United Presbyterian Home News

Rosalie Ray arrived last Friday for a four-day visit with her grandmother Fran and aunt Carol Ray. She was happy to have a lot of quiet time with her grandmother as well as doing lots of socializing with Carol and friends. A small highlight of her visit was a nostalgic trip to Sunset Park where she slid down the Rocket Slide. She said it?s just as fast as ever. Rosalie is a Ph.D. student in Urban Development at Columbia University in New York City. She is the daughter of Janet Ray and Howard Singerman, also of New York.

At the Nov. 10 Campus Breakfast, Bill Dusenbery was presented with a 2016 World Series Pennant. The look on his face was described as ?excellent.? The presenter of the pennant is NOT a fan of the team from the north side of Chicago, rather an avid Mets fan who did the noble thing and purchased the pennant for his friend as history was made.

The Washington American Legion Auxiliary held a veterans program in the Health Center on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Dave Stoufer paid tribute to all veterans with his remarks of gratitude and read the list of honored veterans who are current residents of the United Presbyterian Home. He made special reference to the Marines celebrating 241 years which residents Herb Hammen and Gene Driscoll served with. Mike Jewell provided music and asked the audience to sing along. The service was well attended by residents and veterans from the community to honor, remember and most importantly to say thank you to those men and women who sacrificed for the sake of our freedom. The program concluded with Mike Orris playing taps on his trumpet in somber remembrance.

Esther Fickel celebrated her birthday in the Town Center Friday morning surrounded by friends and neighbors. Esther provided treats to share with the morning coffee drinkers.

Dick Anderson chauffeured residents to the Sunday evening concert at the United Methodist Church. Jenn Bostic, a Nashville based country singer and songwriter, graced the audience with her talent. She sang familiar songs and also selections from her own works. Esther Bordwell, Edonna Gamon, Julia Gamon, Lucy Landon, Max Smith, Ted Stewart, Mary Temple and Audra Williams are some of the people who enjoyed the concert.

Mind exercise class has started back up for the fall and will be held each Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in the large exercise area located in the basement. Activities are designed to stimulate thought and make individuals think differently. Games will include math, word search puzzles and round robin exercises.

November birthdays were celebrated in the Health Center this week with cake and ice cream for everyone. Residents with November birthdays include Dale Fritz, Ruth Lowe, Colleen Havel, Bernard Payne and Corinne Phelps.

Jim Schmidt celebrated his birthday on Wednesday with the downtown coffee crew and again on Thursday morning when he provided carrot cake for the Town Center coffee group.

Classics Et Cetera for Nov. 17 included the Overture to ?Dagger and Rose? by Franz von Suppé; ?Mon c?ur s?ouvre a ta voix? from ?Samson and Delilah? by Camille Saint-Saëns; ?Polka and Fugue? from ?Schwanda the Bagpiper? by Yaromìr Weinberger; ?The Bird of Paradise Waltz? performed by the 1st Brigade Band; 2nd and 3rd Movements from ?Symphonie Espagnole? by Édouard Lalo; ?Rákóczi March? from ?The Damnation of Faust? by Hector Berlioz

When Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) read G?the?s ?Faust,? he was so excited that he wrote a play from it. He sent it to G?the, who thought it was terrible. Undaunted, Berlioz eventually decided to make an opera of it, but it failed badly. A Hungarian musician counseled, ?If you want the Hungarians to like you, write a piece on one of their national tunes.? The result was the ?Rákóczi March.? He changed the opera?s locale and several other details in order to insert the march, which had nothing to do with the story, into the opera, which got such a reception in Pest (Budapest) that the march?s coda was completely drowned out by the throngs of cheering.