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VOLUME TWENTY FIVE, NUMBER EIGHT

OCTOBER 2011

Grounds for appreciation Grounds worker Jake Bean and resident Mary Jane Rhodes, a member of the Grounds subcommittee of the Environment committee, express mutual appreciation for hard work on both sides at a Liseter Garden picnic last month. The event was arranged by Ann Louise Strong, chairman of the Environment committee.

Photo by Louise Hughes

Introducing Beaumont’s fall leadership lineup

By Mary Graff, with reporting by Jennie Frankel

With the start of each fall season, the News likes to provide a directory of moving targets; that is, the appropriate persons to whom to direct questions and suggestions on matters relating to our lives at Beaumont.

The 2011-2012 directory is as follows, with many familiar names, some new names, and a little explanation for the benefit of new residents: At the top are the Beaumont Retirement Community

Inc. (BRCI) and the Beaumont Retirement Services Inc. (BRSI) boards, the former in charge of policy and the latter in charge of operations.

BRCI: Mrs. Mary Schnabel, chairman; Mrs. Jeanne Cortner, vice-chairman; Mrs. Jane Lillie, secretary; with Mr. Richard Maass, Dr. Jay MacMoran, Dr. Geraldine Paier and Dr. Don Trachtenberg.

BRSI: Mr. John Butterworth, chairman; with Mr. Fred continued on page 8

Mother robin uses her head

Photo by Louise Hughes The egg

By Sis Ziesing At the beginning of every summer, I hang up a tacky fake flower wreath outside the front door of our villa. It is so tacky it sports a straw nest on the top and one on the side. Habits are habits, though, so up it goes every year.

In early June, we noticed that every time we came out of the front door, a robin would fly away from the side wall. It finally occurred to us, she was flying away from the tacky wreath. I gently took it down and, lo and behold, there were three blue continued on page 7

The Resident Services Department regrets that an announcement of Beaumont’s new staff scholarship winners, with the date and time of this year’s presentation, was inadvertently left out of Weekly Reminders. We apologize to both the scholars and the sponsors, all of whom were understandably disappointed, the scholars when attendance was sparse and the sponsors when they discovered that the presentation had taken place without them. The names of the winners are listed below.

Nicholette Clarke

Dining

Lee-Anna Lopez

Dining

Veronica Cleveland

Dining

Johvon McLaughlin

Dining

Michael Cloud

Security

Kadeen McNish

Dining

Renee Connolly

Outpatient

Brock Nichols

Housekeeping

Megan Cromie

Dining

Earl Oxendine

Dining

Michael Curran

Security

Jone Posey

Nursing

Ruth Frebowitz

Nursing

Alex Ramirez

Personal Care

Allison Grant

Dining

Taylor Thomas

Dining

Joseph Hoban

Dining

Rheea Wright

Dining

Raydeen Leid

Nursing We all have things we once loved but don’t find quite the right opportunity to wear anymore. It’s a great feeling to let them go to another person to treasure. At the same time, donors will receive a small charitable credit.

We are receiving clean clothes on hangers at the Village Hall in the Strafford Mall from Tuesday, Oct. 4, until Friday, Oct. 21. Please call me or Tony Starr if you wish assistance or if you want us to pick up anything sooner.

—Nancy Harris

Letters to the Editor Dear Editor: As Beaumonters are getting out their winter clothes and getting ready to put away their summer outfits, it’s a perfect time to remember Community Clothes Charity (CCC). The sale starts on Wednesday, Oct. 26, and ends on Saturday, Oct. 29. The beneficiaries this year are Need in Deed, a special project at Children’s Hospital, and Puppies behind Bars, last year’s recipient, which stole so many of our hearts.

The deadline for the November 2011 issue of the Beaumont News will be October 5. The Beaumont News publishes 10 editions a year from October to July. Please sign your story and either turn it in at the front desk or better, if you can, e-mail it to Mary Graff at graffs@msn.com. Please keep a copy for yourself!

