Believe in Yourself: April Events

April, the month where we play innocent pranks on April Fool’s Day; celebrate Springtime and Easter with egg hunts, brunches, and church; pay homage to mother earth on Earth Day; and welcome the return of America’s favorite pastime – Baseball. This month we embark on a new quarter in our Alive in All Seasons calendar where we celebrate Healthy Aging and will “Let Wellbeing Thrive”. Throughout April our focus is on the brain and honoring the theme “Believe in Yourself”. Did you know that activities that are good for your heart are also good for your brain? The American Heart Association tells us that protecting memory and brain health is a matter of keeping your heart and blood vessels healthy. Regular cardio exercise and a healthy diet not only keep your heart happy, but your brain too.

This month’s offerings include activities and events that will keep our bodies and brains healthy and renew our faith in ourselves. Educational opportunities will cover brain health topics such as brain booster activities and ways to keep fit. We will rejoice in our individuality and celebrate ourselves through life affirming reminiscent and creative activities while reminding each other to “Believe in Yourself”.

Please join us here at Juniper Village at Chatham as the Newark Museum Presents “Women in Art and Women Artists” on April 3^rd at 2:30 pm; the Larks – Singing Tunes on April 10^th at 10:00 am; our “End of Life Care” CEU class on April 17^th at 2:00 pm; our Open House Easter Egg Hunt on April 19^th at 10:30 am; and our International Affairs Lecture on April 22^nd at 7:00 pm. See our newsletter calendar for a complete listing of events and come visit us during any that suit your fancy!

H'Art and Soul of Dining - New Menus with Delicious Recipes!

We are proud to announce that on April 5th our revitalized spring/summer menus will begin for our H’Art and Soul of Dining Signature Program at all of our communities.  This new signature program will help us improve quality of life and whole person wellness for the individuals that call Juniper Village home.  We are very excited this season since the offerings will feature a delicious 5-week entrée select option featuring fabulous new choices using some of the fresh products available through our food vendors. Also, on our updated menus, we have added many lighter alternatives as well as recipes specific to each community that take into account special diets, regional tastes, food committee requests and our resident’s special needs and personal requests.  These changes to our meal plans significantly increase the variety of selections provided for our residents while focusing upon scratch made offerings and heart-healthy meals.  Furthermore, in celebration of our AIAS spring quarter “Healthy Aging,” our Grill Menus will be re-vamped to highlight healthier offerings throughout the season. In addition we will be implementing an innovative hydration assurance program served from our “Oasis Carts,” featuring a variety of flavored waters using citrus or mint or cucumbers, fresh brewed iced tea, lemonade, punch, smoothies and juices as well as nutritious snacks.

Below are some of the recipes featured on our new menu:

Carrot-Currant Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour (to measure, spoon into a cup and level)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup carrot juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup dried currants
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl whisk together butter, egg, milk, carrot juice and vanilla. Pour the egg mixture over the dry ingredients and gently fold just until moistened. Fold carrots and dried currants into the mix. Scoop batter into the muffin pan and bake until golden brown and firm to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan (cool on a wire rack if you have one).

Yellow Squash Soup

Cooking Spray

1/2 cup diced yellow onion

1 cup diced zucchini

1 cup diced yellow squash

3 cups low-sodium vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasonings

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 (15 ounce) can Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 ounce) can diced no-salt-added tomatoes

Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray. Heat over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add zucchini and yellow squash; sauté 3 minutes. Add all other ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Mardi Gras!!

March was a party-packed month at our Juniper Village!!!  We kicked

off the festivities with a lunchtime Mardi Gras celebration.  One of
our favorite vocal/instrumental groups, Paul and Pals, entertained,
while some residents donned masks and Mardi Gras beads.  Also, we
enjoyed a traditional King Cake for dessert.  Later in the month, we
joined the ranks of the honorary Irish as we celebrated St. Patrick's
Day.  Besides corned beef and cabbage, we drank beer (root, birch, and
the real thing) and ate pretzels while we were entertained by
accordionist Eric Kerrsen.

