VOLUME TWENTY FOUR, NUMBER TWO
FEBRUARY 2010
Dollhouse finds a home By Mary Schnabel What is it that makes these things happen? Here we have a dollhouse, lovingly and painstakingly crafted and furnished by a group of Beaumont residents who donated it to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to be raffled off as a fund-raiser. Add to the mix the many admirers and yearners who bought tickets for the raffle, first to help the hospital and second in hopes of winning the prize. Then comes the storybook ending. The winning ticket was in the name of Espy Zelov, the 6½-year-old grandPhoto by Suzanne Zelov daughter of our own Josie Espy Zelov, granddaughter of Beaumont resident Josie Zelov, shows off the dollhouse built and furnished continued on page 8 by a team of Beaumonters.
Hearts, flowers, candy, and . . . By Rena Burstein
Holidays are generally periods of rest, which offer respite from work and usually include festivities. In many cultures, preparation for the festivity portion of the holiday means a considerable increase in special efforts and the planning of unique activities. A number of times I have found myself in a country or community which was celebrating a holiday I was not only unfamiliar with, but was totally unaware of until the shops closed and transportation schedules
became unpredictable. Those holidays became especially memorable, occupying a very treasured place in my memory bank related to travels abroad. However, one very ordinary and familiar holiday has achieved an indelible status of its own in my memory. It isn’t even a real holiday in that work doesn’t cease, schools don’t close, buses run on time, and parades seem inappropriate. A Valentine bouquet from Beaumont continued on page 8
resident artist Bobbi Rosen
Further, in their response they clearly designate the humans that they live with as their owners. There again, as I already noted in my original eloquent and highly articulate essay (Beaumont News, November 2009, Page 1)–not just a tawdry photo shoot–the people that we cats deign to live with only purport to be our owners, when in reality they are our factotums. Lastly, it strikes me that the complete absence of any text to go along with the photos might lead a reader to the conclusion that there is simply nothing of any material interest to say about these paparazzi pups. At any rate, to dispel any notion among small minds that I might be bigoted, I want to state for the record that one of my close friends is a dog. Yours, Truly
Dear Editor: Well, well; so the canines of Beaumont have responded (Beaumont News, January 2010, Pages 4 and 5). What a sorry lot. First of all the challenge of matching the “pooches” (a nonPC term which makes them sound like someone’s excessively worn and out-of date pocketbook) to their owners is a no-brainer, as it is often said that dogs and their Truly masters frequently look alike. Fortunately, we felines are far more individualized and do not suffer from this problem.
And speaking of cats . . .
With this issue, the News is cautiously opening its pages to 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:
Dear Editor: Here is an update on Beaumont’s feral kitties (Beaumont News, November 2009, Page 5). Mama and all five of her latest litter have been captured, vetted, and neutered at Beaumont’s expense. Paul Conboy of the maintenance staff has adopted one (he actually has three from this mother cat), and I have the remaining four as well as Mama at my house. It was decided not to release Mama because the vet said she was older and we found that she has no upper teeth. Plus, we decided she has had a hard enough life already and deserves to be warm and well fed now. She still hisses at me every day but is coming Leaving the wild along. The kittens tamed life behind, Francis, top, and Little Paul, settle in at Tracey Vitabile’s home. so easily and are wonderful. The Photo by Tracey Vitabile orange one in the picture is Francis, named for the patron saint of animals. The gray one is Little Paul, of course named for my daily partner in feeding and capturing and then adopting three of the kittens himself. I would like to mention the great work of Forgotten Cats, which provided the low-cost vet care for our cats and does so for thousands of others each year. We were so moved by the work they do, Beaumont LPN Marion Gardiner and I have started volunteering for them at their clinic. We’d also like to thank everyone for their help, interest, and concern for this little family. —Tracey Vitabile, RN, Personal Care Administrator at Beaumont.
1. Confine subject matter to articles that have appeared in the News, starting with the issue of March 2009, when the News resumed publication. (News issues are on file in the Library.) 2. Keep letters short. (“Short” is difficult to define, but the editors know it when they see it. They will work with you, if necessary, to achieve it.) 3. Sign your own name. 4. Try not to lose your temper with the editors. 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).
