• August 2006
  • Edith (Edie) Raymondo, the Paper Lady of Greenspring, brought enough blooms from her three blue hydrangea shrubs in her yard to brighten the Town Center Lobby.  There were small vases on six end tables, six tables in the coffee lounge and large vases for counters and coffee tables. Then the next thing that happened from her garden were bouquets of Rubeckia speciosa, more lovingly known as Black Eyed Susan. She also left hearts on the shelves of her customers in February and marked each elevator lobby with a large valentine greeting. Thank you, Edie.
  • Been a long time coming in the sports world  in which Erickson Retirement Communities participate, yacht regatta, golf putting, walk challenges, exercise derbies, softball.  SOFTBALL?  Yes, indeed.  Greenspring finally was a sports winner. “Big” -- Score 16 to 2.  The Greenspring bus carried players, Richard Schmidt, Andy Simko, both Canterbury Square; Bob Cromwell, Ray Kaminski, both Forest View; Mike Lowe, Connor Terrace; Bob Augustad, Madison Green; Joe Hartsoe, Jim McLuckie, both Jackson Court; Jim Coulter, Keith Culbertson, Ted Schultz, John Manion, Paul Roman, all Oak Hill; Ted Sperduto, Hampton Place; and Harry Williams, Park View. Thirteen residents attended to cheer on the team coached by Wellness Manager Brad Hibbs and Fitness Specialist Bill Verneer.
  • Three heads produced a great plan:  Used eyeglasses had been collected in Greenspring in the Village Library for a while but the collection had fallen off.  Will Brill of Oak Hill who had been a long-time participant in the Lions Club program of collecting and rehabbing them for needy persons joined forces with Pharmacist Ellen DeMucci who offered space for the collection box in NeighborCare which Volunteer Coordinator Elke Martin placed and she also knew about Skip Dye, a member of the Springfield Lions Club which meets in the Springfield Country Club.  There you have it—a great plan and service.
  • Brill is seeking wheel chairs and walkers, serviceable, reasonable priced or as a donation.  As a service from the Springfield Chapter 5300 AARP, which meets at Greenspring, Brill manages the supply of wheelchairs and walkers available at each Neighborhood front desk and the Medical Center to be signed out. The devices are intended for short term loan and are for use on campus only.  The service is free.  However, the foot plates have been removed and not returned with the chairs. Brill has sent a plea to look in closets or even “under the bed” to find them.  He also has a missing wheel chair checked out in March and never returned.  Different arrangements need to be made for long term or off campus use. When they start “Shining Star Resident of the Month,” Brill should get the first star.
  • Eugenia (Jeanie) Vink is the daughter of Dr. Jasper and Thelma Vink of  Forest View.  She lives in Bethesda, MD and is a  producer of documentaries for the Discovery Channel.  She is presenting her production of Jane Goodall and the Chimpanzees.  The film is being shown in the Accotink Room.  Her mother is active with the Treasure Chest.  Her father pursues his passion, “history”  as founder of  “Conversations  In  History”  as well as appearances on Channel 6 to present series on historical events.
  • Bob Bjork of Walden Court is the redoubtable founder of the Greenspring Horseshoe Club and faithfully followed the pits as they traveled the campus as the building program continued.  The pits are permanently at the park area beside the Renaissance Parking deck.  He also is the presenter of the Championship Trophy which is on permanent display in the Resident Life Suite.  He is announcing the 5tgh Annual Horseshoes Tournament which is scheduled for the first fall week after Labor Day, Sept. 11. Leonard Kalkwarf of Crestwood Court is defending champion  Bjork also said he is hoping for eight competitions during the season..
  • Zac Barnes who was selected as a Shining Star employee was a profile in The Villager with Phyllis Hoecker of Madison Green interviewing hymn.  She reported he is a Washington DC native and is the youngest of his father’s 17 children.  He told her his mother  was strict and he spent time indoors reading but when he went out he was accompanied by his older brother.  He also said he was close to his father and when his mother, a nurse was away with a patient in Pennsylvania he persuaded his father to let him enlist in the services.  Consequently after high school graduation, he joined the Navy where he spent 18 months studying cryptology, which he found isolating. Because of his young years accompanying his mother to nursing homes he realized he was aware of seniors and their care.  That was am aid  in his transition to Greenspring where he draws praise from residents for his compassion and quiet responses for assistance.  He is the father of five daughters, ages 6 years to 15 years.
• July 2006
  • SPRINGFIELD CHAPTER 5300 of AARP sponsored a Driver Improvement Program for Mature Drivers in an all-day session in Town Center.  Officer Michael Szedlock, an auxiliary police officer with 7500 hours of volunteer service with the Fairfax County Police Department, conducted the one-day course.  Bill Harris of Walden Court is the Chapter Safe Driver Chair. The 27 residents who took the course will receive a certificate of completion to submit to their insurance company to receive a discount on their car insurance for the next three years. Harris announces that the next course at Greenspring will be held on Sept. 22, 2006.
  • ALL FAIRFAX READS is heading for its third annual summer session.  The one book/one community project encourages residents to read the same book at the same time.  The 2006 choice is the novel “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress” by Dai Sijie, translated from the French by Ina Rilke. Book discussions and special All Fairfax Reads events will be held in the fall.  The book is available from the Fairfax County Public Library as a regular print book, a cassette audio book, or a CD audio book.  It is also available to borrowers with disabilities who are eligible for the National Library Service both as an audio Talking Book and in Braille format.  The first book in 2004 was “To Kill a Mocking Bird,” and in 2005, “The Kite Runner.” The novel’s setting for 2006 is China in the early 1970s.  The Cultural Revolution is shutting  down universities and punishing intellectuals suspected of anti-Maoist thinking. Two lively young men are sent to a remote mountain village and lead a tedious existence until they acquire a hidden collecting of Western literature.  The boys try “re-educating” a simple seamstress through exposure to Balzac and other forbidden authors. The moving story abounds in history, romance and suspense as it illustrates the transformative power of literature.
  • HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR SPEAKS at the Memorial Museum as a participant in the First Person Program.  Michel Margosis of Park View says the program is a series of conversations with Holocaust survivors.  Each program is presented as a live interview where speakers provide an eyewitness account of their experience in a way w that is extraordinary in its immediacy and power.  The program is interactive in that the audience has an opportunity to ask questions. Greenspring residents went by campus bus to the program.  Margosis shared his experience of growing up in Belgium, going with his family to southern France, eventually crossing the Pyrenees into Spain, spending time in Portugal and eventually arriving in the United States.  His entire family was not reunited until 13 years later.  He says “It is up to survivors to let the world know about the horrors of the Holocaust.”  He adds “It, difficult to relive the past but it educating with the facts is essential.  Future generations need to be educated about the horrors of genocide and this program provides us with the opportunity
  • SCHOLARSHIP GOAL was reached so each of the 19 Scholar candidates will receive the full four-year scholarship.  The $76.000 raised included 519 units of independent living of the 1409 units in the three neighborhoods. There are almost 1800 persons in the units.  The $56,000 raised by residents was supplemented by the Greenspring Treasure Chest with $10,000 and a $10,000 contribution from the Erickson Retirement Communities Foundation.  Kimberly Greaver, Gift Planning Manager explained the goal of money to be raised is based on the number of candidates and the four-year projected attendance.
  • CHIME CHOIR of Greenspring impressed and entertained a large crowd in the upper lobby of Village Square at the end of June.  The choir of twelve was organized by Yvonne Ryall of Connor Terrace and began practicing in October   The music ranged from Nigerian folk song, through a Medley of Faith, spirituals, patriotic and the nostalgic.  When asked about organizing the choir, Ryall said , “I’ve been doing it for 40 years.”  She also arranged two of the numbers.
  • POOR, DISPLACED, DEFEATED in an Affluent America was the topic Ian Lee Brown returned to Greenspring from Chicago to speak at the Dialogue and Diversity program.  He had moved to Sedgebrook as Executive Director.  He quoted statistics from the Census Bureau on the percentage of persons living below the median income which were also sharply disputed by the Heritage Foundation.  The money goes for food, clothing and shelter.  What is means is there is not always enough to go around.  He also spoke of the tremendous impact Habitat for Humanity makes in the lives of the displaced.  What to do?  There has to be knowledge of the problem, understanding of the causes and compassion for solutions.  He concluded recommending the residents read “The Prophet.” He answered questions and admitted how emotional he becomes when the media shows the devastation of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
• June 2006
  
  • INTERSECTION ON PARKWAY: Neighborhood Meeting in June was held in the office of Fairfax County Supervisor Dana Kauffman on Franconia Road.  Subject was the intersection of Franconia-Springfield Parkway (SR 7900) with Bonniemill Lane to the south and Spring Village Drive to the north,  site of numerous crashes and several fatalities.  In June 2004 the Residents Association of West Hampton and the Transportation/Security Committee of Greenspring Village submitted a letter requesting attention to a proposed light configuration that would be a safety improvement at the intersection.  It also noted that Spring Village Drive was sole access for both communities. 
          After Hooes Road was closed as an exit for Bonniemill Acres and Beverly Forest, Bonniemill Lane became sole access for those communities.
          Attendance at the Neighborhood Meeting included a full campus bus from Greenspring and many residents from the communities served by Bonniemill Lane, also representatives of VDOT, the Fairfax County DOT and the Supervisor’s staff were present and involved in the data presented.. The meeting was highlighted as discussion of short-term improvements to the intersection.  Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) completed a traffic study following comments from a Public Hearing for ramp connections with I-95. The study proposed improvement alternatives, including  five short-term options.
          Acceptable to the audience was elimination of permissive left-turn phases on the parkway approaches and provide protected only left-turn phasing; prohibition of U-turn movements from the parkway; addition of right-turn overlap phasing for Bonniemill Lane and Spring Village Drive.  Four of the five options entail geometric changes.  The option providing the most significant benefits was adding the right-turn overlaps. Recommendations also included measures to improve safety of pedestrians crossing the parkway such as crosswalk pavement markings, large “yield to pedestrians in crossway ($100 to $500 violation fine)” and provide a pedestrian countdown signal.
          The audience presented the fact that there is high traffic volume, traveling high speed; U-turns at the intersection, turning both north and south at the same time, blocking clear views. Of 92 crashes in four years, 50% were rear end -  of  these 55 were turning left from Bonniemill and 35 were from Spring Village Drive.  The hazardous crossings for pedestrians had high attention. 
         Dana Kauffman promised the group another public meeting when VDOT returns to report on the new information gathered at this meeting..
    Bill Lovcelace, Steve Kirby, kckane – June 2006    
  • DAR GOOD CITIZENSHIP MEDALS and Certificates were presented by the George Mason Chapter, NSDAR to:
    St. Bernadette Catholic School 8th grader Mary Cleary
    Fairfax County Public School 6th graders;
                Garfield Elementary: Anjani Batra
                Lynbrook Elementary: Alyssa Katindig
                Cardinal Forest Elementary: Jeremy Smith and Emily MacMurdy
                Laurel Ridge Elementary: Elisa Truony and Drew Witter
                Clifton Elementary: Jessica Kenah and Nadia McQuade.
    DAR members Mary Elizabeth Seip, Viola Kvartunas, Anita Shimer, Margaret Sharkey were responsible for these presentations in behalf of the chapter.
  • CINDY BROWN, assistant director, Green Spring Gardens Park came to Greenspring Village with samples of Sun Gold tomatoes and red and green basil plants.  She had come to talk about “Tomato Lust.” She informed the overflow crowd of residents in the Class Room that tomatoes originally grew n the western slopes of the Andes.  She explained tomato plants that are determinate, reach a certain height, produce all their fruit at once, and die, indeterminate keep growing and producing until the plant is killed by frost. She discussed seven common diseases of tomatoes.  The topper was the basket into which she had brought the ingredients for gazpacho, the Spanish soup served cold.  There was no test taste but the taste buds had been primed.
