go again!” Out would go more interlopers.

No longer funny, it was a swift pain. What was the reason for the plague? Where did the seeds originate?

As I sang the blues at breakfast, my husband had the answer. During cold months, he noticed mice had eaten their way into an expensive bag of Black Sunflower seeds. Having dined, they then removed seed after seed and hid them in a safe place for future banquets. Where was that place? The potting soil bag, where the seeds remained dormant until encountering the warmth of the apartment and warm water. The seeds were the same color as the potting soil, so I never saw them.

They germinated and germinated. You could actually see them break the soil’s surface, push up on a strong stem, and unfold their twin leaves, to which I said: “Rats! No… it’s mice!!!”

man. Since an ounce is a little more than 28 grams, this is about an ounce of added sugar per day for a woman and a little more than an ounce per day for a man. Two scoops of ice cream typically have about an ounce of added sugar; so having ice cream for desert uses up your day’s maximum recommended intake of added sugar. A can of soda can have 39 grams of added sugar, which is above the recommended daily total for a man or a woman.

The bottom line is that you should avoid foods with added sugar, even if you aren’t diabetic, to avoid damaging your heart and blood vessels.

hemoglobin or to all proteins. I found out that sugar attaches to all proteins, which are the major “building blocks” of the body. Therefore, one of the ways in which high blood sugar damages your body is by attaching itself to your proteins. Much of this damage occurs in your heart and blood vessels.

The American Heart Association recommends that the maximum amount of added sugar (sugar added to food or beverage when they’re processed) consumed per day be limited to 25 grams for a woman and 37.5 grams for a

6

Penn alumni celebrate annual reunion

By Paula Spiegel, as submitted to The Pennsylvania Gazette

The Glee Club performed for us at this event last year, and it was the unanimous decision of our committee to invite them back this year. The fact that it was the right choice was borne out by the enthusiastic applause after each number. The balloons decorating the tables were filled with helium to lift them into the air, but The Glee Club provided the helium for our spirits! Their performance was followed by a delicious meal, orchestrated and served by our superior staff.

On Wednesday, April 10, Beaumont at Bryn Mawr held its third annual University of Pennsylvania reunion.

Our group includes alumni, faculty, and staff. Congregating in the Beaumont Music Room we had the great pleasure of listening to 11 members of The Penn Glee Club sing a delightful medley of Penn songs, old standards, and spirituals.

April Health Fair offers information, demonstrations and activities Photos by Linda Madara and Lynn Ayres Beaumont’s annual Health Fair, coordinated by the Wellness Center, Fitness, Recreational Therapy, Resident Services and Dining Services, draws on community resources to provide information about health services. Vendors provided information about physical therapy, home care and hospice. Others demonstrated therapies to aid physical and mental well-being, including reiki, a technique called “palm healing.”

The big-screen IN2L (It’s NeverTooLate) was on display, and drum-

ming provided exercise and fun. In addition to all of the other offerings, residents were treated to massages, nutritious snacks and a raffle.

7

No, not a bunny trail—a bluebird trail!

A bluebird trail is a series of nesting boxes to encourage bluebirds into an area. The Beaumont birders’ hotline has been busy this spring with discussions about attracting bluebrids.

brood and vacated. We cleaned out the boxes, and then the bluebirds moved in. We placed four boxes on the swimming pool post and rail fence posts.

Bluebird nests are easy to identify, as they are made of very soft grasses from the nearby fields. On occasion the eggs or young bluebirds suddenly disappeared.

This was with no thanks to a snake (usually garter snake).

In the fall we cleaned out all boxes, checking for necessary repairs. Wear gardening gloves when cleaning! I had quite a surprise, silly me, when I reached in with my bare hand. Feeling something, I closed my hand. Then it started to move! Withdrawing my hand, I discovered a most unhappy little bat, which I flung as far as possible.

Ann Reed Thanks to Kurt Mueller of Grounds, we have several new bluebird nesting boxes on campus. One is on the edge of the Park, near evergreen cover. Grounds Director Mark Hritz tells me Kurt worked on these boxes during the winter. Thank you, Kurt.

I have never seen a bluebird at Beaumont. (Neither has John Carson, who has fed, housed and watched birds at Beaumont longer than most of us.) But Kent Hall of Maintenance has seen bluebirds on the Bryn Mawr College campus. So we can hope.

A word to the wise Bluebird trails are a stewardship-type responsibility.

Nesting boxes must be monitored, cleaned and repaired.

No respectable bluebird likes a soiled, untidy nursery.

Lynn Ayres I’ve never seen a bluebird at Beaumont, but they were plentiful in my previous community in the southwest corner of Delaware County. We set up a bluebird trail paralleling the mostly-meadow walking trail that encircled the property.

Bluebirds were plentiful in southern Delaware and Chester Counties in the 1950s, but they began to disappear in the ’60s and ’70s because their habitat was being destroyed.

Bluebirds traditionally nest in natural cavities, such as holes in dead trees or old fence posts.

When farmland turned into bedroom communities, malls, and big-box stores, the bluebirds were pushed out.

Their population began to recover when communities began providing appropriate nesting boxes.

Page Gowen Bluebirds prefer open spaces, i.e. park-like setting.

When we moved to River Bend Farm in 1972 there was not a bluebird to be seen. Finally after 6-8 (?) years, a pair appeared in NEW BLUEBIRD NESTING a nesting box on the lawn (we BOX is one of several that kept about eight acres in lawn Kurt Mueller constructed during with no spray). the winter.

Then the tree swallows appeared and moved into the nests. The bluebirds vacated.

My heart sank! Then, surprise! The tree swallows raised their

8

EASTERN BLUEBIRDS (inset) bring food to their nestlings in a well-established bluebird trail in southwestern Delaware County.

Photos by Lynn Ayres