COVERS processed by Caroline Persell, Photo Editor
Front cover: Pam Mitchell chose the Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse as the subject for her first-ever KV cover.
Inside front cover of a looming spring storm is by Harry Bloomfeld
Inside back cover: A very-new resident, Amanda Slattery, submitted this shot of a Kendal sunrise.
Back cover: The sensuous branches of a Rockwood Preserve tree were captured by Carolyn Reiss.
All inside photos (unless otherwise specified) were taken by Harry Bloomfeld.
KENDAL VIEW STAFF
Editors
Llyn Clague and Pat Taylor
Managing Editor Hubert B. Herring
Editorial Staff
Laura Burkhardt, Doris Eder, Muriel Fox, Christopher Hallowell, Edith Litt, Norman Sissman, Valerie Wolzien
Photography Editors
Harry Bloomfeld, Joe Bruno, Caroline Persell
Advertising
Emil Bahary, Peter Roggemann, Ad Directors
Carolyn Klinger, Coordinator
Let Us Celebrate Together
By Jean Eccleston, CEO
Twenty years ago, a vision was brought to life along the stunning banks of the Hudson River, creating a place where residents could thrive, learn, and grow together. As we celebrate two decades of achievement and connection, we honor the strong foundation on which our vibrant community was built, while looking toward an even brighter future.
Kendal on Hudson’s rich history is a testament to the dedication and passion that shaped a community unlike any other. From its very first foundation stone, Kendal was designed to foster connection and enrichment. It has been more than a place to live; it has been a home where friendships flourish, lifelong learning thrives, and residents continue to make meaningful contributions through their unique talents and passions.
This milestone anniversary provides an opportunity to celebrate all that our community has accomplished, while also ushering in an exciting new chapter. With the Commons Refresh initiative about to begin, we are focused on enhancing the experience for both current residents and future generations who will call Kendal on Hudson home. We are committed to building on our legacy and creating new opportunities to shine through the exceptional amenities and services we provide.
It is my great pleasure and honor to serve both our residents and employees. And I genuinely appreciate the Residents Council’s active role in planning activities and events as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of this wonderful community. . . together.
Welcome to Our New CFO
By Muriel Fox
Our CFO is obviously a people person – lucky us!
When we enthusiastically promoted our Chief Financial Officer, Jean Eccleston, to the job of CEO of Kendal on Hudson, we hoped Jean could find a truly capable CFO to replace her. Well, she did! Carmela Carino, our new CFO, brings to the job not only vast financial experience but also the empathy and caring attitude that make Jean Eccleston a unique officer.
Carmela muses: “My journey led me here. Everything I’ve done prepared me for this job,” Most recently she worked in the Bronx for renowned Calvary Hospital, which provides palliative end-oflife care for terminally ill patients. Carmela served as their Director of Finance and Assistant Treasurer. Her earlier career includes work as Assistant Controller of the Montefiore Medical Center and work at the accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP and the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services.
Carmela joins Jean in assuring residents that KoH’s financial position is strong. “We exceed our financial benchmarks. We have more than one thousand days of cash on hand. And we exceed our debt service coverage ratio. Our waitlist includes more than 200 prospective residents. Our rating agency places us in the top 10% of all CCRCs in the U.S.” Carmela has been preparing diligently for KoH’s bond offering of $20 million to finance the debt for our Commons Refresh renovations.
I asked Carmela if she frequently encounters Jean Eccleston, as our former CFO, looking over her shoulder. “No, Jean is easy to work with. She’s warm and kind and a great role model for women everywhere. I feel so lucky to have her as a resource.”
Carmela strives to follow in Jean’s footsteps as a compassionate, understanding helper for residents. Carmela’s financial advice extends not only to current residents but also to prospective residents who wonder if they can afford to live here. She counsels residents with their Lifetime Care decisions. To cite one example: At the time I interviewed her, she was helping a resident with questions about her husband’s move from Independent Living into Sunnyside.
Carmela’s Italian upbringing in the Bronx was traditional, with her mother at home and her father a construction worker. She attended the all-girls St. Barnabas High School, combining her senior year with a freshman year at the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Then a double B.S. in Finance and Management at Fordham University. Cum laude. She attended Fordham graduate school at night for an M.B.A. degree while also working full-time in the accounting department of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield. Both parents encouraged Carmela and her sister (and brother) to pursue strong educations and professional careers. Her father urged, “Keep going!”
