Villager After Five (Years that is)

Villager – Volume II – Number 7 – March 2002
The Doctor is in by Dr. Leslie M. Brandwin, GSV Medical Director, wrote “The most common accident in this community far is falling.  Tripping, dizziness, unsteadiness, medications, and poor safety planning in our homes cause falls.  Do you wear supportive, non-slip shoes?  Do you get up slowly and get your balance before you start walking?  Do you avoid walking into a dark room without turning on a light?  Chairs are for sitting, not for standing on.  Do you use non-skid wax, non-skid runs?  And tuck away electrical cords so you do not trip over them?

Gerrymandered:  Perhaps you weren’t looking (Villager wasn’t) but we have been doubly redistricted.  Congressionally, Greenspring Village has been shifted from the Eighth District, served by Rep. James Moran, D, to the Eleventh District, served by Rep. Tom Davis, R, effective in elections this November.  In November residents will vote to fill a new 39th District State Senate seat in which there is no incumbent.

Tongue in check or rather words-at-hand was a feature by Bill Raymond of Walden Court.  He noted we have all heard the legend of St. Patrick and the snakes in Ireland but less known is the legend of St. Urho (pronounced “oorho”) who used his “splendid and loud voice” to chase the grasshoppers out of Finland thus saving the grape harvest.  Menahga Minnesota honors St. Urho the patron saint of Finland, with a magnificent statue recreating his mythical battle with giant grasshoppers.  NB:  Raymond printed a “photo doctored by Bill Raymond” noting the striking resemblance to one of our favorite residents, who was shown in the inset.  One sure thing is that Bassler is a Finn.  St. Urho was reportedly invented in the 1950s by a couple of Minnesota Finns as a joke.  Today it’s taken seriously enough that St. Urho Day (the day before St. Patrick’s Day) is officially recognized in all 50 states.

Four persons, residents and a staff member participated in the Great Backyard Count which has been overseen for five years b y the National Audubon Society and Cornell Lab of ornithology.  The count was taken the third weekend of February with Greenspring Nature Trail Club sponsoring the Village count. Interesting finds:  Eastern Bluebirds have taken residence in western Colorado. Robins are going farther north each year. Red-throated humming birds are not all migrating to South America.  Some stay in Louisiana.

Aftermath of the actions during the power outage:  It was stressed the instruction in the Resident’s Handbook:  “WHEN THE FIRE ALARM SOUNDS, YOU SHOULD STAY IN YOUR APARTMENT,” and its notation that bells will continue to sound and the Fire Department will respond in a real emergency and “and a staff member or fire fighter will further advise you if the alarm continues for a long period of time.”  A memo as noted in the February Villager was repeated, “do not use your pull cord for power outages.”

Forest View is scheduled to open at the end of March in Village Square and Maple Creek is rising in Neighborhood 3. A four-tiered parking deck next to Renaissance Gardens is underway.  All four floors of Renaissance Gardens are open. The Salad Bar in Fireside is to be removed in summer and a new one installed in the center of the room.

Greenspring Grounds Supervisor John St. Louis was named the Best Employee of the Year from the selected 12 All-Star Employee of the Month winners. He was to be honored at the Erickson Annual Meeting March 18.

Villager – Volume II – Number 6 – February 2002
Groundbreaking for Community Building 3 and Maple Creek is scheduled for March l.

Greenspring was impressed that the E-Plan really worked when a power outage occurred early Sunday morning, Feb. 3.  Lights and elevators were put on generators, nurse staff in Renaissance Gardens was put on rotation to check each cord every 15 minutes.  Dining Services opened Fireside at 11:15 AM.  Omelet and pasta stations were up and running.  In the afternoon supplies from Woodland Skies were pushed up the hill and a picnic buffet was born on the Town Center patio.  The Washington Chorus arrived for its afternoon concert in Village Square.  The down side was the number of residents who used their pull cords as a method to find out about the accident and food service.  The pull cords override the telephones and become a security check.  Even if no emergency, it takes a guard to re-set the pulled cord.

Computer Corner focused on http://www.jigzone.com  Puzzles that range from trivial to frustrating are available, including Puzzle of the Day.  Another feature is Word Search with more than 200 Word Search Puzzles.  Suggestion:  When it comes to Crossword Puzzles – a good place to start is the kids area.

Billiard Club was a new activity starting in February with 31 members. Membership and matches are posted in the Town Center.  Both men and women matches have been scheduled.

Dean Coston of Walden brought back his “Music for a Sunday Afternoon” in a new monthly series of great musicals every second Sunday in the Village Theater.  He opened with “That’s Entertainment,” a history of the great MM musicals.  His programs run about two hours.

Saturday Sing-A-Long has begun at 6:15 PM and ends in time for the Saturday Night Movie in the Theater. Two new activities in Village Square are Quilt, Stitch and Chat and Poker. 

Greenspring Village Chess Club is hosting a Master Level Chess player to put on a simultaneous chess game exhibition in which he plays multiple players at one time all seated around tables arranged in a square or rectangular pattern.  Riderwood Chess Club hosted Greenspring Village in its challenge match with the Charlestown Chess Club.  Riderwood and Charlestown each have a woman member who participated in the match.

Villager – Volume II – Number 5 -  January 2002
NeighborCare Pharmacy opens at Greenspring on January 7.  NeighborCare is a Baltimore firm operating the pharmacy and has contracts with all major health carriers. Hours are 9 to 5, Monday through Friday and 9 to 1 on Saturday.  Ellen DeMucci is pharmacist-manager and Kathy Manol is pharmacist-technician.

The fourth annual Show N’ Tell has moved to the Accotink Room for its January exhibition.  The show will have both a morning viewing and an afternoon show. The 2001 show featured 34 exhibits.

RAC 2001 retires and goes into the record books as the developer of the annual RAC Fair, an annual gripe session at which residents can air concerns or suggestions to cognizant RAC Committees and their RAC liaisons, and as the initial instigator for Inter-RAC, which has evolved into an annual meeting of RAC leaders from all operating Erickson Communities for an exchange of ideas among themselves and with corporate Erickson executives.

Tax aides sponsored by  IRS and AARP Chapter is being offered for the third years. 

Small World:  Henrietta Lucke of Madison Green and  Marjorie English of Grove Terrace were KWAVES in WW II and were stationed at the end of the war at San Francisco’s Treasure Island.  The two never met until many years later when they both were attending  the United Church of Christ in Annandale.
A memory they share and laugh about is the adventure of riding the water taxi from the island to San Francisco—one WAVE aboard a boat with 50 sailors just returning from overseas duty.

The Greenspring Village Railroad Company set up the two-track railroad with a coal burning steam engine pulling passenger cars while a diesel hauls the freight cards.  Doug Crone of Madison Green was the train master and chief engineer helped by a son, Skip, and friends from the Resident Woodshop.  Children were intrigued with Santa, his sleight and eight tiny reindeer up on the mountain.

