Palm Village Retirement Community: December 2011

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Petting Zoo fun with four generations while on a visit to a California Retirement Community!

Our most recent guests at Palm Village brought great joy to a gathering of 4 generations. Residents and their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were “greeted” by a Donkey, Goat, Duck, Zebra, Skunk, Wolf, and Pony brought to the campus by Kristal Oliver.

The farm animals helped many residents reminisce about their childhood days on the farms where they lived. And although some were hesitant to pet the skunk, once it was revealed that it had been descented and was actually an indoor pet, most enjoyed the unique opportunity to interact with the skunk.

The animals willingly posed for photos with the residents and the common question from the residents and their guests who talked about the great time they were having was, “Will the animals visit again?”

Palm Village Retirement Community is a smart choice for seniors searching for California retirement homes or California nursing homes. If you are seeking information on California Retirement Homes, you'll enjoy reading about Palm Village's Independent Living Patio Homes and Assisted Living Suites. If you are looking for information on California Nursing Homes and related services, Palm Village offers Skilled Nursing, Memory Care and Rehabilitation Therapies including Stroke Rehabilitation. COA 170 Lic. #100404809 - Admissions, room assignments and services are provided without regard to race, color, national origin, disability or age.

A Celebration of Independence at Palm Village Retirement Community!

For many years now, the excellent activities and personal care teams at Palm Village have hosted a Fourth of July Celebration that includes All-American menus and fireworks. Norma Froese, Nellie Molina and the Tena Family deserve special thanks and recognition for once again making this a great party on Friday, July 1, 2011.

With the additional generosity of some donors, The Living Legacy Team added a Tri-Tip dinner and many extra fireworks. It was a full day of activities that also saw our residents contribute nearly $5,000 to Living Legacy!

One of the new features was a patriotic reading by four residents, Grace Thiessen, Marcella Jones, Barbara Miller, joined by Joyce Warkentin playing accordion. It was a moving tribute to the freedom and independence that has been granted to us by God in these United States of America. Of our nearly 300 residents, many have served our country as Veterans and through alternative forms of service. “The Greatest Generation” and their love of God and Country are well evidenced at Palm Village, and especially at this annual event. The day-long celebration which ends with a full firework display in the “cement garden” is another of those privileges our residents enjoy at PVRC.

We like to say that Living Legacy not only helps those who through no fault of their own outlive their financial resources, but also helps every resident to live the legacy of dignified retirement living in a tradition of care that the Mennonite Brethren Church has emphasized for over 70 years.

We want to thank the 320 donors who have made contributions of well over $80,000 in this budget year. With the Fall Jamboree just around the corner on October 1, 2011, as well as our annual staff Christmas fund and year-end giving, we hope to reach our annual goal of $200,000 for Living Legacy. Remember that the most cost effective way to contribute to Palm Village is through our donor web site at Palmvillage.org. Our donor website has recently been redesigned along with the re-design of Palmvillage.com. Check us out there and help our residents Live the Legacy at Palm Village.

In case you wonder whether your gifts make a difference, consider that through gifts that average approximately $150.00 per donor, per year, we have raised over $3,000,000 since Living Legacy began. As an organization, this has helped enable our “day’s cash on hand” to rise from 45 days just four years ago to over 134 days in 2011. When you consider that it costs Palm Village approximately $30,000 per day to offer some of the finest care in the Central Valley, you can know that your gifts make an enormous difference. Thank you for your partnership in our mission of providing dignified care to seniors! We seek to live the legacy here 365 days per year.

Change was in the air at Palm Villge Retirement Community's Fall jamboree!

By Charles Buller, M. Div
Palm Village Vice-President of Advancement

The 2011 Fall Jamboree at Palm Village Retirement Community in Central California saw many changes. From the conversations with residents and guests, they were welcomed and celebrated!

Here are the changes we enjoyed:

Time: We shortened the time by one hour; 10:00-1:00pm.

Menu: Brunch! With omelet stations, Eggs Benedict, pancakes, multiple meat platters, all prepared by the excellent Kitchen staff at PVRC; and delicious pastries from Panera Bread, Cinnabon, and Eddie’s Bakery, the food was delicious. While guests could still take home a box, or samples of each pastry from a wonderful display in Barbara’s Café, they were encouraged to take their time and sample as much food as they liked.

Donations! Rather than selling tickets for individual items, PVRC simply asked guests to make a donation and enjoy the all-you-can eat brunch. It appears our guests prefer this approach. We raised approximately 33% more than usual for our Living Legacy Fund simply by asking for donations. The total was very near $15,000! And our costs for food were decreased because it was mostly prepared in-house! We look forward to what our kitchen comes up with next year.