For back issues, please go to our website, www.BeaumontRetirement.com

The News invites letters from readers, including non-residents. Letters will be published or not, in full or in part, at the discretion of the editors. Letter-writers are asked to please:

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

1. Confine subject matter to articles that have appeared in the News (past News issues are on file in the Library).

2. Keep letters under 300 words–the shorter the better.

Managing Editor

3. Sign your own name, though requests for anonymity in print may be honored.

Production Editor

E-mail letters to Mary Graff at graffs@msn.com (home) AND mgraff@beaumontretirement.com (office); hand in at front desk, or mail to Beaumont at 601 N. Ithan Ave., Bryn Mawr 19010. Letters need not be typed (though typing is appreciated), but please write as legibly as possible and include your phone number (for the editors’ use only).

New Residents Editor

Editor Emeritus and Historian Photo Editor Events Manager Proofreader Circulation Manager

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Mary Graff Christine Johnson-Hall Louise Guthrie Jean Kirk Louise Hughes Kim Norrett Jennie Frankel Barbara O’Brien

In Memory On September 8, 2011, Beaumont’s Vice President of Finance, J. David Mustin, 53, lost his yearlong battle with cancer.

A graduate of West Chester University with a degree in accounting, David received his MBA from Temple University and passed his Nursing Home Administrators exam while working at Beaumont.

He joined the Beaumont staff in April 1989 and did an outstanding job as CFO for 22 years.

A gentleman who earned the respect of our residents and employees, he was married to the former Deborah Liss and was the very proud father of a daughter and two sons: Julia, 16; David, 15, and Nicholas, 8. He enjoyed their ice hockey and baseball games, and recently was teaching Julia to drive.

The Beaumont family of residents and staff will miss him. Our sympathies are extended to the Mustin and Liss families.

J. David Mustin

—Joe Fortenbaugh, President of Beaumont

Thoughts on leaving a special place

By Rena Burstein

a modified “Tech prefab” with a cathedral ceiling over the living room, is all wood except for the brick chimney. We finished much of the interior paneling ourselves and had an iron arm installed in the woodburning fireplace to support a cast-iron kettle in which we traditionally prepared our homemade “Eagles Mere Stew.”

Over the summer seasons, Mere Wood hosted many visitors. Our daughters invited friends, family members of all varieties and levels of relationship stopped by, my husband’s graduate students were often helpful and welcome guests, and we enjoyed visits from many friends over the years. Visits to the cottage during the winter months were limited, due to the lack of running water, since the local water company operated only when temperatures were above freezing.

We hauled water from a nearby artesian well and enjoyed “roughing it.”

When lucky, we could also enjoy the toboggan slide onto the hard-frozen Eagles Mere Lake. During the warmer months, the lake provided a wonderful place to swim, fish and sail—with motorboats of all sorts forbidden—leaving us with many precious memories of times of peaceful relaxation and sheer pleasure.

As the family matured, grandchildren joined us at Mere Wood during the summer and there evolved a traditional family reunion held each year in August, even as our immediate family became geographically scattered. Our twin grandchildren, Susanna and Graham, came every summer, from Cincinnati, with their parents and dog, from the time they were four months old until they graduated from college this year.

Winning that door prize 50 years ago has certainly changed my life and that of my family. The story of Mere Wood cottage has been filled with sweet memories and love for Eagles Mere and its lake. It is with sorrow that we recognize that the time to part has come.

A difficult time has arrived: Giving up a cherished and beloved vacation house, an inanimate object that was nevertheless filled with life.

The words of Shakespeare’s Juliet, “Parting is such sweet sorrow,” describe exactly our contradictory feelings of pleasure and sadness. Sweet memories compete with the sorrow of loss.

The object of our affection is a cottage we built among the trees on the shore of a lake in the mountains of north central Pennsylvania.

My sweet memories go back to a Saturday afternoon in the late spring of 1961, when I was at a fundraising fashion show for the American Association of University Women, held in the ballroom of the department store Strawbridge & Clothier.

