R esidents head outdoors for summer activities W


By Judy Puckett Activities Director


e all experience the world around us by using our five


senses — taste, touch, sight, smell and hearing. Research shows that people with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease sleep better and have less agitation when they are more actively involved in using their senses throughout the day. Summer is the perfect time to offer


seniors sensory activities. One easy way to do this is to take advantage of the opportunity to go outside on a pleasant day. The outdoors stimulates many senses because sights, sounds, smells and textures abound. Here at Good Samaritan Society –


Mountain View Manor, we take residents to the patio areas, where they watch a variety of songbirds, squirrels and rabbits.


While outside, the sense of touch


is activated as residents roll pebbles in their hands or feel the sunshine on their skin. They hear sounds like a dog barking, a train passing by or a goose honking overhead. And residents smell the sweetness of summer in the freshly mown grass and upturned soil. All of these simple pleasures can jar memo- ries of days gone by. While sitting on the patio and


visiting, residents often recall their favorite summer activities of gardening, church picnics and baseball games. One resident was watching a deer and her newborn fawn in the field behind the Manor and it brought back child- hood memories of his grandparents’ farm in South Dakota. Even if the memory is short-lived, outdoor sights, sounds and smells can create a positive experience. Mountain View Manor staff


S taff members celebrate five years or more of service to center


By Sandra Blodgett Staff Development Coordinator


A


ccording to a new report from the federal Bureau of Labor


Statistics, the median number of years that workers have stayed with their current employer is 4.4 years. We have something to celebrate at Mountain View Manor. The center recognizes the achievements of 29 staff members who have achieved five or more years of service. Congratula- tions to the following staff members: Shirley Appleby, 33 years Beth Mocko, 33 years Renee Des Marais, 28 years Kat Beaulieu, 28 years Ellen Brouillette, 24 years Cecillia White, 23 years Susan Lee, 22 years Sheryl Wisener, 22 years


Manor on the Hill Life Times


Judy Puckett, 18 years Mae Dilts, 17 years Tammy Rossi, 17 years Karen Apeland, 16 years Janice Muller, 14 years Kris Lord, 14 years Linda Wilber, 14 years Kim DeLorenzo, 12 years Nancy Kirkedahl, 12 years Nancy Enghusen, 11 years Leona Wichelt, 10 years Mattie Huntsman, 10 years Suzanne Charlton, 10 years Monica Mrgich, 9 years Anita Rankosky, 8 years Patsy Reece, 7 years Donald Smith, 7 years Peggy Lecount, 6 years Suzanne Gruschow, 5 years James Caffee, 5 years Melissa McMarrell, 5 years


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members and volunteers help residents plant flower and vegetable gardens. Gardening arouses the senses as resi- dents plant, prune, water and weed in wheelchair-accessible planters. Baking and cooking are other benefi-


cial activities. Area gardeners often donate rhubarb; residents help sift, stir, measure and chop ingredients for rhubarb crisp or make a rhubarb sauce for ice cream. It’s a great activity with an even better final product. Visitors can bring special items such


as a branch of fragrant lilacs when they visit the center. Many residents had lilac bushes at their previous homes, and they like smelling the flowers and feeling the leaves and branches. Staff members at Mountain View


Manor wish everyone a joyful summer. We hope you take time to be thankful for the beauty that nature offers every day. 


S


ave the dates August


4th: Barbecue with residents and staff members 27th: To the fair


September


TBD: Bake sale fundraiser for STAR team


October 31st: Harvest party


November 17th: Women’s Christian Luncheon


January 2008 August 2011


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