Channel 6 launched its first live broadcast of “Village in Motion,” from the studio in Village Square.  The show is re-run at noon, 4 and 7 pm.

Villager – Volume II – Number 4  December 2001
Staff Appreciation drive:  353 employees benefited from $44,576 contributed.

RAC Social Committee (later disbanded at the Council Meeting) was selling tickets for the New Year’s Eve party in the Fireside Dining Room and Potomac Café.

Charles Jaekle and Dick Bassler, both of Grove Terrace did a search operation on the Web for the article on Kwanzaa.  They wrote that the roots of Kwanzaa are from continental Africa as a holiday of celebration for the first fruits or harvest.  It comes directly out of the farming peoples of Africa who gave thanks for a good crop of fruits and vegetables by coming together sing, dance, eat, drink and have a good time after a season of hard work.  In 1966 Kwanzaa was created as a concept for Americans by a young visionary living in California, Dr. Maulana “Ron” Karenga, a professor Black Studies.  The word “Kwanzaa” is derived from Swahili –the most popular African language and means –“first fruits.” A table display shows a straw mat, a cup, a unity cup, ear of corn for each child in a family and fruit and vegetable basket.  A seven-branched candle holder has three red candles on the left, a black center candle and three green on the right. 

The Doctor Is In announced the house retail pharmacy would open for business, probably in January.  It was reported that 70% of the residents use the Medical Center for their health care.  A third physician has been hired to begin at the end of the month.

Duplicate bridge has started up in the Potomac Café with eight full tables.  Will and Helen Hanak of Park View are the directors.  Promptly at seven o’clock the announcement is made:  “People go up and boards go down,” reminding that after every three boards have been played, the players sitting east-west must move to the higher-numbered table and the boards must be passed to the lower-numbered table.   Simple enough, but the players tend to forget.

RAC rejiggers committees, to make the revised structure to more closely parallel the GSV management blueprint.  Finance and Marketing/Public Affairs became standing committees, a Resident Life Committee was established and the Social Committee was terminated.  The Bereavement Committee changed its name to Remembrance Committee.

• More than 200 volunteers of 90 resident activities at Greenspring were recognized as the third annual Volunteer Leader Performance and luncheon sponsored by Community Resources.
• Helen Reynolds of Walden Court prepared tapes of issues of Villager beginning with six users of the tapes in April 2001.  By the November issue she was preparing for eig;ht tape users and placing several in the GSV Library.  She prepares a master tape which takes her about 90 minutes to record.  A 12-page issue takes more than two hours.  Multiple copies are made from the master tape at Fairfax Government Center.  Seven copies are made simultaneously. 
• Greenspring collected 10,000 Christmas cookies to be distributed overseas to the troops.  Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs was taking them as he visited the troops in the war zone.  nb

Villager – Volume II – Number 3 – November, 2001
Horizon: Page 1: RAC elected on the new schedule passed earlier:  Four residents for two year terms; and five for one year terms.  Third anniversary party of Greenspring planned in the Village Theater. Sales on a roll with 65% of Connor Terrace apartments sold. Move-ins occur five or six times a week. 

The cartoon drawn by Hugh Wynn showed two senior citizens on the walk in front of Renaissance Gardens. One senior is telling the other:  “It’s Our Security Blanket.”

“Connections” introduced by Community Resources was having its second sign-up in Village Square.  Nineteen signed as retired educators and 20 listed military wife.  At least 33 identified themselves as Smithsonian Associates.  In the first Connections in the spring of 2000 there were 13 residents who noted interest in journalism.  “I’ve always wanted to write,” one said. (NB—the list of contributors for The Villager at this date: Four on Editorial Board, 19 staff)

General Services sent a plea to residents:  “Leave the Wild in Wild Animals.  Do not feed the outside animals!”  Hence, no bird feeders that ultimately attract squirrels and rats.  Invasive birds also are a nuisance at the feeders.

Responding to the events of Sept. 11, Greenspring’s Dialogue and Diversity Group has launched “Walking Together,” a year-long series of programs focusing on Islam and Islamic Culture.  “Islam in America’s Future,”” was the first discussion program.  An ecumenical prayer service, study groups and lectures with featured speakers are part of the series.

Villager –Volume II – Number 2 - October 2001
The banner headline:  A Very Bad Day – September 11, 2001

The Villager reported the very bad and seemingly endless day with interviews of staff and residents; reports of the speed with which the Command Center in the Town Center responded, resident volunteers assisting in dining rooms.  Greenspring turned into a clutch of round the clock TV watchers along with the rest of the nation to see the National Cathedral Memorial Service.  A Memorial Mass was held for Commander Patrick Dunn, lost at the Pentagon.

The issue of Villager was 12 pages as had been the September issue.  The editors in consultation with the Executive Director agreed that the better publication was eight pages.  Hence, the November issue will be eight pages. 

Beaver Re-Runs—In the spring a beaver took up residence under the gazebo and zealously gnawed some very expensive (like $300) ornamental trees along the gatehouse entry park.  By summer he was blitzed out of Greenspring. Wildlife experts say beavers migrate in May; not September.  Be as it may in September three beavers arrived.  They chomped on saplings planted around Hunter Pond to the total of 14. The downing of a 24-inch diameter hardwood in the woods was the fatal wood chips and on Oct. 9 Groundskeeper John St. Louis reported Greenspring beaver-free.

A campus shuttle started up in June.  Transportation Manager Pamela Rieser says the Shuttle currently runs approximately 13 hours daily for a total of 80 miles.  To minimize the cost to residents, requests to extend shuttle hours are handled on an individual basis.  The fleet contains three buses, one mini-van and one station wagon, with the mini-van and one bus wheel chair accessible.  At present there are 10 part-time drivers.

Two residents of Park View originated the GHSV Saturday movie with popcorn.  Three residents replaced one of the residents.  As of this date there are eight teams of volunteers who determine the movie, obtain the video, prepare the posters, run the movie and “clean up.”  The first movie January 1999 was shown in the Card Room.  As the population creased, the movie nigh to Potomac Café.  With the opening of Village Square the movies move –alas without popcorn or drinks. 

Erickson Retirement Communities celebrated the arrival of the 8,000th resident in July and rank and file employees celebrated too – with cash bonuses.  About 300 Greenspring employees other than managers shared in the celebration with bonuses starting at $50, the amounts based on responsibility and length of service.