  • BEN UNKLE, General Services Director when Greenspring Village opened in 1998 and currently Vice President of Operations, Western Region sent a letter to the residents of Sedgebrook Village in Lincolnshire, IL to inform them that Executive Director Lonny Blessing had accepted a new corporate post at Erickson’s headquarters in Baltimore.  Blessing will be the liaison between the Erickson Retirement Communities and the Erickson School for Aging Studies.  He will join the senior executive team for the Erickson School, which is based at the University of Maryland.
  • FOLLOW-UP information from Eric Gross, Senior Vice President, Community Operations, announced that Greenspring Executive Director Ian Brown has accepted a move to the Windy City and to gain additional experience in start-up operations as Executive Director of Sedgebrook.  He began his career with Erickson as the Associate ED at Cedar Crest Village, NJ.
  • ANNUAL CELEBRATION for resident leaders of some 180 activities at Greenspring brought out not only leaders but possibly co-leaders and  authorized  monthly delegates, like plants of the month..  The Community Resources managers and staff were seen in  Pink Lady jackets, circle skirts with poodle appliqué were twirling  and some lean, mean jeans. were to be seen. Music was Elvis Presley, popular when most of the staff were enjoying and enduring teen years.  To enter the Greenspring Soda Shop was by table rotation where the ice cream awaiting with a wondrous variety of toppings. The music and singing were pleasing indeed.
  • MARILYN KURT of Park View  received a nice response to the letter she had written to Dr. Gridlock of the Washington Post.  She had responded to his report about his mother facing assisted living because of her fading driving ability.  Kurt pointed out that she and her husband are in an independent living apartment in Greenspring Village Retirement Community in Springfield.  She described various services available for non-drivers.  Dr. Gridlock wrote ”I speak to a lot of senior citizen groups in the area, and when Greenspring Village comes up, that are uniformly enthusiastic.”  Give the lady the brass ring!
  • INTERNATIONAL NIGHT in the Restaurants received praise.  Fireside and Potomac Café offered an Oriental Buffet with Oriental Salmon and General Tso’s Chicken.  Jefferson featured Italian Cuisine beginning with Italian Wedding Soup and ending with Tiramisu & Crème Brule.  Woodland Skies served Mediterranean Cuisine – Greek Salad, Chicken Provencal and Cannolli for dessert.  The next day it was the Employees turn  There was a Luau in the Conference Center for them.
  • TOUCHING THE FUTURE was the theme for the seventh annual Scholars Award Ceremony held in the Village Theater with students, parents, sibling and Greenspring Executive Director Will Nance, Gift Planning & TV Manager Kimberly Nelson and Greenspring Committee members in attendance.  Nineteen scholar candidates are graduating.  Special guest speaker was Class of 2002 scholar Cathryn-Ann Evens.  Director of Dining Services Vinson Bankoski presented the scholars with Ahmed Ahmed, headed for Boston University gave the response.  Zohra Amin is following in the wake of her sister Mariam who had been a Greenspring scholar.  Sally Smith, Treasure Chest Liaison; and Thelma Klopp, Gift Planning Chair also spoke.
• May 2006
  • 500 CLUB HAS 50--When the last group of residents was inducted into the GSV Fitness Center Hall of Fame in April, the membership rose to 50.  The reward to a resident who has completed 500 workouts in the Fitness Center is “500 Club” polo shirt  and the name of each inductee is inscribed on the Hall of Fame Plaque at the entrance to the Center.   Punch and a cake is also provided. Attending the ceremony was Kay Doescheer, widow of  Howard “Doc” Doescher and their son, Tim, who accepted the award for Doescher who had recently died.  Inductees were Leonard Seip, Park View; Arnold Wilbur, Bill Raymond, both Walden Court; Irene Rehbock, Mitchell Mills, Aladino Duke, all Madison Green;  Helen Abbott, Joseph Bracco, Julius Gluck; all Hampton Place; and Doescher, Jackson Court.
  • LITTLE BOATS SAIL ALONG--The Greenspring Yacht Club launched its season on a perfect Wednesday, enough breeze to be challenging and even enough to drive Jim Fisher’s boat into the bank where Frank and Robert Chabot on their daily walk were passing and with a branch set the boat free.  The club is now at 10 members but only 9 yachts.  Tom and Mike Shoesmith share Gypsy.  For information when one goes to Hunter Pond to watch the Wednesday and Saturday Regattas: #64 – Victoria, Jim Fisher; #67 – Gypsy, Tom & Mike Shoesmith; #68 – Judi-Sue, Ron Levin;  #71- Crd Brd 2 , Don Graul; #72 – Harold W, Al Weinstein; #74- Ian Lee Brown; #76 – Windsong, Robert Pyle; #80 – Katie, Bob Lichtenfels; #83 - Friendship, Bob Jenkins.  (Editor note:  #74 along with Ian Lee Brown is moving to Illinois to Sedgebrook where there is a 22-acre man-made lake for an embryonic Yacht Club to flourish.)
  • SPENDING LOTS OF TIME--Volunteers of the National Capital Region of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society were honored with the annual awards luncheon at the Army Navy Country Club on May 5.  Eight Greenspring residents were honored for the Washington Navy Yard Layettes.  A whopping number of hours cited for Janie Hermon, Jean Bley and Thelma Karns- 8000 hours; Cora Crouthamel – 3000 hours; Helen Reynolds and Anita Shimer – 1000 hours; Claire Manger – 600 hours;  and Mary Craig – 500 hours. The group “Fireside Handiwork” meets in the Fireside Lounge on Wednesday before dinner.
  • VERSATILE ACHIEVERS--From Kay McCurdy of Canterbury Square comes this report of  recognition for years of volunteer work with the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging:  “Three individual Greenspring residents all living in Crestwood Court: “Janet Ball, honored for 25 years with the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Court; Pat Kay,  11 years with Agency on Aging Virginia Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program; and Dorothy Stepp was given a Presidential Service Award by the Points of Light Foundation.  Stepp, a state-certified crime prevention specialist with the Fairfax County Police Department, was also honored for performing more than 500 hours of service in 2005.  Ladies and Gentlemen, you are an inspiration to us all.”  And Greenspring salutes this report from MCurdy.
  • ERICKSON EXERCISERS--Residents in 13 Erickson Communities kept track of the minutes exercised on May 17 to reach a goal of 110,000 minutes of exercise.  Erickson made a donation of $1000 to the Arthritis Foundation.  Lisa Slate of the Fitness Center reported “125 Greenspring residents contributed 8302 minutes.”  (About six 24-hour days)  Topping the list for GSV was Peter Ostergren, Oak Hill, 315 minutes; Ruth Bury, Grove Terrace, Marcia Provan, Walden Court, both 210 minutes; Muriel Ray Sperduto, Hampton Place, Linda Martz, Crestwood Court, both 205 minutes. All participants received a sticker and a flashlight key chain.
  • WILL HAS HIS SAY—Will Brill of Canterbury Square heads the AARP program on wheelchairs for use by residents. Through donations of either money or chairs the AARP collection totals four wheelchairs behind the front desk of each of the three neighborhoods.  In addition there is a chair for Pastoral Ministries and two for the Medical Center. Brill says the service free but it are intended for short term use:  24-hours.  Residents needing long term should consider rental or purchase.  The chairs are for on-campus use ONLY.  Other arrangements need to be made for off-campus.  Brill has numbered the chairs in his fleet and can follow through on the whereabouts of the chairs. The sign-out roster is kept at the front desks.  Brill has two requests:  “when returning the chairs, PLEASE include the foot rests and if there is a need for extended time, please call me.”  He theorizes the rests would be removed and not replaced. He hopes they are resting in a closet or under a chair.  Better yet, any spares in the closet, Brill will accept..
  • SMART KIDS—Chair Thelma Klopp, Grove Terrace, for the Scholars Program at Greenspring noted that in six years residents have contributed sufficient funs to pay for four years for each of the30 plus students selected to receive scholarship. In this seventh year there are 19 candidates..  The Erickson Charitable Giving Fund contributes each year, however, Greenspring needs to raise $76,000 on the assumption each scholar will stay in college for four years. Every cent contributed by residents goes to the scholar, rather to the school of their enrollment.
  • SCHOLAR CRITERIA –
    • Are graduating from high school in 2006
    • Have worked  at least 1000 hours at Greenspring since June 1, 2004
    • Have an exemplary work record at Greenspring
    • Have a letter of recommendation from Greenspring Supervisor
    • Have a letter of recommendation from a non-relative (school, coach, minister)
    • Have A, B, C for permanent marks during junior and senior years
    • Plan to attend college full time in the fall 2006
    • Complete and interview with the Scholars Fund Committee
  • FLAGS FOR FIVE—Will Nance, Executive Director, had an idea he translated when he was Associate Executive Director.  He wanted to present an American flag, 3’ x 5’, to each employee who became a U.S. citizen, some from the DAR after-work citizenship program, others from similar classes.  To date he has presented to Roshan Sakhrani, Dining Services; Maria Jefferson, Communications, Ana Salvador, Maintenance; Peter Woral, Kesar Singh and Lucila Rodriguez, all Housekeeping.  Four others became citizens but are no longer at Greenspring. Two employees and their wives are currently in the DAR class.  Information on the citizenship program in Greenspring is available from the Human Resources Department
  • COMPUTER HELPERS – Free help for beginners and intermediates to learn to do more things on the computer is being offered by 11 residents through the Computer Club (dues $2 with an email address; $3 no address).  This help is learning to use a computer—NOT TO REPAIR A NON-WORKING COMPUTER.  The tutors are Bob Gumbinner, Jackson Court; Lloyd Rogers, Maple Creek; Jane Curtis, Ann Lovelace, both Walden Court; Clay Cummins, Connor Terrace; Howard Carlson, Rich Schmidt, both Canterbury Square; Buck Simpson, Irvin Padgett, Robert Bonner, Ted Campbell, all Oak Hill.  Residents call the tutors to arrange appointments.
  • STREAM TEAM -- Of course, the rain came down.  Georgia Weatherhead salvaged  an 11-year old plastic tarp and managed a canopy of sorts at the trail entrance off Hampton Place Way, entrance to Southampton  Community.  She and Steve Kirby, co-chairs of the annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup were among ten residents who signed on for a 900-yard portion off the Greenspring  trail leading into the Accotink Stream Valley of the 40-mile Cross County Trail.  The Alice Ferguson Foundation furnished blue gloves and large black  trash bags.  The group gathered nine bags of trash.  This year the project organizers have gone beyond the original scope of cleaning out the accumulated garbage, a cleanup that has been going on for 18 years along the watershed.  The plan for 2006 is to assess the garbage collection to define the careless littering and illegal dumping  and the waste carried downstream by storm drains.  The priority was the litter from fast-food restaurants, soft drink companies and convenience stores. The Chabot’s, Frank and Bobby headed into the woods at the head of the trail where they had scouted a former beer party.  They collected 40 Miller’s.  Others along the Greenspring trail found Coors, Heineken and Red Bull.  An unopened bottle of wine could not be identified; water had dimmed the label. A never-used post for a street sign was pulled in.  Food container discard was high. The tally from Greenspring for top 3 brand names was Miller’s Light; Bud Light and Coca Cola.  The 2005 cleanup focused on recyclable containers. The Foundation concluded that 20 percent of the general refuse collected was recyclable.
