Beaumont News, November 2019

V o lu me T h i rt y T h ree , N umber 9

November 2019

Songs of Experience: Residents ready for launch of Senior Song Book CD Text and photos by Linda Madara

It started so simply! Beaumont resident Alan Tripp, turning 98, wrote a poem for his friends about moving into a retirement community, leaving yesterday behind, and finding “best new friends.”

Marvin Weisbord, creator/pianist of Wynlyn Jazz Ensemble, set it to music as a surprise when Alan turned 99! With Marv a willing composer, Alan became a lyricist with other clever lyrics just waiting for their music.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a collection of senior-centric songs written with empathy, experience, and wit?

“I Just Can’t Remember Your Name!” or “It’s Never Too Late for Love!”

We should make a CD!

CREATIVE FORCE BEHIND SENIOR SONG BOOK: Center, seated Alan Tripp (Lyricist); Left to right: Dave Zopf (bass), Chuck Anderson (director/music coach to Marv and Evelyn), Evelyn Isom (singer), Rob Stone (Sax), Marvin Weisbord (Composer), Len Pavel (drums) and Roz Spigel (singer)

The project gained momentum. A producer was signed (Chuck Anderson), a professional recording space chosen (Morningstar Studios), the Wynlyn singers signed on, and five dates for the recording sessions were nailed down.

Electronic Health Records provide faster, better information with less effort

By David Balamuth

Most of us have had some experience with our own health care records. We may even have trudged from one doctor’s office to another carrying a thick folder of scribbled paper notes compiled over many years. (If we happen to be hospitalized, the information accumulates even faster!) Answering a simple question like, “How has my cholesterol changed over the past ten years?” involves rummaging through this mountain of paper, possibly with uncertain results.

Enter the Electronic Health Record (EHR), which will be implemented at Beaumont in a multi-stage process, which is underway now.

As you might imagine, implementation of such a system is a complex undertaking, involving both the purchase of appropriate software (Beaumont will use MatrixCare, a system

COMPOSER Marv Weisbord has to communicate with the mixer as well as the piano, while listening to the whole thing through earphones.

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in use in many CCRCs nationwide).

A detailed plan for installing the system and training appropriate staff in its use has been prepared and is being executed in stages, the first of which involves the automated entry of vital statistics (blood pressure, temperature) for patients in the Health Center.

A later stage, including physician orders and a pharmacy interface, is scheduled to “go live” at the end of November.

The final stage in the current plan, scheduled for the end of 2020, will enable the exchange of your medical information located in outside electronic health record systems like those maintained by Penn Medicine and Main Line Health.

Adoption of an EHR system will have important advantages for a wide range

PAPERLESS: Instead of thousands of patients’ paper records filling multiple-tiered bookshelves, medical offices are switching to electronic file storage, which organizes the information for quick access.

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Food & Beverage: What’s to come? variety of events, which include the following: Holiday Sing A-Long and Dinner on Tuesday, December 10, at 5:30 p.m.; and last but not least, our Great Gatsby-themed New Year’s Eve Party on Tuesday, December 31, at 5:30 p.m.

My team and I look forward to serving our Beaumont Community through the holiday season. Please remember that on Christmas our dining rooms are open only from 11:00am through 2:00pm, so that our staff can enjoy the holidays with their families, as well. We will be accepting reservations for parties of five or more on Christmas. Have a flavorful day.

By Zachary Margolis, Food & Beverage Director

As we turn the corner towards the holiday season, that means two things here at Beaumont. We welcome home all of our residents from their summer travels, and our big banquet season begins.

We’ve already enjoyed the Welcome Home Dinner on October 16; Halloween Social on October 30; Halloween Cocktail Party, October 31; Wild Game Dinner, November 6 and Campfire in the Courtyard on November 20.

In the upcoming weeks we will continue to host a

WHY IS MY HEAD SPINNING? The “sliding desk” is an optical illusion.

The drawer sections are perfectly balanced but not perfectly rectangular, and they splay outward. See more quirky objects on page 6.

