Upham's Telegraph Summer 2019 newsletter

TELEGRAM Charles Upham Retirement Village • Summer edition 2019

Wearable arts Village catwalk lights up with our stars

Meet Delcie

Arthur’s Pass adventure

Hanmer outing

Greetings from Dee...

Welcome to my first edition of Upham’s Telegram!

It’s been a great few months at the village and we have welcomed a number of new residents.

There’s been so much happening at Charles Upham recently, including our fantastic wearable arts show, what a great day that was! We also celebrated International Month and Movie Appreciation Month plus many other great events.

Our independent residents had a visit from Annah Stretton, she spoke about her charity RAW (Reclaim Another Woman) and the launch of her new book The Raw Truth. The book covers an amazing journey, in which Annah sets sail to create a culture of hope and ambition.

stages of a project, collaborating with the Department of Conservation regarding Medbury Scientific Reserve. We can’t wait to hear more about it!

As always, we will be having fun with the New Zealand Cup and Show Week events and, of course, we will celebrate Christmas in style.

I look forward to seeing you at the village soon.

Kind regards,

Dee Kennedy Village Manager Ph: 03 310 8600

Our men’s group continue to enjoy outings to all sorts of interesting locations and are in the early

A note from Chris & Wendy...

Isn’t it great to see some warmer weather and longer daylight hours!

We have been busy at the village with open days in August, which were an outstanding success.

We welcomed Annah Stretton to the village to talk about her RAW (Reclaim Another Women) charity.

There was also a fashion show, with some of our residents making their modelling debut.

Serviced apartment available now!

We love hosting events, and there will be plenty going on over summer. Keep an eye on your mail box for an invite.

We have some lovely one-bedroom serviced apartments available now. You are welcome to call us and arrange a time to come in for a cuppa and a tour.

Chris Ashton & Wendy Kappler Sales Advisors

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Village news

Wearable arts Residents and staff at Charles Upham spent hours in preparation of a wonderful wearable arts performance.

As a result, there was a stunning range of outfits on show at the glamorous village event.

Items, from plastic bags and video tapes to air conditioning ducting, were cleverly combined and worn with pizzazz, in front of a discerning crowd of fashionistas.

The catwalk was busy and the guests appreciative.

Each participant had a show tune to accompany their performance. Those making special appearances at the mid-afternoon event included the Purple People Eaters, the Forever Blowing Bubbles crew, Danger Man, Space (accompanied

by Fly Me to the Moon), the Snow Queen, Madonnas plus many more. The crowd were thoroughly entertained.

Above: Our wearable arts event was a smash hit.

Inset images: Our residents were happy to take their costumes to the extreme.

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Serviced apartment resident profile

Meet Delcie

A sliding door from Delcie’s apartment opens out to a patio where she keeps her varied collection of rocks and stones gathered on her travels around the South Island. Delcie has a passion for geology, which she began to study at Otago University on retirement after a lifetime of teaching.

The paintings on Delcie’s walls reflect some of the South Island teaching postings during a career that took her to rural townships like Colac Bay in Southland and Otira, near Arthur’s Pass on the Canterbury-West Coast boundary. She eventually worked as a principal in country schools.

I’m really happy here. I’m glad it is like it is, and the staff are marvellous, they always give you a smile.

Delcie McKenzie loves living in her serviced apartment at Charles Upham, knowing she is close to her family and to the rural setting that she has lived in for most of her life.

She enjoys the lifestyle options her ground level serviced apartment gives her.

Delcie met her husband, George, who sadly passed away, within that rural setting. He was working on her family farm at Waihaorunga, near the South Canterbury township of Waimate and they were married on February 8, 1952. Four children, Karen, Wayne, Neil and Adele arrived, and George also took up teaching, meaning the couple kept moving around the South Island.

While other residents have shown her the ropes of village life, staff are also very kind. “I’m really happy here. I’m glad it is like it is, and the staff are marvellous, they always give you a smile. If you’re having a worry, they’ll come and sort it out.”

Arthur’s Pass adventure Our serviced apartment residents had the most wonderful time travelling over the Alps to Otira on a beautiful day.

They drove to Arthur’s Pass, stopped on the way for morning tea and then enjoyed a delicious lunch in the township.

The views of the beautiful mountains were magnificent, everyone was in awe.

Stopping at Sheffield for a famous pie for tea on the way home was the ‘cherry on top’ of the best day out!

Pictured: Our residents loved the outing to Arthur’s Pass.

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Village news

News from our care centre residents

Classic party

Springtime crafts

Care centre residents and staff hosted a fun 1920s party, welcoming family and friends to the village.

It was a wonderful afternoon with everyone enjoying entertainer Allan Barron’s music and his efforts to dress up for the occasion.

Our resthome residents really enjoy arts and crafts.

During one weekly get-together they chose to decorate pieces of canvas with all sorts of objects cleverly attached. The creative ‘flowers in the garden’ landscapes were a spectacular result.

Pictured: Our staff all dressed up for our 1920s party.

Pictured: Resident Marianne Waters with her artwork.

Staff profile

Introducing Marko

Guten Tag, gidday, my name is Marko Meingassner, and I am the Head Chef at Charles Upham.

Since the village opened three years ago and prior to that my motto has been: “A day without cooking is not a good day”.

I started my career in 1988 in the beautiful village of Bad Ischl in Austria.

In the 30 odd years since, I have seen the world many times over, working on cruise ships and jobs in the Bermuda Islands, Scandinavia and Germany.

A day without cooking is not a good day.

From the mid-2000s, I started working in Auckland, where I met

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my beautiful wife. We then moved to Queenstown.

Eventually we made it to Canterbury. Here I started a small business delivering hot meals to various resthomes around the city. Later I worked for three years at Continental caterers, travelling throughout the South Island.

I decided to spend more time with my family which has grown to include two girls, a dog and two cats.

I love working at Charles Upham, having a yarn and a giggle on a daily basis with our lovely residents and staff.

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Village news

Out & About A group of independent residents decided on an outing to Hanmer Springs.

On arrival we headed to Five Stags restaurant where everyone enjoyed a lovely lunch, then set out to explore the town. We all had our own ideas on how to fill in the couple of hours before we headed home.

The town is known for its fantastic spring thermal pools filled to the brim with mineral water and naturally quite a few of us decided to go dip in the hot pools. Others opted to go shopping in the town’s many boutique shops as well as sitting down at one of the many cafÊs.

Hanmer provided us with brilliant weather, which continued for the drive home. It was a lovely day, spent with great company.

Above: Residents loved their trip to Hanmer.

Inset: Residents Brenda McIntosh, Giff Hope and Marjorie Hope.

24 Charles Upham Drive, Rangiora

charlesuphamvillage.co.nz

Dee Kennedy Village Manager Ph: 03 310 8600 Call Dee for general enquiries, or information about resthome, hospital and dementia care.

Chris Ashton & Wendy Kappler Sales Advisors Ph: 03 310 8644 Talk to Chris or Wendy for information about independent apartments, townhouses or serviced apartments.