Photo by Joe Bruno
Forsythia in the Sun, by Sue Bastian
Spring: the Free Florist, by Edward Kasinec
Timber!
Gateway to the Hudson
Photos by Edward Kasinec
Sometimes the Big Ships Side Silently Past Kendal, by Joe Bruno
An ad hoc committee to address the healthcare for Independent Living Residents (IL) was convened by Jean Eccleston to address the evolving healthcare environment and how to best support access to care for IL residents at KOH. Jean has assembled a team of residents with a range of backgrounds, along with relevant staff members and Board representation. The members are listed at the end of this report, and all are willing to hear from you about your concerns and suggestions.
One thing that quickly became apparent to us was that there is a wide range of understandings and expectations about healthcare provision for IL residents. The committee identified transparency, communication and education as important guidelines for our operation. To that end, regular updates at the Resident Council Meetings and posts of meeting highlights on the Resident Website will be provided.
Our initial work has been focused on educating ourselves about the current state of healthcare. We have reviewed the chronology of IL Healthcare at KOH, reached out to other CCRC communities about their experiences, and reviewed our Lifecare Contract so we all have a clear understanding of the services Kendal provides to its residents along the continuum of care. We are not alone in our struggles. Another local lifeplan community is not able to provide guaranteed staffing for PET activation by IL residents, and at times asks them to call 911. We are living in a brave, new world.
Seeking input from IL residents will be an essential part of our process, and we will be exploring how to best do that at our next meeting. We hope you will be a part of the process and look forward to your input.
Jean Eccleston Jessica Baron Jo Cameron Hildegarde Gray Erin Hennessey Mike Kornfield Jeff O’Donnell Ellen Ottstadt Hank Schacht Claire Tenny Art Vecchiotti Lisa Wacht Sharon Wexler
The aim is fun, not financial windfall. Fear not any Atlantic City high-rollers joining in. All skill sets are welcome. Stakes are 25-50 cents.
Want to join the fun? Call or text John Vacher: (404) 556-0557. He’ll even come and provide a short tutorial, so you’ll fit in seamlessly your very first Wednesday night.
The idea of a love potion created to win the heart of an uninterested companion has been around for virtually as long as recorded history. While no one knows for sure when these elixirs first bubbled into existence, their development through the years, in many guises, serves as a snapshot for the cultures these creative concoctions have passed through.
The Ancient Greeks Set the Tone
According to Love Potions Through the Ages: A Study of Amatory Devices and Mores, by Harry E. Wedeck, the ancient Greeks were among the earliest civilizations to foster the regular use of love potions, also known as “philtres.” The physician Xenocrates, who lived in the third century BCE, suggested that drinking the sap of the mallow plant would arouse passions in women. The stimulating effects of the roots of the satyrion and mandrake plants were well known to both the Greeks and the Romans that followed. The Greek physician Dioscorides, who served as an army surgeon for the Roman Emperor Nero, wrote of how the mandrake root dipped in wine would help win over prospective lovers.
Even those who lacked wealth and power enjoyed access to love-inducing aides, as they could find various charms and concoctions in a seedy district of ancient Rome known as the Sabura. Yet the widespread availability of such philtres, with their varying degrees of effectiveness, could also be a source of trouble. The poet Lucretius, a contemporary of Julius Caesar’s, was said to have been driven mad by a potion administered by his wife. Later, the Roman writer Apuleius stood trial for his alleged concoction of love potions to win the heart of a widow, with recipes including such stimulating seafood as spiced oysters, cuttlefish, and lobsters.
Source: historyfacts.com
Contributed by Jane Hart
Cathie Campbell dug up the photo above from their days living in the neighboring Sleepy Hollow Manor. Look closely at the date of the manhole cover, set down way back in 1927. But if you look at most of the homes in The Manor, they don’t seem to correspond to those built in the 1920s and 1930s. What happened? Quick answer: 1929 happened, with its stock market crash, the drop in incomes, and the slump in new homes built. Then, of course, came World War II. Perhaps that’s why many of the homes are split-level in nature. The split-level house came into vogue in the 1950s, which was about when house building started up again. And The Manor shows it.