Carmela is married and has two children. Fortunately, her mother and father helped care for her children while she worked. Her daughter, age 23, is entering graduate school, studying theology; her 18-year-old son will be entering college in the fall. The four of them have dinner together every night. Carmela does the cooking and her husband cleans up. (He cooks when there’s a barbecue.)
Does she have time for any hobbies? Carmela says her favorite interest is cooking. She also enjoys “diverse music.”
While following a traditional home life, Carmela has always been a feminist. “It’s a natural way of life.” She quotes Gloria Steinem: “Why not?”
Carmela’s commute from the Bronx to KoH takes only 30 minutes in “reverse traffic.” She believes this job is her destiny. “I love the strong sense of community at Kendal, which includes the staff as well as the residents…I like to hear residents’ stories. What brought them here? Everyone’s life is so interesting.”
Carmela feels a special obligation to help the people who live here. “We’re working in your home.”
Kendal View Reflections
By Pat Doyle, Former CEO
My thanks to the editors for inviting me to add my memories to this celebration of KoH’s 20th anniversary.
As I write this (in early March), I recall that almost exactly 20 years ago to the day, the small early-hire staff moved from the trailer in Phelps’ parking lot to the Mary Powell building. We were sixty days out from opening and the manifestation of a community of residents, staff, management and board that had been coalescing for almost two years through the Community Connections Committee of Founders and on-going interactions with the growing staff as we planned for opening and move-in. (I remember those chilly pre-opening meetings at the Purchase Meeting House – one was in a snowstorm as I recall!)
What defined that period (and for me is the essence of Kendal ) was the shared commitment to our value system rooted in Quaker practices and our shared commitment to collaborative practices.
As a non-Quaker charged to lead the new community, I was inspired by principles and practices that were not “standard operating procedure” in other life care communities I knew.
Those Quaker “SPICES” – the commitment to simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship that underlie Quaker faith and practice – created an atmosphere of mutual respect that weathered us through all manner of challenges and allowed us all to trust in the process and the outcome.
Coupled with the craziness of 222 move-ins, mostly during the blistering heat of summer 2005, we shared the joys of bringing alive all our plans and dreams. Resident committees became real, the first Council was seated, the tradition of our Fireside Chats began, we managed to complete the oh-so-difficult exercise of licensing and opening a health center that didn’t fit neatly into New York State’s clinical models, we hired and trained over 100 people, we dealt with a flood in Clermont, a property-wide power outage (and found out the hard way that the automatic toilets in Mary Powell were NOT on the generator), and a fire alarm system that seemed to have a life of its own!
And through it all, we built an extraordinary community, which has continued to grow and renew itself for 20 years. As Kendal enters its third decade, I remain grateful for all my 15 years at KoH taught me and gave me. Congratulations – and Godspeed.
Notes From the Fifth Anniversary Talk
By Gay Berger
Five years ago, the first of us moved into what was essentially stlll a work-in-progress. Just look at us today. What do I remember about the years of planning it took to get here? The site. It took many, many months of searching for a suitably large flat site. Finally, we looked at some land belonging to Phelps. Yes, the river view was fabulous. But the plot was small, hilly and rocky. There was also another challenge: the need for blasting immediately adjacent to a hospital. But we managed that, too, and a road was built. The Village of Sleepy Hollow was very thorough and demanding, and I attended every Trustees meeting for 18 months. Then there was the architect. We were hard to please. We had a definite idea of what we wanted: the operative words were compact and beautiful. When they came up with approximately the design we then built, I wept. But the finances always scared me. The numbers were so huge. I remember one afternoon signing document after document to sell our bonds (junk bonds, actually). I think that Kendal has five very big advantages: The Hudson River. Rockwood Hall Park. Phelps Hospital. Incredibly interesting residents. And the caring, competent staff who help make life here the pleasure it is.
Editor’s Note: Source is Gay’s article reprinted from the September/October 2019 issue of Kendal View.
Andron Construction was responsible for building Kendal, starting in June 2003 and concluding in the spring of 2005. Official opening was May 9, 2005.