In the State of GSV the Executive Director spoke of eight Erickson Communities now open.  Greenspring has 800 residents and 400 staffers.  Two residences are due to open—Connor Terrace and Forest View.  The 400--space parking deck near Renaissance Gardens is underway as is the land preparation for Neighborhood 3. Work is going forward to prepare the pharmacy for opening at the end of the year in Town Center.  Community Resources was pushing to up resident activities from 75 to 90 in 2002

Villager – Volume II – Number 1 – September 2001
Birthday edition! Top of the fold headline announced The Villager and the Residents Web Page Unite. The paragraph said the moon was in the Seventh House, Jupiter was aligned with Mars, Channel 6 moved to Village Square, Bill Raymond of Walden Court bought a new computer, Executive Director Lonny Blessing gave the newly merged Villager and Residents Web Page their new office and a home for Bill’s old computer.  It’s the Age of Aquarius.  The Villager and Web Page combined resources results in an office with a computer system dedicated to production of the Villager and Residents Page.  Blessing settled the two media operations into the old Channel 6 headquarters adjacent to the Medical Center in Town Center.

RAC elections were set to change the tenure of its members and assure continuity in future Councils.  The new system offers a system of staggered two-year terms.  Future Councils will not be enlarged as the Greenspring population grows.  In future years four members will be elected in odd numbered years and five in even numbered years for a continuing membership of nine.  All will be elected “at large” voted on by all Greenspring residents. 

On the anniversary the editors went to Executive Director Lonny Blessing who had given his blessing a year before when they presented a case for an independent resident-run newspaper.  He said the “Villager has been what I expected.  It has been fair; it is accurate and reflects both sides of issues and is a source of information to the residents.  I want information to go on the Bulletin Boards, to Channel 6 and also to the Villager.” The editors were pleased.

Connor Terrace in Neighborhood 2 is scheduled to open Oct. 5.  Scheduled for move-ins by Thanksgiving are 15 apartments.  The fourth building, Forest View is scheduled for opening in the spring 2002. Home Support and Rehabilitation services housed in the Town Center Medical Offices are moving to Forest View when it opens.

Dr. Leslie Brandwin in his column offered his annual plea to residents to get Flu Shots.

Bill Shaw of Madison Green is offering free dance classes in the Town Center classroom.

Cartoonist Hugh Wynn offered a visual on how The Villager meets deadlines:  faulty printing, computer crashing, editorial scolding.  One crow to another:  “How did you get a paper cut?”

Claire Manger of Madison Green joins the MDTR Walking Club on its slow walk on Tuesday morning on the trail adjoining Greenspring.  During the walk the group smelled skunk in one area.  While cooling down in the coffee lobby Manger still smelling skunk.  Back in her apartment she smelled skunk.  “Horrors, it was  the sport shoes so I tried to wash the odor off with ammonia.” Frank Chabot of Grove Terrace suggested catsup would work.  Manger had none but Chabot said maybe the Potomac Café.  She was given several packets and sure enough by morning the odor was gone.  On the next day walk she followed her hobby of seeking four leaf clovers.  She found a FIVE LEAF CLOVER and forgot her odiferous encounter with “Flower.”

Gertie Sue probably went into rehab following her frolics at the Penthouse Party held by Park View residents on the third floor.  Security was called about a drunk femme on the elevator (Gertie Sue and empty booze bottle sent down in an empty elevator) When the elevator was called later—no Gertie Sue.  She has been missing for a while.

The Villager – Volume I – Number 12 – August 2001
The editors introduced a new format: two double-wide columns with small side column introducing Horizon for coming events:  Ooompah Octoberfest and the RAC Fair in October. were the dates for the first Horizon.

It was noted that the French Club was struggling to be born.  Some 20-odd residents had expressed interest in forming such a club.  Some hoped for an introductory course in the language, while others wanted an opportunity to converse in French at fluency levels from high-school to native-born.  Three “chat rooms” were set up, each hosted by a native-speaker, but they attracted only six visitors, and two of these dropped out declaring the level of conversation to be too advanced.  The program will continue with the four members.  (In 2006 the French Conversation Group varying from seven to 20 continues to meet.)

The late Jack Huber of Park View toward the end of 1999 put a jigsaw puzzle on a table in the Fireside Lounge and started working on it.  Soon five residents of Park View, two from Walden Court and one from Grove Terrace were working on it.  Thus the jigsaw puzzle group became an official community resource activity. When Village Square opened, 10 residents of Hampton Place and Jackson Court started doing puzzles in the lobby lounge.

Gwen Black of Madison Green received a bid to the White House as a result of completing an AARP questionnaire.  The DC office sent a car and she participated in a DC rally for Medicare and the proposed prescription drug plan.  Two weeks later she was accompanied by Ron Levin of Grove Terrace, then AARP president, to the White House.  For the photo op in the Rose Garden, Black and two men were present.

Skilled Nursing section opened the first of August in Renaissance Gardens It was reported the Gardens staff numbered 50.  The Blue Jeans group, led by Jean Bley of Park View visited the first floor residents in the Gardens on the first Friday.  (The Blue Jeans have continued the first Friday visits to this day.).

Village Choristers returned to the Music Room where it had started, all because of a gift of a Baldwin piano.  The group had practiced for 18 months struggling to produce good harmony in the Potomac Café.  With the opening of Village Square the group held rehearsals in the Theater. But it was the piano, a gift from the Immanuel Presbyterian Church in McLean and made possible through the efforts of one of the newest residents of Greenspring, Marjorie Silvis  of Jackson Court, who had been choir director at the church from 1975 to 1993, that caused a joyful noise  to be made.. 

The Villager – Volume I – Number 11 – July 2001
Greenspring RAC announced restructuring with a revamped constitution and by-laws to create a continuing RAC with nine members who will serve two-year staggered terms.  The changes will eliminate current one-year terms and the requirement that RAC membership expand as Greenspring grows.  Several current members had advocated changes and the movement gained momentum when GSV members discussed Council terms and membership at the first even conference of representatives from six Erickson Communities (Inner-RAC.)  In the future four RAC members will be elected to two-year terms in odd-numbered years and five in even-numbered years.  The Council also took steps toward name two new committees, on Finance and on Marketing and Public Relations.

That pesky busy beaver has been blitzed.  He had been vanished, returned, zapped expensive landscape trees along Hunter Pond.  Grounds Supervisor John St. Louis had said, “that beaver didn’t take down any old tree.  Naw he went for the best.”  The trapped beaver has permanently departed Greenspring.

The Performing Arts Center opened with a concert sponsored by the Concert Associates.  Resident critics pointed out missing features of a “Performing Arts Center.”  The Executive Director assured that door stops, microphones, screen operation and lighting would be corrected.  (In time the Center became the Village Theater)

The “Name Groups” gathered for tea in the Accotink Room.  A representative from each name group served as a committee to organize the affair.  Sidney Foster and his violin furnished background music of old favorites and light classics.  About 55 GSV ladies signed for the tea and showed up in correct afternoon dress according to the reporter.

When John Ericksn, CEO and Founder of Erickson Retirement Communities was at Greenspring in April said he does not favor the so-called “Alternative” meal plan suggested by some residents.  He said in a letter to a resident that such a plan could increase the cost of the food service operation rather than decrease it.  His letter explained that “we actually budget and operate under the assumption that residents will eat out several times a month.”  He suggested that what he called “an exact meal cost program” would add to costs because “the accounting involved (in) seeing what nights each individual ate would be a nightmare to administer.  I suspect the economic benefits would turn out to be negative.”