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
Managing Editor Production Editor Editor Emeritus and Historian New Residents Editor Medical Advisers Photo Editor Events Manager Proofreader
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Mary Graff Christine Johnson-Hall Louise Guthrie Jean Kirk Dr. Jay MacMoran Dr. Herbert Diamond Louise Hughes Kim Norrett Jennie Frankel
Catching up with new residents By Jean Kirk
Margaret (Peggy) Wolcott, a resident since September, grew up on a dairy farm in Chester County. She attended West Chester Friends School, Westtown Friends School, and the Kent Place boarding school in Summit, N.J. She graduated from Pine Manor Junior College, and for 55 years was married to Robert Wolcott, president of International Mill Services, a subsidiary of IU International of Philadelphia. While rearing a family, Peggy did a great deal of volunteer work and is still active in many of the organizations she has served over the years, Peggy Wolcott including the Women’s Board of Bryn Mawr Hospital, the Women’s Board of the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Church Farm School, and the Docent Board of the Philadelphia Zoo. An enthusiastic gardener and student of horticulture, she gives horticultural as well as animal tours at the zoo. She serves on the board of Jenkins Arboretum among other related activities both in the Philadelphia area and in Vero Beach, Florida, where she spends a good part of the winter. She has given up tennis, but still plays golf and bridge. She has two daughters, and a granddaughter in college. *
Alan Tripp
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Alan and Madelyn (Maggie) Tripp came to Beaumont in September from the Hermitage. Before settling in this area, they had lived in New York and California. Alan graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and Maggie from the University of Pennsylvania. Alan founded his own business, Product Resources International, and Maggie has taught Women’s Studies at New York and Temple universities and the New School for Social Research in New York. Both are published authors: Woman in the Year 2000 is one of Maggie’s books, and How to Turn Your Invention–or Someone Else’s–into a Fortune is one of Alan’s. Enthusiastic travelers and golfers, the Tripps travel to Long Lake, Maine, in the summer, and Long Boat Key, Florida, in the winter. They have a son, three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. *
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Having lived in this area for more than 50 years, Russell Hodges has long been familiar with Beaumont and has a number of friends Russell Hodges here, so it was not surprising–as well as a delight to his three daughters –when he moved here from Rosemont in November. We will have him only part time, however, as he has a home in Naples, Florida, where he spends six months in the winter and spring. Russell grew up on a farm north of Boston and graduated from St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was in the investment business with Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia. A long time member and a past president of the Engineers Club in Philadelphia, he also served on committees at the Saunders long-term care center in Wynnewood and the Church of the Saviour in Wayne. He enjoyed playing golf for many years at the Merion Golf Club and is an enthusiastic photographer. He has seven grandchildren.
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Maggie Tripp
Photos by Louise Hughes
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A tapir named Cecilia Recalling adventures across Peru By Hank Hallowell
Our story takes place some years ago, 1982 to be specific. We were on a birding expedition to Peru organized and run by Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, with two leaders and 10 participants. We had begun our trip in Lima and first explored the southwest coast, marveling at the vast variety of birds as well as the wonderful brandy the Peruvians produce there in the province of Pisco. When mixed with lime juice and sugar, it is known as a Pisco Sour. We then proceeded to the village of Tingo A full-grown tapir is featured in this file photo. Lowland tapirs live in the jungles of Maria, located at 4,000 feet in the Eastern South America. Other species live in Central America and Malaysia. Andes. We visited the national park and the Crossing the eastern slope of the Andes the landhuge oilbird caves as well as the famous, by birding scape changed from brown to green. The jungle is brostandards, Paty Trail, which seems to go straight up or ken by winding brown rivers (tributaries of the mighty down at a 45-degree slope depending on which direc- Amazon), reddish sandbars and oxbow lakes. We tion you are headed–very birdy, though! landed at the small frontier town of Puerto Maldonado, The next stop was Cuzco, high in the central Andes. located on a river named the Tambopata, a tributary of From there we explored the Urubamba Valley, birding the Amazon. as low as nearly sea level to 13,000 feet near the top From Puerto Maldonado it was a four-hour trip of a volcano named Veronica. (Fortunately I had pur- upstream by motorized dugout to the Explorer’s Inn in chased a large quantity of high altitude tablets, the Tambopata Nature Reserve. On the way we ate our Coramina Glucosa, which were consumed by all.) We lunch of sandwiches and a salad of small canned took the train from Cuzco