• April 2006
  • GIVING BLOOD –Marnie Perlick of Oak Hill who had gone to Channel 6 with a member of the Inova Blood Donor Services from Fairfax to boost the Greenspring Volunteer Blood Drive., at the end of the Drive said, “I’m pleased to say it was the most we’ve done—50 pints, enough to administer for three persons.”  She reported that she had received two $50 gift certificates for the drive.  Winners were Sally Pritchett of Oak Hill, the Target certificate; and Chatrice Webb, Potomac Café server, Mike’s American Grill.  She also praised her volunteer helpers, husband Charles Perlick; Mal Searles, Connor Terrace; and Mandy Mullins, Community Resources
  • GIVING to INFANTS—Barbara Sheffer from the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society came to Greenspring to praise the Greenspring group who knit and crochet in Fireside Lounge to make bonnets, sacques and blankets for infants of Navy and Marine personnel.  Janie Hermon of Grove Terrace gathers the small items, packages and sends to Washington.  Just prior to the visit, Hermon had sent 16 blankets and 15 sacques. Hermon recently sent a box of  10 sets of sacques, bonnets and bootees and two blankets. Sheffer contributes the yarn to the group.  She said now that couples know the sex of the baby before birth, they specify “color preference—that is blue, all blue; or pink.  There is not much call for yellow and green that were also used in days when the kind of baby was a matter of post delivery.”
  • READING ASSIGNMENT—Pat Riley who lives in Hampton Place, directly opposite the 4th floor elevator put a sign on the wall above her shelf:  Save the Mini Page from Sunday Post.  Going by there was a collection so a query went for the “Why?”  She explained that on Thursdays the tutors from Greenspring go to Saratoga School and use the pages for the reading program for the elementary grades.  A call to Edna Brill at Canterbury Square and she said the schools had requested the Mini Page.  The tutor program began at Garfield School with five residents volunteering and driving themselves.  The program grew to include West Springfield, Springfield Estates, Hunt Valley and Saratoga.  The PTA of Hunt Valley pays for a shuttle on Tuesdays for the 14 tutors and the PTA of Saratoga pays for the shuttle for the 15 Saratoga volunteers.  Tutors at the other three K-6 schools drive to the schools. Tutor time ends during April until September because of the testing and final programs of the schools.
  • Human Resources Department in an April newsletter described the Operations Associate Program at Greenspring which is part of an Erickson-wide program designed to develop and grow leaders with the Erickson communities.  While in the program the Operations Associate must demonstrate motivation, positive relationships;, quality decision making, problem solving skills and the ability to work with a senior population.  To enter the program, they should have a background that includes a recent undergraduate  and/or graduate degree in a business field with significant academic success, plus a breadth of leadership activities, with a record of individual  and team successes.  In addition they should have had experience with seniors, health care and services delivery.  They should be willing to travel and relocate.  Greenspring, to date, has coordinated the development of four Operations Associates. Chanell Speight recently graduated and transitioned into the role of Business Manager in Renaissance Gardens.  Isabel To transitioned to Sedgebrook Village in Illinois.  Monique Bailey and David Webb are currently operating in business rotations in the Marketing Department of Greenspring.
  • GAIN which is the Growing Associates in Nursing program is designed to support dedicated employees who which to pursue careers in healthcare through the completion of one of more educational programs:  Certified Nursing Assistant (CAN); Certified Medicine Aide (CMA); Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and Registered Nurse – AA or BSN degree (RN). Erickson supports the career goals through tuition assistance to the schools; books and other required learning materials and on-site GAIN Coordinator who offers career guidance and support.  Employees are required to make a real commitment to their career and Erickson Communities.
  • Fun at Work Day had an agenda that employees energetically pursued.  A popular place was the Town Center Card Room with arcade games that employees managed to play fro 8 AM to 5 PM, including football, air hockey, miniature basketball, pinball, ping pong; use of the billiards room in Town Center and a putt-putt golf tournament on the Putting Green in the afternoon.   Donuts and beverages started the day at 7 AM.  A scavenger hunt was held in all neighborhoods.   Executive Chef Sam Soto prepared a 30-minute Meal on the Town Center Patio.  A Karaoke Luncheon was served in the Conference Center.  It wasn’t all fun and food.  Workshops were also conducted:  Managing My Money with Finance Director Chris Villa; Do it Yourself Home Repairs with Maintenance Manager Tom Channon; Fitness with Fitness Specialist Andi Crews; and Stress Management with Services Coordinators Chris Miles and Colleen Guerrero.
  • MIRACLES OF HOPE—Greenspring joined Oak Crest, a sister community in New Jersey to help make New Orleans High School teens realize prom dreams.  During the short drive to April 14 the evening dresses, 40 in all; shoes, 3 pairs (very high heel and pointed toes) evening bags, shawls, gloves, glittering costume jewelry, and two black cummerbunds and ties, neatly boxed.  Jarad Smith, Public Relations Manager at Greenspring, said the event is underwritten by the Miracles of Hope Network, which is comprised of world-wide child agencies and organizations which are dedicated to the creation and restoration of good in the lives of children.  Oak Crest contacted Smith and he in turn the residents and staff at Greenspring.  The prom items will benefit nearly 600 kids who are expected to attend the New Orleans High School Prom in May.  The class is composed of 300 boys, displaced by Hurricane Katrina.  The clothes will benefit the boys and their dates.
  • Greenspring Culinary students found themselves in an extra class in April.  They had finished beef and pork, fish, poultry and were to start in May on Proper Usage of Vegetables.  Instead the additional class met again in April to learn how to prepare stocks and sauces for the Sentimental Journey Gala..  Dining Director Vinson Bankoski was to be solo teacher as Executive Chef Sam Soto was off campus.  “slow and low to go,” was a caution on preparing stock and “skimming the scum,” were slogans to remember.  All vegetables and bones used in the stock were roasted.  Carrots, onions and celery and some tomato were roasted for the basic stock.
  • KAPS for KIDS had a very successful registration for the ninth annual Walk-a-thon for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.  Greenspring Village is a sponsor and Executive Director Ian Brown serves on the Board.  In 2004 Kera Wooten, Staff Development Manager joined the Executive Director to co-sponsor the Greenspring participation.  Wait staff recruited in the restaurants to get fellow students to participate at Burke Lake Park.  Madison Green residents Harold and Anne Herrmann have a vested interest since moving from New York as their teen-aged granddaughter was a start-up force with the Walk-a-thon. Lisa Herrmann as a child had received a bone marrow transplant from her sister.  When plans for the Northern Virginia Ronald McDonald House were announced young Lisa started the walk as a fund raiser.
  • MEDITATION WORKSHOP was offered to Friday Yoga class in Forest View  in April.  Guest presenter for the hour was Helge Sansom of Wat Kow Tahm Monastery in Thailand. Yoga classes for residents are on Wednesday, taught by Andi Crews and on Friday by Pat Karlsson,  Karlsson also teaches a class for staff on Thursday.
  • The Aquatic Center shut down on April 14 for 12 days while the High Sierra Pools of Arlington resurface the pool which opened in November 1999 after a slight delay when it was discovered that the glass windows were the wrong size. The total cost of the 2006 operation is $8,450.  Brad Hibbs, Wellness Manager, when asked the longevity prognosis of the face lift said, “The estimate is anywhere from seven to 13 years.”  He watched from his office poolside and said, “I was so impressed with the detail and excellence of their work.”
• March 2006
  • E C H O Update: When Security manager Danny Sumner and Glendale McLaurin, also Security, drove away in two Greenspring vans on the way to ECHO pantry on Old Keene Mill Road, the vans were so packed the rear of the vans sagged.  The supplemental drive to furnish food for the often empty pantry which is furnished monthly by the three Faith Councils at services in the Village Church and some of the various clubs on campus  was the idea of Diane Havinga of Channel 6 and Karen King of Human Resources.   Total collection was 80 grocery bags! March 2006
  • S O S from ECHO! Food is leaving ECHO’s shelves at an incredible rate.  It is currently in need of the following items:  laundry detergent, baked beans, 1 lb. boxes of spaghetti, canned pasta, condiments such as ketchup and mustard, boxed cereal, jelly, sugar, boxed rice and small plastic bottles of vegetable oil.  Brown paper grocery bags are also needed for packing.  Contributions are collected by the three Faith Councils at services in the Village Chapel as are some by various clubs on campus.  Residents may also contribute at ECHO on Old Keene Mill Road in Springfield.   3/15/06.
  • Greenspring Grounds Supervisor John St. Louis and Gardener Extraordinaire from France Claude Grenaunean traveled to Philadelphia where they attended  the annual Philadelphia Flower Show, the largest indoor flower show in the world.  St. Louis rated the show, “good, good.  It was just like it used to be years ago.”  Of course, they saw the many blue ribbon winners of Dorrance “Dodo” Hamilton, who entered the show 22 years ago with two plants and in 2005  received 61 ribbons
  • Small World: After Walter Assur  of  Jackson Court died in November, former neighbors of the Belvedere neighborhood collected contributions to honor his dedication to the Fire Department and public service.  The money was given to the Belvedere School librarian who was able to purchase 20 books relating to the fire service.  In January some of the neighbors and Roberta Assur, his widow, were invited to present the books on a school TV program.  Greenspring resident Connie Wilson of  Hampton Place is a volunteer at Belvedere in the Reading Is Fundamental program, was shown the new books by the librarian.  Much to her surprise she noticed the name plate saying they were given in memory of Walter Assur.
  • Michel Margosis of  Park View  is a docent with “First Person,” a program for the public featuring a series of conversations with Holocaust survivors.  The eyewitness accounts unite personal experience with history.  Each hour long program is presented as a live interview with an opportunity for the audience to ask questions  All programs are free and open to he public at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  Margos is scheduled for 1 PM, June 21.  Further information at chemichel@aeitv.net.
  • Don Graul of Madison Green, founder and first Commodore of the Greenspring Yacht Club told the Web News that as of March 15 he had sailed “Card Brd 2” twice on Hunter Pond, taking advantage of some balmy days in March.  The yachts are sailed from April to November. 
  • The Rev. William Cumbie left his Jackson Court apartment in Greenspring Village to travel to Richmond to give the invocation for a session of the House of Delegates.  Dinner companions might ask him about his invocations on Capitol Hill before he arrived at Greenspring. His wife, Catherine is a member of the D.C. High School Grads and also the Katydids.
  • Postscript:  Jean Reynolds of Walden Court gave her children’s book, Gwen and the Talking Napkin, to President George W. Bush during his Greenspring visit to give to First Lady Laura Bush for her reading project.  On White House stationery came a thank you note signed, “sincerely, Laura Bush.”  Reynolds particularly liked the second paragraph:  “I am grateful for your efforts through writing to encourage children to read.”  Reynolds has another book off to the printer, this time it is Heather in the title.
  • Security Coordinator Glendale McLauin set up his Lost and Found display in the classroom of each Community Building.  An early arrival in Town Center was a happy camper.  She waved a beige glove.  “This is what I came for, this is what I came for!  Do I have to sign anything?”  No, she was told since it apparently was hers.  Treasure Chest  is the usual recipient of unclaimed items.  One can’t help but wonder how residents see with no glasses, stay out of the rain with no umbrella, get in the apartment with no key, can’t recall losing all that full room perimeter of trash/treasures!  Security had a busy first week in March as residents filled forms and appeared at designated parking lots to receive new vehicle tags.  The tags were placed on the inside of the front windshield in the upper left corner.  All residents were required to register their vehicle with security and receive one of the new tags.  The Gate Access System has been changed and a new one is in place and operational.  The new system was a follow-up on a recent car jacking incident. 
