1. shopping
2. gifts

December 2014
SUMMIT NEWS
Souderton Mennonite Homes
207 West Summit St
Souderton PA 18964
LEADERSHIP CORNER: THANKSGIVING AND THANK YOU!
You may be wondering why the December Leadership Corner article is titled, “Thanksgiving and Thank
You!” rather than something related to Christmas. The reason is that as I write this article, it is the
week of Thanksgiving and we are just getting ready to celebrate this holiday with family and friends. It
is also my last opportunity to write this article and I want to take this opportunity to express how
thankful I am to have had the opportunity to serve you, our residents, as one of the staff here at
Souderton Mennonite Homes.
Our Mission Statement: Together we empower older adults and families to lead lives of purpose and
joy, guided by the Mennonite tradition of care and service to others.
APPLE ORCHARD CAFÉ
THE CORNER STORE
Located within Souderton Mennonite Homes
207 West Summit Street, Souderton PA
Phone 215-723-2182 ext. 42277
Located within Souderton Mennonite Homes
207 West Summit Street, Souderton PA
Phone 215-723-2182 ext. 42213
Hours:
Monday - Wednesday & Saturday
6:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Country Gifts & Cards
Thursday, Friday
6:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sunday Brunch
10:00 a.m. -2:30 p.m.
10% OFF TOTAL CHECK
WITH THIS COUPON
Hours:
Monday – Friday
9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Saturday
8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
This is a very special place and I will sincerely miss the many wonderful residents and staff who have
helped to make it so special. I am a better person because of the years I have spent here with you, even
though those years have gone very quickly and seem very brief. I have been truly blessed in more ways
than I can express by my interactions and relationships with many of you and I will always hold this
place dear in my heart. Thank you for helping to create these wonderful memories.
Many of you may not be aware that for the first six months of 2015 my family will be in three different
places. My daughter will be in her second semester at Western University in London, Ontario. My wife
and son will be in our home here in Pennsylvania to allow my son to finish his senior year of high
school at Christopher Dock Mennonite High School, and I will be in Ohio in my new job at Fairlawn
Community. We will all be reunited next summer following my son’s high school graduation. While we
don’t especially look forward to the separation during these six months, we know that in the end, our
family will once again be together and be closer to both of our extended families, being very close to
my wife’s family in Ohio and only four hours from my family in Ontario. This is what will keep us going
during the six months. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we make our way through these
six months and as we then transition to our new home in Ohio. Thank you so much!
And, if you ever get to Archbold, Ohio (or even close by and have a few minutes) please stop in to visit.
It would be great to see you! Blessings to each of you as you continue to be an important part of this
community at Souderton Mennonite Homes. I will continue to keep this place in my thoughts and
prayers as I move on. And I sincerely hope that each of you
have a wonderful Thanksgiving (or…had, since you will see
this after Thanksgiving) and a blessed Christmas with those
Inside This Issue
most dear to you. Thank you and God Bless!
Community Events – 2
-
Brent Nafziger, Executive Director
General Reports – 4 - 5
NOT VALID ON SUNDAYS
Resident Trips & Events – 6
EXPIRES: JANUARY 1, 2015
Resident Birthdays & Updates – 7
Campus Information – 8
COMMUNITY EVENTS
.
RESIDENTIAL LIVING EVENTS
RESIDENT COUNCIL
RL Resident Council will meet
Tuesday, December 2nd, at 1:00
p.m. in the Family Room. Please
note time change and as always, all
Residential Living Residents are
invited to attend.
RL CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST
Please join RL staff for our annual
RL Christmas Breakfast on Friday,
December 19th at 8:30 a.m. in the
SVA. This special holiday breakfast
will be prepared by our dietary
dept. Sign-up is needed as space is
limited so please sign-up as soon as
possible.
RL COOKIE BAKE
RL Cookie Bake will be held
Wednesday, December 8th from
10-noon in the Family Room. We
will be making 4 types of resident
suggested holiday treats and
everyone goes home with a tin of
goodies. Sign-up at RL bulletin
board.
SOUDERTON CHRISTMAS
PARADE
Last chance to reserve your spot
for the Souderton Christmas
Parade!!! We will leave the lobby
on Sat., December 6th at 9:30 a.m.
as we prepare to travel through the
parade route. Please contact
Heather Scattergood at ext. 42225,
if you are interested in attending so
that she can reserve your spot for
this fun-filled morning!