Dialogue and Diversity announced Buddhism as the subject  for discussion in its series in the Music Room.  Judaism is to follow with Hinduism the subsequent topic. The Alfred Street Baptist Choir is sending its 40-member Voices of Triumph Choir to sing at Vespers in November. Greenspring residents had visited the church on Palm Sunday.

Resident Count is 760 persons. Resident-run activities total 83 with three more proposed on the Bulletin Boards:  chess, French and Medieval English.

The Resident Wood Shop reports a successful move from Park View to Hampton Court.  The Woodshop sets aside Saturdays to clean the shop, oil the equipment and demonstrate the use of a particular power tool. 
Kckane     July 2006

Villager – Volume I, Number 10 – June, 2001
One RAC Fair Deserves Another:  RAC evaluated the May RAC Fair and voted unanimously to sponsor another in the fall.  The chair estimated 150 residents attended the first one.

The star jewel in the Greenspring Village diadem held a VIP opening on June 13 as officials from state and county offices and leaders from Erickson Retirement Communities joined Greenspring staff and RAC and its committees in crossing the bridge to the Renaissance Gardens.  Before the opening the Gardens staff had rehearsals.  Kitchen staff prepared dinner, wait staff worked the dining rooms, the laundry staff did laundry, the emergency call system was checked and the heating and cooling in each residence was tested. 

After breezing through its trial runs, Village Square officially took its place as the community center for Greenspring Neighborhood 2 in a splashy Grand Opening.  As predicted, it was quite a bash.  Six early settlers in Hampton Place and Jackson Court were on hand to assist Executive Director Lonny Blessing and RAC chair Ann Jaekle.  Woodland Skies, the shining new dining room with its woodsy floor-to-ceiling windows had opened early in June. Residents and guests roamed the upper and lower level corridors, color-coded with balloons to guide the way to Game Room, Card Room, Gift Shop (Village Market,) Crafts Room, Class Room, Beauty Shop, Channel 6 Studio, Accotink Room and Performing Arts Center (Village Theater)

Shuttle Service is now available throughout the day with four stops:  Town Center, Village Square, Employees’ Parking Lot  and Junction of Walden Court, Grove Terrace and Madison Green.

Village Square Billiards Room is completed and players who had been played at Town Center have “gone home to play.”

Greenspring participated in the fourth annual Ronald McDonald House walk which netted $11,000.

Greenspring Library held a yard sale to dispose of boxes of donated books and costume jewelry and knick knacks donated by residents.  After the sale on Spring Village Drive, surplus books were given to a charitable organization and the miscellaneous items became the initial stock for the Treasure Chest formed later in the year.  At the beginning of 2000 the Library adopted the Dewey Decimal System and books were being classified by the system.  The Library is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, staffed by resident volunteers.. 

Five bluebird boxes were made in the Resident Wood Shop and installed by the Grounds Manager.  The boxes are now part of the Transcontinental Bluebird Trail.  Box 1 fledged four bluebirds in May.

The portrait of Founder and CEO John Erickson has been moved from the easel in Fireside Lounge to a permanent home above the fireplace in Village Square Lobby.

Two candidates for GSV Scholarships have been named, the second year the scholarships have been offered. Two scholarships also were awarded in 2000..

Volume I – Number 9 – May 2001
John C. Erickson, Founder and Chair, told a Village Information Meeting on April 24 that Erickson Communities, now with eight campuses, is a solid, fast growing organization.  He suggested that residents, soon to number 8000 may have an opportunity to share in the success.  Speaking to more than 500 Greenspring residents, who overflowed the Fireside Dining Room, he called Erickson “the Home Depot of retirement communities,” providing facilities and services unmatched by smaller rivals.  Erickson’s real competition and challenge, he said, is not competition but seniors who “stay home too long.”  By the year 2020, he said, there will be 23 million of them looking for a place to live.

Announcement was made that in mid-May a third dining area will be available as Woodland Skies, located in Village Square of Neighborhood 2 will open for full service dinners served 7 days of the week (including late Sunday afternoon.)

First VIM meeting organized by the Resident Advisory Council 2001 was attended by more than 500 of the 681 residents of GSV as well as staff in the Fireside Dining Room and Lounge.  Chair Ann Jaekle introduced the members of the Council in their first public appearance and the seven Resident Committees and their chairs.  Jaekle cited the achieving of each:  Expanded bus service to Tyson’s Corner, Fair Oaks and Pentagon City was greeted with applause.  A Tricare for Life Insurance Forum is to be held sponsored by Health Services.  Executive Director Lonny Blessing announced he has 225 staff to supervise but he has “681 bosses!” He expanded on Village Square which will have Channel 6 studio, an auditorium, a convenience store, beauty shop, craft and class rooms, a card room and  Accotink, a catering room...

Wedding for Karla Williams and Brad Hibbs is announced for June 9.

The Villager Staff acknowledge problems (computer, galleys, layout, etc.) for this issue.  Lonny’s Executive Assistant, Sue Koslow, who months ago had offered to help if and when needed, has been very needed in getting out this issue and has given generously and very pleasantly of her time.  Villager Staff extends our sincere thanks to her.

John St. Louis, the Greenspring Garden Guru, was s on countdown for the opening of garden plots at Renaissance Gardens from the gardens at Grove Terrace.  He managed to roto till 34 plots, which had been neatly roped, had water hoses in place with water turned on, tools lined up in a row in a garden shed and a map on the wall showing the  location of the plots.   He even has in mind a golf tee above the Pond at end of the Gardens. .

Greenspring has applied to Fairfax County authorities for a club liquor license to avoid case-by-case applications for special events, like the Gala

Jean Fregeau of Hampton Place has initiated an elegant Sunday afternoon where residents have tea, conversation and enjoy “Sunset on the Bridge, which Hugh Wynn later portrayed in a cartoon: “They Call it High Tea.”
Kckane – May 2006

Volume I, Number 8 – April 2001
Village Information Meeting scheduled for the Fireside Dining Room with John Erickson, founder and chair of Erickson Communities is the name change with  the convenient acronym VIM has supplanted Town Meeting.  There is also a format change.  Resident Advisory Council is sponsoring the meeting, billing it as “looking forward.”  It was announced that Erickson was recently appointed to the 14-membr Commission on Affordable Housing and Healthcare Facility Needs of Senior Citizens in the 21st Century. 

Anticipating a June opening for Renaissance Gardens, the Health Services Director is holing four information sessions each week in April.  She said Renaissance Gardens is the only Assisted Living and Nursing Care Center with an on-site Medical Center staffed with full-time physicians.  A major effort after the first resident enters is to apply to the state for Medicare certification.