KoH From Concept to Realization 1994 - 2005
By Pat Taylor
Building a $150 million, 600,000 square-foot Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) for some 350 residents on 20 acres of scenic land overlooking the Hudson River was no small feat. And it took time: nearly a dozen years of research and planning by potential residents went into the mix that resulted in today’s Kendal on Hudson.
The idea started when members of the Purchase Friends Meeting were planning a trip to a Quaker-run CCRC outside of Philadelphia. A pertinent question was raised: “Why not retire in Westchester?” And an immediate response came: Let’s form a committee.
Calling itself the Study Group for Retirement Alternatives (SGRA), the group’s first effort involved finding a developer and ultimately getting the cooperation of the Kendal Corporation. This Pennsylvania-based nonprofit group, a separate Quaker entity with its own Board of Directors, has as its purpose the development and support of retirement communities. They now have 10 affiliates, including those in Ithaca, NY, Hanover, NH, Oberlin, OH, Lexington, VA, and Healdsburg, CA. An appealing element to the Kendal Corporation was the sophistication of the SGRA committee, combining as it did a world-renowned architect/ engineer (Horst Berger); a lawyer/banker (Jim Oltman); the founder of the intensive-care concept in medicine (John Kinney); insurance experts (Jim Wood and David Swartz); and a host of other very bright people. However, there was a major obstacle to overcome before the Kendal Corporation could consider the SGRA plan viable. It was that the Corporation‘s experience had mainly involved building on wide-open flat terrain with very large acreage. (Ithaca, for example, covers 105 acres.) To find such available terrain/acreage in populous Westchester turned out to be impossible. But the determined SGRA was able to convince the Kendal Corporation that their idea was indeed feasible, and the Corporation began providing the needed back-up and expertise, including naming a Project Director, David Jones, to work with the SGRA over what became the very long span of nearly 12 years before KoH was completed. With the assurance that they could become a Kendal Corporation affiliate, the SGRA formed groups to look for a place to build. In all, 130 trips were made to various locations with no success.
As it happened, future residents Twink and Jim Wood, members of the Site Committee, were good friends with Maarten van Hengel, then Chair of the Board of Phelps Memorial Hospital. In a telephone conversation one evening, the subject of the unused land west of Phelps came up, along with several attendant problems: the available area was much too small, it was totally inaccessible, and it was not for sale. After SGRA meetings with Phelps, the Kendal Corporation was persuaded that the problem of size could be handled by an imaginative architect and an entrance road could be blasted through the rocks. Phelps insisted on a leasing arrangement rather than purchase of the land. When Gay Berger and Jim Oltman signed the lease agreement with Phelps, they were too exhausted for a celebratory glass of
champagne and could only wearily ask . . . “What’s next?”
Next was another huge project: finding the right architect. By 1996, a site feasibility study was completed, The following year, a committee headed by Horst Berger started interviewing firms, narrowing the field from six to three. Each was paid a $10,000 designer fee. Not surprisingly, the SGRA committee had very definite ideas about what they wanted: a complex that was compact and as simple as a Quaker structure, efficient but very comfortable to live in. Perkins Eastman Architects, located in New York City, was selected. In the next 18 months, SGRA members, led by Gay Berger, attended meeting after meeting of the Trustees of the Village of Sleepy Hollow, as well as those of Village sub-committees. Two meetings open to the public were also held, one made memorable by the impassioned speech by current resident Jane Beers on why she wanted to stay in the community of Sleepy Hollow, where she had lived since 1959.
Finally, approvals from all 29 granting agencies were obtained, including those from various New York State Departments of Insurance and Health. Loans from SGRA members had begun the seed money that partly paid for expenses thus far. Kendal Corporation was willing to forego payment until permanent financing had been obtained, but now there was a need for a huge sum of money so that the project could be announced, the design started, and a marketing staff hired.
Gay and Jim spent a whole afternoon in a lawyer’s office signing document after document involved in the sale of bonds through the Westchester County Industrial Development Corporation. These bonds, considered junk bonds and therefore riskier, were offered at a higher rate than was the case at the time and were immediately snapped up by prospective residents and by residents of other Kendal affiliates.