Do you have something from “way back when” that speaks of your history, that of the town, that of the country? Send a photo our way for “From the Attic.”
Contributed by Barbara Bruno
Carlton’s new job was somewhat ceremonial
Darrell’s fruits were the hit of the green market
It was Uncle Fenwick’s birthday yet again
The multigenerational gym was a work in progress
Brad and Dottie didn’t know why, suddenly, everything hurt
Art and photos by Jane Hart
Photo by Philip Monteleoni
Buds Ready to Burst, by Edward Kasinec
First Blossoms, by Edward Kasinec
Alida in Bloom, by Ursula Hahn
Teddy’s Garden Spot, by Joe Bruno
Daffodil Streams, by Edward Kasinec
Photos by Carolyn Reiss
If there’s one person who defines Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, it is Washington Irving, author, diplomat, and wanderer of the rocks and rills of our towns. Also the Daddy of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, featuring the Headless Horseman.
And April 3 is his birthday—his 242nd, no less! Each year, the Historical Society of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow celebrates the day. This year was no different. Celebrants included the great man himself (in the person of Aaron Newcomer). And Kendal’s own Cynthia Ferguson, who managed to get a picture of the birthday boy’s cake as it was being cut (above). While it was being consumed, there was a talk about Irving himself and a reading of some of his favorite tales of our area. Sadly, the Headless Horseman was unable to attend.
The aim is fun, not financial windfall. Fear not any Atlantic City high-rollers joining in. All skill sets are welcome. Stakes are 25-50 cents.
Want to join the fun? Call or text John Vacher: (404) 556-0557. He’ll even come and provide a short tutorial, so you’ll fit in seamlessly your very first Wednesday night.
By the time most of us reach age 20 or so, the bones in our body are pretty much done growing. The growth plates that cause us to put on inches in our youth are now hardened bone, and in fact, adults tend to drop an inch or two in height as worn-out cartilage causes our spines to shrink over time. However, there are a few bones that buck this biological trend. Skulls, for example, never fully stop growing, and the bones also shift as we age. A 2008 study from Duke University determined that as we grow older, the forehead moves forward, while cheek bones tend to move backward. As the skull tilts forward, overlying skin droops and sags.
The skull isn’t the only bone that has a positive correlation with age. Human hips also continue to widen as the decades pass, meaning those extra inches aren’t only due to a loss of youthful metabolism. In 2011, researchers from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine discovered that hips continue to grow well into our 70s, and found that an average 79-year-old’s pelvic width was 1 inch wider than an average 20-year-old’s. So while it’s mostly true that humans stop growing after the age of 20, nature always likes to throw in a few exceptions to the rule.
Source: Interestingfacts.com
Contributed by Jane Hart
It started well before the unpacking, but became a mystery with the unpacking. For years, we’d relieve family members of obscure boxes as their downsizing eliminated storage space. Down to our basement or up to our attic or into our garage they went. “One day soon, we’ll go through these and clean them out.” One day, but not that particular day. And so when the Kendal phone call came, and we signed on all the dotted lines, those boxes came with us. Still taped up. Still unexplored.
During our just-arrived time when boxes were being—if not cheerfully, then arduously—opened, objects were laid out in a flurry on every flat surface available, awaiting their final resting places. In achieving (sort of) that second task of resting places, we came across an item whose use neither of us could fathom. Nor could we figure out whose family it came from. It simply appeared out of nowhere.
For the past 3 years, we’ve contemplated just tossing it. But what would we be tossing? Made of wood, with metal fittings at either pointy end, it was elongated and hollow in its middle. The other day, it turned up again and, upon very, very, very close inspection, we found a set of numbers and tossed those numbers, along with the accompanying word “Southern,” into the computer. To our immense surprise, about six other of its ilk immediately popped up.
