Stained Glass and Crooning

Valentine's love was in the air the other day as our residents were treated to a performance by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Dean Martin Tribute Singer, Lou Dottoli. Songs of love and romance charmed the ladies and had our gentlemen swaying along.

Earlier, we had an activity featuring Texture Painting, where we looked at the different textures brushstrokes can create with wet paint.

The featured artist another day was James Pollock, and while our stained glass project wasn't quite as abstract, we did embrace the use of saturated colors and geometric patterns. Splatters were avoided at all costs, though.

Sculptures and Love Songs

Michelangelo said that "every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the job of the sculptor to discover it," and while none of us are quite Michelangelo, we did have a go at sculpting some clay the other day. There's something so appealing about the ability to take a lump of nothing and make it into something that only you can create.

With Valentine’s Day memories near and dear, our residents were treated to Love Songs with Jeanie and Renee. The beautiful performance warmed our hearts while snow flurried outside our windows.

Jewelry Making and Super Bowl Partying

Art is the theme for the month of February, and the first Saturday of the month we were designing jewelry. The activity table was awash with beads and baubles as the ladies strung necklaces or bracelets. There was a charming necklace with little red hearts, and another lady strung a lovely bracelet of purple beads for her grand-niece's birthday.

The groundhog saw his shadow on Super Bowl Sunday! After lunch we had some fun groundhog trivia, then at 3:30, the Pre-Game Party kicked off with snacks and games in the Brookside Lounge. We at Mount Joy wish we could repeat this day again!

Winter Wonderland Play

While Mount Joy has become a picturesque Winter Wonderland with at least half a foot of snow on the ground, our residents had some fun after breakfast making S’more Snowmen. The poor little fellows just could not stand up to our cozy warmth, though.

A highlight of many of the residents’ day came with the playing of Deal & Steal, which is a straightforward card game that anyone can enjoy as they try to win a prize-- or steal one from someone else! A little competitive game between friends never fails to draw a crowd, and the activity room was bustling with conversation and good fun right up until supper time.

Awaken Your Passion: February Events

This February our Alive in All Seasons’ theme is Art: “Awaken Your Passion”. In a moving quote from Honoré de Balzac we are reminded that art and passion are inextricably linked; he states, “passion is universal humanity; without it, religion, history, romance and art would be useless.” Art is truly a conduit that allows us to experience the richness and brilliance of all that life has to offer. Art can have a profound effect upon us by providing nourishment to our spirit and soul.

As you know there is always something special going on here at Juniper Village at Mount Joy and this February we will celebrate another wonderful month filled with memories, laughter and the opportunity to create! This month we will open ourselves to various forms of art. We will be taking field trips to local museums, learning about the Great Masters, and creating masterpieces of our own using various mediums.

Please join us for our Dementia Care in Action Workshop with dinner at 6:00 pm on February 5^th, our Juniper Village Candy Gram Service providing chocolates and personalized messages for residents on February 12^th, and our Amedysis Heart Health presentation at 3:30 pm on February 27^th. We encourage you to review our newsletter calendar for other offerings and attend any or all of the activities that are of interest to you.

Come get together with us for our Alive in All Seasons programs this February and Awaken Your Passion!

A Weekend View of Juniper Villiage at Mount Joy

Saturday, January 4^th
For our residents, there is almost no better way to ring in the New Year than with a game of Bingo. A much acclaimed favorite, residents were excited and ready to play a morning session of Musical Bingo called by Connections team member, Jim Leddy.

Sunday, January 5^th
Every Sunday begins with Catholic Communion and a non-denominational Worship Service in our chapel for our residents looking to celebrate and practice their religious beliefs.
Later in the afternoon, there was a rousing game of Target Toss-er-cise in our Garden Spot Lounge. One of our married couples made a competition of it, and while it looked like the husband would walk away with the win, it was the Missus who hit the center target.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Our residents went on a musical journey by painting to the tune of Vivaldi’s "Winter." The lively piece inspired paintings with numerous short strokes in various patterns, arching and dancing across the paper, mimicking the staccato quick-paced notes of the music. It was interesting to see how accurately a former music teacher recreated the popular piece in a visual medium.

Welcome New Beginnings: January Events

It is hard to believe how time has flown and we now, once again, welcome in a new year—2014! This January, as part of our Alive in All Seasons program we will be celebrating the magic of music. Music has long been recognized as a healing tool in the writings of Pythagoras, Aristotle and Plato. A quote by Plato helps us understand the enormity and power of music; “music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything”.

Music is indeed part of our souls, our imaginations, our lives. It is no wonder that people love music; it inspires us, sparks our minds, taps into our creativity, heals our souls, motivates us to dance, to laugh, to cry. This January we will celebrate music in all its glory!

We will be hosting several open events at our community this month. Please join us for our Lancaster County Lucky New Year's Meal at 11:30 am on January 1^st, our Happy New Year Open House at 1:00 pm on January 12^th, our Amedysis Learning Series on Diabetes Management at 3:30 pm on January 23^rd, and our Red Hat Luncheon at noon on January 27^th. We encourage you to review our calendar for other offerings and attend any or all of the activities that are of interest to you.

It’s going to be another great month here at Juniper Village at Mount Joy. Let us join together in music and “Welcome New Beginnings”.