Corn Toss! This simple game that replaced the iron horse shoe with bags of corn was very popular. We again did not sell tickets or ask for advance sign ups and easily filled the time from 10:00am to 1:30pm with non-stop competition. We congratulate the winners and all who competed!

Fun for Kids of all Ages! Thanks to Bank of the Sierra, we added two additional bounce houses! And the new, most popular event was the puppy display for children. Chris and Kasey Thiessen of Pawsitive Connections brought 10 very cute rescued puppies that were a real hit. They promise to bring even more next year.

Change sometimes is exactly what we all need to get us inspired by events and traditions that have become familiar. We encourage you to join us next year and sample these changes with us on October 6, 2012! Thanks to all who participated and donated to the ongoing mission of the Living Legacy Fund at PVRC!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Spring Has Sprung: The “Living” Legacy

By Charles Buller, M. Div
Palm Village Vice-President of Advancement

Originally published in a 2010 issue of the Palm Villager

There is a story we tell in Reedley, each year at this time. It is the story of spring. It’s truly a “Living Legacy”. Pollinated blossom trails give way to leaves on trees and fruit buds maturing into actual pieces of potential harvest.

Soon there are thinning crews in orchards of all kinds, and the ground is littered with fruit that will give way to the potential larger and more profitable yields, and more edible, sweet peaches, plums, nectarines, and much more that makes this valley come alive with the good tastes of harvest.

Yet, alongside that story, we watch the storm clouds grow and wonder if it will hail as the fruit begins to take shape on the trees. As dark clouds sometimes gather, and rain turns to hail, we hear the “boom, boom, boom” of hail cannons trying to minimize the potential damage. By around mid-May, this season of spring and uncertainty yields to our summer, and the fruit begins to be packaged and shipped around the world.

These cycles have been going on around Reedley and surrounding areas for the better part of 100 years. It is an incredible time of risk, growth and change that also usually coincides with Easter. Dormancy, gives way to life. It’s an old story, repeated and experienced over and over again. We gladly keep showing up for it!

At Palm Village, we also enjoy our own seasons and cycles that coincide with those we live around. Our facility takes on the new life of the colors of spring. Our residents are seen outside more frequently taking walks, enjoying the sunshine and soaking in another year’s season of new life.

The beauty of working with those in their senior years is the realization that no one ever gets tired of spring, regardless of how long one lives. I have yet to meet anyone who says, “…I sure wish spring would hurry along so that we could have the heat of summer…”!

Alongside these beautiful days are some of our own storm clouds and hail cannons. State government threatens cuts, delivery systems for senior care undergoes constant change, the budget debate in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento drags on like snails in our gardens looking for bright flowers to devour. Yet, our residents continue their healthy lives at their home called Palm Village and expect us to deliver on our promises and provide a harvest for their retired years. And we do.

Your help at this time of the year is much appreciated. We honor this time of spring and harvest with a feast called the guest chef dinner. This year it took place on April 7th at the new Kitchen/Dining facility of the Reedley, MB Church. Over 225 people (which is a record for us!) were present for a meal prepared by David Vartanian, of the Vintage Press of Visalia. David helped us celebrate the Living Legacy of Palm Village with a bountiful menu of incredible hors d’oeuvre of dates, almonds and local vegetables, white bean soup, pear and pecan salad, pork tenderloin with potatoes au gratin, carrots and asparagus, nine-grain rolls and a delicious dessert of almond Tuille filled with ice cream and fresh fruit! It was a bountiful harvest indeed and was a complete Spring Spectacular of Food.

Thanks to those of you who helped us raise nearly $30,000 for our Living Legacy fund that evening.

Culinary Excitement Comes to
Palm Village Retirement Community

David Vartanian

Originally published in a 2010 issue of the Palm Villager
By Charles Buller, M. Div
Palm Village Vice-President of Advancement

Most of you have probably noticed that there is a new interest in cooking in our culture. With the advent of 24/7 cable television came the Food Network and the Cooking Network. Cooks such as Rachel Ray, Paula Deen and Guy Fieri have become household names to those with culinary curiosity.

We at Palm Village have joined the fun. For the second year in a row, David Vartanian of the Vintage Press in Visalia has contributed his lifelong skill in the Kitchen to our spring fundraiser which we simply call our Living Legacy Guest Chef event. This has become an annual event and next year promises some new surprises as we have already begun the planning!

This year we had 140 in attendance. Chef Vartanian wanted to emphasis the local faire. The evening began with amazing hors d’oeuvres of grape leaf wraps, almond, date and bacon wraps, and then transitioned to a main course featuring Shisk-Kabob (most in attendance who like lamb said it was the best they have ever tasted), rice pilaf, asparagus, and his now famous carrot puree vegetable.

During the Q and A portion of the event David revealed the secret to his scrumptious carrots—he simply cooks them in butter (no water added), purées them when done and then adds half and half.

