Cherish the Journey: November Events

Life is a journey filled with lessons, celebrations and special moments that ultimately lead us to our destination, our purpose in life. The road will not always be smooth and we may encounter many challenges. Some of these will test our courage, strengths, weaknesses, and faith. Along the way, we may stumble upon obstacles that must be overcome. But, sometimes these obstacles are really blessings in disguise, although we may not realize it at the time. How we react to the situations we face will determine what the rest of our journey will be like.

This month Juniper Communities will honor our Families and cherish the journey we have taken together. November is all about celebrating the bonds we share and recognizing where we’ve been and where we’re going. We will do this through autobiographical journaling, reminiscing about family celebrations and breaking bread together in Thanksgiving. In order to support our families along this journey we will continue to develop our support groups and provide additional resources when needed. We will give back through our Annual Food Drive. From November 1 through November 30 all non-perishable food items collected will be donated to a local food bank.

Our fabulous activity offerings this month include our Annual Food Drive where you can drop off non-perishable food items for the Center for Family Services anytime all month long; our Wine Making Class where we will teach you the art of creating various fermented fruit beverages on November 5^th at 3:30 pm; our Veteran’s Spaghetti Lunch honoring those who have served their country and protected our freedoms on November 11^th at noon; our Winter Safety Lunch and Learn featuring light refreshments and a presentation on staying healthy throughout the colder months by SouthernCare Hospice on November 13^th at noon; or our Journey Back to the Spirit of the David Mead Inn event where we reminisce over the storied past of our great community on November 20^th at 5:30 pm!

Look through our calendar and plan to join us for family celebrations, Thanksgiving dinners and many events and activities allowing us all to reflect and Cherish the Journey!

Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation

Thursday, September 18^th Juniper Village at Meadville had friends from Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation visit, and they brought their friends of the feathered kind.  Did you know that a Peregrine Falcon can dive toward its prey at speeds exceeding 200 mph?  This was among the several facts that residents had learned from the up close encounters with the birds.  Other birds included a Great Horned Owl, Red-tailed Hawk and Screech Owls.  These animals are part of the education family at Tamarack, because they have been injured and rehabilitated, however their injuries have made it impossible for them to return to the wild.  Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation is solely funded by community donations.  Juniper provides programs like this to engage the mind of the residents and add to the several other quality activities available throughout the day.

Red Hats

Our ladies had a special treat this month for our Red Hat get together, a visit from none other than The Timeless Tootsies! If you are not familiar with them, they are a great group of ladies from Cambridge Springs, PA, who are all 60 or older and who dance to stay young. They joined us for our Red Hats "Fashion Show of Hats" event and graciously did the extremely difficult task of judging the custom designed hats that each lady had made. There was much laughter and dancing as they had a few of our ladies kicking their heels up while we continued the party with refreshments! I believe it's safe to say a great time was had by all.

Show Your Colors: October Events

October brings forth vibrant color in our foliage as well as our sports teams. Our high school football teams will be in full swing and hockey season will prepare to fill the stands with team colors and spirit. Juniper Communities will also be honoring our colors with many sports-themed activities and events. We will be enjoying the changing colors of the season as we transition from summer to fall and the crazy costumes of our annual Halloween celebrations.

While showing our colors we not only focus on our team colors, but also showing our true colors. We recognize that working together as a team, results in better coordination of care, better quality of care and as a result better lives for our residents. This is evidenced by our excellent clinical outcomes data. We are happy to see the results of collaboration resulting in decreased re-hospitalizations and better quality of life for our residents.

Our fabulous activity offerings this month include our Lunch and Learn on Sports Safety for a light lunch to discover safe techniques when playing sports and living an active lifestyle on October 7^th at noon (RSVP by October 6^th to 814-333-4400); our Senior Olympics where you can be the cheerleaders as residents from various senior communities compete in a variety of events on October 16^th at 2:00 pm; or our Trick-Or-Treat event when ghosts and goblins will be roaming Chestnut Street and Juniper Village will have its doors open to the children so you are welcome to donate candy or come pass out treats with the residents – costumes encouraged – on October 30^th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm!

Please look through our calendar to celebrate the spirit of autumn with us and Show Your Colors!