to the fabulous and well- shrimp served on a half of a large fresh avocado. (We’ve never starved on birding trips.) We were given a small bottle of iodine solution and told to put two From Cuzco we took one of the drops per glass of liquid to purify it. The fumes turned most dramatic flights in the world. anything packed near it purple. Have you ever tasted orange juice mixed with iodine? It was quite a few Shortly after leaving Cuzco, we years before bottled water became popular. saw snow-capped peaks, glaciers, Meanwhile our leaders regaled us with stories of previous trips to the preserve. We were cautioned not to and deep-blue high Andean lakes. be alarmed when we saw two wild pigs (very dangerous) wandering around the compound–they were pets, apparknown Inca site named Machu Picchu. (All of the ently abandoned by their mothers when very young, one numerous photographs we have seen don’t live up to a white-lipped javelina called Olivia de Javelina, the other just being there. If you ever have the chance to go, a white-collared peccary named Gregory Peccary. And don’t turn it down.) yes, the bird life kept our binoculars busy. From Cuzco we took one of the most dramatic We eventually pulled into a mud bank, about 12 feet flights in the world. Shortly after leaving Cuzco, we saw tall. Steps had been carved into it, and we climbed up snow-capped peaks, glaciers, and deep-blue high and found ourselves in a sizable clearing that was Andean lakes. Soon below us was a brown world of surrounded by jungle, with a very large structure the high Andean plateau stretching to the south. continued on page 5
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From ladies’ room to Society Hill: A decorator’s tale By Cynthia W. Drayton
Beware of Mary Graff! I saw Mary in the lobby recently and she mentioned that she was looking for articles for the Beaumont News. She asked if I would write an article about my decorating. She ignored my protest that people might not be interested in decorating. She would not take no for an answer. So here it goes. My parents were both very interested in architecture, furniture, and decorative arts, etc., so I absorbed the interest. After taking art and architecture courses at Bennington, I landed my first job with an architect. I then worked for a color consultant making color charts, and later moved to New York and worked for Jim Thompson, Cynthia W. Drayton who imported silk from Thailand. The silks were breathtaking. It was a boutique shop and all the high-style decorators like Sister Parish and Billy Baldwin purchased their silks from us. We also supplied the silk for the costumes for the Broadway play “The King and I.” I married and returned to Philadelphia. In the early 1960s a friend approached me and suggested we start a decorating business together. I gulped but said OK and have been in business ever since. After a couple
of years my friend decided that it was too much work and she slowly faded out of the business. I started doing residential work, and then branched out into the commercial field. My first commercial job was the ladies’ room at the Academy of Music. I also decorated offices for doctors and lawyers, banks, insurance companies, and so forth. At one time, I was asked to decorate the offices of 23 surgeons. I remember some said, “Oh, just make it clean and neat,” where others wanted fancy improvements. Most of my residential design work was local, from Society Hill out to the suburbs, while I had scattered clients in Maine, New York, and Florida. In addition to commercial and residential design, I had the opportunity to work with local artists who designed and painted murals, wall decoration, and furniture. My residential clients prefer fairly traditional furnishings, not always true of the commercial side of the business. It’s fun when the client has beautiful furniture and paintings and allows me to decorate outside of the norm. Keeping in mind that the colors the client is attracted to, the client’s age, and being a good listener are factors also important to good design work. I have worked at Beaumont since it opened with unpaved roads in 1988, and have decorated more than 30 apartments and villas here since then, moving here myself in 2002. Fortunately I still enjoy my design career. It keeps the mind going.
Tapir named Cecilia . . . .
over the porch railing to dry. It seems Cecilia had a fondness for the white athletic socks most of us wore–she loved to chew them! Cecilia also enjoyed being scratched behind her ears. Even in the jungle we tried everything to avoid her, once going so far as trying to sneak out early one morning in the darkness without turning on the generator. To no avail! You would be standing looking through your binoculars at a bird in the treetops when you were goosed by Cecilia wanting you to notice her and scratch her behind the ears. Cecilia was amazingly quiet moving through the jungle. She was almost full grown (about 300 to 400 pounds), so you had to be careful to watch your feet so she would not step on them. We were almost accustomed to Cecilia by the time we departed after five days of fantastic birding. Cecilia was by the river waiting to tell us goodbye. We pulled into midstream to begin our journey home, after three weeks of birding in fascinating Peru, waving goodbye to Cecilia. P.S. You may wonder what became of Olivia de Javelina and Gregory Peccary. So did we until we tried to cut the meat served at dinner each night.