The GSV Yacht Club is launching its first racing season in May.  Commodore Don Graul reports five of the mini yachts have been assembled.  The club celebrated its first anniversary in March and the installation by Greenspring of the boathouse. In good weather the club meets there.

The first Art Show was held in the Town Center Card Room and spilled out into the Fireside Lobby. Five students and their teacher from West Springfield High School visited Greenspring and under tutelage of the GSV Photography Club shot black and white film.  Later the Photography Club went to the school to assist the students in making prints; some of which were exhibited at the Art Show.  Helen Wynn of Park View organized the Art Show

The Concert Associated presented their first Sunday Concert in the Potomac Café.  Sidney Foster announced a fee of $2 for the concerts to offset the cost of bringing talent to the campus when the new auditorium opens in Village Square.  The first concert featured Foster, Madison Green, Helen Looney, Park View; Marlene Morrisey; Grove Terrace; and Dawn Levy of the McLean Symphony

The first two floors of Jackson Court in Neighborhood 2 opened on April 20  The whole five floors will be operational on June 4.  Village Square Clubhouse opens the first week of May.

Doctor Day was celebrated in the Medical Center.  Dr. Leslie M. Brandwin, Medical Director was pleasantly surprised by residents and staff who crowded into the waiting room.  For his Doctor is In column he thanked those who sent cards, notes and poems.

Mary Elizabeth Seip of Park View became the first Regent of the newly formed George Mason Chapter, National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution.  It is believed the Greenspring chapter is the first established in a retirement community.  The chapter was presented a gavel, whose block plaque stated, “Gavel is made from English Boxwood growing at Gunston Hall in George Mason’s lifetime.”  The wood was provided  by the Gunston Hall Director.

Residents Doug Crone, Madison Green; Marshall Schmitt, Walden Court; and Phil Reeves, Grove Terrace, arranged a seminar aimed at providing information to military retirees, dependents and survivors living in Greenspring.  The two issues to be addressed are  Tricare for Life, an insurance plan to be implemented in October, and the lawsuit filed to redress broken health care promises made to military personnel by the U.S. government.

The Greenspring RAC proposal to meet at GSV with Councils from three nearby Erickson communities, has escalated into a gathering for representatives of all existing Erickson Resident Councils at corporate headquarters some time in the summer.  There are six Erickson Communities with Resident Councils.

Volume  I - Number 7 – March 2001
It’s Inter-RAC: Greenspring Resident Advisory Council  is inviting Council officers of the other three nearby Erickson Communities to a day of talks here in June to discuss matters of mutual interest.  Chair Ann Jaekle said  Chairs, Vice Chairs and Secretaries of Councils at Charlestown and Oak Crest near Baltimore and Riderwood in Silver Spring are being invited.

Meals to Go started in January by  Dining Services had its second start-up in March following changes suggested by residents in a survey following January.   There are four meals to heat.  The meals moved to the Country Store.  In addition residents can carry out from the noon lunch menu.

Construction changes include addition of a fourth level to the parking deck planned near Renaissance Gardens.  Addition of a pharmacy in Town Center was announced.  Marketing and Sales moved to permanent space in Village Square and General Services moved to Jackson Court which was under construction.  Part time medical services were to move into the ground level of Park View.

Third annual Show ‘n Tell will be held in the Fireside Dining Area.  The first show had in 1999 had 16 exhibits and the 2000 show featured 40 exhibits.

The Nature Trail Club visited the Charlestown Nature Club and returned with a gift of seven different wildflowers to be planted along the Greenspring  Trail.  In addition there are plantings of  wildflowers from the garden of Wildflower Chairman Antonia Fiumara in Wayne, PA.

Resident Kurt Latzko is heading a Photography Club, which has a project with photography students at West Springfield High School, where residents and students would use the dark room facilities at the school.

Dialogue & Diversity was invited by the Rev. John Peterson to attend the Palm Sunday worship service at  the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, the largest black church in Northern Virginia.  The church is sending a 25-passenger bus for the Greenspring visitors.

The GSV Book Club voted a new format which would alternate a paperback best seller one month with a literary classic the next month.

Four meetings are to be held in the Town Center Classroom for informal presentation and discussion on the future Renaissance Gardens..

Albert Weinstein, who recently moved into Hampton Place, is offering a course in Cosmology, the History of the Universe.  He previously taught the course for ten years at the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church. 
Kckane –March, 2006

Volume I - Number 6 - February 2001
Nine of 10 residents of Greenspring reported satisfaction or extremely satisfied in the recently completed 2000 survey.  Holleran Consulting, research consultant reported 497 residents living at Greenspring in November, 2000.  There were 421 responses (at 85% highest of any of the five Erickson communities surveyed.) 

John Erickson, chairman and founder of Erickson Retirement Communizes is scheduled to speak in April.  Renaissance Gardens is projected to open in June. More than 200 attended a forum on the opening.  The Dining Director spoke about Woodland Skies in Neighborhood 2 which will not have a salad bar and also plans to expand the hours in Potomac Café.   New staff were General Services Director Joe Marek and Nurse Practitioner Anita Balint.. 

Don Graul noted ice was on Hunter Pond but the five small radio-controlled sailboats would be ready for March to  continue until October.   Dialogue and Diversity group was meeting with Erickson Senior Vice President Dan Rexford to fashion an advertising campaign for minority and especially Afro-American media. Charles Jaekle of Grove Terrace was Greenspring chair. Dean kCoston of Walden Court launched a 10-part series in the Potomac Café;, called “Music for a Sunday Afternoon.”  The Ballroom Dance Group under Bill Shaw of Madison Green is holding monthly dances in the Potomac Café.  Treasure Chest held a ribbon-cutting ceremony as it moved into new space in the ground floor of Park View.

Springfield Chapter AARP (Greenspring) presented its membership award check of $500 to the Greater Springfield Volunteer Fire Department.  The Greenspring group had the largest increase in membership for the year.
Kckane   February 2006

Volume I – Number  5 – January 2001
Page 1 announced the new RAC Council of nine members, extended from the previous seven standing committee chairs.  In addition an Archives Committee was announced.

Announcement was made of the Renaissance Forum in which the director would discuss the projected opening of the Renaissance Gardens, the architectural plans, the waiting list, assessment of need and prices, to be followed by a question and answer period.

Construction Update:  Resident building Hampton Place now occupied; the 3-level parking deck would open in May; Village Square community building was to open in early May, the four floors of Renaissance Gardens on June 1 and the completion of the entire Greenspring Village project of three neighborhoods in late 2005.

Morris Thompson of Grove Terrace organized a Hanukkah Party in the Town Center Card Room with food, games and prizes, music and good times.  Some 30 residents and families joined the fun.

One of the first Scholarship students,. Tara Mulligan, returned to campus to work during the Christmas break (she later graduated, married Craig Turner, works in the Government Center in Fairfax.)