EHR continued from page 1 of constituencies: patients’ records will be more up to date and free of mistakes; medical staff will benefit from automated system checks on allergies and possible drug interactions, as well as automated entry of patient vital statistics (blood pressure, temperature, etc.); the ability to search and review a wide range of data more systematically; management will have more accurate and comprehensive records for administrative issues, such as billing, quality improvement, and regulatory compliance purposes.

Implementation of this new system is an important result of the work of the Health Care Task Force and constitutes an excellent example of how Beaumont residents and management work cooperatively together to achieve true excellence. Going forward, the Health Care Committee, under the leadership of Dr. Marvin Steinberg, will play an essential role as this important project moves toward completion.

If you will forgive a metaphorical description, we have reached the end of the runway, the wheels are up, but we have a long flight ahead of us.

Looking Ahead—to Spring Although today was winter-bound And frost had chilled the stubborn ground, We had a rendezvous with spring While skies were bleakly threatening.

We turned the earth with practiced care And made a bed of peat moss there, Planted bulbs and tamped them down, Anonymous and dry and brown.

The calendar may plainly show December and approaching snow, But we are not concerned with these Seasonal signs and prophecies.

We can ignore the coming cold And look ahead to jonquil gold Or tulip flame. We tucked away A garden full of bulbs today.

—Bette Keck Peterson

In Memoriam Marjorie Helmetag October 8, 2019 William H. Wister November 23, 2019

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

Lillian Lefevre October 19, 2019

Executive Editor Lynn Ayres 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

Dorothy Osborn November 23, 2019

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

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Funny food and fancy dress signify Halloween’s midday social and dinner-hour cocktail / costume party 7

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All photos by Linda Madara

1. BLUE BUTTERFLY: Giuliana Calabi; 2. HOSTESS OF THE SOCIAL, pirate Louise Hughes (right) and her scary sidekick Jeremy Varnis; 3. SCARY SNACKS at the Halloween Social; 4. YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE: Grim Reaper and Angel of Death, David and Joyce Randolph; 5. ARACHNE, Queen of Spiders, Irene Borgogno; 6. ROCK (?), PAPER, SCISSORS: seated, Howard Glassman; standing, aide Felicia Gray, dressed as a lemon; 7. SECRETIVE DUO: wily witch Ann Bloom and whistle-blower Liz Dornberger

Halloween nightmare: back to the pre-electronic past. What do I do now?

By Lynn Ayres

In a word, panic!

Halloween is supposed to be scary, but at Beaumont, it’s fun, food, fancy dress, and then back home before 10:00 p.m. But this year, as the witching hour approached, things suddenly became weird.

I was awakened at 11:30 p.m. by a frantically beeping smart phone. Its message—“Tornado alert! Take cover immediately!”—jolted me awake. Contrary to instructions, I pulled back the bedroom curtain and peeked outside. The wind was howling ferociously. The upper branches of three old, tall maple trees (all on the removal list for safety reasons) were whipping around, but the trees were still standing, although totally stripped of leaves.

Suddenly the lights—or in my case, nightlights— went out. Before I could worry about it, they were back on, and I said a silent “thank you” to Beaumont’s campus-wide generator. Then, since the tornado warning expired at midnight, I went back to bed.

Not so, for some employees. According to a mem-

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orandum from Operations Vice President Brock Nichols, Maintenance and IT responded immediately “to secure the campus and troubleshoot internal systems.”

Morning came, and thanks to the generator, I could make coffee and prepare breakfast, but any hope of getting news of the tornado was a washout. Comcast had been affected, and I had lost all forms of communication with the outside world: telephone, television, Internet and email.

I had planned to work on the Beaumont News, already behind schedule. I could use my computer to work with files I already had, but without Internet or telephone service, I couldn’t share changes and additions with my managing editor—or anyone else. Frustration!

Brock’s memo indicated that Comcast expected all services restored by noon and Beaumont would “send out a phone blast to all apartments and villas once phone and Internet were restored.” Unfortunately, my phone did not blast.