  • Observed:  A resident pulled in front of Town Center, turned on the blinker, went inside.  She returned with a Security person, who installed the new vehicle tag for her.  She got in the car, NO SEAT BELT, drove to the Stop Sign and THROUGH IT and off she went.  She did use right turn blinker.
  • Women in Military Service (WIMS) invited Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) to the March program by Page Johnson, a Civil War history buff from Fairfax City . He told the group in the Accotink Room that the first land engagement of the Civil War was at the Fairfax City Courthouse.  He reminded the audience that the firing on Ft. Sumter was a naval engagement.  He accompanied his talk with slides of the persons involved and the various historical buildings. He closed out with anecdotes about the Fairfax women who participated in the Civil War, some cleverly and some with subterfuge. After he spoke of Olivia Ford,  WIMS member Jean Jennings, a Fairfax Museum volunteer spoke of the work done in the restoration of  the house by the Fairfax Women’s Club. She said the work had received numerous awards.  Cookies and green punch finished off the affair.
• February 2006
  • It should be noted that Milagros Essorihuela, catering associate, who shook the hand of President George Bush during his Greenspring visit, told him she was from Venezuela and  he spoke to her in Spanish.  She was later interviewed for the DVD which is on sale to benefit the Benevolent Care Fund.  Julie Reid of Channel 6 and Jarad Smith, Public Relations Manger compiled the DVD.  Smith has urged that the residents should know the President arrived by motorcade,; not Marine helicopter. One correct fact:  this was the first visit by a U.S. President to Greenspring
• Channel 6 featured Mabel Thornton, of Hampton Place who discussed African American poets and poetry with two Wait Staff students, Ahmed Ahmed and Jessica La Lanne. Dean Coston of Walden Court prepared a program on Black American musicians and their music that was a nostalgic trip down memory lane as many were Washington, DC natives or had played the circuit in years past..
• Community Resources chose Valentine’s Day to decorate the Conference Center with pink, red and white balloons and colorful table settings.  The affair was to honor those residents who lead service groups in Greenspring.  Staff escorts included Vinson Bankoski, Ian Brown, Ben Crothwaite, Robin Gliboff, Brad Hibbs, Dennis Jones, Adam Manne, Joe Marek, Will Nance, Scotland Rogers, Jarad Smith, Craig Turner, Barry Valentine and Chris Villa.  The CR staff knew the way to  hearts:  a carnation flower for each resident, large slice of dessert cakes and then a small box of chocolates for take home booty.
• Lachman (Cesar) Singh
  is theShining Star for February.  Other nominees for the month are Kim Kelley, John St. Louis, Michelle Singleton, Hiwit Tadesse, Jacqueline Carter, Katia Kupraty, Rosa Funmes, Beverly Danby, Joseph Barrows and Brittany Lee.  Nominations forms are available at all front desks in the community buildings.  The forms should be returned to the Erickson Way Committee Box located in each community building by the 20th day of the month in a sealed envelope addressed “Shining Star”
• Beginning Feb. 13 Intermissions Enrichment Program extended hours on Monday through Thursday.  the group meets 10 AM to 2 PM.  The suite is located on the Terrace level of Forest View in Village Square.  The kitchenette has been completed and the niche for two computers for resident use is available.  Behind the kitchen area is a craft corner.  Renee Budd is Intermissions Coordinator and Mary Brockington is her associate.  The program is designed to provide structured activities of residents with cognitive issues, memory loss, Alzheimer’s Disease or other forms of dementia.
• Gospel for Je (for Jesus) returned to Greenspring for an appearance at Evensong in the Village Chapel, having added a new member singing bass. Jean Reynolds of Walden Court was on the keyboard.  Singer Lynn Robbins announced his father and brother drove from Cleveland, OH to hear the gospel music in bluegrass style. Don Faulkner plays guitar and is group leader.  Reynolds announced the group of seven spent Friday and Saturday singing for a CD “which will be offered here in Greenspring, too.”
• January, 2006
• The first visit to an Erickson Retirement Community by a U.S. President--George W. Bush on Dec. 13, 2005, is being commemorated in a limited edition DVD on behalf of the Benevolent Care Fund .  The DVD contains a photo gallery of the visit along with a series of interviews between the President and residents.  The price is $25 and all proceeds go directly to the Benevolent Care Fund.  The DVDs are available by PREPAID advance purchase through Jan. 13, 2006. Expected delivery date is Feb. 28, 2006.  Purchasers can contact Kimberly Greaver, Gift Planning Manager or Kim Stanley, coordinator.
• On two walls in Administration office in Town Center hangs a rotating display of Greenspring resident art.  It started with a  photo montage of  Greenspring by Grove Terrace resident Kurt Latzko.  Gus Muller of  Hampton Place was the first  artist with a watercolor, “Apples and Oranges.”.  Rose Sokolove of Rose Court, Renaissance Gardens, loaned two oil paintings, one The Concert “By Bernard Dunston,” and one “Beatrice,” painted in 1978, which  continues to stay on a wall and is joined by “End of the Season,”  a  large watercolor by Muller of an empty beach except for a vacant lifeguard stand  on the other wall... Shortly before Sokolove retired from her federal government job she visited the National Galley of Art with a friend.  She was smitten with a Monet painting “Morning Mist.”:  She asked her companion  “Do you think I could ever paint like that?”  He replied, “Not unless you try.”  Shortly after that visit she began to paint.  She had classroom study, she visited Washington galleries and occasionally visited New York City.  She was married to a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra for 47 years, there is a daughter Barbara, a son and a granddaughter, all of whom share  her love of music, art and nature.  She has been painting in oils for 30 years and at Greenspring participated in the annual art show and held a one-woman show at Renaissance Gardens.  Gus Muller is noted in Greenspring for his series of four watercolors commissioned for the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  They were titled “Hurting,: “Helping,” “Healing” and “Hope.”  In 2002 the paintings were displayed in the General Assembly building in Richmond.  They are currently mounted in the Resident Life Suite in Village Square. At the dedication of Village Chapel in November 2003, two watercolors of the Chapel by Muller were presented.  After Muller retired as a civil engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers, he made painting his avocation.  With studies at the Alexandria Torpedo Factory in all media, he decided the colors and transparency of watercolors pleased him the most.  He illustrated daughter Bridget’s book as well as “Speak, Lord, I Am Listening,” a prayer book published in 2001.  His wife Elizabeth lives in Rose Court.
• Ben Cornthwaite, Administrator for Renaissance Gardens in Greenspring said, “It is with great pleasure that I am announcing to the entire community in January 2006 the opening of the Evergreen Terrace third floor in Renaissance Gardens.”  It marks the completion of Phase II of the Gardens.  At the time of the announcement all the programs and amenities were in place to meet the needs of new residents.  This new floor includes both skilled nursing and assisted living resources with 44 additional beds, bringing to a total of 284 for the entire Gardens.  Cornthwaite said “We will staff this floor using a mixture of current and new employees.  We will take care to ensure we provide the exceptional resources, programs, security and amenities for which Erickson communities are recognized.”  An open house for the new addition was held Jan. 12.
• Dining Services showed where the heart is during the holidays.  They contacted Carpenter House in Alexandria to see what would be helpful.  It was decided the best way was to adopt a family of  four children and fill their wish list with gifts from Santa.  Dining Services was happily able to fulfill each child’s entire wish list.  In the menu “editorial” they noted “The satisfaction of giving from the heart to those less fortunate is reaped many times over in the good feelings we have.”
• Will Has a Way: Will Brill of Canterbury Square has a will of his own when it comes to the AARP program of  wheelchairs available for residents of Greenspring.  He is very proud and insistent that the rules be followed. His Marine Corps training is apparent.  Through donations of either money or chairs he has a collection of four wheelchairs behind the front desk of each of the three neighborhoods as well as two for Renaissance Gardens.  The Gardens also have other chairs.  Brill says the chairs are free, but are intended for short term use.  If a resident needs long-term, then a rental or purchase is in order.  Brill has numbered the chairs in his fleet and thus can follow through on the whereabouts of the chairs.  He recounted a chair that had been missing for four days.  He checked the sign-out, made a phone call and the chair was back in port within an hour.
• A Family with Strings: Sue Franke, Resident Services Coordinator based in Village Square; and the “Franke String Trio” were sponsored by Anne Herrmann of Madison Green.  In addition she coordinated the program of Sue Franke on viola, daughter Sara Franke, harp; son Chris Franke, violin; and his fiancée, Natalie Stith on cello.  The family performed classical and holiday music in the Village Chapel. The Franke family have joined the four-generation Reynolds family who performed at the Chapel in the summer with matriarch Jean Reynolds of Walden Court, piano; daughter Constance Kelley, piano; granddaughter Victoria Kelley, trumpet; and great granddaughter Heather Liu, violin.  
• December, 2005
  • Staff Appreciation Fund Success: Almost 800 gift checks were distributed  to hourly employees at Staff Appreciation Day which moved from the Conference Center where the Medicare program and President Visit had been held.  Without a hitch the event came off in the Hunters Crossing Lounge and Lobby.  There actually were 796 checks with them ranging from $96 to $870, the average gift check of $304.  The amount is based on tenure at Greenspring as well as part time or full time.  The amount raised was $194,617.  Greenspring Erickson added approximately $48,000 to cover taxes so the employees get the total amount contributed by residents.
  • Kimberly Nelson Greaver, Gift Planning and TV Manager, called on the following who spoke for their departments:  Lisa Slate, Wellness Center; Sheila Smith, RG Nursing; Hiwett Tadesse, Medical Center; Shequela Mungion, Kitchen; Tedros Demisse, Fireside; Leslie Row, RG Restaurant Associate; Martha Paz, RG Line Cook; Cynthia Korth, Home Health/Home Support; Lucila Rodriquez, Housekeeping; Abo Kanu, Maintenance; Glendale McLauren, Security.
• September, 2005
  • When Former President George H.W. Bush established the Points of Light Award he planned 1,000 lights, one per day.  On Thursday, September 1, Edna Brill of Canterbury Square became Daily Points of Light Award Winner 3020.  She was nominated for her volunteer activities and was highlighted on the Point of Light Website and in addition received a letter of congratulations from President Bush I and a call from the White House from President Bush II.  Brill is volunteer tutor at an elementary school and is one of the Friendly Neighbors of Greenspring.  She thought the late afternoon call from the White House “was a mistake!”
  • John Rybicki is presenting a course at the Village Theater on Tuesdays beginning October 11 and continuing until November 1.  The Riderwood pastoral ministries speaker is speaking on The Canonization of the Bible, and the Apocrypha:  Which Books are Chosen by Which Faiths.  Ellen Gale of Canterbury Square is coordinator for the four sessions, each 10 to 11:30 AM. The course is part of LLI (Lifetime Learning Institute.).  Rabbi Bruce Aft is leading two sessions on “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” in the Village Chapel, November 14 and 21 from 10 to 11:30 AM.  Ellen Gale again is coordinator.
  • The Rev. W. T. (Bill) Reynolds chose, “The Power to Bless, Don’t Underestimate Yours” based on the Beatitudes found in Matthew Chapter 5 for an Evensong sermon at Village Chapel. He told of accompanying Jean Reynolds when she went to her home church to practice to be a substitute organist for Sunday service.  He found on the bulletin board a flyer “101 ways to help a hospice patient.”  He had a copy for each attendee at the Chapel service.  He felt that there are many in the nursing section and main campus of Greenspring who could use some of the little acts of thoughtfulness that neither staff or families are always able to provide, but fellow residents might.  The list of 100 from the Odyssey Health Care contained “Listen,” “Be Present,” and “Be a Friend.”  The 101st said ”you fill in the --------Ending with a heart.