Frank Laden of Grove Terrace was Emcee for the third annual holiday talent show.  Frank Shea of Park View served as a holiday elf doling out candy canes.  General Services provided their popular “Twelve Days of GSV Christmas.:

The Resident Wood Shop had a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new location in Hampton Place.  The move from Park View in Town Center opening space for the Treasure Chest.

Dan Rexford, Erickson Senior Vice President Marketing met with Charles Jaekle of Grove Terrace and four members of Dialogue and Diversity to begin planning for a focus group to determine why members of minority groups are slow to enroll in communities like Greenspring Village.

Ron Levin, chair, accepted the state aw2ard for membership for the Springfield Chapter of the Americas Association of Retired Persons.  The award goes to the charity of choice and the chapter chose the Springfield Volunteer Rescue Squad.  Bill Lauterbach of Park View founded the Greenspring chapter.

Bill and Marian Shaw of Madison Green came to Greenspring in 2000 and felt there was a need for an activity they had enjoyed.  With their background  and association with Arthur Murray dance studios they decided to share the experience with Greenspring and offered instruction and have been instrumental since in sponsoring ballroom dance both at Town Center and at Village Square.

Volume I – Number 4 – December 2005 The editors were pleased to announce that, with this issue, VILLAGER becomes the first residents’ publication in any Erickson Community to publish without prior review of contents by management representatives.  In the future our writers will work within agreed guidelines which include a grievance procedure for parties who consider themselves unfairly treated in VILLAGER columns. (The guidelines followed those formed when the Greenspring Web Page was being created.)

“Food Flap” continued as a page one article.  Residents “will have an opportunity to air their concerns about the new menus and new policy recently announced for carry out dining at a special GSV Forum in the Fireside Dining Room.”  Steve Kirby, Resident Advisory Council Chair, announced the Forum at the December Town Meeting.

Six residents were preparing to attend tax training classes in January to qualify as tax counselors.  They would assist residents in preparing 2000 returns.  Milt Weather head of Park View is coordinator for the AARP-IRS Free Tax Help. Tax help was planned for Thursdays beginning Feb. 15 and continuing until April 12.  Possible Tuesday scheduling is being discussed.

The lead Notables was you can take the word of Tori Murden-McClure, who did it herself that rowing solo in a 26-foot boat, 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean is “more a head game than a physical challenge.”   She described her 81-day 1999 adventure, including her radioed proposal of marriage (accepted) after riding out a hurricane, as well as a longer but unsuccessful effort a year earlier in the Fireside Dining Room.  Tori, niece of Grove Terrace residents Ann and Charles Jaekle, talked calmly of caprices and answered questions about food (energy bars and space rations,) water (from a small desalinization plant,) and sleeping (in a 12-foot cabin enclosure.)  Her presentation was warmly received by a large GSV audience.

The third birthday of Greenspring was noted. A Friends Memorial Service was held during Vespers for the 17 residents who had died the past year. The resident profile was of Dr. Marcia A. Dake of Park View.  Resident written articles on Religion at Green Spring, Successful Aging; and profile by Helen Reynolds of the needlework groups at Greenspring, beginning with the Fireside Lounge group, founded by Jean Bley of Park View in December, 1998.  and the Linus blanket project started by Kathryn Coston of Walden Court.   Georgia Weatherhead of Park View wrote that the Accotink Path is paved and marked to the end of the pavement for a total of 2,020 yards under Hooes Road and beyond.  Previously it had been 800 yards. She also wrote if you want from Town Center Lobby all the way and return, you have walked a little over three miles.  If it is raining, four times indoors around the courtyard in Neighborhood 1 is a mile, walk 12 times to get same distance as walking the Accotink path, but “you won’t see any red fox or deer.”
KCKane    12/05

Volume I - Number 3  – November 2000 “Treasures for All” was page one story by Helen Reynolds of Walden Court.  The Treasure Chest was organized in the summer of 1999.  Contributions from residents were priced and stored in a vacant studio apartment in Madison Green.  Park View residents Anne Wilson, Arlene McCarthy and Billie Kopek and Milly Henry of Grove Terrace were officers.  By fall of 2000 the full committee was 20 members.  Proceeds from sales support resident activities.  Reynolds recalls her interview and being told about a donated item, a woman’s watch labeled “Rolex.”  Undecided about pricing such a valuable item, Chair Wilson took it to a jeweler.  He had to break the news that it was a counterfeit, one of probably thousands of such items produced illegally and sold at “bargain” prices to unsuspecting customers.  Dr. Leslie Brandwin, Greenspring Medical Director, bought it as a curiosity.

Also page one was the second anniversary of Greenspring and the opening of Neighborhood 1. Hugh Wynn of Park View had his cartoon, “Happy Birthday,” published; and Villager noted that at the 1998 opening there were 10 persons paid up and ready to move in to Park View. By the first anniversary the census was 360 residents, Grove Terrace and Walden Court had opened.  For the second anniversary the count was 631 with Madison Court opened and move-ins for Hampton Place. Also noted was a staff of 200 and 50 resident activities.

The Resident Woodshop moved from Park View to new quarters at Hampton Place and was waiting for the equipment that Erickson Communities gives to each community woodshop to be installed and  they then would hold an open house.  There are 98 members from the original three.  The Woodshop designed and made identification signs for the Nature Trail Club for each end of the Trail.

Daughters of the American Revolution installed the George Mason Chapter at Greenspring with 17 founding members on Oct. 23 and Mary Elizabeth Seip of Park View as the Founding Regent.regent 

The First Village Fair was set up in Fireside Dining Room.  Shuttle buses took 220 residents to the polls at Garfield School.  Staff Appreciation Fund reached its goal for the 175 hourly employees.  A blood drive was held and 24 residents and 24 employees gave 31 units, a gift of life, enough for 93 persons.
KCKane      11/05

Volume I, Number 2, October 2000   There were 19 residents listed on staff, six pages were printed, the lead story was the Gala, Sunset on the Bayou.   Marlene Morrisey of Grove Terrace took on the assignment of reporting the affair. Contributions from 390 residents, their guests and business associates brought in more than $92,000 to benefit the Benevolent Care Fund,   Karla Williams (later Hibbs) and Alexandria designer Maureen Davis (later in GSV Community Resources) transformed Town Center, Fireside Dining Room and Potomac Café they   became courtyards and storefronts along Bourbon and Canal Streets.   Jack and Peggy Hurney of Walden Court and Gladys Glover of Park View were Senior Olympics medal winners in bowling and bridge. Villager launched “The Doctor Is In,” written by Dr. Leslie Brandwin, which continued until the end of 2004.   John St. Louis was featured as the GSV Green Guru.   Neighborhood 2 was launched with the opening of Hampton Place.   Wellness Center held a celebration and awarded pins to 53 residents who had visited more than 100 times.   Arlene McCarthy and John Kurt, both of Park View received prizes for their more than 200 visits. The Yacht Club led by Don Graul of Madison Green as Commodore had been notified that the boathouse had been approved and would be installed soon. Among Notables was Barbara McNeill of Madison Green who registered 38 new residents and two wait staff who had turned 18; Lynda Johnson Robb visited GSV under the sponsorship of Ed Thurman of   Madison Green; Resident Advisory Council was set to elect nine residents to replace the six-member council.   Frances Schrider of Park View was cited by the Health Club as “Most Determined.”    Bill Raymond of Walden Court wrote about the development of a resident Web Page and Patti Kurke wrote about Channel 6 to have a studio in 2001 when Village Square had opened.
KCKane  10/05