Chef Vartanian entertained the crowd by taking the entire shank of a lamb and reducing it down to barbecue-sized portions. His strawberry shortcake to follow was absolutely terrific. Special thanks to Gordon Wiebe of Wiebe Farms for providing the video cast so all could see the demonstration!

Those of us who plan this event want to thank those of you who contributed to make this a great evening. A combination of management staff, and board of director’s donations cover the cost of the food so that all other gifts benefit our living legacy fund. An additional $13,000 will be added to this fund by the time all checks from the evening have been received.

Next year’s guest chef event is shaping up to take a slightly different format. Watch this newsletter for some interesting developments as the event approaches in April of 2011!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Palm Village Retirement Community Adds two Sci-Fit Exercise Machines

One of the strongest philosophies of most retirement communities is to encourage and assist residents to live a healthy life. The purchase of two Sci-Fit machines has enabled residents of Palm Village Retirement Community to increase their strength and power, with ease, as they exercise on the machine.

The retirement community originally purchased one machine, however it was soon discovered that the Sci-Fit was such an effective machine, that residents were signing a waiting list to use it. The community has a fitness center with several types of workout equipment including treadmills, bicycle machines, and low impact weight machines but it is the newly acquired Sci-Fit that keeps the active elders returning to the center on a daily basis.

With the guidance of the staff at Palm Village, the fitness center is a popular activity center for the residents who sometimes develop competitions among each other with the awards being imagined trips to far-off places.

The Sci-Fit machine provides a total body work-out that strengthens the arms and legs for an improvement in range of motion and balance, and the cardiovascular training increases heart health for endurance in activities.

The safe, ergonomic design of the Sci-Fit allows the user to sit in a comfortable position as they push the foot pedals with simultaneous easy pumping of the arms. This position encourages longer workouts and protection of arthritic joints making it is attractive for use by those on many levels of ability.

The goal of those who use the machine is to remain independent with a continuance of an active and healthy lifestyle.

So in order to increase the opportunities for use of the machine, a letter was sent to former donors of Palm Village in Reedley, California. Within days enough money was raised to purchase a second Sci-Fit machine.

Palm Village is a Continuing Care Community and the statistics show that the residents of the retirement community enter skilled nursing as much as four years older than those who are admitted directly from home or hospital. So the philosophy of a healthy lifestyle, of which exercise is a predominant part, is proven to be one that does indeed help individuals to enjoy the benefits of a strong and powerful body.

For information on the services offered by Palm Village Retirement Community, contact Jim Dueck at 638-6933 and visit www.palmvillage.com.

Welcome to the California Retirement Community Neighborhood!

A welcome at Palm Village Retirement Community is very much what you would expect in any new neighborhood, with a few embellishments.

One of those “extras” is the visit by Linda Winter on the first day the residents move in to a Patio Home. She has already completed a pre-move assessment so she is very familiar with their unique characteristics and now is able to tell them about all of the wonderful amenities of life at Palm Village in Reedley, California.

News about the 15 meals included in the monthly fee is always a favorite bit. And the choice between a buffet in the garden room or being served at Barbara’s offers a nice variety. Some residents have a “to-go” lunch from Barbara’s and make the short stroll to the Kings River and sit at the picnic tables or on the beach to enjoy their entrée.

While in the home, Linda tests the Emergency Pendant and provides clear instructions for its use, along with an explanation about the method of placing the day of the week card in their window, which is monitored by staff.

Now comes the fun part. Introductions are made in the garden room and stories of life before Palm Village are told, if so desired. The current residents recognize who is new and the real welcoming begins.

Just like the neighbors whom they knew before moving to Palm Village, their new “friends” come by with baked goods, kind words and invitations to the activities and other gatherings that take place, sometimes daily in their homes.

The most recent new residents, Nick and Jean Siemens, stated that in the month since they moved in they are constantly being invited to join in activities. “Just today we had 3 or 4 visitors at our home”, stated Nick.

Everyone knows about the on and off campus activities, because as part of the welcoming tradition, Recreation Coordinator, Norma Froese makes her visit to the newcomers a few days after the move-in. With the calendar she brings for them, she encourages them to take a look at the activities flyer that is left twice a week on the oversize clothes pin by their front door. A map of the 17-acre campus with the location of the meeting rooms, eating areas etc. is left with them and Norma is sure to tell these independent folks how to locate the Senior Center in Reedley.

With joy in his voice Mr. Siemens relates how they found Palm Village after searching for 2-3 years for a retirement community. He had not considered Palm Village because he was influenced by the rumor that there is a 3-year waiting list. He was pleased to find out that there was a home immediately available, as is very often the case.