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topped by a conical roof (the dining hall and a social gathering place), surrounded by about eight small cabins with roofed front porches and walls made of saplings. The cabins each had two bedrooms and two baths with showers. The water was pumped from the muddy river and heated by the sun. Candlelight was the norm when it was dark, unless the generator was running, which occurred infrequently. Enter Cecilia the tapir. Tapirs have a long rubbery nose that forms a short trunk with which they grasp leaves, twigs, and other good things to eat. Cecilia was a Lowland or Brazilian tapir. Lowland tapirs live in the jungles of South America. Other species live in Central America and Malaysia. When full grown, they weigh up to 600 pounds and, with their short legs, are about 3 feet tall at the shoulder. They are herbivores. It was late afternoon when we arrived after a day of travel, and soon everyone was doing laundry (with binoculars at hand); everything including the whites was coming out muddy brown from the river water. Soon everyone was missing the socks they had put 5
Discovering the world of eBooks with Kindle By Margie Manlove
Recently at lunch with volunteers from the former Owl Book Shop, one friend whipped her Kindle out of her handbag to show me how it works. Not much bigger than an ordinary paperback, it can hold as many as 1,500 books! She showed me how easy it is to read, how she could order a book and have it a minute later, or if she wanted to see if she would like the book, she could get the first three chapters free to try it out. She was very Photo by Louise Hughes enthusiastic–but then, I thought, that’s Jean Kirk, Beaumont News new residents editor on the right, checking out a Kindle Barbara. with Mary Page. Some time later I learned my son-in-law had a Kindle. He got it because he had self-published interview, “What do you say to Kindle users who like to a book (Knowthis: Marketing Basics by Paul Christ) read in the bathtub?” His reply: “I’ll tell you what I do. I and wanted it on Kindle. He was getting his Wall take a one-gallon Ziploc bag and put my Kindle in my Street Journal on Kindle ($14.99 a month), which he one-gallon Ziploc bag, and it works beautifully. It’s found much more convenient. He let me listen as the much better than a physical book, because obviously Kindle read the Journal to me in a flat but clear voice. if you put your physical book in a Ziploc bag you can’t Beaumont residents Lillian Lefevre and Mary Page turn the pages. But with the Kindle you can just push enthusiastically told me about their Kindles. No longer the buttons.” (An informal survey of Beaumont’s electrical experts able to read standard print with comfort, they now read elicited the warning, “Just don’t try to plug it into the books, magazines and the newspapers on their wall to charge the battery while you’re in the tub!”) Kindles, as they can enlarge up to the usual large-print A Kindle is simple to use. Even the most computersize. By this time I realized the Kindle was more than a challenged should not have any trouble. A drawback is that the book you want to read may not be available on fad. Amazon’s Kindle is the first of several electronic Kindle. Through time this may become less of a problem, readers or eBooks. Barnes and Noble has the Nook, as titles are being added. Over 360,000 titles are now Sony has Daily Edition, and others are in development. available, including most best sellers. A few authors It could be very useful. So I looked up some facts. The have resisted Kindle, and some publishers are delaying original cost of a Kindle is quite high, $259, but each the release of Kindle editions to uphold the hard-cover book bought is usually just $9.99 (some classics are sales of best sellers. I am intrigued by the Kindle, but I am not yet rushing free). Newspapers and magazines are much less than to buy one. I think it will be further improved and come the print editions (Time $1.49 a month and the New down in price. As I watch my daily newspaper get Yorker $2.99 a month). There are no monthly charges. smaller and smaller, I wonder just when it will no There are page-turning buttons on both the right and longer be printed and be available in digital form only. left sides, so the left-handed are not inconvenienced. I do know that if or when I do my reading on an It can be read in bright sunlight without any glare. electronic reader, I will be saving a lot of trees. There is a built-in dictionary: press a button and the definition pops up. The battery lasts a long time (exact * * * time depends on use) between charges. (A copy of the Kindle manual is available in the Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, was asked in an Library for Beaumont News readers who would like to know more about the Kindle’s many functions, too IN MEMORIAM Mrs. Sarah L. Leary December 30, 2009 numerous to include here. The computer literate Members of the Beaumont Community extend should, of course, turn to Google for eBook comparisons deepest sympathy to her family and friends. and new developments. — Ed.) 6