Voice of the Residents           Issue No. 1           September, 2000
Meet Your New Voice was the head:  “Here comes the Neighborhood! Take a look at The Villager, a Newsletter by and for the residents of Greenspring Village. It will appear monthly as a four-page newsletter covering events and personalities of interest to Greenspring g residents” and the story invited residents to take a look.  It was proposed by Katherine Kane and John Goldsmith to give it a try for nine months and to distribute the paper free in the cubbies each third Friday. 

It was planned to cover the community with staff reporters and free lance writers. It continued, “It will not be possible to publish items of personal interest to every resident. We will not be able to report the birth, or even each Greenspring visit, of every grandchild.  But if you bring your quintuplets to the Sunday brunch, we will be there.  We will have to pass on your travels to Europe but if you hit the blackjack tables in Monte Carlo for a cool million we (along with the IRS) will want to know.  Much of bridge, canasta, poker, mah-jongg and the like will be unrecorded but we will focus on clubs.  We hope to give residents an understanding of what is done by the Resident Advisory Council and its committees—especially with respect to dining and parking services.  Greenspring will underwrite the first issues of “The Villager.”  Lonny Blessing, Executive Director has said he will want to review contents to make sure a positive view of Greenspring is presented.  Since Greenspring is paying the bills, we have agreed.  Notables was created as a column of one-paragraph items (four in this issue).  Warren Stark of Walden Court was the Fitness Member of the Month.  Mary Cigledy of Grove Terrace was cited for her generosity of the Sunday New York Times to the Village Library. (She currently contributes The Washington Post to Town Center Coffee Lobby.) Steve Van Buskirk of Security Staff was the September Employee of the Month.

Villager Staff articles included a review of the second annual Gala, “Sunset on the Bayou,” the opening of Hampton Place which moved Greenspring into Phase Two of long range three neighborhoods; the planned multilevel parking decks to alleviate the parking squeeze.  Helen Reynolds of Walden Court wrote “Tummy In!” about the video aerobics conducted in the Craft Room.  The program was the idea of Ruth Weissman of Grove Terrace who persuaded three friends to join her in August 1999. Later nine other residents joined in.  (As of September 2005 10 of the original group still meet in the Craft Room.)  The RAC Council approved a resolution endorsing resident dialogue on racial and social diversity.  In August the Greenspring Dialogue and Diversity formed with 40 residents in a meeting chaired by Charles Jaekle of Grove Terrace.  Two members, Steve Kirby and Morris Thompson joined Jaekle as a point of takeoff. Greenspring D & D continues to meet monthly in the Conference Center and Jaekle, Kirby and Thompson are still involved.  Janie Hermon of Park View, Resident Council Dining Services Committee Chair reported that complaints about food and services had dropped from over 200 to six (6) during the past six months with Vance Morris serving as the Dining Services Director.

Initially Villager was sent to a printer at Bailey’s Crossword in camera  ready form—the daunting efforts of Dick Bassler to create the format and master copy. The warm friendship and know how of both Bassler and Bill Raymond, who was busy creating a Resident Web Page pleased the editors. Kane and Goldsmith never lost the wonderment of the two who manage to create via email.  Bassler and Raymond eventually learned to convert the Villager to PDF format making it much easier to transfer it to the Web and to transmit to the Printer.  All issues are available to read on the GSV Residents Web Site  (This is a report five years later!)
KCKANE    9/2005

August 2005
(Issue 11 in June, 2000 was the last issue of Greenspring Gazette, the community newsletter of Greenspring Village.  In July an organization meeting of residents met to discuss continuing a publication.)

In the issue was a Gazette Staff bio of Human Resources Generalist Dee Osterhoudt.  She told of her many  and varied experiences all over the world, first as an “army brat” and later as a Navy wife, she moved some 30 times.  One of her longest stints was in high school in Springfield, VA. She met her husband at the University of Florida.  The couple has three children, two born in Maryland and one in Virginia.  There is also a granddaughter.  She completed a degree in Human Resource Management at George Mason University and is professionally certified by the Society for Human Resources Management.  The staff story told of her many interests as an avid gardener, a certified braillist and a watercolorist.  She also likes to go fishing.  She told of living in Hawaii in a house above Pearl Harbor.  During Desert Storm she and her husband watched ships leave one by one for the Middle East.  She reports that her father, father in law, cousin, brother, brother in law and husband were all in Vietnam during the war and all survived.  Her office is in Hunters Crossing.  She would welcome a visit.

The resident profile was by Marcia Dake and related the courtship and marriage of new residents Vonnie Dunn in Walden Court and Margaret Stell of Grove Terrace.  They each had arrived at Greenspring at different times:  Stell in May, 1999 and Dunn in January 2000.  They met in the Fireside Restaurant and that first night he walked her home. However, June 1, 2000 was ring day.  She lost a husband to death after 50 years; he had lost a wife after 53 years of marriage.  They share a second marriage and her son and daughter and his son.  Proof that two lonely hearts can find happiness—at Greenspring Village.
KCKANE   8-2005

July2005
In the Gazette, called the Community Newsletter of Greenspring Village, issue 11, March 2000, Marcia Dake interviewed Jane Curtis of Walden Court, who is permanently identified as the “Zither Lady.”

Curtis is a native of Illinois.  She told that her mother was an “instinctive mathematician, music love and enthusiastic puzzle and game person.”  Of her father she said, “An electrical engineer who played by ear a great deal of the music popular early in the century.”  Curtis in her concerts in the Fireside Lounge often plays the same music.

She studied privately piano and harmony theory.  She has a degree from Wellesley College in political science and languages.  At Catholic University she got a master’s in German and a PhD in comparative languages and literature.

She has served as German language translator in several fields, primarily poetry.  The European zither is her instrument of choice—she plays it, instructs in it, conducts seminars; writes about it, arranges and composes for it. 

One of her hobbies is World War I aircraft.  She travels to museums to visit and see the planes and see them fly.  She maintains her interest in old forms of languages such as Old English, Middle English and Gothic. 