Through the 11 years that it took to build KoH, there were uncountable meetings held at the Purchase Meeting House and the Unitarian Church in Hastings, in private homes and at the James House, as well as in public meeting spaces. Other residents of the Rivertowns, Connecticut, and New York City came to these meetings as word spread about the KoH project through local newspapers and word of-mouth.
The ground-breaking ceremony took place on June 2, 2003. In the two years before the official opening of KoH on May 9, 2005, planning for a community with a definite future began: committees were formed, bylaws worked on, an interim Residents Council started, and efforts intensified by a hard-driving Marketing Department that had already obtained commitments for 70% of the apartments before permanent financing was achieved. It is indeed fortunate that so many of our Founders have been available through the years to share their experiences with us. They built well - and they continue to enrich our daily lives with the courage, intelligence, and tenacity with which they invented this amazing place.
Editor’s Note: This article, with some changes, was reprinted from the May/June 2016 issue of Kendal View.
Five Founders
By Valerie Wolzien
They moved in when the buildings were unfinished. Some balconies in Alida were unusable because railings had yet to be delivered and installed. Poor signage on campus meant moving vans could not find their destination. Dining options were limited as some of the catering staff had yet to be hired. There were no committees, no classes, no trips. But that situation wouldn’t last.
These were the people who came to Kendal on Hudson to create the community we enjoy. These were Founders, and in this article we are meeting five of them.
Annette Leyden and her husband, Stanley, were our second residents, moving into Mary Powell on the day it opened early in May 2005. Without signs on the buildings, their moving van got lost. Stanley had Parkinson’s, but he couldn’t move into Clearwater until Kendal’s skilled nursing paperwork was completed in Albany.
Once her husband was settled, Annette joined other residents working outside the nursing floor to create what is now known as the Healing Garden. Back then, she says, it was a “mud hole.” Over the next few years, residents laid out the garden, transplanted plants from their former homes, and augmented this joint Administration-resident project with their own purchases. Annette bought the peonies she loves.
With few signs and continuing construction, it was a confusing time for the dozens of new residents. But they had help from residents of other Kendal communities who visited Sleepy Hollow, and from each other. They made friends quite quickly, Annette says. Staffing shortages meant everyone ate in the Bistro, and that meant everyone socialized every day. This was made easier by a booklet given to each resident which identified everybody— names and faces. Annette still has her copy.
While Annette’s movers couldn’t locate Kendal on Hudson, Betty Albertson realized new residents were having trouble finding their way about inside the buildings. So Betty began to offer walking tours for new arrivals, hoping to help them navigate the confusing hallways of the campus. She found time to paint again, and her vibrant oil paintings joined those of many other residents and famous artists to begin the collection of several hundred pieces of art that grace the hallways today.
Sue Adel
Valerie Wallace
Norman Sissman
Annette Leyden
Betty Albertson
Bob Albertson was a birthright Quaker. Their move-in number was 45. It was Kendal’s Quaker values that convinced them to sign up when the community was merely a hole in the ground. Bob continued working for six years as a money manager, commuting to White Plains. They joined the many new residents who continued their careers after moving in.
Like Annette, Betty talks about the cohesion of the Kendal community in the early years when most new residents were around the same age. They socialized in their new homes, curious about each other’s apartments. And if an activity wasn’t available, they created it. Betty wanted to play bridge, so she started a bridge group. But she also wanted to get to know the community of Sleepy Hollow outside Kendal. She had done volunteer work at hospitals in the past, so she volunteered at Phelps, still a small community hospital back then.
Valerie Wallace wasn’t allowed to stand or put plants on her deck for three months after moving into Alida because her balcony doors were sealed off until the railings arrived. But despite the opening bumps, she says, “I do appreciate all the work that went into the planning ten years before we even heard about this place.”
For Valerie, who had lived in a home located at a dead end in Chappaqua, the surprise at Kendal was meeting more residents in one day than she would see in a whole week up north. And at Kendal on Hudson there were many activities. She chaired an election committee, worked on The Common Area Furnishings and Art (CAFA) committee, and after helping stock the paperback carousels in all the lobbies, she is now helping to add large-print books to each collection.