DANCING IN THE NEW YEAR Starting in the top left photo are: George and Rosemary Nofer. Photo at to right: Edwin and Sophie Donaghy Jr.. Second line, left: Hap and Carolyn Aller. Second line, right: Bill and Mary Graff. Third line, left: Ed and Ann Wood. Right: Francis and Olive Gowen. Bottom line, at left: Marie Furlong and Herb Diamond. Photos by Rose-Marie Pringle
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Big green painting in Mansion explained By Peggy Mainwaring Reaction to the large green landscape painting on the hall wall near the mailboxes has been favorable. But, then, my fellow residents are not likely to say, “I really dislike that monster.” Common courtesy decrees saying something nice or keeping quiet–at least to Bruce or me. We acquired the painting just before we moved to Beaumont in 1998 at a show sponsored by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. American galleries from across the country were represented. This painting is of a scene in Tuscany, where we have visited several times. We thought it would provide a vista in Bruce’s proposed lower-level office. Painting of a scene familiar to travelers in Italy, leading the eye Artist Steven Bigler has had solo exhibitions throughout the deep into the Tuscan hills and beyond, provides a vista in the Midwest and California and has shown in many group exhibitions. Mansion hallway near the mailboxes. Last June we moved from our cozy villa to an apartment in Photo by Louise Hughes Baldwin. When we started to place the paintings, we realized that there was not enough wall space to accommodate all. So I asked Frank Boyer, our next-door neighbor, whether he would object to, or welcome, the painting if it were hung in our dead-end common hallway. He suggested it might be better to place it where more residents would see it. So then the House Committee and the Art Committee became involved, and voilà! There it hangs for all to see.
Dollhouse . . . .
an SUV from a neighbor, and, very carefully, the transfer was made. The dollhouse now has a wonderful new home nearby at Peter and Suzanne Zelov’s house on Spring Mill Road. It sits on a Lazy Susan in the family room, permitting it to be viewed from all angles without disturbing the furnishings. Actually, the story has two storybook endings. The hospital confirms that the total raised by the raffle amounted to $7,980! Is that a great story, or what?
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Zelov. Great excitement and congratulations followed at the Merion Cricket Club, where the “Boutique” raffle was held, followed in turn shortly by a reality check: The beautiful Victorian cottage Espy was to take home had to be just that, taken home! That very night! It wouldn’t fit in either Espy’s parents’ car or her grandmother’s. A quick call was made to commandeer
Hearts, flowers, candy . . . .
covered with multicolored sprinkles and a small paper cup filled with Hershey’s chocolate kisses. Sweet Valentine temptations, and a whiff of chocolate, were everywhere. Business ended, candy temptations were sated, mild chatter buzzed in the room. Then the ring of a telephone. An urgent call for me, from Cincinnati: “Rena, the twins have arrived! Boy, girl, and mother–all in good shape.” Eli and I had become Grandparents! It is a happy holiday to remember–every year on Valentine’s Day, with love. Happy Valentine’s Day!
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It was February 14, 1989. A brisk day; fortunately no snow or other weather issues to disrupt the usual functions of a mid-February day. Shop windows were filled with heart-shaped decorations of all sorts. Flowers appeared on street corners otherwise quite barren. Love was in the air. It was Valentine’s Day, after all. I spent the early part of the day preparing for a Board meeting of the Counseling Association of Greater Philadelphia. For the meeting each place at the conference table was set with a red and white cupcake
The deadline for the March 2010 issue of the Beaumont News is February 7. Please sign your story and either turn it in at the front desk or e-mail it to Mary Graff at graffs@msn.com and mgraff@beaumontretirement.com. Contributions, suggestions, and comments from all are welcome and necessary for our success. The editors reserve the right to edit all copy in keeping with News standards. HOW TO GET A COLOR COPY OR LARGE PRINT EDITION OF BEAUMONT NEWS To get a color copy go to our website, www.beaumontretirement.com, click Skip Intro at the bottom of the page, then click Read this month’s newsletter, and print. If you would like to receive the News in large print, please leave your name at the desk in the front lobby. A copy will be placed in your in-house mailbox. 8