It didn’t even whimper.

Everything was finally restored about 5 p.m.

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Beaumont residents enjoy two Philadelphia Orchestra autumn events

By Jim Zug

By Lynn Ayres

On two separate weeks, Beaumont was blessed with two splendid events with musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The first event was on September 23 with the Low Brass Trio on the Orchestra’s Audience Appreciation Day. On this day, all 100 members of the orchestra volunteer to play pop-up concerts around our neighborhood, some 40 in all. This is the third year where Beaumont has had the pleasure of being one of those sites.

Jim Zug, who is a member of the Orchestra board and knows most of the musicians, contacted Jeff Lang, associate horn player whose position is endowed by our own Hannah Henderson in memory of her husband Welles. Jeff brought along trombonist Matt Vaughn and tubist Carol Jantsch.

LOW BRASS TRIO: Jeff Lang on French Horn; Carol Matt Vaughn on Trombone; Carol Jantsch on Tuba is one of the finest tubists in the world, the only female tubist for any of the major orchestras. There is very little music written for horn, trombone and tuba, so Carol has written all of their arrangements. Her parts are so technically challenging that she is reportedly the only tubist who can play them. They passed the lead line around among the trio, and the parts for the trombone and tuba were especially difficult but handled exquisitely.

They played arrangements of Beethoven’s Fifth, the second movement of Beethoven’s Seventh, Take Me Out To The Ball Game, and other recognizable pieces, brilliantly played and most enthusiastically received. A real treat.

On October 1, eight days after the Low Brass Trio’s performance, the Philadelphia Orchestra’s first violin and concertmaster, David Kim, performed, along with Jeffrey DeVault on piano and Socrates Villegas on clarinet.

I was sitting close to the front and was mesmerized by the rapid, complex fingering of David Kim and Socrates Villegas. It seemed impossible that anyone could be that nimble and precise.

Many conVIOLINIST David Kim and pianist sider the violin the Jeffrey DeVault most difficult instrument to play. Proper placement of the fingers on a fretless string instrument is tricky. Frets give cues. By contrast, the violin’s short, narrow, fretless neck does not provide much wiggle room. Playing it faultlessly and expressively is a rare gift that also requires years of practice and study. David Kim began playing when he was three years old and is now concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The group opened with Suite for Violin, Clarinet and Piano, Opus 157B by Darius Milhaud.

The second presentation was Clarinet Sonata in E flat major, Opus 167, by CLARINETIST Socrates Villegas Camille Saint-Saëns.

As suggested by the title, it was performed by clarinetist Socrates Villegas, accompanied by pianist Jeffrey DeVault.

Mr. Villegas was born in Mexico and performed with a number of orchestras in Mexico and Europe. During the 2016-17 season, he joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as a second clarinet.

David Kim returned to the stage for the third presentation: Violin Sonata in D minor, Opus 75, also by Camille Saint-Saëns.

FULL HOUSE in the Beaumont Room

All photos by Linda Madara

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RE-CYCLING TOUR DE MASCARO: On October 9, residents visited the plant where our trash and recycling are processed. Left to right are Sally Randolph, Jean Bodine, Ginny Rivers, David Balamuth, Joyce Randolph, David Randolph, Marlynne Clothier, Wistie Miller, Brock Nichols and Fritz Lubin. Information about Mascaro’s single-stream recycling system appeared in the February 2019 issue of the Beaumont News.

By Mary Wells

Residents put sewing skills to good use for a worthy cause

Interesting things are always going on in the Thursday craft classes.

On September 19, Sharon Kelly and other residents created pillowcases for children in Philadelphia area hospitals, through the program Ryan’s Case for Smiles.

Founded in Wayne, Pennsylvania, this volunteer organization brings comfort and support to young patients and their families in hospitals around the globe by creating and distributing

whimsical pillowcases.

The pillowcases give children an emotional boost and remind them that they are not defined by their illness. Sewing machines, fabric, pins and all other supplies were provided, as well as instructions. Please contact Sharon Kelly to indicate your interest in participating in a future pillowcase party.