RESIDENT UPDATES
FULL FACILITY CHRISTMAS
PARTY
All residents are invited to join us
for a special evening celebrating
the Christmas season on
Wednesday, December 10th at 6:30
p.m. in the SVA. Enjoy an evening
of music with Bill Monaghan and
Friends. It is sure to put you in the
holiday spirit. Seasonal
refreshments will be served
following this special program.
Please contact Heather Scattergood
at Ext. 42225 with any questions.
NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATION
Bring in the New Year on
Wednesday, December 31st at 2
p.m. in the SVA with “The Red Hill
Band”. The choir will help us
celebrate the New Year and dietary
will provide an array of
refreshments to enjoy during the
concert. Please sign-up quickly
with your unit Life Enrichment
Coordinators as seating is limited.
RL residents can sign-up at RL
bulletin board.
CHRISTMAS CANTATA
Join us for a special afternoon with
Dock Woods Choir as they perform
a Christmas Cantata for you to
enjoy on Tuesday, December 16th
at 2 p.m. in the SVA.
PRISON MINISTRY-CALENDARS
We are collecting 2015 calendars
for The Prison Ministry. Please
drop off any extra you may have to
the Front Desk.
WELLNESS PROGRAMS
Southeastern Healthcare will be
here on Wednesday, December
17th at 10:30 a.m. in the Carport
Lobby with complimentary blood
pressure screening.
IRS SCAM PHONE CALLS
There have been numerous
reports regarding suspicious
phone calls from people or
automated systems posing as
the IRS or IRS Agents stating
that they have warrants for your
arrest stemming from alleged
unpaid taxes owed to the IRS. In
many calls, a phone number is
given requesting you to call as
soon as possible to resolve these
debts. DO NOT CALL ANY
PHONE NUMBER GIVEN IN
THESE MESSAGES. THESE
CALLS ARE SCAMS.
The IRS will NEVER call you
about any unpaid taxes. You
should hang up immediately.
DO NOT engage anyone who
says they are calling from the
IRS in any discussions and DO
NOT give these callers any of
your personal information.
Hang up and keep hanging up if
they call again. By hanging up,
they will eventually stop calling
and move onto someone else.
This information has been removed
to protect the privacy of our
residents.
RESIDENT EVENTS
RESIDENTIAL LIVING-Trips
CONT’D
PENNYPACKER MILLS
CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE
Wednesday,
December 3rd at
O
9:30 a.m. Delight in visions of
holidays past as you tour the
historical site of Pennypacker Mills
in Schwenksville. Enjoy the
dazzling glass ornaments, silky
ribbons and greens of the
decorated historic mansion. No cost
to ride the Living Branches coach
or tour mansion.
PHILLY POPS CHRISTMAS
SPECTACULAR SHOW, KIMMEL
CENTER PHILADELPHIA – HAGEY
TOURS
The Living Branches shuttle will
take residents with reservations to
the Hagey Tours facility. Hagey
Tours will provide transportation
to Philadelphia. Enjoy the magic of
the season as The Philly POPS
present beloved tunes in exciting
arrangements with over 300
musicians, remarkable choirs and
the ever-popular audience sing-along. This is a 3:00 p.m. Sunday
matinee.
There will be direct return home
after the show with no dinner stop.
Please consider bringing a
snack/closed container beverage if
you are on this tour. It can remain
on the Hagey bus while you are at
the show.
Approximate return to
Souderton is 7:00 p.m.-7:15 p.m.
LANDIS MARKET, TELFORD
Thursday, December 4th – 9:30
a.m. and Thursday, December 18th,
9:30 a.m. Bring your bags and shop
for groceries at Landis. No cost for
the transportation.
TRADER JOE’S
Are you looking to eat healthy on a
budget? Join us for a trip to Trader
Joe’s on Monday, December 15th
9:30 a.m. Sign up is required.
BOLTON’S FARM
Looking for specialty items for
Christmas? Join us for a trip to
Bolton’s Farm, Friday, December
19th at 9:30 a.m. Sign up at RL
Bulletin Board.
BUX-MONT ACTIVE ADULT
TRAVEL CLUB
PASTOR’S CORNER: GOD OF LIGHT
If you have any questions, contact
Wendy O’Connor at 215-723-2182
Ext. 42311
PERSONAL CARE
SOUDERTON MEN’S ALUMNI CHOIR
Souderton Men’s Alumni Choir will be
here in the Summit View Auditorium on
Monday, December 1st to kick off this
month’s many holiday programs.
HAND BELL CHOIR
Come and listen to the beautiful sounds
Are you looking for additional travel of the Generations Hand Bell Choir on
Wednesday, December 10th at 2:00 p.m.
opportunities? Would you like to
travel with other seniors from local in the Summit View Auditorium.
retirement homes with Perkiomen CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
Tours?