I heard my name called. I had won a door prize: the choice of a weekend for two at a hotel in Eagles Mere or one on Skyline Drive, in Virginia. I knew of Skyline Drive, had never heard of Eagles Mere. Several women at my table vigorously shouted, “Take Eagles Mere!” So I did, and several weeks later my husband and I (after making arrangements to leave our three children at home) found ourselves at the Crestmont Hotel in a room overlooking the inviting waters of Eagles Mere Lake.

It didn’t take long for us to find ourselves on the beach, to start a wonderful weekend exploring this remarkable community, and to realize it was a perfect place for children.

The next time we found ourselves in Eagles Mere it was with our daughters (a 9-year-old and 13-year-old twins) in a rented cottage, which also had a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains.

After another season of renting (and learning to sail) we decided to build our own vacation house—a “cottage” in the local vernacular—which we named “Mere Wood.” It was an appropriate name. The cottage, 3

New resident roundup

By Jean Kirk

Ian and Helen (a.k.a. Deedee) Ballard both grew up in this area. Ian graduated from Mercersberg Academy, Lafayette College and Temple University School of Medicine. He had a private practice in Internal Medicine and is still involved, training medical students and family-practice residents at the Bryn Mawr Family Practice in Broomall. Ian was on active duty in the Navy Medical Corps for 2 years and in the Reserve for 30 years. Then for 25 years he was in Clinical Research at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. He is also an FAA Senior Aviation Medical Examiner for pilots. Ian serves on numerous committees at Bryn Mawr Hospital. He also served on the Radnor Township Board of Health, and worked as the doctor for Valley Forge Military Academy for 35 years. He has enjoyed being a beekeeper and has now donated his bees to the Harriton Plantation.

Helen graduated from the Agnes Irwin Ian and Helen Ballard School and Rosemont College. She raised three children, and taught History to middle school students at Irwins. She then decided to become pleasure is taking each of her grandchildren at age 14 a nurse, graduating from Bryn Mawr Hospital’s School on a trip to Europe. The Ballards each have three of Nursing. Helen has served on the Women’s Board of children and a total of 17 grandchildren. They also HUP and the Morris Animal Refuge. Her greatest have a Border Terrier named Jeffrey. They have enjoyed their summer place at Small Point, Maine, for many years. *

Jean and Lon Homeier

*

*

Jean and Lon Homeier grew up in Akron, Ohio, and moved to Philadelphia with their three children in 1962. Lon graduated from Williams College and Jean from Connecticut College For Women and later from Bryn Mawr with a master’s degree in Education and Child Development.

Lon’s career has been in finance and he retired as a senior vice-president of Paine-Webber. He flies both fixed wing and glider aircraft and enjoys trout fishing, backpacking and gardening. He has served on a number of boards including the Glacier National Park Fund, Endow-A-Home, First Book and Resources For Human Development.

Jean was the College Counselor at the Shipley School, later established a private practice and worked for the Mayor’s Commission on Literacy in Philadelphia. She has been a board member of A Better Chance and the Main Line Art Center and has been a lifelong painter.

The Homeiers have two daughters, a son, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Lon's Photos by Louise Hughes late brother's wife, Marietta (Mrs. Harry) Homeier, has lived at Beaumont since 2003.

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Remembering Joker, a family friend

By Jeanne Cortner

Joker was a very special member of my family. He was a beautiful horse in both temperament and stance. He was solid black, except for a few gray whiskers in his later years. I rode Joker through Wyoming hayfields, through rushing streams, and even in thunderstorms. He was completely calm, and I always felt totally at ease. I am not an accomplished rider, in fact I am quite unaccomplished, but on Joker I felt completely comfortable. Joker knew lots more than I did.

When it was time for my grandchildren to learn to ride, usually at age 3, Joker was the perfect horse for them. He would continue to be their preference, if they had anything to say about it. There was only one Joker, and often several riders, so they did not always get their way.