  • The Reynolds as Evensong Coordinators had organized “A Time of Remembrance of 9/11 and of the Katrina Hurricane victims.” The Rev. Len Kalkwarf of Canterbury Square is the guest speaker on Psalm 23.  Executive Director Ian Brown is guest soloist accompanied by Park View pianist Helen Looney.  Pat Martin of Walden Court is organist, Andy Allen of Park View is song leader and Jean Reynolds is pianist for the 15-minute hymn sing at 5:45 PM.
  • Elke Martin, Voluneer Program Coordinator, found eight volunteer opportunities for the fall 2205 and listed on a bright yellow sheet for each resident cubby.  She announced that FIVE elementary schools in area are being tutored by Greenspring residents. The volunteer tutors are shuttled to and from some schools; other want to drive themselves.  The commitment is once a week between 9 AM to 12 Noon.  The Friendly Visitor program continues in both Renaissance Gardens and Independent Living.  The list contains requests for WETA, both radio and TV pledge drives, Alzheimer’s Association National Capital Area Chapter for help during health fairs (training provided.,”  Greenspring Wellness Center needs volunteers (“spotters”) for balance classes, ESL (English as a Second Language) continues.  Greenspring will be at two Youth Volunteer Fairs in October and Martin seeks some volunteers to explain Greenspring to the youth.  The list contained enough variety for everyone!
  • Nominations for Resident Council 2005 under the new bylaws adopted by the Resident Council are being recruited from September 1 through September 19. Three supporting signatures –one from each of the three neighborhoods—is required along with a biography, no longer than 70 words.  A two-day election, November 2 and 3, will choose SIX members to serve for a two-year term:  2006-2007. Nomination forms are available at each front desk and completed forms are to be returned to the desks.
  • Somebody lost it; somebody found it.  Greenspring Security  spread the lost and found objects in Village Square Classroom and the losers and finders came to see.  Glendale McLauren managed the show and said there were “35 standees at the door when I arrived to open up.”  He also said he had approximately 100 items: ranging from misplaced grocery items, clothing, three expensive Metal Halide light bulbs, keys on a worn “I Love Jesus” halyard, binoculars, coin purse with $1 bill, 45 cents in nickels and dimes and eight quarters, “$3.45 in mad money.”  The triumph was Jack Gotte of Hampton Place who had given up on receovering his Sony cam corder, which had cost him about “800 including all the equipment two years previously”  He had assumed he lost it on Metro or maybe at a restaurant.  He ignored wife Carroll who had suggested Lost & Found in Security.  But he listened on Sept. 9 and she went, too, making sure. His returned camera was “numero  uno good deed.”  Marilyn Hurwitz of Walden Court had a goodly haul.  She recovered five of  her losses.  Unclaimed items go to Treasure Chest or to Echo,.
  • Lt. Gov. Candidate Visits Greenspring: Leslie Byrne took the stage at Village Theater to talk with the Greenspring Democratic Club.  She noted that Greenspring is its own precinct and has shown a remarkable record in going to the polls in the Conference Center with a wide voting margin.  She exhorted, “keep on going.”  She is candidate for Virginia Lieutenant Governor. Without notes, with no perceptible pauses, she outlined her political career beginning in 1986 as a delegate to the House of Delegates.  After seven years she became the first woman in Virginia to be elected to Congress.  In 1996 President Clinton appointed her to be the nation’s customer advocate.  In 1999 she became a Virginia State Senator.  Her record indicates she has been a leader on education reform, children’s health care, fair trade, transportation and the environment.  She emphasized as a Lt. Governor, she would put an end of outsourcing of state jobs and tax dollars.  She bemoaned state funded call centers overseas when they should be here at home; she would promote innovative education reforms, such as career-oriented job training to keep non-college bound kids in school; fight to increase access to and lower the cost of health insurance and prescription drug prices; and she would like to improve our quality of life by tackling transportation, sustainable growth and land use issues. 
  • The Republican Club is meeting to outline plans for the November election.
• August, 2005
  • “Greenspring Gate House after a Snow Storm” by Gus Muller, Hampton Place, was voted the winner by residents in the General Motors Financial Services Holiday Card Contest.  Also in the contest was “Mountain Snow Scene“by Bob Bjork of Walden Court.  This is the first year that Greenspring has participated.  Each winner is sent to the Erickson-wide card design contest.  A panel from corporate will choose finalist to be sent to GMAC and GMAC will choose the winning arty work that appears on the 2005 holiday card.  Mandy Mullins of Community Resources noted that GMAC is one of the financial sponsors of Erickson Retirement Communities. (Photo by Mandy Mullins)
  • Internet Resources for Senior Living was the program at the Computer Club in the Village Theater and presented by Phil Reeves of Madison Green with assistance from Bill Raymond of Walden Court.  Reeves chose three resources to emphasize:  Fairfax County Web Page (www.fairfaxcounty.gov), Senior Navigator (http://www.seniornavigator.org) and Greenspring Resident Web Page (www.greenspringresident.com) Reeves discussed important 12 questions that are addressed for senior resources.  He pointed out that the Greenspring Web Page has a separate Health Links category.
  • Betty Boomer of the Renaissance Gardens nursing staff has been named Shining Star Employee for August.
  • Greenspring Precinct is getting attention as November is nearing.  Joshua Scott from the Center of Politics, University of Virginia, visited the Village Theater to show slides and explain the graphics for the Greenspring Democratic Club.  He called it “A Look into the Crystal Ball:  2005 Virginia Gubernatorial Election.”  Most polls show on the political landscape a close run between Timothy Kaine, Democratic Lieutenant Governor; and Jerry Kilgore, Republican Attorney General..  Entered into the mix is Independent State Senator Russell Potts Jr.  Kilgore finally agreed that Potts could be included in a three-way debate if the senator received a 15% favorable in two state-wide polls. Kaine remained ahead at home, tied in Northern Virginia and Southside. Virginia Sen. Bill Bolling spoke to the Republican Club about the November election Gerald Connolly, Fairfax Board of Supervisors, spoke at the Greenspring Men’s Breakfast.  He told of the successes that have occurred in Fairfax County since the election and pointed out the six areas the board has approved for improvements: 1. Emphasize stopping gang activity from increasing; 2. Determine to continue seeking affordable housing (one-cent  rebate on each tax rate move). 3. Continue education standards (24 high schools in the county are on the Newsweek list of top secondary schools); 4. Jobs, jobs, jobs; 5. Environmental controls on water, air and land (Park Authority oversees almost 10% of the County land area); 5. Transportation-seek to provide choices for telework between roads and metro, tolls and hot lanes; 6. Taxes.  All revenue goes to the state; only property tax goes to the county.   The chair answered audience questions.
  • Catherine Garigan of Maple Creek, chair for the Resident Human Resources Committee, wanted Notables to give a hand to Vivian Nielsen and Dorothy Wheeler, both of Canterbury Square, who participated  in the Human Resources sponsored Bring Your Child to Work.
  • Carol Rouch, Special Trips Coordinator, is driving the bus to another visit to the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the State Department tour followed by lunch at the Old Ebbitt Grill.  The bus holds 24 residents and the September trip is the fourth.  The tour office is gearing for an overnight to Atlantic City, two nights in New York for Christmas and continues local visits to theaters and restaurants.  Most events acquire wait lists.  To see more, visit the Tour Office Bulletin Board at Town Center.
  •  Residents of Greenspring and their families and friends are offered a rate that has been established at the Springfield Hilton.  Lower rates apply Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  A different rate is set Monday through Thursday. There are two guest rooms at Greenspring intended to assist in case of emergency for residents.
  • Dorothy Daniels, a chief among the Dot.Coms shared this with Notables.  The Dot.Coms joined six Dot.Coms in Renaissance Gardens to host an Ice Cream Social for others in RG.
• July, 2005
  • Mary Elizabeth Seip of Park View and Regent of George Mason Chapter of Daughters of American Revolution, presented  Citizenship Certificates and Medals to Garfield School sixth grader Amandeel Kaur Bhopal and to Lynbrook Elementary School sixth grader Stephanie Rocha.  Viola Kvartunas of Park View and Vice Regent of the Chapter presented a certificate and medal to St. Bernadette sixth grader Sean Hickey.
  • Hands across the altar at Village Chapel when the Rt. Rev. David Jones, Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia and the Rt. Rev.  Theodore Schneider, Bishop of ELCA of Washington came together at Village Chapel to co-celebrate communion.  The two are not only friends of long-standing but are bonded by a joint commitment for community activities among the parishes.
  • Shining Star award to Larry Crivello of Transportation, driver for the Shopping Bus, is a well-deserved and popular nomination.  His cheer and willingness in accommodating residents and the multiple shopping packages is legion.  The fact the rule says packages on lap or in front of you, shopping bags and walkers in front of you, he somehow manages to accommodate all the “no comprende” and “no complying” and hence this award is a worthy one. 
  • Repairs of concrete and asphalt got underway the end of July.  The sounds of jack hammers removing chunks of concrete in the Town Center entrance were ear piercing plus the clouds of dust raised were choking.  Pot holes in the asphalt roads were marked with chalk rings throughout the Village.  The dual ruts in the access road from Spring Village Drive to the Aquatic Center that “pool” up with each rain got a fill up.  Parking Lot A also got a treatment.  Laurie Douglass, Project Manager, braved noise and dust to keep track of the progress.
  • Food and eating have a high priority in Greenspring.  Ice cream sundaes and slices of watermelon created an eating frenzy one Tuesday evening in the Conference Center where a bluegrass band performed.  The very next day an afternoon tea was pushed to an early beginning by residents who had skipped lunch to participate.  The 150 guests found sandwiches (not tea size but big size for seniors,) fruit plates, sweets and the inevitable large size cookies.
  • Dean Coston of Walden Court told a neighbor “the past continues to haunt us.”  He was referring to a column by Samuel G. Freedman, journalism professor at Columbia University who had written in the July 17 New York Times, “Through the predawn hours of a Sunday morning in the late winter of 1967, a former radio engineer named Dean Coston bent alongside an aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson, inspecting every sentence of a bill headed for Congress.  The primary goal of the legislation was to create a public television system in the United States, an intelligent, uplifting alternative to the perceived wasteland of commercial broadcasting.  But Coston, a deputy under secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, was determined to include radio too, as an object of federal approval and federal dollars.  He literally cut and pasted the words ‘and radio’ into every relevant passage of the bill, the insertion betrayed even on photocopies by the font from a different typewriter.”  Complete column (http:/www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/books/review/)
  • Kurt Latzko of Grove Terrace returned from a visit to Switzerland, removed the panorama of Salzburg, Austria on the wall above his hall shelf.  The replacement is a Smithsonian poster of Edward Hopper’s 1950 painting of “Cape Cod Morning.” Beside it is a photo by Latzko of a replica painted by his son, Dennis Latzko.  Two artists, one wall.
  • When the black Kawai grand piano settled in the Fireside Lounge in Town Center, it received an unusual dedication.  Helen Looney of Park View, former pianist with both the Choristers and the Village Church, sat to give it a trial.  Ian Lee Brown was walking by the approached.  “Play something for me.”  “Well, alright, what would you like?”  Looney started “Amazing Grace.”  Brown sang every verse, drawing an audience from downstairs, the Card Room, hallway.  For encore, he asked for “Let There Be Peace.”  Again every verse.
