BY SANDY BROWN
The month of October was absolutely GOURD-geous at The Thanksgiving Home. We started off the month with a beautiful and festive harvest dinner for both staff and residents. As one big family, we sat around warm plates of turkey, fluffy mashed potatoes, delicious corn casserole and fresh rolls.
Laurie Blatt handed out black markers and miniature pumpkins to each table. Ourassignment was to pass the pumpkin around with each person adding one facial featureto make a jack-o’-lantern face. The creativity swooshed through the air like a friendly ghost as each pumpkin came to life with smiling mouths and missing teeth, crossed eyes and curly hair. Our harvest dinner was also a time to celebrate October birthdays with the most delicious pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and caramelized sugar made by our extraordinary cook, Darcey Schilling.
Samantha Klein, Dottie Bly, Martha Quinn, Tierney Johnson, Amanda Groshans, and Lauren Miller were our birthday celebrants this month.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — we are so glad you were born! We welcomed two new members to our family in October in our traditional Thanksgiving Home style with a party! Lois Warrell and Norma Wagner joined the Thanksgiving Home family; they both bring their experiences and warm smiles and fit right in with the rest of us. It’s hard tobelieve they just joined us; they are already integral components of our home.
Former resident Maureen Micek popped in for a visit and enjoyed dinner with us. She even stayed for a singa- long. It was wonderful to hear her stories about New Hampshire and to bring her up to date on news here.
Reconnecting with Maureen brought more sunshine and laughter to the Thanksgiving Home.
Francis Wright, the directorof the Otsego County Office of the Aging, presented an update on Medicare changes. Martha Wilhelm met with individual residents about their pharmacy plans. We thank both of them for sharing their knowledge and expertise.
To get us all in the Halloween mood, Bruce Markuson came and told ghost stories of prominent places in Cooperstown.
We all enjoyed the spooky ambiance he created and hearing about “the other side” that exists in our own hometown.
On Halloween, residents and staff dressed in a variety of costumes, ranging from cowboys, to tigers, and witches. Kathy Lindberg, Hilde Parr and Sandy Brown came as the Three Wise Men.
Alberta Bowes won the candy corn contest by guessing how many “kernels” of candy corn were in a jar. Laurie told Halloween jokes, and we played charades and Halloween bingo.
Jameson Gable made quite an entrance in a Spiderman suit, complete with burly muscles! He also invited his cronies from Cooperstown preschool to come and trick or treat with us.
The kids were dressed in spectacular costumes: a construction worker, an Indian prince, a dragon and a princess along with many other creative ideas.
Their teacher, Miss Mary, led them in several Halloween songs and entertained us all with their smiles and polite manners. The children gave out handmade paper pumpkins to the residents and warmed the hearts of everyone in the room.
On a sad note, we lost a member of our family this month. Bobbie Mook died on Oct. 18 here at the home. There was a celebration of her life on Nov. 5 at the Presbyterian Church in Cooperstown. Bobbie is greatly missed by all of us.
She was a sweet lady witha bright smile. I will always remember her love of plants, namely violets. Bobbie taught me how to propagate African violets and actually gave me two of her violets as gifts. I have one here at the home and one at my house; each time I see them, I think of thekind and generous woman who gave them to me.
Columns
Home Notes: Residents enjoy harvest dinner
- Columns
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Passing along advice of seeing the humor
The best advice given to me many years ago when I started teaching had nothing to do with my discipline, English. Rather, a former mentor insisted on the necessity of having a sense of humor
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The week that was ...
For a number of years now, we have not been in Cooperstown for the spring season. And we must admit that we had quite forgotten what it is like. But since we decided that travel was not on the docket for this year, we have become reacquainted with the Cooperstown spring. And we must say we rather enjoyed it with the possible exception of occasional uncalled for snow and seemingly frigid temperatures.
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: Mother's visit was a benchmark for this year
Last week, my mother made the 25-hour plane trip out to Thailand to visit her son, me, after nine months of having only choppy Skype sessions and scattered emails to give her an idea of what I look and act like since having left home last August.
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: World traveler calls Euro-Tour experience of a lifetime
While I've had a great time throughout my entire exchange, I can say hands down that the month of April brought me the best memories of my exchange if not some of the best of my entire life. What kind of wonder would bring me to say this? Simple. Euro-Tour.