The summer that Joker was more or less 25 years old, he looked tired and worn out when I arrived in Photo supplied by the author Jackson Hole at our cabins. He stood in the fields Bareback on Joker Is Andrea York, the author’s youngest grandchild, greeting me with his usual nicker, and let me hug him who was about eight when Joker died. Now 11, Andrea was three when warmly around the neck for several minutes. Then he she started riding Joker. walked away, as if to say, “Enough–I am tired–no more riding.” and that he had been a wonderful horse and friend to When my grandchildren arrived, they saw that them. They asked that all of them be friends together Joker usually wanted be alone. That is unusual for in Heaven. horses, as they like to stay in a group, and we had They folded their letters in little squares and tied other horses in our field. I had leased Joker for years them with string onto a light rope, which became a from a close friend and neighbor, Bill, and he told me necklace for Joker to wear around his neck. The that Joker’s time had come, and the sooner the better children asked me if I would be with Joker when he for Joker’s sake. I asked about having a vet come to died. I said I would. They never asked to be there, but euthanize Joker, but Bill told me that this was his job instead took a long-planned hike with their Moms. and a commitment to Joker. He had bought Joker as The next day Bill borrowed a backhoe and made a a colt, and Joker had given Bill and many of us a good large hole in the family pet cemetery on our property. life in the saddle, and Bill felt it was his responsibility He led Joker close to the hole. I did as the children had and commitment to Joker to end his life in a split asked and placed the necklace on Joker’s neck as he second. stood his last moments with Bill and me. That beautiful When we gathered around the table that night for black horse with the white paper necklace around his dinner, I told the family that it was Joker’s last night with neck! us. My five grandchildren (ages 5 to 12) said goodbye Bill and I hugged Joker, hugged each other, and to him on our evening walk. Then one of the children cried together. To my surprise, I found I was not able to suggested that they send letters to Heaven with Joker, stay. I went back to my cabin about a hundred yards so that those whom they had loved and lost in their away, and waited until I heard the shot. One shot to the short lives could receive a letter of introduction to head, just as Bill had promised. Then I returned. Joker Joker, and welcome him. This surprised the two mothers had fallen in the hole, and we covered him, with the present, as neither had talked about a “heaven” to their help of the backhoe, with the fresh earth, leaving the children. last bit undone.

They all got pencils and paper, and each wrote a When the children came home from their hike, they very personal note to their grandfathers, an uncle, a went to Joker’s grave and put dirt on it that had been very young cousin, their dogs, and a cat. They had left for them to finish the job. They made a cross out of loved all of them and mourned their deaths. They wrote old wood, and on it they wrote “JOKER, best horse, that Joker was coming, that he had taught them to ride, best friend.”

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Labor Day “picnic” in Beaumont Room: Hot dogs, but no ants!

Enjoying Labor Day lunch above are, seated, from left, Anne Trout, Jane Dearnley, and Frances Etherington; standing, from left, Bertie Bell, Mary Schnabel, and Bob Trout.

Top left, Ferris Bedell, 2½, grandson of Louise Guthrie. At left are Fred Brenner and Elaine Goodstein. Below, Mary Page (“I show off my iPhone to everybody”), left, and Mary Tilghman, a new resident. And below, left, Marie Furlong (left) and Countess Tolstoy.

Photos by Robin Daye

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Guinea fowl at Beaumont? Dr. Snyder says no, no, and no!

By Mary Graff

common. Guineas, geese and a chained dog all were kept as first lines of defense.

When I was 15, thanks to our sentinels, my father and I were alerted in time to shoot a thief with both hands full of live chickens. (The shells were reloaded with rock salt; we fired simultaneously.) The thief survived, justice was served, no more thievery. My memory of shooting and wounding my first human lingers on, however, in spite of two shooting wars in the U.S. Infantry.”

The Beaumont News also queried Dr. Snyder, and received a similar reply : “I have known about guinea fowl. I have been treated [for Lyme disease] twice; my son-in-law and grandson of Chester County have been treated a couple of times.

One year I talked the Chester County family into raising and keeping guinea fowl to serve as tick gatherers.