We are taking a bus trip around the local
If you answered ‘Yes’ then look for neighborhood’s looking at all the
the colorful Bux-Mont Active Adult beautiful Christmas lights on Tuesday,
Travel Club flyers in your
December 16th. We will leave from the
mailboxes. These flyers are
Park View entrance at 6:00 p.m.
distributed quarterly to RL
HOLIDAY PROGRAM-YOO FAMILY
residents. Additional copies are
located on the table outside the
On Monday, December 22nd please join
fitness center.
me as the very talented Yoo Family will
be here to perform their holiday
This travel program is exclusively
program in the Summit View Auditorium
prepared for residents of Souderton
at 6:30 p.m.
Mennonite Homes, Rockhill
NORTH PENN SINGERS
Mennonite Community, Lutheran
Community of Telford, Peter Becker
The North Penn singers will be here on
Community and Frederick
Tuesday, December 23rd at 7:00 p.m in
Mennonite Community.
the Summit View Auditorium.
Take advantage of additional trips
sponsored by Perkiomen Tours by
calling the number listed and
referencing the tour code
mentioned.
If you have any questions, contact
Wendy O’Connor at 215-723-2182
x42311.
I don’t know about you but it seems to me that given the “climate of chaos” we are experiencing in our
world today that maybe the time has come for us to pick up a box of tissues and let the tears flow. With
each passing day our world seems to be drowning in a “thick darkness” - war in Gaza, crisis in Syria, ISIS in
Iraq, the slaying of five unarmed black men in one month at the hands of U.S. police officers, school
shootings again in Washington, killing and capturing of school children in Nigeria, eboli and the fear it
generates, and the impotence of our governmental leaders to move beyond a political deadlock to do
something good.
The Scriptures call us in times of “thick darkness” like this to cross over into the “valley of lament”to cry our eyes out in the face of such over whelming and impending evil. In the Old Testament when the
prophet Jeremiah came face to face with the rampant violence and injustice of his time – he lost it. Sobbing
uncontrollable heaves he cried out “O that my head were a spring of water and my eyes fountain of tears so
that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people.” It’s his uncontrollable emotion that caused
him to be known as the “Weeping Prophet”.
We don’t so much weep about world fragmentation, as complain. Can you remember the last time
you cried about the violence in our world? Instead of entering the “valley of lament”, many of us feel more
comfortable on the” plateau of rage” or the” plain of apathy”. Weeping seems so weak, so impotent, so
helpless – and it is. It does little to change the reality of tragedy and brokenness.
But it changes us. It breaks down our illusion that we can somehow “fix” the situation and nudges us
to place our trust in a God who specializes in bringing new life to that which is “formless and void” – a God
who brought LIGHT when “darkness covered the earth”.
Perhaps in the midst of the tinsel and lights this advent season, there should be boxes of tissues, and
time set apart to help us cry our way back to this God – to THE God of light.
Contributed by Pastor Ray Hurst & Pastor Joy Sawatzky
FELLOWSHIP OFFERING INFORMATION
October Offering Summary:
The Worm Project $2,277.81
December Offering Recipient:
Mennonite Disaster Service
REPORTS
FUND DEVELOPMENT
first houses may have appeared as a result of the popular
Grimm’s fairy tales, while other food historians theorize that the
brothers Grimm were writing about something that already
existed.
THURSDAY EVENING PROGRAMS IN THE SVA
ANNUAL YEAR END APPEAL
December 4: Come prepared for a refreshing evening of
music with the Miller and Randolph family singers.
•
Mincemeat and Mince Pies – Minced meats accomplished
many things as it utilized leftover meat, stretched the protein
supply and permitted meat to be incorporated into other dishes.
Dating back to medieval times, mincemeat pies also included
dried fruits, sugar, and spices but the distinction between
mincemeat and mince was drawn in the min-19th century when
meat began disappearing from the recipe leaving the fruit, nut,
sugar, spice, and suet product we know today.
December 11: A team from the MAMA project will be here
to update us on their every growing program. MAMA
works in several countries (Honduras, Haiti), supporting
children’s nutrition and survival, and providing
scholarships for education.
As we approach the time when many of our residents
and donors start to plan for their yearend giving, I want
to remind you about the benevolent care ministry at all
three of our campuses. Our gap in funding for residents
who are no longer able to pay the full cost of their care
continues to grow each year and we appreciate your
ongoing support of these individuals. It is through your
generous gifts that we are able to provide quality care
for all of our residents, regardless of their ability to pay.