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Maryland port attacked
Havre de Grace, May 3. "This morning, a little after the break of day, a British armed force, under cover of armed vessels which anchored in front of this town ... landed below a small breast work which had been roughly thrown up, and in which were one 9 and two 4 pounders, manned by 50 militia.
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Memoir reflects on 'roller-coaster life and career'
Apparently, the third time wasn't the charm. The way Reynolds described him, the third husband was worse than the first two combined and that's saying a lot. Eddie Fisher literally walked away from Reynolds and their two infant children to chase a sex goddess. At least he got his just desserts when Elizabeth Taylor tossed him aside for Richard Burton.
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Imagine what might have been ...
A while back we got a telephone call from a reader of this column wanting to know why we had not written a column in support of Otsego Manor continuing to be owned and operated by Otsego County. And even though we have followed the debate over this issue in the newspaper, we readily admitted we did not feel we knew enough about the situation to take a stand.
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Herpes virus brings harness racing to a halt
I've been going to harness horse race tracks my entire life. My family has been in the business for years.
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Time, if not traffic, moves on ...
It is with sadness we note the passing of two people who we have known since moving to Cooperstown in 1982.
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Canadian capital captured
Dear Sir, I have just returned from Fort Niagara, where I saw a Captain of the United States' navy. He is just from little York, the capital of Upper Canada, and gives the following account, which is confirmed in official dispatches from Gen. Dearborn to Gen. Lewis ...
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Local Voices From Around The Globe: Exchange is like a life in a year
All exchange students realize the credibility of this statement. Like all lives no exchange is the same, all are incredible unique exchanges. The metaphor of life, from baby to old age, extends to every part of the exchange.
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Movie depicting legendary Jackie Robinson does not disappoint
Going to the movies is not something I do often. I can count the number of times I have gone on my fingers, unless you include trips to the drive-in. And even so, it took me years before I made it to one of those -- going for the first time two summers ago.
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'Dubious' about weather, Hawkeyes 'suitable' nickname
Unfortunately, it seems to us that this spring has, thus far, been anything but spring like. In fact, we are still more than happy to stay bundled up in our polar fleece.
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'Who's on Worst?' reveals the ugly in baseball
The Baseball Hall of Fame celebrates the greatest players, managers and owners from our national pastime. Any of us who have watched Major League baseball have inevitably seen some of these immortals practicing their craft. But we have also likely witnessed a sample of their opposite brethren, players who shouldn't have been in the Major Leagues. Has there ever been a definitive source that "celebrates" the non-accomplishments of the worst that Major League baseball has to offer?
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Swallow talk and bluebird vigilance
I assume the swallows have returned to Capistrano. They have returned to Hawthorn Hill as well.
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: Life in Hungry has taken a turn for the better
I can truthfully say spring has finally arrived in Hungary. It's almost time to wear shorts and sandals, for summer will be just around the corner. This brings me great happiness and great sadness, my adventure is coming to a close. Really what a time it was, I don't think I can compare it to anything else.
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The importance of speaking up ...
Over the years we have come to understand that, in writing a weekly column, it is not possible to always please everyone. And such was the case with our column that ran at the end of March in which we wrote about our experience as in inpatient following a total hip replacement.
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Public schools created
The Common School Act of 1812 marked the start of New York's public school system. Much of the credit for this was due to the radical Otsego County politician Jedediah Peck (1747-1821). To quote the NY Education Department:
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Book takes readers on path for equal rights
One of the most troubling aspects of our history is race relations. It takes a long time to achieve true equality in a society when the heritage of one ethnic group is slavery and Jim Crow laws. Even today African Americans are more likely to be stereotyped as athletes than doctors, lawyers or entrepreneurs. The path to a "color-blind" nation is still a work in progress.
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Local Voices From Around the Globe: Experiencing India at every new turn
Come, sit down. Hold this and, wait ... ah, there you go. Obeying these commands, I found myself seated on the pavement, wearing a turban and attempting to make sounds out of a recorder-like instrument for the black cobras in the baskets not two feet away from me.
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Passing along advice of seeing the humor
