New Trip

The ever-active Trips Committee is still at it even during the summer doldrums. This time they've come up with an excursion to the famous Untermyer Gardens. It is planned for Wed. Sept. 5.

Designed in 1916 for Samuel Untermyer, a wealthy lawyer, the gardens were among the best in America in the 1920s and 1930s. With 60 greenhouses and 60 gardeners, they were too costly to keep up after Untermyer’s death in 1940 and in the 21st century were mainly ruins. The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy, founded in 2011, has been restoring the gardens to their former glory and in partnership with the City of Yonkers has achieved wonders, although complete restoration will take years and millions of dollars. The trip will focus on the Walled Garden, based on Indo-Persian gardens of antiquity with lush plants and flowers, a Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge, canals, Grecian-style architecture, sculpture and mosaics including a Temple of the Sky and an amphitheater.

Sign up as usual in the Trips Book located in the Activities Alcove.

Election Season Begins

With a primary election in September and the national election in November, the election season is getting underway at Kendal.

A NY State Candidates Hour will be held on Tuesday, August 7, at 7:30 pm in the Gathering Room.  There is a fierce campaign to win the NY State senatorial seat here in the 40th District. Two Democrats are vying to oppose incumbent Republican Senator Terrance Murphy in the September 13th primary. Robert Kesten and Pete Harckham will present their cases to Kendal residents. There will be time to pepper them with your sharp questions and to meet them informally.

All are invited. Questions? Get in touch with Martin Smolin.

 

Kendal Welcomes Its New Executive Director

On June 28 Howard Smith, Kendal’s Search Committee Chair wrote to the Kendal community announcing the appointment of James Antonucci as Kendal on Hudson’s new Executive Director.

Howard noted that, since 2016 Jim has served as Executive Director of Heron’s Key, an Emerald Communities Life Plan Community in Gig Harbor, Washington. In that role, he had total responsibility for the startup and operational oversight of the $180 million community.

Prior to that, Jim was Executive Director of The Village, a Santa Fe Senior Living rental community in Gainesville, Florida with independent living, assisted living and memory support accommodations.

After studying health care administration at the University of Connecticut, he graduated with a master’s degree in business administration from the University of New Haven. He also has a bachelor’s degree in business and finance from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut and earned a doctorate in design construction and planning with a focus on environmental gerontology from the University of Florida.  

Jim began his career as a chef after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 1987. He worked with highly regarded restaurants in Zurich, NYC, and Connecticut, as well as serving as Executive Chef with Marriott Management Services for Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in NYC.

Jim will be at Kendal starting August 15 and takes over his new position on September 1. Jim will replace the long-serving and beloved Pat Doyle. A reception is planned for August 15 at 4 pm to welcome Jim Antonucci.  

Shakespeare at Kendal

One of the not quite secret activities at Kendal is the Shakespeare Group. It has been meeting for years but is rarely given the notoriety it deserves.

Every Tuesday a loyal group of Shakespeare aficionados meets at 4:00 pm in the Residents Association Office to read aloud the works of the Bard. Everybody gets an opportunity to read as the others follow along in their copies of the featured work. 

If you have a hankering to involve yourself in the works of Shakespeare, show up on a Tuesday at 4:00 pm and join in the fun.

Questions? Contact Lois Seulowitz, Pat Taylor or Penny Brome.  

Shakespeare said, "Listen to many, speak to a few". Try the group out, you'll have fun.

A Second Blackout

On Saturday, July 28, Kendal on Hudson suffered its second electrical blackout this summer. 

Once again, one of the generators at Phelps Hospital, which provides power for Kendal, concked out and most of the campus went into emergency mode. Luckily the blackout came at 12:30 pm so daylight helped the residents manage.

Of course, Kendal has its own generator which provides electricity for both the Nursing Unit and the Memory Support Unit. All operations there were normal. Hall and staircase lights throughout the campus also operate from the in-house generator. 

Kendal's wonderful staff acted perfectly, as they almost always do. The kitchen staff, since they were unable to cook, provided tasty sandwiches for dinner so everybody got fed. 

All the independent living residents went to bed in the darkness as Con Edison struggled to get power back on. At 12:40 am many who had gone to sleep were rudely (but happily) awakened as the electricity returned and their lights and televison sets, which were on when the power failed, came roaring back. Perhaps most important, the A/C returned.

By Sunday morning all was back to normal; however, a considerable number of residents were left with less than total affection for Con Edison.

Everyone hopes we won't have a threepeat!

An Announcement from Medicare

Jacob Burns Film Center Offers Devices for the Hearing and Visually Challenged

The Center is offering closed captioning glasses for the visually challenged and a hearing loop system and headphone receivers with audio description for the hearing challenged.  Filmgoers can pick them up in the theater lobby.  For more information click on:

Burnsfilmcenter.org/accessibility

Thanks to Jan Myers and Amelia Augustus for this information. 

"Yeats and Other Greats"

This is a reminder that Jerry Tanklow's Poetry Seminar "Yeats & Other Greats" will begin on Aug. 7 and continue on Aug. 14, 21, and 28 from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm in the Administrative Conference Room. 

Questions? Get in touch with Jerry.

P.S. The picture above is of Yeats, not Jerry.

Give & Take Table

When did a good deed become part of the culture or the culture produce a  particular good deed? We can argue the point but the establishment of the Give & Take Table by Bert Pepper and Peggy McLaughlin has become a regular part of Kendal life.

They have announced that the summer Give & Take Table will be up from Aug. 1 to to Aug. 7 in the Mary Powell Building on the T-Level. One can leave anything that is no longer wanted, except clothes and linens and/or pick up a new, long sought after treasure. 

Leave or retrieve. It's fun

Monday Lectures

Monday night is frequently Lecture Night at Kendal. The Education Committee has lined up a fabulous set of presentations for the month of August. All take place in the Gathering Room at 7:30 pm. 

Aug. 6 - Tara Sullivan - "Historic Hudson River Bridges".
Aug. 13 - John Nonna - "Legal Issues Facing Westchester County and Challenges Facing Community Colleges".
Aug. 20 Eric. D. Weitz (Professor CCNY/CUNY) - "The Fragility of Democracy: Lessons from Weimar Germany"
Aug. 27 - Omer Bartov - "Anatomy of a Genocide: The Life and Death of a Town Called Bucazacz"

...and it's all free!