Manor of the Plains Community Matters - September 2022

Manor of the Plains

SEPTEMBER 2022

Summertime is the best time for a barbeque Our residents love it when we fire up the grill!

Local artist wins overall ‘Best of Show’ in Art is Ageless® competition

This summer we were treated to hamburgers and hot dogs with all the fixings thanks to grill masters Joey Stroud and Samantha Griffin.

Top it off with watermelon and cherry cheesecake. u

Grill masters Joey Stroud and Samantha Griffin “Latest work of art” above, and “Self Portrait” right.

Robert Ayer isn’t into art for the glory or the accolades. In fact, most people who know him aren’t even aware that he draws.

“I don’t display my art or sell it,” said Robert.

“It’s always just been about relaxation for me. I just do it as recreation—it keeps me off the streets at night.”

Doll Yunker, Donna Imel and Sandra Schartz ready for some BBQ

That all changed when a woman at Robert’s senior community saw some of his artwork and told him about PMMA’s Art is Ageless® competition.

“She had me select a piece and then she entered it for me,” said Robert.

“The rest is history I guess.”

History indeed.

Ayers – continued on page 2

“BBQ lunch 2”: Happy faces and happy plates all around.

Get the latest on visitation and COVID-19 at our campus at ManorOfThePlains.org/covid-19.

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Ayers – continued from page 1 Robert’s drawing, “Geisha Girl,” was named overall Best of Show in the amateur division, beating entries from 14 other PMMA® communities across Kansas and Missouri.

“Just to find out I won anything was amazing,” said Robert. “First, I was told that I won the drawing part of the competition and then when I heard about best of show … that was something special.”

What makes it even more special is the fact that Robert finished the piece just a week before he had a stroke—a stroke that left Robert unable to draw with his right hand.

But that hasn’t stopped Robert, he recently began drawing again— this time with his left hand.

“It’s gotten pretty good and will probably be the same quality as my other work,” said Robert. “It takes a lot longer, but I’m able to get some work done.”

Asked how he thought his success in the competition might affect him going forward, Robert didn’t hold back.

“I’ll probably start bragging that I’m an award-winning artist,” said Robert. “It’s the only thing I’ve won in my life except for a bird house I painted when I was eight years old as a Cub Scout—that was a long time ago.”

Geisha girl by Robert Ayer.

To learn more about Art is Ageless, or to see more of this year’s winning artwork, visit artisageless.org. u

Butch’s new hobby Butch Wendel had never really thought about doing puzzles, but when Jacque Regnier brought him one for Memorial Day he soon found an enjoyable new hobby.

The puzzle features a Chevy truck, an American flag, a bald eagle and a rainbow. Once completed, it was framed by Jacque and ready for Butch to proudly hang on the wall. u

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Community Matters 620-225-1928 ◆ Fax: 620-225-3982 200 Campus Dr. Dodge City, KS 67801-2760

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COMMUNITY MATTERS | September 2022

is published monthly for residents and friends of Manor of the Plains

To submit or suggest articles: jwiggins@pmma.org Tammy Thompson, executive director Joy Wiggins, marketing counselor

by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.

Scholarship to help Manor of the Plains employee achieve career goals Certified Medical Assistant Guillermo Argumedo was recently awarded a scholarship through PMMA’s Employee Scholarship Program which he’ll use to further his education in healthcare.

Guillermo originally learned about the program when he started working at the community a little more than a year ago as a high school student, but it took some prompting from Executive Director Tammy Thompson to actually get him to apply.

“She reminded me of the scholarship and Claudia [director of nursing] pushed me to apply,” said Guillermo.

Guillermo plans to use the financial assistance he’s receiving to help cover his books and tuition fees on what he hopes will be his first step toward achieving his career goals.

“I want to specialize in burns and then hopefully—as my career keeps growing—I want to become a nurse practitioner,” said Guillermo.

Guillermo’s education will take him from Dodge City across the state to Wichita where he’ll attend Wichita State in the fall. Luckily, he will be staying in the PMMA family by joining the staff at Wichita Presbyterian Manor.

“I’m super excited about the scholarship and to start the next part of my life, but It’s going outside my comfort zone, meeting new people and working with a new branch of PMMA,” said Guillermo.

Guillermo says that winning the scholarship is somewhat bittersweet as he will be leaving behind, at least temporarily, what has become a large support network at the community.

“I’m going to miss just the general camaraderie between me and my coworkers and superiors. We sit down and talk with each other, even after work,” said Guillermo. “I’ve made so many great friends—so many people have helped me out.”

Guillermo is viewing his move to Wichita as an opportunity to grow that network even more.

“I’m happy I was one of the people to get the scholarship and grateful for the opportunity to continue working with the Manor and grow as a person and meet more people in the PMMA community,” said Guillermo.The Employee Scholarship Program was established in 1978 with an endowed gift from C.E. Koehn. Today,

Guillermo Argumedo was awarded the PMMA scholarship.

continued support from donors including payroll deduction elections from employees help maintain the scholarship program. Without charitable support this program would not exist. u

Staff members participated in Dodge City’s community-wide sale.

Despite the 100-degree heat, the team was able to sell almost three garages’ worth of items over the course of two days (with most of the sales coming on day one).

All of the proceeds from the sale go to support the Good Samaritan fund and Manor of the Plains’ Activity Department. u

Movin’ and groovin’ crew.

Manor of the Plains’ garage sale team consisted of Lizbeth Ontiveros, Human Resources (along with her social butterfly, Rosie, pictured at her feet); Kenadie and Tammy Thompson, Manor of the Plains’ executive director, and Ariadna Cervantes, Life Enrichment. Not pictured were Clara Contreras, Joy Wiggins, Claudia Avila and Jonae Isenbart.

Manor of the Plains | A PMMA COMMUNITY

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200 Campus Dr. Dodge City, KS 67801-2760

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Manor of the Plains shares customer service survey responses Manor of the Plains continues to seek customer feedback through monthly telephone surveys. Each month, residents and their representatives are randomly selected to participate in telephone satisfaction surveys conducted by Pinnacle Quality Insight.

The graphic highlights some of the survey results. All scores are given on a 5-point scale, with 5 being the highest score and 1 the lowest score.

Between July 2021 and July 2022, Manor of the Plains residents and their families gave the community high scores for cleanliness, the nursing care, professional therapy, and the move-in process.

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“It is a very pleasant place,” said one resident. “There are good people, it’s a fine staff.”

We greatly value the opinions of our residents and their representatives about the care and services we

provide, and we encourage them to participate honestly when contacted by Pinnacle Quality Insight. All state and federal confidentiality laws are met in Pinnacle’s service. u

We Score!

Source: Pinnacle Quality Insight (12 month ave. July 2021 - June 2022)

5 4

4.86

4.91

5.00

Cleanliness

Move-in Process

Nursing Care

INDEPENDENT LIVING

PATH

4.73

3 2 1 0

COMMUNITY MATTERS | September 2022

ASSISTED LIVING

Professional Therapy HEALTH CARE