Kendal Crosslands was a lot closer to Norman and Charlotte Sissman’s home in Princeton than Sleepy Hollow, but Crosslands had a two-year waiting list...and what was to become Kendal on Hudson was a lot closer to all the theatre and music they loved in New York City. It was an easy choice. They were also invited to attend monthly meetings in the private homes of the small group of original Founders, as well as at the James House, where a schedule of move-in dates was created to guarantee an orderly entrance for all.
Norman was a founding member of the Interim Residents Council during Kendal’s first year and one of the three organizers/directors of the Co-Pilot program, initiated after a resident found herself alone in the emergency room. He was an early facilitator of the Poetry Reading Group and, along with the many other hikers living at Kendal, walked regularly in Rockefeller Preserve. All those new activities needed a point of coordination, so Spotlight was created before the first year was over. And there was Kendal View, then a monthly magazine. Norman became a regular contributor with his popular column, “Overheard in the Bistro.” It ran in every issue for 16 years. Norman was also the magazine’s editor for many years.
Suzanne Adel and her husband, Harold, took one look at the plans for Kendal and signed up when it was a construction zone and potential residents weren’t allowed on site. When they finally arrived, they loved their apartment...and immediately left for a vacation in Europe. That was the beginning of another Kendal tradition, with many residents traveling the world and returning to their new home to share stories.
Our Founders were in a unique position. Everyone was new, and so much needed to be done. There was a small room filled with boxes and overflowing bags of books waiting to become Kendal’s first library. Suzanne had taught library skills in New Rochelle schools, and along with five trained librarians, they got busy. They sorted, they cataloged, and they shelved. They thanked residents for books the library needed, and explained to others that there was no place for duplicates. Years later, the Kendal Library is a special place where a team of volunteers works to keep order and fulfill residents’ literary needs.
Now 20 years in, the five Founders have many different opinions. But they also have a lot of views in common. They are all concerned about how the national shortages of medical staff might impact Kendal on Hudson. They appreciate the current senior management of Kendal on Hudson after some rough years early in this decade. They give high marks to the professionalism of the resident services and operations teams. And, most importantly, all are not just happy, but thankful that Kendal on Hudson is where they wound up. Let them speak for themselves:
“We’re so lucky to have found Kendal because CCCRs were so rare then. I really get emotional every time I think about the luck involved in finding it. I never would have imagined the connections that could be made. Our lives can broaden in ways we never knew.”– Suzanne Adel
“We still have the same spirit of camaraderie and we still run our own affairs. I’m very happy here. I think moving to Kendal is one of the best things my wife and I did.”– Norman Sissman
“I love living here. I love the proximity to the park. And I think that’s an advantage. You don’t have to get in your car to take a beautiful walk.”–Valerie Wallace
“As a Jew, I would hope that a lot of the Quaker principles won’t fade away...and I think that whole philosophy is good for everybody.” –Annette Leyden
“My husband was in Clearwater for the last three months of his life, which was wonderful. I could go and visit him several times a day. I didn’t have to get in the car and drive to a place. It was a godsend.”–Betty Albertson
A Preview of Special Events for Our 20th Anniversary
You will be sent complete details later, but here is a list of events we will enjoy together:
May 9: Cocktail Party
May 12 and 19: KoH History Videos
May 18: Concert and Reception
May 19: Tree Planting, Time Capsule
May 21: Sit-Down Dinner
May 28: Staff Event
From Trailer to Resident
By Fran Kelly
On a cold February morning in 2003, I stepped into the space I would occupy for the next 29 months as Kendal on Hudson’s marketing assistant.
Having spent years in the expansive headquarters of such giants as General Electric and IBM, here I was in my new home – a double-sided trailer on the west side of the Phelps Hospital property. We did not call it a “trailer”; it was our “mobile marketing office.” Occasionally the pipes froze or some critter got caught in the crawl space; but it turned out to be a warm, friendly, comfortable place to work.
On my first day, Terri Minervini, then Assistant Marketing Director, gave me a 5-minute tour. When we opened a file drawer, one name popped out at me — Fran Keegan. Fran and I went back a long way but had not been in touch in a few years. We both graduated from Good Counsel College in White Plains. In 1975, our college merged with Pace University. Fran and I were invited to join the Pace Board of Trustees; she eventually was named Pace’s Vice President for Communications. Fran had been on Kendal’s waiting list for many years; she could not wait for groundbreaking and the eventual opening.