(This recall is as pertinent in 2005 as in 2000.  See in Viewpoint the article by Jane Curtis on “George Washington,s Zither; “ also her “Black Bird” which she translated from the German.  She has just completed at Greenspring one of her seminars for participants from other states as well as overseas.)
KCKANE     7/05

June 2005
November 1999 Greenspring Gazette announced that the University of Kentucky had established in their College of Nursing “The Marcia A. Dake Professorship….in recognition of former Dean Dake’s innovative leadership.”  The endowment for the professorship was made possible by a $5 million donation to the University in 1997 by Linda and Jack Gill of Houston.  Linda Gill is a 1962 UK graduate.  Dr. Dake of Park View is seen as volunteer interviewer on Channel 6 and as photographer for both resident and staff directories (among other activities.)

The special staff person interviewed and still on staff with Greenspring was Betty Jo Burke in Transportation.  She was born in New Zealand but grew up in the Baileys Crossroads area  in Northern Virginia.  She and her family also lived in Singapore when her father was military attaché there.  Her mother Betty Rae Fitz Gerald lived in Grove Terrace for a time and she had a brother also a bus driver for Greenspring.  At the time of the interview she was bragging of a daughter who was assistant to the fashion editor of Mademoiselle Magazine.  Burke contributed handcrafted items to the Country Store and led a ceramics class on Saturdays.  She also drives a Fairfax County School bus.  (Update:  Fitaz Gerald died last year of cancer.  Daughter Burke continues to be a very well known and appreciated bus driver.)

Resident Janie Hermon of Park View was interviewed by Marcia Dake on Hermon’s “tandem jump” with an instructor in Florida in 1998.  The jump was a sky dive from an airplane.  Hermon came from Pennsylvania after high school graduation to work at the Army War College and later at the Pentagon.  She married a retired Army ordinance man, had two children and when they were older returned to the Pentagon.  The couple was deeply involved in square danced and over a 40-year period was the basis for travel—to Canada, Florida, Oklahoma, West Virginia and New York.  The couple also traveled for genealogical r4eserach.  After a daughter married and lived in England the Hermans had an excuse to visit and start traveling in Germany, France, Switz34rland and Belgium  Among talents learned from a grandmother is crocheting, followed later by  knitting, tatting, sewing and crafts with plastic canvas.  Hermon lived in Charlestown from 1996 until moving to Greenspring in May 1999.  In 2005 Hermon heads the Bib Project for St. Bernadette Church, is the Fireside Needle Workers for Navy Relief and is also in charge of jigsaw puzzles for Neighborhood 1.

On page 4 at the bottom of the page in six lines Executive Director Lonny Blessing announced the Madison Green building opens in December and he also said it was nice to see how many friends and family members come to the GSV campus every day and hoped it would always be a place where guest and residents feel welcome.

May 2005
In the August 1999 issue of the Gazette Marcia Dake of Park View wrote a profile of Cora Crouthhamel also of Park View who was “getting better every day” in her recuperation from a major heart attack and the resulting surgery.  Crouthamel had moved to Grenspring to be near two married daughters living in the area.  She grew up in Doylestown, PA, attended college there and dated her future husband, who was drafted and sent to Europe during WW II.  His plane was shot down after five missions and he was taken prisoner of war which lasted 18 months. She has the diary he kept during his prisoner days.  After the war and marriage the couple had a family of four.  They returned to Pennsylvania and Crouthamel returned to teaching, part time in kindergarten.  Shortly her husband died and she returned to teaching full time, taking courses to obtain a master’s degree equivalency.  She taught for 17 years until the school where she taught was closed.  In retirement she became ACTIVE in “everything there had never been time for,” crafts and sports particularly.  She sold her knitted articles and used the money for materials to make gifts for her then 12 grandchildren.  Even today she continues knitting, serving as co-chair of Knit, Crochet and Chat and contributes a special doll to the silent auctions for the Galas.  In sports she netted seven state senior medals in bocce, softball, basketball, shuffle board, bean bag throwing, fly cast fishing and being the fastest on the stationary bicycle.  From state achievements she went on to the Nationals where she won sixth in shuffle board.  Her Park View shelf is inhabited with a constantly changing display of delightful dolls and animals both seasonal and whimsical.  She also is a faithful walker twice around Neighborhood 1 on a daily basis, although she had gone four times, and then reduced to three and now the current two.  “I’d like to work back to my three and then four,” she says. 

Dr. Leslie Brandwin in his “The Doctor is Definitely In..” column noted the Medical Center had been up and running for more than eight months.  His safety tips include making sure throw rugs are anchored; pull cords easily accessible; no smoking in bed; no loaded guns in apartments, consider the grandchildren.  He also said the most dangerous place to be at Greenspring Village is behind the wheel of a car.  He added, “If you are using your car only once every few months or even less rethink your need for a car.  As I have told my Dad many times a taxi would be safer and cheaper in the long run.”

APRIL 2005
Issue No. 4 of Greenspring Village Gazette  announced resident population of  131 and a total of 95 employees working on the campus.  Marcia Dake of Park View wrote the profile of resident Jean Bley, early move-in to a ground floor apartment in Park View, telling of Bley’s running a fresh vegetable stand in front of her family home during high school years in New York,  Among  her customers was Helen Keller, champion for the blind.  The men of Greenspring prepared the St. Patrick’s Day party of Rueben sandwiches, accompanied by music and songs.  Managing Channel 6 were Marcia Dake, Frank Richardson, Marilyn Kurt, Kathy Ferguson, all of Park View; Ann Noland, Marcia Provan, Walden Court.
Issue No. 6 in July announced the Gala for September, a column The Doctor Is In by Dr. Leslie Brandwin, the 200th resident moved into Grove Terrace, profiles by Marcia Dake and Jean Halliburton and publication of a Community Resources Handbook.
Issue No. 7 explained the Benevolent Care Fund and the need for residents and staff to support the upcoming Gala,  the fund raiser for the Fund.  The profiles were of Cora Crouthamel of Park View and of Beth Ratchford, then in Marketing and about to move to Seattle.  (Rathchford returned to Greenspring to work in Community Resources.)
1 April 2005  KCKANE

March 2005
Catch Up: To catch up to The Villager which published the first issue in September 2000,  Recall will do some catching up. The first Greenspring Gazette was published November 1998 .  Greenspring  had officially opened and Executive Director Lonny Blessing stated that the mission of the staff was to ensure that the move to Greenspring which had been a courageous life  would become a quality life change. The Gazette was to be the community newspaper of the Village.  Issue  No. 2 in January 1999 profiles of a staff member and a resident appeared.  A review of the first Resident and Employee Talent Show complimented Karla Williams (later Hibbs) as the show emcee, praised Friday night Happy Hours and gave kudos to the successful New Year’s party. Decorators were Ky Gilbride of Park View and Vernette Lanterman (later Miller) then of Park View. Later  the Millers moved to Hampton Place.  The February issue told of the first Vespers in Potomac Café and featured profiles of staff and residents.
8 March 2005  KCKANE  

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