The Eli Ripple Effect: Spotlight on a Shining Light at Juniper Village at Chatham

by Anne Gross

In a previous post on the Juniper Care Place blog, I introduced one of the signature features of Juniper communities, "The Eli Ripple Effect,"   where doing good deeds ripple throughout each of our facilities and out into the larger communities in which we live.  In today's post, I want to highlight a very special resident, Freddy from Juniper Village at Chatham, who is the perfect example of how doing for others is endemic to the Juniper experience.

Freddy is 71 years old and has lived at Chatham since 2002, when he moved in with his father. He has faced challenges throughout his entire life.  With his parent's support, he has been able to work for 30 years as a mail handler at the post office.  For Freddy, the move into Juniper Village at Chatham was special, as this was where he wanted to spend his golden years.

From the day he moved here, Freddy has focused on helping others.  As a resident ambassador, he can be seen taking new residents around the facility, showing them where everything is located and accompanying them to their meals.   But he doesn't stop there. Every evening, Freddy posts the next days schedule throughout the facility, and in the evenings he can be found at the bingo games, handing out bingo bucks to the residents.   Freddy is also a great artist who draws pictures of our monthly staff heroes as well as portraits of our nation's presidents.    His compassion also extends outside the Juniper community.  An active member of   the Lions club, where he served as president from 2001-2003, he has helped raise money to fund scholarships to college-bound students as well as the Foundation for the Blind.

I asked Freddy what contributed to his commitment to others, and he didn't hesitate to say it was his parents.  They never made him feel different as a result of his special needs.  To the contrary, they accepted him for who he was, always insuring that he had the help he needed.

 Never has Freddy's compassion for others, and especially for those less fortunate, been tempered by his family's association with many well known people.  Freddy recalls with pride how he has met elected officials - former Presidents George HW Bush and Richard Nixon to Senator Frank Lautenberg and Governor Christine Whitman - as well as movie stars such as Cary Grant or well known golfers like Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, to name just a few.

When not caring for others, Freddy can be found on the computer playing Wii bowling, watching sports, engaged in crossword puzzles, or playing bingo.  No matter what activity he does, Freddy is a shining light to other residents and staff at Chatham, paying forward the compassion he learned as a child and has lived his whole life.

Chatham Red Hats

Our Chatham Red Hats decided at their last meeting to undertake a
service project. One member mentioned she used to belong to a group
at a local hospital which made "love pillows" that were distributed to
patients. The Red Hats loved this, and got involved right away. We
had so much fun making these little pillows, and we plan to give them
to new residents as a welcome gift.

Your Treasure is Within: March Events

Our Alive in All Seasons program is alive and well at Juniper Village. This quarter’s seasonal theme is on Creative Expression: “Explore Your Creativity” and serves to promote our philosophy of encouraging an active body, an engaged mind and a fulfilled spirit. For March, we will turn our focus to Performance: “Your Treasure is Within”.

This month on March 2, 2014 we look forward to the 86^th celebration of the Academy Awards. As we watch popular comedian and talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres host the festivities while the beautiful stars dressed in their finery walk the red carpet we can’t help to stop, to pause and reminisce of all of the great performances of past years. Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, Tom Hanks, Jack

Nicholson, Vivien Leigh, Meryl Streep, Peter Ustinov and Dustin Hoffman; the list goes on! In addition to guessing who might win the Oscars for 2014, this month we will be learning about and experiencing all different types of great performance art, enjoying cultural events and trying our hand at acting in drama club.

It’s going to be a theatrical month at Juniper Village at Chatham filled with creativity, great experiences and memorable performances! You are cordially invited to attend a presentation by Paul White about “American Art” on March 11^th at 2:00 pm, our Saint Patrick Day “Spirits & Cheer” celebration on March 17^th at 3:30 pm, a Simon Mandel Magic Show on March 20^th at 10:00 am, a lecture by the Morris Museum on “Culture through Dolls” on March 27^th at 2:00 pm, or any of our other activities (see our Newsletter for a complete listing).

So come in, and join in on the act to find that “Your Treasure is Within”.

Happy Lunar New Year at Juniper

What fun we had welcoming The Year of The Horse! The Dining Room and
Bistro were joyfully decorated with Chinese lanterns, balloons, and
bamboo parasols, and Chef Frank's stir-fry buffet was fabulous. Can't
wait to try to top this next year!