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Photos by Linda Madara and Mary Wells

1, 2. HERE'S HOW IT'S DONE. Sharon Kelly (in bright pink) with Barbara Pottish and Jean Bodine in the left photo and Ann Reed in the right.

3, 4, 5. BUSY VOLUNTEERS: Naomi Hooper . . . Marjorie Jenson . . . Virginia Rivers.

6. LADYBUGS GALORE help cheer hospital patient Raven Marie Wells, 6-year-old daughter of Human Resources Director Mary Wells.

Productive couple loves Beaumont’s warmth and welcoming manners

By Jean Homeier

When I spoke with Hedy and Joseph Elefritz, their extroverted puppy, Millie, was recovering from bladder stone surgery. Nevertheless, all three are settled and glad to be here.

Hedy graduated from The Philadelphia High School for Girls and entered the University of Pennsylvania College for Women. By attending summer school sessions at the University of Wisconsin and Cornell University, she was able to complete her bachelor’s degree at the age of 19.

Soon after graduation she married and had three children in a 27 month period!

They are today all living in Florida: two physician sons and a rancher-equestrian daughter who is also NEEDLEPOINT PEACE RUG was a a nurse. Hedy be gift to the United Nations from the Ameri- lieves her greatest

can Needlepoint Guild. It has 138 squares, achievement has

one nation in 1975, and is the for each ``` been raising three work of 133 women and five men.

loving and produc tive children.

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Hedy’s working career included Executive Secretary at Wyeth Laboratories, Director of Public Relations at Kewanee Oil Company and Manager of the Philadelphia Office of the Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania.

However, her proudest endeavor was chairing the Hospice and Home Care Foundation of Main Line Health, where she was influenial in starting Kimberly’s Korner, a safe place for children to cope with their grief following the loss of a parent or loved one.

Knitting and needlepoint are Hedy’s hobbies, and she was elected to provide one of the panels in the United Nations Peace Rug tapestry, which hangs in the lobby of U.N. Headquarters in New York.

Joe grew up in West Virginia and graduated from West Virginia University as an electrical engineer with a commission in the United States Air Force. For 20 years he was on active duty working in research and development of large-scale computer systems and networks. Midway through this period he earned an MBA in Industrial Management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

In 1979 he retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel and joined General Electric’s Space Division. This division was later acquired by Martin Marietta, which in turn was acquired by Lockheed and became Lockheed Martin.

Joe now spends his spare time reading history and biographies and is especially interested in the history of Europe between the two World Wars. He feels that important period set the stage for the political and cultural changes that have shaped the Western World.

Hedy and Joe both say they believe “The outstanding benefits of living at Beaumont are the people living here with their welcoming manner and personal interest in the well-being of others.”

Can’t draw a straight line? This artist specializes in odd angles and curves

farmhouse near Paoli in 1913, he became fascinated with wood. He began by carving picture frames, then carved flat pieces of wood to create woodblock prints. From there, he moved on to larger projects. The Wharton Esherick Museum reflects his fascination. Everywhere you look, you discover some whimsical wooden object: sculptures, decorative doors, furniture—often irregular in shape, but always beautifully finished.

The building itself is quite irregular (as are other buildings on the property). The three sections are different shapes, made of different materials, and built at different times. Inside, it’s like a playhouse—or, with all that wood, perhaps a tree house. It is modestly roomy, but irregularities make furnishing and storage a challenge.

Esherick embraced that challenge by eliminating legs from desks, cabinets and even his bed; instead, he used the space for drawers. The kitchen is like a ship’s galley, everything in built-in cabinets, hanging from beams or tucked into any convenient nook and cranny.

Trip Coordinator Louise Hughes escorted Beaumont residents to this amazing place on August 29. The docent who guided us was extremely knowledgeable about Esherick and his eccentric creativity. Visitors expressed many “oohs” and “aahs,” but no regrets.