Now, Marilyn Bottjer is going to know immediately what it is. But here are its pictures (top, bottom, sides) and what we have learned about it:
Top (unless it’s the bottom)
Side
Bottom (unless it’s the top)
“Southern 1417-1”
Our “treasure” (?) is a “vintage” wooden textile-mill weaving loom shuttle, used in making rugs, tapestries, and fabrics. It has lost its innards—probably a long time ago. We have only vague notions where it came from—but at least we now know what it is. Thank you, Internet.
Roz Chast, The New Yorker
Contributed by Greg Lozier
Art and photo by Sheila Benedis
Everyone looked up to Ratner-Coyle
Lurelle’s ongoing power struggle with Woofie showed no sign of letting up
Fred found out he was allergic to Maddie’s new puppies
Everybody went to pieces when the Mr. Frostee truck was late
Aunt Lulu was on time to pick up Shad, but which one was he?
Art and photos by Jane Hart
This year, Joe Kratovil reached a milestone in birthday celebrations: his 100th! Here’s one on the actual day!
100 birthdays may have come and gone, but Joe is still out, about, and movin’ along. The Bloomfelds met him on the way to Rockwood Park, and Joe gave them a detailed guided tour, including tree identification, a lesson on stone walls, and an explanation of the mansion layout.
Photo by Harry Bloomfeld
Photo by Joe Bruno
The Rivertown Runners were out in the Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon, and Caroline Reiss and Donna Nye just happened across the Rockwood Park part of it—and the piper who serenaded them.
Donna Nye knows great piping when she hears it.
Road Runners running!
Photos by Carolyn Reiss
Soon to Bud, by Edward Kasinec
Soft Forest Floor, by Carolyn Reiss
Something Old, Something New, by Greg Lozier
Magnolia Ready to Burst, by Carolyn Reiss
A Cluster of Pines, by Edward Kasinec
Yellow Blossoms—Ready, by Carolyn Reiss
A Swallow Sets Up Housekeeping in the Park, by Carolyn Reiss
City-bound, by Greg Lozier
Photo by Greg Lozier
Last week, Kendalites journeyed to Oradell, NJ, to visit the Blauvelt Art Museum, which features wildlife art by contemporary artists.
Amanda Slattery and Ruth Dinowitz rode over to the NY Botanical Gardens for the 2025 Orchid Show—and saw lots more than orchids!
Poppies and forget-me-nots in March! Gives one hope.
Ruth Dinowitz marvels at the NYBG Orchid Show.
We all came with them: boxes of who-knew-what. Things we’d always meant to go through: photographs, souvenirs, old report cards, other memories of years before. Cathie Campbell recently found this treasure, created in her high school years:
Some sharp eyes may note that this work of art was actually created by one Helen Ellingson. An explanation from Cathie: “I was named for two grandmothers, Helen and Alice Catherine. Forget Alice! And although they wanted me to go by Cathie, they [her parents] thought Helen Catherine was more euphonious than Catherine Helen. So I was Cathie, until third grade, when I decided, Well, if my first name is Helen, that’s what to call me. I would not answer Miss L, my third grade teacher unless I was addressed as Helen.” Clearly, Miss L’s influence remained in Cathie’s subconscious, because sooner or later she reverted to Cathie. And then she married Mr. Campbell. There you have it.
So, consider this “From the Attic” a new section. Do you have any favorite, humorous, or just plain weird items that tell a story? Send pictures of them—with your explanation—our way (kohresweb@gmail.com)!
Menu:
Choice of Tea Fred’s Homemade Scones
with Clotted Cream and Jam
Tea Sandwiches
Finger Desserts
Still about 15 spots available—but don’t hesitate! Make a $25 check out to “KoH Residents Council” and write “Dining Services Tea” on the memo line. Leave your check in Cynthia Ferguson's cubby, #2211 by April 17. Your check reserves your place.
Ladies and Gents, let’s celebrate Spring at Kendal!
[Insert uproarious cheers and applause]
The aim is fun, not financial windfall. Fear not any Atlantic City high-rollers joining in. All skill sets are welcome. Stakes are 25-50 cents.
Want to join the fun? Call or text John Vacher: (404) 556-0557. He’ll even come and provide a short tutorial, so you’ll fit in seamlessly your very first Wednesday night.