  • Alexander Lee, assistant project coordinator for the Potomac Crossing Consultants brought charts and knowledge about the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project.  He also distributed to the Men’s Breakfast Club in Potomac Café “Connections.”  He said it was a newsletter designed to inform, assist and engage the public during construction of the Bridge Project.  He told the many ways commuters can be informed:  on the radio, on the web, out the window, in the media and over the phone.  He pointed out the speed limit has been reduced to 50 miles per hour.  The audience was interested to know about the series of carefully orchestrated traffic changes occurring between mid-July and mid-August to complete the “Beltway Shift.”  Two important dates:  spring 2006 open southern span of the new Wilson Bridge to two-way traffic and mid 2008 northern span of new Wilson Bridge is slated for opening.
• May, 2005
  • A view from the Campus Shuttle window showed a dump truck unloading rocks, later confirmed as 20 tons of quarry stone, at the corner of Spring Village Drive and the entrance to Parking Lot F.  Several days later bales of straw were broken into and poured down the slope.  A call to General Services Director Joe Marek got the following information:  During an inspection of the village it was pointed out the potential erosion problem of the earthen slope.  The fact was transmitted to Erickson headquarters and General Services was advised to do it sooner than later.  Hence the activity in April.  The straw is implanted with grass seed and as the straw decomposes, the green grass should appear on the slope.
  • In the Village Chapel a Memorial Service to honor the 172 residents who died between Oct. 1, 2003 and May 1, 2005 was held under the auspices of the Greenspring Remembrance Committee and the Pastoral Ministries at Greenspring.  Freda Burner, Crestwood Court, is chair of a committee of Jean Bley, Park View; Hazel Cross and Mary Manion, Oak Hill; Jane Dittig, Connor Terrace; and Bill Lovelace, Walden Court, Resident Council Liaison.  Jean Reynolds of Walden Court was pianist.  The Rev. Dennis Jones and Jeanne Henifin of Pastoral Ministries also participated. At the conclusion of the service, a red, yellow or white rose was presented to the attendees.
  • Fairfax County Assistant Registrar, Barbara McNeill of Madison Green reported a total of 31 new registrations, including Renaissance Gardens, were submitted May 2 to 5.  Assistants were Marge Zitzmann of Walden Court and Kathleen Henry of Canterbury Square.  McNeill says, “If you have not changed your address since moving to Greenspring, Voting Applications and Absentee Ballot Applications are available in the Greenspring Library in Town Center.  Registrations will be closed May 16 until after the Primary Election on June 14.
  • On May 4 the first race of the season was held on Hunter Pond for the radio-controlled 30-inch yachts of the Greenspring Yacht Club.  Commodore Don Graul of Madison Green reported three courses with six buoys.  Bob Lichtenfels of Madison Green placed first with “Katie;” Al Weinstein was second with “Harold W;” and Bob Pyle of Hampton Place was third with “Wind Song.”  The Commodore reminded residents the Marconi-rigged sloops said every Wednesday and Saturday at 10 AM through October.  Greenspring and Oak Crest Clubs exchange regatta dates each year.
  • Riderwood Village is hosting a senior tennis tournament!  Invitations went out of Charlestown, Oak Crest and Greenspring.  Each community is allowed one team from each of three age groups.  The invitation noted, “Gender and skill level will vary among each team.”  Age categories (age cutoff date is June 1, 2005.)   are Team A- Runners, ages 62-74; Team B- Joggers, ages 75-84; and Team C – Walkers, Ages 85 plus.  Greenspring is sending “Joggers” Hank Morin, Connor Terrace, 76; and Bill Potts, Walden Court, 77.  “Walkers” are Bob Cromwell, 86; and Ray Kaminski, 88; both of Forest View.  Wellness Manager Brad Hibbs was puzzled there were no “Runners” at Greenspring.  Executive Director Ian Lee Brown often refers to the village residents as “62 and better.”  It depends how you define the “age of better.”
  • The high flying flags on the home web page of Greenspring Resident are the work of Arnold Wilbur of Walden Court who is the leader of the Greenspring Photography Club.  The club meets the second Tuesday on a monthly basis at 1 PM in the Town Center Classroom.  Wilbur’s shot of the Greenspring flags is a counterpoint to those of Kurt Latzko of Grove Terrace who had presented his framed study to Executive Director Lonny Blessing.  The framed flags are in Town Center Lobby.  In conversation with Wilbur, long time photography buff, “the old fashioned way with film and dark room” he acknowledged he now has a digital camera and “the shot of the flags was among my first,” standing under the Town Center porte cochere.
  • Biblical scholar John Rybicki, on the Pastoral Ministries staff of  Riderwood, is speaker on June 8 in the Village Chapel.  He is speaking on “Graven Images? The Use of Icons in Worship.” The program begins at 7:15 PM.  Rybiki and the Lifetime Learning Institute are conducting a series on “A Philosophy of Religion” in the Village Theater.  Each session is from 9:30 to 11:30 AM.  Dates are Wednesdays, June 22, June 29, July 6 and July 13.
  • The monthly Dialogue and Diversity discusses “End of Life Issues:  Comforting Conversations and a Good Farewell.”  The Rev. Charles Jaekle is moderator for the panel of the Rev. Jeanne Brenneis of Capital Hospice; Barbara Watts, Certified Hospice Nurse; Dr. (Ret) Mitchell Mills of Madison Green; and Michel Margosis, Park View.  The program is at 10:30 AM in the Conference Center, Tuesday, May 24.
  • Some of the more than 160 resident activities at Greenspring are on display at the annual Village Fair in the Conference Center, Wednesday, May 18.  The fair opens at 10:30 AM and continues until 2 PM.  Mandy Mullins of Community Resources is coordinating the setup with a theme of South of the Border.
  • Dean Coston of Walden Court is calling his 2005 Memorial Day sing-along, A Sentimental Journey.  He indicated he was dedicating it to the retired U. S. Navy Chaplain, Ross Trower, a Connor Terrace resident.  The first two such music programs were presented in the Potomac Café where the ice machine competed with audience participation.  Later programs were done in the Village Theater.  This year the video and Coston have moved to the Conference Center, May 30 at 2 PM.
  • Vivian Nielsen monitors Bluebird Box #11.  Al Nielsen has prepared a 15-minute video of the goings on, starting the middle of March when the parents visited the box and finally decided to move in.  The last shot was taken  on May 15 and the Nielsens plan to lay low as the four fledging are about ready to fly.  The Nielsens live in Canterbury Square.  The video was the program for the Nature Trail Club along with the many still photos of the Bluebirds taken by Nielsen (See Bluebird Photos in our Web Site Photo Album).  Greenspring Village has been very active with its care of the Bluebird boxes, 11 in all, and the monitoring of them.  Only the four boxes outside the enclosure fencing (as is #11) and the one at Hunter Pond have successfully nested the Bluebird, whose box is bedeviled by the House Sparrow, an invasive pest that may be destroyed legally.
• April, 2005
  • Greenspring Gardens in the Spring : General Services Director Joe Marek shows by photos the beautiful accomplishments of John St. Louis, Grounds Supervisor and Claude Grenauneau, gardener extraordinaire as he walked around the Village to capture the magnificent color schemes in community building entrances; the courtyard where the east court has redbuds and purple splendor azaleas in bloom and the west court with three pink dogwoods, one just recently planted, plus the amazing display on the south of the Aquatic Center.  The Village Square roundabout is a year-round draw as the beds are regularly transformed as the seasons change.  The lovely enclosed garden at Renaissance Gardens, which John Erickson wanted to a “showpiece of the Gardens,” is that and reflects the skill of Grenauneau.  Even the hanging baskets contain unusual plantings.  The photos also show the neat mulching around trees, shrubs, in the beds and the precise edging throughout the village.  On the hill the Village Chapel is fronted by a colorful bed and on the north side corner is the newly planted bed of impatiens, in bloom.  The last tier of photos shows the gazebo and boat house at the newly filled Hunter Pond.  The fountain is soon to be repaired and underway. (Photos courtesy Joe Marek-4/29/05) (Click here to see photos)
• Walkers and motorists, bus riders and visitors commented on the large pile of compost on the parking lot for the soccer fields in early April.  It was there high, high and then it seemed to diminish.  Several were overheard to state, “I wouldn’t mind getting a sack full of that.”  As far as is known, none did.  A call to Grounds Manager John St. Louis elicited statistics:  There were 375 cubic yards delivered.  It took 10 people four days to spread the mulch around shrubs, trees and beds.  The coverage was very complete, two-inches thick.  St. Louis repeats “rotor tilling is done when several requests are in a given area.”  Requests must be in the form of a work order.  The season has passed but the memory of the beautiful display of hydrangeas and lilies made the community buildings truly gorgeous.  That’s the green guru for you.
• Then each spring there is that glorious burst of color at the Aquatic Center, in front of Renaissance Gardens, the roundabout at Village Square, Town Center front yard, the wide expanse at Hunters Crossing, the Courtyard, the front of the Village Chapel and especially that lovely enclosed garden behind Renaissance Gardens.  St. Louis said that garden truly represented the word “gardens” and was the “showpiece that John Erickson had wanted.”  The palette of colors that Claude Grenauneau selects for the fall planting of bulbs always gives such pleasure and brings forth bursts of voiced delight.  That Frenchman is a gardening genius and each spring we insist he has to be kin to Claude Monet who transformed his own gardens at Giverny and managed to also translate them to canvas.  The Grounds team selects top quality bulbs and the latest cultivars. St. Louis explained that Grenauneau had especially chosen tulips that would bloom both by different height and also in time of blooming.  The whole village salutes. Tres joli!
• Remember in February the GSV Nature Trail Club was asking for Great Backyard Bird Count Watchers.  Well the figures are in from Cornell University which does the numbers.  The most frequently reported sightings of birds:  Northern Cardinal, then Mourning dove, dark-eyed junco, the American goldfinch and the downy woodpecker.  The most numerous species was the snow goose, the Canada goose, red winged blackbird, the European startling and the American crow.  When it came to the checklists the winner was New York, then North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia (2490 checklists) and California.  Virginia ranked 10th in reporting the most birds.  The statistics are staggering when it is known that each person who reports seeing either one bird or a flock is assisting in the study of migration, global warming, and survival of species and involvement of mankind with the bird world.
• Catherine Bird of Grove Terrace wants her neighbors at Greenspring to know about the Gold Star Wives of America, which is a nonprofit national military widows service organization. The group is made up of widows of servicemen of all armed conflicts involving the United States, mothers of children whose fathers gave their lives in the service of their country.  The widows are of servicemen of all ranks, races and creeds.  The Wives respond to all requests for assistance except monetary.  The group was organized in New York in 1945. Greenspring Gold Star Wives can contact Bird for further information.
• Mary Elizabeth Seip of Park View was installed as Worthy Matron of Sharon Chapter #63, Order of the Eastern Star in McLean, VA.  Seip says “I joined OES when I was 18 and have served as Worthy Matron three times at 20-years-plus intervals.”  She explained the Order is a fraternal organization for female relatives of Master Masons and also for Masons and is dedicated to charity, truth and loving kindness.  After passing this information Seip wanted to remind Greenspring residents of the Campbell Soup label collection for the benefit of DAR schools in Appalachia and other similar areas.  The former DAR Regent noted that when walking the halls at night, “I see a lot of Campbell soup cans in the trash.  It would be nice to see those labels in the Village Library drawer or just hand them to a DAR member.”