By Richard Stephens and Lynn Ayres

What would you do with a spare mastodon tusk?

Or a couple dozen hammer handles (for a price you couldn’t refuse)? Or scrap lumber (free!)?

Wharton Esherick used the tusk as a handrail for spiral stairs he built onto a tree trunk; the hammer handles to make chairs; and the scrap lumber to create a floor reminiscent of stained glass, containing a semi-abstract image of a granddaughter.

These are all part of Esherick’s studio on the side of Valley Forge Mountain, where he lived and worked from the 1920s, building a studio/house to suit him, adding sections as he needed them. Visiting that house is like wandering through his quirky, free-ranging imagination, where coat-hanging pegs are sculptures of the people who helped build his house, and the counterweight for the trapdoor at the entrance to his upstairs bedroom is an abstract of his sister, who was always hanging around. Esherick’s motto was, “If it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing.”

He began as a painter, but after moving to a stone

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Photo by Jeremy Hylton

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CARVED DROP-FRONT 3 DESK: eye-catching outside, functional inside. Upper section is a writing desk with drawers and cubbies.

Photo by James Mario Lower section has slide-out shelves for art paper and prints.

PIÈCE DE RÉSISTANCE: The rustic spiral staircase gives the 1. ESHERICK’S WOODCUT house a fairy-tale atmosphere. shows the nearby octagonal Diamond Rock Schoolhouse that served as his first Steps on the right go to the bedroom; the shorter staircase on the left goes to studio. (Wharton Esherick Collection) 4 5 2. CORNER CABINET has swingthe kitchen. out doors and drawers Esherick added wood railings because 3. ECCENTRIC ARCHITECTURE: On the left, the former garage is now the visitor reception area. The blue visitors felt unsafe. The curvy, gray buildings have intentionally "unfinished" corners where walls do not meet at 90° angles. (Photo: Dave DeCaro, railing at the upper right is the davelandweb.com) mastodon tusk.

4. NO ARCHITECT, NO BLUEPRINTS: Esherick and friends constructed his studio-downstairs/bedroomupstairs house by "eyeballing" it. Later, tower sections on the right added a bathroom, kitchen and dining room with deck. (Photo: Lynn Ayres) 5. LEGLESS PLATFORM BED has drawers underneath for clothes. (Photo: Lynn Ayres)

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Why are hurricanes getting bigger, stronger, and more frequent?

hurricane results from the rotation of Earth.

The warm, moist air rises because it is less dense than cooler, drier air higher up. Why? Air expands when it is heated. That means the same number of molecules occupy a larger, roomier space and are less densely packed.

Also, warmer air can hold more water than cooler air, and moist air is less dense than dry air at the same temperature. This is because the water molecule (atomic weight 18) is lighter than molecules of the main components of air: oxygen (32) and nitrogen (28).

Therefore, the lower density of the warmer, moister air—due to the warmer ocean, which fuels the increase in hurricane strength—arises both directly, from the increased temperature of the air, and indirectly, from the increase in water content of the air, which is due to the higher temperature. This “double whammy” explains why small increases in water temperature can significantly increase the strength of hurricanes.

By Frank Kampas

The frequency of major hurricanes is increasing. From 1981-2010, the average number of major hurricanes per year was two. From 2010-2017, the average number has been three, which may not sound like much, but it’s a 50% increase.

This increase is attributed to the increase in the temperature of the oceans, due to climate change.

The average temperature in the Gulf of Mexico for the months of August through October has increased one to two degrees Fahrenheit in the last 40 years.

That doesn’t seem like a very large change. How can a small change in the water temperature result in an increase in the number of major hurricanes? To understand this, we need to look at how hurricanes form.

Warm, moist air over the ocean rises upward, cooling as it rises, forming the hurricane’s clouds. The rotation of the

Employee Health Fair offered information, products, ideas

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1. INSURANCE BENEFITS can include free creation of a will.

Jackie Holness, Health Center, and Mary Wells, Human Resources, take a look online.