The folks from Kendal Corporation in Kennett Square, PA, were extremely supportive of our tiny staff. We worked closely with Kendal Corp’s VP of Marketing, taking the Kendal on Hudson story to audiences in New York City and Westchester County. Kendal Founders such as Jane Beers, Joan and Jim Oltman, Gay and Horst Berger, Jackie and Hubie Wilke, and Susan and Bill Lichten were frequent visitors to our office, making plans that would benefit the future KoH community.
We welcomed many interested folks who wanted to know more about the future CCRC in Sleepy Hollow. The architectural rendering, now located on the Mary Powell balcony, along with floor plans for the 30-plus apartment varieties, were all we had to show prospective residents.
Groundbreaking took place on June 2, 2003, at the James House. It was an exciting event involving the County Executive, the President and CEO of Kendal Corporation, the Village of Sleepy Hollow Mayor and the Chair of Phelps Memorial Hospital Center, along with many future residents. A Proclamation designed for the occasion stated: “This community embodies the dreams and hard work of many people.” The document, signed by many founding residents, can be found on the wall outside the Administrative suite on Level C.
One day, Terri suggested that I consider moving to Kendal. After some thought, I agreed with her and selected Apartment 4120, which has been my home for almost 20 years. My Prospects saw Fran in her “offfce”
apartment was just two doors away from my friend Fran Keegan. After opening, she and I enjoyed two trips to Europe together and worked on the Education Committee as colleagues.
In September 2003, Pat Doyle came on board as the first Executive Director. After that, things moved swiftly. Terri Minervini was promoted to Director of Marketing and Public Relations. Laurie Ann Livingstone was hired to assist residents with the selection of apartment options. Founder-directed committees under the supervision of a Community Connections Committee were meeting, planning, sending out surveys, and moving forward to shape future resident life. Senior staff members were recruited to head up health services, finance, human resources, facilities, and dining.
Finally, on May 9, 2005, Kendal on Hudson welcomed its first residents. In June, the trailer was closed, and we moved into space adjacent to the Mary Powell lobby. After almost twoand-a-half years, it was time for me to retire and become a Kendal resident. But I soon found that “retirement” is not a word in Kendal’s vocabulary. The vibrant life here is sustained by residents who are eager to participate and contribute, fostering our dynamic environment where everyone plays a vital role. I am happy to be among them.
A Big Move Circa 2021
By Marianne Bloomfeld
The hardest thing about moving to Kendal was … . everything. The only easy thing was deciding to move here. Harry and I explored our options in 2019, eliminating senior communities that were too large or too small, in the planning stage, or where Bingo was a featured activity. We discovered Kendal and added our name to the wait-list in January 2020. Then the pandemic brought our plans to an immediate and complete halt. We “aged in place” for another year-and-a-half until our move to Kendal in September 2021.
There was plenty of time to decide the fate of our possessions—keep, toss, donate, sell— although not knowing the floor plan of our future apartment made it challenging. Having lived in our house for 52 years, we had a noteworthy accumulation of stuff, despite considering ourselves minimalists. We wish we had known about the Give-and-Take Table beforehand.
Moving to Kendal at a time when pandemic restrictions were being relaxed was like a rebirth. We learned to recognize masked faces and to pretend to remember names without looking at name tags. We are still learning to moderate our ice cream consumption. But we knew before we came to Kendal that we had made the right decision, and getting to know the amazing people here has confirmed that.
Editor’s Note: Repinted from the May/June 2022 issue of Kendal View.
Coming of Age
By Llyn Clague
It’s what you do in your eighty-nineties, in the fragilities of those few who stumble over the slim jamb into a personal new century.
In the teens? Bah. Hardly weaned, acne-ed, pimply, chicken-breasted, you’re barely out of your parents’ barn, pecking in the yard, beating your wings at fences.
In the twenties? New love shimmers before your eyes, and may (dear God) not be a mirage. In your April, winter birds north, rains immerse your green imagination.