• “She did it again!” so says Marion Burgett of Hampton Place.  She calls it a rare gift from Jan Davis and husband Kurt who give her parents, Bob and Joann Laurents of Forest View a wonderful concert of songs in Village Square, this year to celebrate a 61st anniversary which the residents also enjoyed.  The younger couple was joined by pianist and singer Barry Gurley 
• Time to make note what you find here on the Greenspring Web Site:  Memories, first in your cubby then to Web; Viewpoint; Notables; Life Goes On; Recall; and Villager also first in your cubby then to Web, now in changed masthead, new format, type size, editorial content, graphics, staff and the Coeds, Anne Wheeler and Nancy Woodall. Cartoonist Hugh Wynn is aboard and Russ Langelle is photographer. Villager Archives, dating to September, 2000 are a click away.
• Frank and Bobbie Chabot of Grove Terrace are way at the top of a list of walkers, rain or shine.  They have been faithful members of the MDTR Club which confounds newcomers (Moving down the Road) the club long walked from Town Center to Springfield Plaza and through the years found a way through the woods to connect with Oriole Street.  A sign was made in the Russ Beiber Resident Wood Shop that said, “Chabot Trail.”  The group planned to install it and surprise Frank.  Some hitch occurred:  Frank had the flu, the weather was rainy and cold, and Bobbie was encountering resistance from the honoree to even contemplate the outdoors.  But in the end both Chabots were there; Larry Nichols took a picture, color version on the couple’s shelf in Grove Terrace along with the small treasures the couple find on their walks.  And the marker is in place in the woods.   
• The latest Shining Star among the employees is Faye White, Communications Specialist for the Town Center.  White had been named All Star Employee of the Month in 1999.  She likes this nomination just as well.  She works Monday through Thursday, her shift beginning at 3 PM.  She truly is a blithe spirit.  Whenever trips to Charles Town or even Atlantic City are announced, she is one of the first to sign up.  She also has a reputation as a cheerful, caring and knowledgeable person and she personifies “where everybody knows your name!”
• Again that gorgeous orchid owned by Jean Fregeau is on the shelf in Hampton Place.  The plant was a housewarming gift when she moved to Greenspring.  “I don’t know a thing about orchids.  I simply ignore it and it rewards me and I put it on the shelf for all the passersby to enjoy.”  Her plant is a phalaenopsis variety of the Orchidaceae family.  Each flower is made up of three sepals and three petals.  The flowers bloom along the spike, one has 21 flowers, the second has 20. That gift in 2000 not only marked the Millennium but a blooming good gift for all of Greenspring.  Fregeau is also the High Tea Lady on the Bridge at Sunset.  Hugh Wynn had a great time with that for a Villager cartoon.

• March, 2005
  • The AARP Tax aides are reminding residents they are around just until April 14.  Chair Marion Burgett reports as of March 17 there have been 243 hours put in with 155 residents reporting to the team for assistance.  They have had 17 joint returns; have reviewed 98 Federal forms and 87 Virginia 760.  Burgett adds that the volunteers have answered 85 questions.
• Contrary to an earlier Notable saying that the next Greenspring visit by Rep. Tom Davis ® of Virginia would be A Capitol Affair in April was disproved when he appeared under the auspices of the Erickson Foundation in the Village Theater in March for a presentation on Social Security update.  He emphasized that the Administration has not given a complete plan for action following a slide presentation.  Questions from the audience included the Survivor Benefit Plan, the wisdom or not of Congress and the President intruding into the case of keeping Schiavo alive in Florida, Medicare and Medicaid activity and the transportation trials of Northern Virginia.  In the audience were residents who had been his constituents in his district prior to moving to Greenspring.
• Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, Democratic candidate for Virginia governor visited Greenspring for a breakfast meeting in the Conference Center on March 17, a day after he had announced his candidacy.  He told the 400 attendees of the retirement community that he was aware of Greenspring Precinct 426 being created in 2003 and its strong voter participation.  He noted that he was accompanied and supported by his father in law, the popular former Republican Governor Linwood Holton.  Kaine also told the breakfast crowd he would fight to protect the state fund for roads and transit from being tapped for other projects.  He faced a number of questions how Virginia is dealing with proposed federal cuts to Medicaid. He also noted the Kaine campaign plans to make Fairfax the base of its statewide operations.  From Greenspring he went to a fundraiser luncheon for Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D).
• Democratic Club sponsored in the Village Theater early in March Chap Peterson, 39th District Delegate and candidate for Lt. Governor of Virginia.  He was accompanied by 37th District Delegate Vivian Watts.
• Tom Channon had been asked how the Hunter Pond was filling and he said he was amazed.  He had thought several months of runoff and rain before the pond was filled.  Last report “a couple of rains will do it.”  Since that report there have been four substantial rains.  He did say that when the Pond is full and stabilized there will be restocking with bluefish, wide mouth bass and catfish which were the stock previously when Cliff Poole of Madison Green took a pole to the pond and came away with a two pound bass.  It was his only fishing excursion and his fish grew longer and heavier the more he told the story.  The fountain will also be re-installed and the Yacht Club boat house.
• Happy Ribbon Cutting :Ben Cornthwaithe, Assistant Administrator, Renaissance Gardens; Elaine Sorensen, president of Resident Council; and Ian Lee Brown, Executive Director were elated with the request to cut the ribbon in the walkway  between the two wings of Renaissance Gardens as it represented a countdown to finish.  There was excitement for the last structure built on campus and in January was officially opened with the first floor ready for Assisted Living residents.  and officially opening in January  The first floor of the  three-story building, Evergreen Terrace. was opened to Assistant Living.  The second floor for Skilled Nursing opened in February. With the opening of  the three-story Evergreen Terrace, left, joined to Rose Court the four-story building which opened in June 2001, Renaissance Gardens in considered complete.  The present census is 102 residents in three floors of Assisted Living and 80 in three floors of Skilled Nursing.  The third floor of Evergreen Terrace is projected to open in June.  (Photos by Pam McKinley) 
• An enterprising resident or two built a snowman/woman after each snowstorm in February.  Each in turn stood at the corner of Spring Village Drive and entrance to the Jackson Court parking lot.  Each time the snow person just decreased in size and then was at last total meltdown.
• Treasure Chest reports pleasure in the money receipts because of the increased hours the shop is open—currently noon to 4 PM as is true also for the Furniture Store across the aisle.  And, yes, lots of table cloths were purchased during the half-price sale:  50 cents each.  The store reports that more table cloths have been donated and urges customers to watch for another bargain sale.
• Bill Shaw of Madison Green gave the Web an account of the Ballroom Dance Group that was formed in September 2000.  He said the early meetings were on a small dance floor in the Potomac Café.  The group expanded and moved to the Town Center Crafts Room.  As the numbers increased Shaw petitioned the Executive Director and the Dining Services Director for use of the Accotink Room on Friday nights.  Approval was granted and the group “thinking ahead so it couldn’t ‘t be taken away” requested four Friday evenings when the group hired a band, The Continentals.”  The band appearances began in 2003.  Evenings are free except band night when the fee is $2.  Shaw announced that there are to be five band nights in 2005, February, May, July, September and December.  All of Shaw’s announcements offer free dance lessons by arriving early—6:30 PM. Otherwise it is 7 PM for the dancing.
• Gala High Jinks:  Channel 6 featured “A Capital Quiz” as an intro for “A Capitol Affair.”  Galavanters Darrel Trundle (JC); Sim Taylor (FV); and Lyell Rodieck (CC) won Round 1 over the Comicstrip of Elizabeth Eppley (MC); Joe Struder (CS) and Freda Burner (CC.)  Galavanters then met Good Answers of Helen Reynolds (WC); Betty Reynolds (WC) and Fred Bell (FV) It should be noted losing teams pick up a lunch ticket for Potomac Café.  Bill Verneer, dressed as Uncle Sam was host and Jim Coulter (OH) was announcer.  Edith Heilber (OH), Mary Ann Temple (GT) and Joan Furtaw (HP) were scorers; and Betty Pelkey (HP) served as judge. Then came the second round and the Galavanters scored high, winning the grand prize , Borders Books Certificates, to enhance the brain power for the next contest.  It was rumored Taylor had a distinct advantage as a former school teacher; yet the Reynolds sisters were dyed in the wool DC High School graduates knowledgeable all things Washington.   Helen Reynolds hit the buzzer first for  the answer of what is uniquely presidential in Washington (president throws out the first ball on opening day). then how many presidents named George: she replied three. As Verneer paused she inquired, “shall I name them?”  The cause was great, Verneer managed to celebrate a birthday on camera with Barbara Budd (aka Beth Ratchford) exuberating.
• The Puzzlers of each neighborhood have finished puzzles to be glued together and used as decorations for the Gala.  Betty Pelkey and her puzzlers of Neighborhood 2 have completed the free form eagle, the mosaic White House, the Statue of Liberty which had been given by Kimberley Nelson and then purchased  Independence Day and Uncle Sam’s Parade.  In Neighborhood3 another Statue of Liberty was the challenge and in Neighborhood 1 Mount Rushmore was done.  Pelkey and Janie Hermon of Grove Terrace glued first one side and then the other to complete them.  A 3-D of the Capitol was rejected by all groups but Julie Reid of Channel 6 cooked a scheme inviting residents who pass by the studio to stop in a add a piece or two and maybe the Capitol will be ready April 9. As far as is known only one 3-D has been done at Greenspring and it is in Hunters Crossing.  (Rumor confirms it was done by a gentleman.)
• Watchers and counters for the Great Backyard Bird Watch in February from Greenspring numbered six  Georgia Weatherhead (PV), Katherine Kane (WC), Chuck Fisher (OH), Vivian Nielsen (CS) Henry Thomasson (JC) and Helen Cullinan (CS). There were 1500 more checklists in 2005 for a total of 51,567.  There were 609 species reported and 6,128,624 individual birds, an increase of 1 million birds.
• Second annual Miss Greater Springfield  Scholarship Pageant was held in the Village Theater and honored Esther You, Miss Greater Springfield 2004.  The pageant is a preliminary to Miss  Virginia in June which is a preliminary to Miss America in September.  Edison High School Jr. ROTC presented the colors and  were escorts for the evening wear category.   Potomac River Rascals sang the National Anthem.  You played the piano for six members of her family to perform and played a violin solo for her farewell.  The pageant formed a partnership with West Potomac Academy, the Fairfax County Public Schools Career and Transition Services.  The students handled on-stage light and sound assistance and videotaped the pageant.  The students at the Academy’s Graphics Imaging and Design program designed the web page of the pageant.  Dana Vaughn, who performed an original free dance, was named Miss Greater Springfield 2005 and  received a $1000 scholarship There were eight contestants in casual wear, swimsuit, evening wear and talent categories.  Pam McKinley, Greenspring Public Relations Manager, was honored for her assistance. 
• The word is out:  Come to the Fair.  Greenspring Resident Council is sponsoring an annual fair, Council Feedback Fair, formerly known as the RAC Fair, in the Accotink Room on Wednesday afternoon, March 23.  Council Liaisons will join the Council chairs and committees to answer questions, assist in filling out forms to be forwarded to staff and other committees.  Council is participating in a luncheon with the Greenspring Board of Directors holding its annual meeting prior to the Fair, 1:30 to 3:30 PM.
• George Mason Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, has been named to the Honor Roll of Donors.  The Greenspring chapter was among 200 honored during the annual DAR National School Bus Tour which included Crossnore school in Crossnore NC,  to which George Mason had contributed.  The citation noted Crossnore provided “safe, stable, healing, living and learning environment for children from families in crisis.”  The school has been open for 91 years.  There are currently 82 children in resident care.  In September after the floods 25 students were admitted to day care.  Additionally there are 60 children, birth to age 5 years in the Development Center and 20 community children were added to the latch key program.  DAR at Greenspring  sponsors the Campbell foods label  program which benefits DAR schools in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Kentucky.