2. CHAIR MASSAGE: Mike Bailey, Housekeeping, is ready to lean forward for a back and neck massage.

3. PET THERAPY: Longhaired guinea pig is the star of the rabbit and guinea pig display. Pets have a calming effect that can lower blood pressure.

4. QUESTIONS ARE ANSWERED by massage therapist Sharon Anderson (left). (Meanwhile, at the next table, Paul Conboy leans down to commune with the bunnies.)

5. VOUCHERS TO PURCHASE ITEMS were given to employees. Left to right; Amy Singh-Trecoske, Fitness Center, chooses a healthy snack from Tracey Vitable, Personal Care, and Bernadette Bevilacqua, Recreational Therapy.

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All photos by Linda Madara

HALLOWEEN continued from page 3 I retrieved eight voicemail messages, three of them the promised phone blasts. Noon: “Service is back.” Afternoon: “Oops, some service is out.” Dinnertime: “Now it’s back for real.”

It’s a real eye-opener to realize how much we depend on electronic devices and how lost we are without them.

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It was an unwelcome yet fitting event for Halloween: Trick and Treat. The seasonal goblins and ghouls (and electronic gremlins) managed to play a monstrous trick, perfectly timed for the witching hour. The treat? Our heat and lights were largely uninterrupted, thanks to the generators.

By Irene Borgogno

Beaumont’s first carnival welcomes fall—in more ways than one

The idea started with Caitlin Gardner, Paige Welby and Louise Hughes of Resident Services. They wanted something different to say goodbye to summer and hello to fall. Beaumont had never had a carnival. That would be different. And fun!

September 13 proved to be ideal—moderate temperature, not much sun—easy to stand around and do what was waiting to be done. (The dunk-tank volunteers—Paul Conboy, Michael Bailey and Marcus Taylor— were the only ones who thought otherwise.) The carnival had all the requirements: games (with prizes), strength-test, popcorn, cotton candy, water ice, funnel cakes, souvenirs.

A very, very tall man wandered about, greeting everyone, while a small band of three singers belted out country and soft rock. A food truck offered “Grilly Cheese” sandwiches (six different flavors). Residents, employees, guests—young and old —all had a delightful afternoon.

1. SPINNING PLATES: a new hobby for Caroline Kemmerer, Marsha Solmssen and Mary Schnabel 2. CARICATURIST sketches a portrait of Peggy Wolcott.

3. ENTERTAINMENT adds to the festival mood.

4. READY, SET, SPLASH! (Right) Paul Collacchi’s well-aimed pitch dumps Paul Conboy (left) into the water.

5. TALL, TALL MAN towers over Sonia Triester.

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Photos by Linda Madara, Lynn Ayres and Paige Welby

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It felt like being swept up in a whirlwind.

The excitement built.

Morningstar Studios places each singer/musician in his/her own tiny room with a glass window and door looking out at the conductor stationed in the middle of the central room.

MORNINGSTAR STUDIOS:

There are endless wires Alan Tripp and Evelyn Isom try to relax before they perform.

strung everywhere and more microphones than you can count.

The control room overlooks the entire area.

The master control (mixer) has endless slides that move up and down, increasing, decreasing and modifying the THIS MONSTER MIXER is the sound fed from every “live”

(open) mic into this huge master control of the music.

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electronic magician. Oops…! What happens if there is a wrong note? No big deal! The offender returns to the lessthan-perfect segment and re-sings or re-plays the few offending bars. The correct notes are spliced in over the error.

It’s easy.

Beaumont’s Marketing team, Articus, covered all phases of the project and will be sending releases nationwide along with Alan’s and Marv’s interviews. Who wouldn’t want to read the article: “102-YearOld Man Starts Music POTENTIAL BLOOPER REEL? Company!”

Wynlyn singer Sandy Crow shares a re Will Super hearsal video with singer-lyricist Senior Songs go viral?

Alan Tripp.

Excitement is building.

We are waiting with fingers crossed and toes tapping while humming the wonderful music of Tripp and Weisbord. I just can’t get it out of my head….