Instead of roosting in trees in the adjacent woods, the guineas became imprinted on humans and insisted on roosting in the garage. Gradually the flock, one by one, was diminished to two by neighborhood dogs.

“There is a homemade movie skit featuring one granddaughter trying to capture the two remaining fowl. The whole family was so upset with me and the guineas they would not even EAT the two remaining!

The guinea experiment is no longer a topic of conversation in the Karpowicz family.”

During the summer, a number of residents read articles in the local press about the prevalence of deer ticks, the kind that can cause Lyme Disease. Someone started a rumor: Guinea fowl eat ticks! These folks turned as one, of course, to Dr. Dean Snyder, Beaumont’s resident naturalist and veterinarian. As Michael Strong put it in an e-mail to Dr. Snyder: “What downside might there be if we had some guinea fowl in the woods above the Beaumont Pond?

After a while, I suppose, our foxes would eat them up.

In the meantime might they (the fowl) eat a significant amount of deer ticks?”

A compilation of Dr. Snyder’s replies makes his views entirely clear: E-Mail No. 1: “Great idea, but the guinea has a mind of its own. They are very loud and prefer to graze in open meadows. In addition to ticks, they subsist on mainly grasses and legumes or cereal grains when supplied to them. Personally, l believe that like the tick and the yellow jacket, they are best avoided at all costs.”

Having hit “SEND” on his computer, Dr. Snyder found himself warming to his subject.

In E-Mail No. 2, he wrote Mr. Strong: “As an afterthought: On the matter of noise. When I was growing up we maintained a small flock of guineas who were given free range near the chicken houses.

During the Depression, chicken thievery was very

Mother robin . . . continued from page 1

eggs on the top nest. What a smart bird! She was spared the trouble of making a nest from scratch.

There were a few real twigs added, but I bet that was to assuage her guilty conscience.

In a short time, we could see little gaping mouths and hear sweet hungry peeps. We then went away for two weeks and were glad we were no longer disturbing the little family.

When we returned, the chicks had flown the coop. In the bird kingdom, you grow up quickly! One perfect little egg was left unhatched, proving we didn’t dream this.

Wonder if Mrs. Robin is telling her friends about the rent-free real estate she found at Beaumont.

Photo by Louise Hughes

The wreath

IN MEMORIAM

Fern Brant—July 4 Virginia Maloney—July 5 Jane Leake—July 14 J. Tyler Griffin—August 9

Margaret VanDusen—August 18 Elmer Rosen—August 23 Hannah Randolph—Sept. 7 Helen Edwards—September 12

Members of the Beaumont Community extend deepest sympathy to their families and friends.

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Now serving Rocco Arcaro, cook supervisor in the Grill Room, points out new Grill Room specials to diners including Bob Stedeford, fitness instructor, who took the picture. Included are a chicken gorgonzola salad, English fish and chips, a hot spinach, crab and artichoke casserole, a warm Hawaiian chicken sandwich, a roast beef special sandwich, a Greek salad, eggplant parmigiana, and on the hearty side, filet tips and tortellini in a Madeira wine sauce.

Barely visible on the outskirts of the picture are a whitefish salad sandwich with Jersey tomatoes and red onions on dark pumpernickel and (not shown) a grilled crab salad sandwich.

leadership . . . .

Burstein, Mr. John Butterworth, Dr. Clayton Kyle, Dr. Kaighn Smith, Mrs. Arthur Wheeler and James Morris, M.D. House: Mrs. Marian Lockett-Egan, chairman; Mrs. Jane Lillie, BRCI representative; with Mr. Frank Boyer, Mrs. Sally Herd, Mrs. Katharine Place, Mrs. Bobbi Rosen, Mrs. Anna (Nan) Wood and Mrs. Josie Zelov.

Marketing: Mr. Henry Hallowell, chairman; Dr. Don Trachtenberg, BRCI representative; with Mrs. Mary Graff, Mr. Russell Hodges, Mr. A. Bruce Mainwaring, and Mr. Alan Tripp.