• Springfield Chapter 5300 of Greenspring announced officers as Paul McCurdy (CS) president; William Lovelace (WC) vice president; Milton Weatherhead (PV) treasurer; and Kay McCurdy  (CS) secretary. One year directors are Frances Huenemann (WC) and George Diggs (GT), two year are Helen Kauffman (WC) and Rosemarie LoMonoco (  ), three year are Lloyd Rogers (MC) and William Harris (WC).  Committee chairs are Bill Lauterbach (PV), legislative program;  Marion Burgett (HP) tax aide; Bill Harris (WC) driver safety; and Will Brill (CS), membership.  The group meets in the Village Theater at 1 PM on the first Tuesday except July and August.  All residents are invited to attend.
• Bill Fox of Oak Hill and a member of the GSV Computer Club feels triumphant with the program of recycling Inkjet and Laser printer cartridges from members’ or any resident’s computers. The first collection netted $135.  He recently had a second collection.  His deposit cartons are in each neighborhood Craft Room and in the Computer Room in Town Center.  He says, “It’s good for the environment keeping the cartridges from land fills and besides it helps the economy.”
• Nominations for employees who excel has a new format for 2005.  “Shining Star” of the Month is the title for the plaque in the Town Center lobby areas.  A nomination form is available in all Community Buildings at the front desk.  A criteria listing includes respect and caring; friendliness and enthusiasm, exceptional customer service, communication and teamwork, professionalism, awareness, diversity, learning, integrity and leadership.  The nomination form is sent to the Erickson Way Committee.  Each month close time if the 20th day.  In January Maya Goode of General Services was the Shining Star.  Nominated in February was Jackie Booth who has transferred from the Potomac Café to the kitchen at Jefferson Restaurant. Dale Aiken, but driver in Transportation Department is the March Shining Star.  He is known for his football season program on Channel 6 under an alias
• Greenspring residents and staff were among those of Erickson communities who participated with a motto of “to care is to share” with an outpouring for the tsunami relief in Southeast Asia. President of Management and Operations, Jeff Ferguson presented a check to the Central Maryland Chapter of the American Red Cross and to Catholic Relief Services and Food for the Hungry.  Erickson officials organized a company-wide fundraising drive and pledged a matching contribution to a maximum of $25,000 toward the relief effort.  Employees and staff gave a combined $170,000.  Coupled with the $25,00 a total amount of $195,000 was raised. The Erickson gift was the largest tsunami relief gift the chapter had received.
• The very popular Treasure Chest on the ground floor in Park View of Town Center has extended hours to remain open until 4 PM.  It is open noon until 1 PM for residents and staff only, then open for guests and visitors.  Entirely staffed by volunteers, the Chest uses sales proceeds to assist resident activities, contributes generously to Scholars Award, Staff Appreciation Fund, Benevolent Care Fund and Springfield Firemen’s Association.  Among recent amusing 20 sales items was “1/2-price sale on tablecloths!” reminding the protest by some residents wanting “white tablecloths resurrected in Woodland Skies.”  However, Dining Services reports 110 new tablecloths as replacements for the 45 tables in Woodland Skies-- same color, same pattern, same fabric. Across the hallway is Treasure Chest Furniture Store, open 11:30 AM to 2 PM.
• Grounds Manager John St. Louis sends a strong message.  For residents who want to continue a garden plot they must contact St. Louis by telephone or written message.  If it does not occur, the plots will be re-assigned to the waiting list. The plots are in the permanent location on the south side of Oak Hill.  Free water, hoses, garden tools, fertilizer and loads of ADVICE!   
• February 2005
• Greenspring residents and staff were among those of Erickson communities who participated with a motto of “to care is to share” with an outpouring for the tsunami relief in southeast Asia. President of Management and Operations Jeff Ferguson presented a check to the Central Maryland Chapter of the American Red Cross and others to Catholic Relief Services and Food for the Hungry.  Erickson officials organized a company-wide fundraising drive and pledged a matching contribution to a maximum of $25,000 toward the relief effort.  Employees and staff gave a combined $170,000.  Coupled with the $25,00 a total amount of $195,000 was raised. The Erickson gift was the largest tsunami relief gift the chapter had received
• The very popular  Treasure Chest on the ground floor in Park View of Town Center has extended hours to remain open until 4 PM.  It is open noon until 1 PM for residents and staff only, then open for all customers..  Entirely staffed by volunteers, the Chest uses sales proceeds to assist resident activities, contributes generously to Scholars Award, Staff Appreciation Fund, Benevolent Care Fund and Fire Fighters’ Fund of Fairfax County.  Among recent amusing sales items was “1/2-price sale on tablecloths!” reminding the protest by some residents wanting “white tablecloths resurrected in Woodland Skies.”  There were 35 tablecloths, square, oblong, round, flowered, pastels, permanent press, originally priced at $1, along with eight damask napkins, three soiled.  However, Dining Services reports 110 new tablecloths  as replacements for the 45 tables in Woodland Skies-- same color, same pattern, same fabric. Across the hallway is Treasure Chest Furniture Store,  also open noon to 4 PM, a haven for college dorms, first apartments, newlyweds. Start up items, of course
• Grounds Manager John St. Louis sends a strong message.  For residents who want to continue a previous garden plot they must contact St. Louis by telephone or written message.  If it does not occur, the plots will be re-assigned to the waiting list. The plots are in the permanent location on the south side of Oak Hill.  Free water, hoses, garden tools, fertilizer, two garden houses, numerous benches and loads of ADVICE!   
• Elizabeth Beckwith of Walden Court accepts attention and congratulations as she and husband, “Beck” share mutual birthdays, February 21, and she had planned to be there  on February 27 for the 50th celebration sermon for the Annandale church he had founded.  However, she fell, broke a hip and spent another day in surgery for replacement.  Fortunately the technological age can video the whole affair
• Income tax preparation has descended on Greenspring but the annual assistance by the AARP Tax Aid program also has arrived with assistance available twice a week in the Craft Room at Hunters Crossing.  Milt Weatherhead of Park View schedules appointments for either Monday mornings from 9 AM to noon or Thursday evenings between 7 and 9 PM.  Marion Burgett of Hampton Place serves as chair and veteran aides  assist residents in preparing the Federal 1040 and the Virginia 760 forms.  The aides include Charles Bruggen, Hampton Place; Bud Lampert, Gus Ebel, both of Madison Green; Mike Lowe, Connor Terrace; Mary Seip and Weatherhead, Park View; and Jim Scott of Springfield who continues to volunteer with the program.  In a three week period a total of 95 volunteer hours had been contributed for 31 Federal forms, 34 state forms and 30 question and answer sessions
• GSV All Star Employees: During 2004 there were a dozen employees who were named All-Star Employee of the Month.  A photo was posted, name engraved on a plaque in Town Center, a monetary award was given and the name went into the pool for Employee of the Year; also with a monetary award.
  

  January, Joe Flood, Security	February, Holly Borrero, Renaissance Gardens	March, Kate Habicht, Marketing & Sales	April Rick Brown, Maintenance
  May, Stephanie Watkins, Health Center	June, Karen Zapata, Human Resources	July, Maria Jefferson, Communications	August, Shamaila Javed, Security
  September, Rafael Mejicanos, Maintenance	October, Carol Chavis, Transportation	November, Al Matchem, Maintenance	December, Linda Lucas, Catering

• Named Greenspring Employee of the Year was Joe Flood who will be honored at the annual Erickson Communities meeting in the spring, to compete with other Erickson Employees of the Year.  Flood joined Greenspring in October, 1998 and has served as a security officer on the night shift, 11 PM to 7 AM.  During his service he has never had a resident or co-worker complaint, but rather comments on his unfailing graciousness and helpfulness.  His boss, Joe Marek, General Services Director, stated that his steady work performance is a true measure of integrity.  He says, “He walks the Talk!”
• High Five these two:  Roshan Sakhrani, Dining Services Supervisor, and Maria Jefferson, Communications Specialist on the night shift.  Each appeared at the Immigration Service and took the citizenship test and each scored 100%--perfecto.  Congratulations.  Maria of Brazil has been sworn in as a citizen in Maryland.  Roshan who speaks his native Hindi, Cantonese and English is from Virginia.  He recently transferred from Potomac Café to Woodland Skies Restaurant.
• Lyn Lubic, who has served as Assistant Executive Director for Greenspring switched her office to Village Square on Dec. 15.  She  has become the Marketing Director.  Lubic came to Greenspring in the General Services Department as the first residents arrived.. 
• Will Nance, who has been Sales and Information Director since  Greenspring opened  has transferred to the Administration Office where he will be Associate Executive Director to Executive Director Ian Lee Brown.
• Bob Bjork, indomitable chair for the Horseshoe Club at Greenspring, purchased and donated a trophy to be awarded annually to the champion of the season-wind-up tournament.  After the first event in 2002 he sought a home for the trophy, thus the Greenspring Horseshoe Trophy is on display in the Resident Life office in Village Square.  Names on the trophy are Dick Pelkey, 2002; Ray Kaminski, 2003; and Henry Smith, 2004.
• Chrissy Mazzello who is a server in the Greenspring Fireside Restaurant has been inducted into the National Honor Society at West Springfield High School where she is a junior.  She also is a member of the German Honor Society, plays clarinet in the Symphonic Band, is a member of the crew team and still manages to work part time at Green spring, where she has worked since. 
• Greenspring Village Garden Club resident volunteer chair Gerry Green of Jackson Court reports a name change:  the “Tillagers.”  Green reports there are 114 plots available to the residents but to sign for one, residents must contact Green or John St. Louis, GSV Grounds Manager.  This is the second year in the permanent location, although in 1999 gardeners planted along the road above the pond.  In 2000 a temporary garden area was established on the north side of Neighborhood 1 and remained another two years.  In 2001 the garden plots were established above Hunter Pond beside Renaissance Gardens for another two years.  When the permanent plots were established, hose reels appeared, landscaping, benches, two tool houses with tools, fertilizer, mulch.  Also re-appeared the camaraderie of gardeners discussing tomatoes, blight, shade and sun and the joy of being dirt farmers.
• The Health Club installed a dozen fitness buffs in February to the 500 Hall of Fame. (Click here for Photo.)  They joined the previous 17, the first three honored in 2002: John Kurt, Frank Chabot and Arlene McCarthy. The goal of 500 workouts is to be recognized and engraved on the plaque at the entrance.  The latest initiates are Charlotte Plasan, Steve Kirby, Rosemary Richardson, Martin Koomen, all of Park View; Phil Reeves, Ed May, Grove Terrace; Willard Griffing, Marguerite Jackson, Scotty Provan, Walden Court; Arnold Erickson, Bob Jost, Madison Green and Bill Charles, Jackson Court.  Spectators included grandchildren and their parents for Bob Jost.   The plaques are on the outside wall at the entrance to the Health Cub.
• Willing teams sent almost 2000 invitations to the Gala, A Capitol Affair, and the evening event on April 9 in Village Square.  Preparing the invitations were Thelma Klopp, Ruth Bury, Grove Terrace; Ky Gilbride, Park View, Joan Matteson, Nola Brooks, Walden Court; Elizabeth Sauer, Robert Sauer, Hampton Place.  Cubby stuffers were the Katydids:  Katherine Kane, Kathryn Coleman, Walden Court; Katie Creane, Forest View; Kay McCurdy, Canterbury Square; Kathleen Cunney, Crestwood Court; Kay Carroll, Oak Hill.  Klopp remembered hand addressing the invites to previous galas.  This year addressed and gummed labels were at hand; however, inserting invitation, return envelope and information sheet required laying on hands. 

Go to top of Page