The letter and brochure year end appeal were
distributed just before Thanksgiving and your
contribution should be received by the Fund
Development office no later than Wednesday, December
31, 2014 in order to be acknowledged for the 2014 tax
year. Thank you for considering Living Branches in
your yearend giving! For more information, please
contact Keith Heavener at 215-723-9881 ext. 42285.
FITNESS & WELLNESS ACTIVITIES
“The Foods of Christmas”
“Now bring us some figgy pudding, Now bring us some figgy
pudding, Now bring us some figgy pudding, And bring some
out here."
While I have never had the ‘joy’ of trying figgy pudding,
there are many foods of Christmas that I have had the
pleasure of sampling and because I began wondering what
some popular Christmas food origins were and I thought it
would be fun to share…..
•
Candy Canes – Hundreds of years ago sugar was
very expensive and was a food of the wealthy and for others
became a special treat saved for holidays and other special
occasions. The first historical reference to the familiar cane
shape goes back to 1670, when the choirmaster at the
Cologne Cathedral in Germany, bent the sugar-sticks into
canes to represent a shepherd's staff. The all-white candy
canes were given out to children during the long-winded
nativity services, with the stripes only appearing in1897 or
so for reasons unknown.
•
Christmas Cookies – Tracing their roots to Medieval
European recipes, Christmas cookies were introduced to
Europe in the Middle Ages, and were highly prized as many
of the recipes and ingredients included cinnamon, ginger,
black pepper, almonds, dried fruits, etc. Dutch and German
settlers introduced cookie cutters, decorative molds, and
festive holiday decorations to America, with German
lebkuchen (gingerbread) probably being the first
cake/cookie traditionally associated with Christmas.
•
Christmas Birds: peacocks, swans, geese & turkeys –
The larger the bird, the more festive the presence with “New
World” turkeys introduced to Europe in the 16th century,
whereas America’s turkey was a natural choice for a
Christmas feast as they were wild and plentiful.
•
Gingerbread – In the 13th century, the word was
originally, gingerbras (borrowed from the Old French) which
meant ‘preserved ginger’. But, by the mid-14th century, the
word –bread had begun to replace –bras. In American
cookery, there are two distinct families of gingerbread
cookies – the honey-based gingerbreads of Middle European
origin – mostly Germany; and the molasses shortbreads that
developed in England or Scotland, depending which
historian you reference.
•
Gingerbread houses – Some researchers state the
•
Sugarplums – Not a fruit picked from a tree, but rather is
a confection traditionally composed of tiny sugar-coated seeds.
Sugarplums were an early form of boiled sweet. Not actually
made from plums, there were roughly the size and shape of
plums; came in an assortment of colors and flavors; frequently
had aniseed, caraway seed, etc. at their center and often had little
wire stalks for suspending.
So regardless of your favorite foods and recipes prepared and
delicacies enjoyed, may this Christmas season fill your heart and
soul and leave you feeling satisfied with the true spirit of the
holiday!
Live Well!
Marci Christian, Fitness Center Coordinator
WELLNESS ACTIVITIES
•
Shuffleboard – Monday, December 1st – Fitness Center
Hallway – 6:30 p.m. – Everyone welcome. Join your neighbors
and friends for a friendly game of shuffleboard – learn to play,
challenge a friend, or come to watch! Always a good time.
•
Wellness Social – Tuesday, December 9th - 2:30 p.m. in
the Café. “Eat This and Not That!” Join Marci and your friends
and neighbors as we explore the fun decadent foods of the
holidays and how we can enjoy the delicacies without looking
like Santa Claus by the end of the holiday season.
•
Wednesdays & Fridays – Tai Chi in the Family Room – 9
– 10 a.m. or 2 – 3:00 p.m. Improve balance, increase stamina and
improve range of motion. Can be done seated or standing – new
members always welcome!
•
Thursdays – Ladies Billiards – 10:30 a.m. in the 1st floor
Sports Lounge – Never played??? Interested in learning the
fundamentals of billiards???? Now is the time ladies!
December 18: Ralph Alderfer and Joy Sawatzky will team
up together to do Christmas Carol singing and Christmas
Stories.
December 25: No program due to the holiday.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Accompanist wanted: The SMH Choir will be starting up again in
March 2015 and they are looking for an accompanist. Practices
are held two Tuesday afternoons each month and the choir
performs the 4th Sunday of the month during the worship service
in the SVA. For more information on this opportunity, or other
volunteer opportunities, please contact Lynne Allebach at 215723-9881 Ext. 42289.