Safety And Security: Mr. Russell Hodges, chairman; Dr. Jay MacMoran, BRCI representative; with Mr. Frank Boyer, Mrs. Sarah DaCosta, Mr. Ronald Fraser, Mr. John Place and Mr. Alfred Rhodes.

A new Resident Services committee is being formed, with members to be announced next month.

Finally, the activity committees: Bingo: Resident Services Department Bridge: Mrs. Marion Snyder, chairman; with Miss Patsy Dushane, Mrs. Marjorie Lott, Mrs. Charlene Simpson and Mrs. Sinclair (Sis) Ziesing. Chicago Bridge: Mrs. Catherine Ogden and Mrs. Marian Lockett-Egan.

Flowers: Mrs. Sally Herd Library: Mrs. Marietta Homeier and Mrs. Carole Morgan, co-chairmen; with Mrs. Libby Adelman, Mrs. Margie Baird, Mrs. Jeanne Cortner, Mrs. Jane Dearnley, Mrs. Fytie Drayton, Mrs. Jean Kirk, Mrs. Barbara O’Brien, Mrs. Michelle Osborn, Mrs. Anna Roberts, Mrs. Marsha Solmssen and Mrs. Mary Yurchenco.

Music: Dr. Jay MacMoran and Dr. Robert Morgan, co-chairmen, with Mrs. Dorothy Maass, Mrs. Joan Stuart and Mrs. Mary Yurchenco.

Technology: Joseph Fortenbaugh III, Brock Nichols, Mary Wells and Ben Mbugua.

Wine: Dr. Herbert Diamond, chairman; with Mr. George Fabian, Mr. William Graff, Mrs. Marian LockettEgan, Mr. Alan Tripp and Mrs. Susan Woolford.

continued from page 1

Brenner, Mr. Joseph H. Fortenbaugh III, Mr. James Luther, Rev. Dr. Alexander McCurdy, Mr. Edward Rosen and Mr. John Woolford.

Also breathing the thinnest air are these three committees, in no particular order: Nominating: Mr. John Butterworth, chairman; with Dr. Elias Burstein, Mrs. Marietta Homeier, Mrs. Betsy Rhodes and Mrs. Sinclair (Sis) Ziesing.

Finance: Mr. A. Bruce Mainwaring, chairman; with Mrs. Mary Schnabel, ex officio; Mr. John Butterworth, Mr. Alvan Markle III, Mr. Adolf Paier, Mr. John Place, Dr. Don Trachtenberg, BRCI representative, and Mr. Maurice Webster.

Admissions and Resident Review: Mr. Joseph H. Fortenbaugh III, chairman; with Ms. Renee Connolly, Mrs. Jeanne Drumheller, Mrs. Kristen Ganley, Mrs. Lea Knarr, Mrs. Linda Lemisch, James Morris, M.D. and Mrs. Audrey Walsh.

In alphabetical order, the other major committees: Dining Services: Mrs. Joan Roberts, chairman; with Mrs. Jeanne Cortner, BRCI representative; Mrs. Fytie Drayton, Mr. Russell Hodges, Mrs. Barbara O’Brien, Mrs. Betsy Rhodes and Mr. Arthur Solmssen.

Environment: Mrs. Ann Louise Strong, chairman; Mrs. Joan Thayer, secretary, and Mr. Mark Hritz, staff, with Mr. Joseph Fortenbaugh III, Beaumont president, ex officio. Grounds Subcommittee: Mrs. Nancy Harris, chairman, and Mr. Mark Hritz, secretary, with Dr. John Carson, Mrs. Mary Disston, Mrs. Mary Jane Rhodes, Mrs. Joan Roberts, Dr. Dean Snyder and Mrs. Joan Thayer. Green Subcommittee: Mrs. Ann Louise Strong, chairman, and Mrs. Anne Godfrey, secretary, with Mr. Dick Maass, BRCI representative; Mr. George Miller, Dr. Kaighn Smith and Mr. Charles Wood.

Health Care: Mrs. Marsha Solmssen, chairman; Dr. Geraldine Paier, BRCI representative; with Mrs. Rena 8