Aberdeen Village Community Matters October 2015

Community Matters Aberdeen Village

October 2015

Chaplain’s message: No man is an island Remember the words of that song: No man is an island, no man stands alone.

Each man’s joy is joy to me. Each man’s fears are my own.We need one another, so I The Rev. Dr. will defend each man Larry Thornton as my brother, each man as my friend.

The truth is expressed in Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” God put us on earth to do a certain work that only we can do. However, God didn’t plan for us to do that work alone.

We need people to work with us.

You know the feeling you get when you do too much work on your own.You get exhausted and burned out. Why? Because you’re trying to do your work alone, which God never meant for you to do. God tells us in Ecclesiastes 4:9: “Two people are better than one, because they get more done by working together.”

When you work as a team, you get so much more done. Plus, having good teammates alongside you is a whole lot more fun and less tiring.

Art is Ageless®

Local competition winners are announced Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America has announced the winners of its annual, system-wide Art is Ageless® competition, which features entries by artists age 65 and older throughout Kansas and Missouri.

Four winning artists in Aberdeen Village’s annual Art is Ageless® juried competition will join nearly 50 senior artists from Kansas and Missouri whose work will be featured in the 2016 Art is Ageless calendar and greeting cards.

“Daylilies” by Linda Burgess

Local winners are automatically entered into a masterpiece level competition with winners from 17 other PMMA campuses. The winners of the masterpiece level competition are featured in the annual Art is Ageless Calendar and greeting cards.

The following works will appear in the 2016 Art is Ageless Calendar: Drawing: “Symbols of Old Western Trails,” by Ed Duman and “Free to Roam,” by Carol Rondinelli Painting: “Daylilies,” by Linda Burgess Sculpture/3D: “High Maintenance,” by Dennis Broocherd Art is Ageless, open exclusively to people age 65 and older, is a copyrighted program of Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America.

CHAPLAIN, continued on page 3 CEO, continued on page 4

A proud member of Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America

ART, continued on page 3

A of

LOVE

MUSIC.

Editors’ Note: In a recent issue of Community Matters, we asked readers to share their stories and memories about music: how it has been important to you, or how music has made a difference in your life.

Bob Anderson, a resident at Aberdeen Village, shared with us the story of how he fell in love with music—thanks to his mother’s encouragement. Here is Bob’s story:

As a young man, Bob Anderson listened to his mother, even if she told him to do something he wasn’t particularly fond of doing. More than 75 years later, he’s glad he did.

“Music has affected my whole life, but my mother was really the one responsible for it. We were living in Jefferson City, and my dad was a politician in Missouri. My mother worked for him in the capital, and when I was 14, she was trying to get me to Bob Anderson play the piano. I wasn’t really too interested. Then there was a singing contest at school. I didn’t know whether I wanted to or not, but mother told me I should. So I entered, and won first place! That started things for me,” said Bob. From Jefferson City, Bob’s family moved to the Lake of the Ozarks when his dad got out of politics. They had a cabin, but Bob wanted to attend a larger school with more opportunities.

Community Matters is published monthly for residents and friends of Aberdeen Village by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at: PresbyterianManors.org.

Tim Allin, executive director To submit or suggest articles for this publication, contact Suzanne Willey, community relations director, swilley@pmma.org.

Telephone: 913-599-6100 Fax: 913-599-3810 Address: 17500 W. 119th St., Olathe, KS 66061-9524 Our mission: We provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.

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Community Matters October 2015

Bob’s father worked out a deal with the owner of a hotel in Eldon to let Bob stay there while attending high school. It was there Bob met music teacher Phillip Cromwell, who encouraged Bob to join in the five-county singing contest, as well as perform for the music department staff at the college in Columbia. Again, Bob listened, and his musical career was further advanced.

“I moved to Kansas City in 1937, and lived a half a block from the Presbyterian Church. I’d heard they had a beautiful organ, and I wanted to see if I could get into the choir. When I got there, I discovered that they MUSIC, continued on page 4

Everyone has a story to tell Christmas will be here before we know it, and we’ll be talking about celebrations and traditions in an upcoming issue of Community Matters as we celebrate the holidays. Does your family have a special tradition? Is there a song that immediately conjures up memories of Christmases past? Do you have a memorable Christmas story to share? Contact Community Relations Director Suzanne Willey, and your story may be selected to appear in an upcoming Community Matters.

“Free to Roam,” by Carol Rondinelli.

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For the competition, works must have been completed in the past five years. Artists not interested in competition were invited to enter the Art is Ageless exhibit only.

The Art is Ageless program includes art classes, musical and dramatic events, educational opportunities and current events discussions on PMMA campuses throughout the year.

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What does that look like?

Individually, each of us is like a snowflake; on our own, we can’t make a big difference. However, when one fragile snowflake sticks together with a lot of other snowflakes, they can stop traffic.

Like snowflakes, we can make a big difference if we work together, each one of us doing only our small part.

To be eligible for PMMA’s masterpiece level competition, artists entered a juried competition at one of 18 Presbyterian Manor communities in Kansas and Missouri.

The 2016 Art is Ageless calendar and greeting card artwork will include amateur and professional entries selected from winning entries in nine categories.

“Symbols of Old Western Trails,” by Ed Duman.

For more information about Art is Ageless, visit ArtIsAgeless.org.

piece of work, so we’ll never get overloaded or tired. Though no one will carry a heavy burden as each one of us does our small part, all the work will get done. What a picture!

As you walk through life, remember that you’re not an island.You’re not supposed to do everything on your own. We need other people to walk alongside us and to work alongside us.

Someone has written a beautiful thought about this: Did you know that when we work together here on earth, we’re actually practicing for eternity?

As we share the burden of our work in Aberdeen Village with our fellow travelers, we’ll find that we actually accomplish more for the glory of God.

In heaven, we will all have to work, but each of us will have just a small

Be a good snowflake. Do your part.

Have fun!

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were redoing the sanctuary and getting rid of the organ, but I still wanted to sing in choir,” said Bob. The director of choir, John, said ‘You haven’t got a bad voice if you knew how to sing.’ Imagine that!”

Bob did indeed know how to sing, and went on to be a soloist at five different churches and also joined the Shrine Chanters.

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MUSIC, continued from page 2

“Over the years, I’ve sung the national anthem at least 800 times at various places. So many things happened with music with me.

For years, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, we (the Shrine Chanters) would sing at hospitals and nursing homes, trying to give music to people to cheer them up.

We spent many years doing that. It was great,” said Bob. “I was on the board of College of the Ozarks for 59 years, and anytime there was something going on with a song, I would help.”

Unfortunately, Bob’s singing voice has left him, and although he dearly misses raising his voice in song, he has fond memories of what music did for his life.

“I’ve really realized what music can do for you. I had a lot of places I went because of it. My favorite songs were hymns. I enjoyed sacred music more than anything else.”

Bob and his wife of 75 years Mary Jane have lived at Aberdeen Village for six years, and have four children and “more grandchildren than he can count.”

“This is a wonderful place. I miss my singing, but everyone here is wonderful,” said Bob.