NEW ADDRESS?

With the new semester starting and so many of you students moving around, it is this time of year that we think about updating our (postal) mailing address list.

 

Have you moved in the past year?  If so, we may not have your correct address.  For students and faculty, we are sometimes able to get your new addresses from http://phonebook.ufl.edu/.  But when that doesn’t work, our newsletters get returned to us, and we get very sad. 

 

So, to make a long story short, if you moved recently, or if you aren’t getting our quarterly newsletters in the mail, reply to this email and let us know your new address. 

 

p.s. We are sending out our next quarterly newsletter within the week – so if you don’t get it, you aren’t on our list!

 

NURSING HOME UPCOMING EVENTS

We have a LOT of events this month so let’s get right to it!

Friday, October 5th, 10AM – “Reaction Reading” -- Lead by board member Vi Asmuth (also known as M. Violet Asmuth, Ph.D.), this event will be held at Park Meadows.  Residents will be invited to participate in a program that consists of choral reading of poetry.  The group reacts with active participation, knowledge, opinions, feelings, and imagination.  Vi did a study monitoring the results of this small group program in three nursing homes in the Fort Myers/Cape Coral area. One facility liked the program so much that she continued leading groups there for five years.  If you find this topic interesting, you are welcome to come out to participate.

Monday, October 8th, 2:30 – 4PM -- Casino Time! – A monthly event at Parklands Nursing and Rehab -- At 2:30 there will be a bingo game.  Once we are finished with Bingo, we really up the stakes and move on to Blackjack!  The residents will be playing for “Bingo Bucks” and prizes.

 

Wednesday, October 17th, 7:00-8:30PM – Volunteer Training Session / Pizza Social –  The first thing you need to know about this event is that there will be FREE PIZZA!!! There are two main purposes to this event.  First, we want to give all the volunteers from the various nursing homes a chance to meet one another.  Second, about once a semester we generally offer a training session, which is highly recommended for all new volunteers, especially one-to-one volunteers.  But everyone who would like to learn something or participate in the discussion is welcome.  So, for the first half hour or so we’ll have pizza available and we’ll all just chat informally.  Then we’ll get to the training session, in which we will talk about communication skills, and well as other elder care related topics.  We’ll also spend time answering questions from our new volunteers.  This event will be held in the conference room at Barr Systems; please contact us for directions.  If you plan to attend, please reply to this email so we’ll know how many people to expect.  [note: If you would like to become a one-to-one volunteer, please let us know so we can meet with you individually at our office first.]

 

Tuesday, October 23rd, 7-8PM – Singing Night – A group of us will be traveling the halls of University Place nursing home and singing old favorites, hymns, patriotic songs, and other songs you probably know all the words to (or thought you did).  Come join us!  We’ll meet at the back entrance to University Place at 7PM (the front doors are locked in the evening, so drive around to the back of the building). 

 

Thursday, October 25th, 3-4PM -- Birthday celebration -- Help us wish a happy birthday to all residents of Parklands Nursing and Rehab with birthdays in October. Meet us in the dining room where we will have singing and cake. Volunteers are needed to help gather the residents together, serve the cake, sing, clean up, etc.  Do you play an instrument or have some other talent?  We are always looking for new entertainment for the party – let us know!

Tuesday, October 30th, 10-11:30am– Playgroup Halloween Visit – A local playgroup will be visiting the residents of North Florida Rehab and Specialty Care on the morning before Halloween, with the kids (and some of the moms) wearing their Halloween costumes.  This same group came out last year but the kids are a lot bigger (they are mostly about 2 years old now).  Although this event is primarily for the members of the playgroup, others are welcome to attend as well.  Contact us if you’re interested, and wear your Halloween costume if you’d like! 

 

MORE INFORMATION

Remember, be sure to check above to find out the nursing home at which an event will be held.  Directions to all the nursing homes can be found at:

http://www.acrosstheages.org/directions.asp

All events are open to everyone (children are welcome at most events, please inquire). If you've never been to a nursing home before, feel free to reply to this email and let the coordinators (Steve and Allison Blay) know what events you'll be attending, so they will be looking for you. You can also call them at 381-1117.