In the thirties and forties? Wrenched backward, into babydom, childdom, soccer games, dance lessons, or (or and) the mad humdrum career busy-ness, and maybe the volcano of divorce, and re-search.
At 50? Barely at the edge –tinting your hair, timing your reps, pretending you’re still young (“at heart”); at 70, a newby, new knee, still trying to hedge as the row of bottles of pills stretches….
Of age, when you, looking back, sideways, forward, and, finally, out into life, life you love, you come to accept it will be without you, without bitterness.
New Residents Are Kendal’s Future
By Philip Monteleoni
Carol and I came to Kendal on Hudson in December 2023, after an active life with varied careers. Carol grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, then high school in Toledo, Ohio, and college at Radcliffe, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I was born in Padua, Italy, and came to the US as a six-year-old, with my parents, settling in New York City. All my schooling was in this country, with college at Harvard and graduate school in Architecture at Yale. In New Haven I met Carol, and we both settled in New York, married, and began to raise a family.
I worked as an architect, while Carol stayed home to raise two children, Claire and Paul. She eventually studied Language and Speech Pathology, and obtained her Master’s Degree from Hunter College. She then worked full time at Lenox Hill Hospital, dealing with speech, language, and swallowing issues, primarily with inpatients. As an architect, I focused on hospital design, seeking to make the environments as stress-free and healing as possible for patients, relatives and staff. After a rewarding career with major projects in the US and abroad, I retired at age 65, and Carol followed suit.
In retirement, we moved up to a weekend house we had designed and built in the lower Catskills, near Woodstock, New Paltz and Kingston, which became our full-time home. There I turned to marble sculpture and guitar playing, while Carol took up painting, crafts, singing and gardening.
Eventually, we discussed our future plans for senior care. We wanted a continuing care facility, a model committed to a healthy lifestyle, a location nearer our grandchildren, easy access to friends and culture in New York City, and access to outdoor nature walks.
Carol had known about the Kendal philosophy, having gone for eight years to a Quaker values summer camp in Vermont. She also had a friend who worked at the Kendal in NH and others whose parents were residents at a Kendal in PA. While working on a project at Phelps Hospital, I saw Kendal on Hudson being built next door. We also had very good friends in Tarrytown who encouraged us to place the small deposit into Kendal that secured a place on the Kendal waiting list. They, too, have now moved in here.
When Carol and I toured the facility as prospective residents, we were wonderfully impressed by the welcoming design environment, and particularly by the profusion of art on the walls of every corridor. The elegance and warmth of the entrance lobby and library appealed to us, as did the spacious art rooms, and the stunning river views from so many locations. We loved the exterior design of the entire complex, with changes of size, scale, color and architectural
The Montelionis enjoy their retirement to the hilt
features and details, plus the rich and attractive landscaping. On another visit I saw that Fran Kelly, whom I know from my previous career, was a resident. All the stars seemed to align for Kendal! Perhaps rashly, we did not even feel the need to research other CCRCs.
In 2023, we decided to tell Kendal that we were ready to look at apartments and commit to moving. The months of May through December were a whirlwind of greatly downsizing our possessions and preparing our house for sale. In early fall, we were shown a handful of apartments. One that met our space and budget requirements stood out from the rest, for its dramatic Hudson River views. Having made our choice, we were shown a full selection of cabinet and interior finish options, since Kendal routinely totally renovates an apartment when it changes hands. In December 2023 we moved in and began to unpack.
We found it surprisingly easy to insert ourselves into the existing community of 300 residents. Dinner arrangements in the Bistro encourage sitting at any table, whether partly occupied or not, and being welcomed with eager attention. Carol and I were equally curious about our tablemates, and each encounter impressed us with the quality and range of life experiences the residents embodied. So many nice, welcoming, smart, talented, and friendly people!
We soon found ourselves invited to sample many of the activities that exist at Kendal. Although we were warned to not overcommit at the beginning, we quickly became happily busy, much busier than we had ever been in our “first” retirement at our Catskill house.
Carol found a role in Kendal’s Tuesday Morning Club (TMC), an activity where Independent Living volunteers provide two hours of crafts, games, and music for Assisted Living residents. Over time, she assumed organizational and creative leadership of the TMC. By the same token, my love of guitar and singing first brought me to assist the music leader at the singalong segment of the TMC, and eventually to inherit that function, which I happily chair for the last half hour of the weekly event.
We were also drawn to arts and craft activities. I joined the Art Committee while Carol produced a continuous stream of felt animals and fabric items for fundraising sales for the arts and the TMC. She joined the handbells ensemble and attends a variety of movement classes including Pilates, Zumba, and Stretch-and-Balance. She frequently walks in Rockwood Park and on nearby streets. Both Carol and I utilize the art room for painting, printmaking, and other projects.
I also learned that the coordinator of the volunteer Co-Pilot program was approaching the end of her three-year term and decided to assume that responsibility, which manages the 50 or so volunteers who every month take 12-hour shifts, day and night, to be ready to accompany and stay with a resident who has to go to the Phelps Emergency room.
At the end of each day, Carol and I need to check our calendars for the next day’s commitments, which we must not miss! These range from a play-reading group, a musical performance on stage, a trip with others to a nearby point of interest, an art show opening, or any number of FDR dining invitations we receive or give out. The pleasant whirlwind never stops!
Dentistry, as with other health services, is rapidly changing. Technology is constantly improving, allowing us to deliver quality care in less time and with less stress. Most importantly though, dentistry is still an art as well as a science. As a health service, the patient care is provided not only by the doctor, but by the entire office staff. Dentistry as a health service means properly placed restorations and courteously answered phones. Rapidly changing technology will not change this philosophy of service.
• Both Large and Small Chapels And we are Centrally Located
• 5-Star Google Rated Business
Reduce stress...PrePlan today
Walk-Ins Welcome
We are Available 24 hours a day. You will always be handled by our family & staff. We fully support Kendal on Hudson.
Enrico Hair Care, Inc.
Enrico Hair Care, Inc.
Yolanda is available for pedicure by appointment
Mondays -
Wednesday
Enrico cuts and styles and Tatiana consults on color
KIm does hair color/cut and styling
Wednesdays
Hairstyling by Kim
Friday
Wednesdays through FridaysMaria does manicures
Maria does manicure and waxing
Sandra does hair color/cut and styling
Thursday and FridaysHairstyling by Toni
Saturday
Fridays -
Enrico does hair color/cut and styling
Christina does pedicures, manicures and hair.
Call for appointments 914-523-6382 or 914-922-1057
Call for appointments 523-6382 or 922-1057
FYO Accounting & Tax Services
• In-home service
914-962-5475
• Tax Preparation & Planning
• Bookkeeping
• Filing & Organizing
• Bill Paying
Seniors Transition Services, LLC
Owner: Jean Mayer, EA
strans1@gmail.com Reduce the Stress of Downsizing
Serving residents at Kendal on Hudson since its opening.
914-862-2305
jeanmayertax@gmail.com
• Assist You/Your Family in Vacating Apartments
• Pack Charitable Donations
25% discount to Kendal residents.
• Obtain Estimates from Movers
• Achieve Maximum Tax Benefit
• Work Within Your Time Frame Insured Call for Free Estimate 914-962-5475
Off-Season Tax Special: Provide your prior year tax returns and receive a free review, consultation, and fee quote. No obligation.
Owner: Marco Araujo
914-703-0501 Or 914-631-2277
Transforming Care for Parkinson’s & Dementia
At Angels on Call
At Angels on Call, we provide award-winning care tailored to those living with Parkinson’s disease and dementia, ensuring comfort, dignity, and purpose at every stage.
Parkinson’s Care: Certified Excellence
At Angels on Call Homecare, we are proud to lead the way in specialized care. We are the first and only Licensed Home Care Service Agency in the country to achieve Certified Parkinson’s Disease Care (CPDC™) accreditation. This distinction sets us apart, ensuring that your loved ones receive the highest quality, Parkinson’s-specific care available, delivered by a team equipped with advanced training and compassionate understanding.
Dementia & Memory Program: Reimagining Care
Our innovative Dementia and Memory Program honors individuality. Our Certified Dementia Care Partners empower those with cognitive changes to rediscover joy and purpose, ensuring enriching experiences and fulfilling interactions throughout their journey.
Contact us today to learn how our award-winning services can support you or your loved one in their journey toward a better quality of life!