Like most, as soon as he drove on to the campus, he and his wife knew they wanted to live at Palm Village in a home that they praise for its roominess inside and outside, the inclusion of an attached garage, and proximity to the dining room and the quality of the food. Plus they found the entrance and monthly fees to be considerably less than other continuing care communities.

Many people still think of retirement homes as California nursing homes or convalescent facilities with all of the negative connotations of years past. Nick’s philosophy on this is that if you live a healthy and active life, you don’t look for a California nursing home for a California retirement home. However, he adds, “When you do need care it is nice to know a skilled nursing facility is within walking distance and I can return to my home easily.”

Those who move to Assisted Living are given a welcome appropriate to their level of activity, with an explanation of the daily services that are available for them. Each person is personally escorted to the dining room and introduced. They are shown where the list of activities is posted in a central location of the assisted living building and locations for game night or afternoon gatherings are shown to them.

Norma Froese states that the description of Palm Village she most often hears is that it has a family feeling (surely evident during the birthday parties) and that all are pleased with the spiritual atmosphere.

Welcome to Palm Village is so strong that a newcomer once said, “Although I too will welcome the next person to move here, I will miss all of the attention we get for being the newcomers.”

Corn Toss Game Invigorates Cinnamon Jamboree

Sometimes we think that it is impossible to make a successful event even more exciting, however Cinnamon Jamboree surely accomplished that feat this year. And it was done with a very simple and fun filled game, Corn Toss.

Originally published in 2009 issue of the Palm Villager

Prior to the date of Cinnamon Jamboree on Oct 3rd, several Palm Village supporters comprised 8 teams of two and accepted the challenge of who could toss the ‘corn bag” through the designated hole of the target the most times. This is a game that is played in many venues across the US as it is an indoor version of horseshoes.

So for three hours, in the lobby of the administration building the teams, who had each donated five hundred dollars to participate, tossed and tossed and tossed. The result was much laughter, the development of solid camaraderie amongst the players and great entertainment for the audience of Palm Village residents and guests who gathered to witness the fun. And of course goal accomplished…$6,000 for the Living Legacy Fund.

This will probably become a semi-annual event as it has been tentatively scheduled for the February Soup Supper. Who’s ready to challenge the champions?

And as always, those in attendance at the Palm Village Jamboree, ate lots of great food, including Cinnabon’s (120 boxfuls) and a variety of menu items donated by the ever faithful local restaurants Main Street Café, Sal’s Mexican Restaurant, Melinda’s Place, Papa Murphy’s, Jon’s Bear Club, Sansei Japanese Restaurant and Fugazzis along with a new restaurant, Chapala Mexican Restaurant of Visalia. We are very grateful for each of their contributions.

The children played on the bounce house and the adults enjoyed the company of their Palm Village Friends. And with everyone having a wonderful time, we thank you for making it possible to raise a total of $12,000 for the support of those who have outlived their resources.

Sisters-in-law Devoted to Caring at Palm Village in Reedley, California

Originally published in 2009 issue of the Palm Villager

A Continuing Care Retirement Community is an accreditation from the state of California that Palm Village has earned. The state designation means that residents may move from one level of care to another without leaving the campus.

However, with the philosophies of sisters-in-law, Linda Winter and Norma Froese, the term continuing care has a deeper meaning as caring is an integral part of their daily devotion to the well-being of PVRC residents.

Residental Care Center - Linda Winter

Linda became the Resident Health Coordinator for Residential Care at PVRC in 2005, after Norma encouraged her to come out of retirement and apply for the position.

Linda said, “What an awesome experience it has been. I can’t think of a better place to be for such a time as this! Palm Village is a great place to work.”

She came to PVRC after working as a Registered Nurse at other facilities for 35 years. Linda’s daily tasks include assessing medical needs, communicating with resident’s physicians and families and assisting with day-to-day medical wellness, safety, and social issues.

As she works alongside the Personal Caregiver Supervisor and the caregivers in Assisted Living, she coordinates the needs of the residents with the support staff throughout Palm Village. She feels that Palm Village has gathered some of the best of the best and as they work as a team, she believes the result is an extraordinary level of care, not found at other facilities.

Often Linda encourages, prays and sometimes cries with the residents who each bring their own uniqueness to the village.

These same residents tell Linda that they wished they had moved to Palm Village sooner and that they hope that prospective residents know the importance of not waiting until there is a crisis situation to move to this new home.

And for Linda, the reward is “being of help to our residents, not just on my own, but to clearly see the Holy Spirit intercede and resolve that which I am unable to do. When the residents are blessed, they bless the socks off me.”

Residental Care Center - Norma Froese

As Recreation Coordinator, Norma creates another part of the balanced life at the Village. She is responsible for developing and facilitating events and activities for the residents who may choose whether or not to participate.

The catalyst for the program is mutual caring and friendship. “When you add the bond that comes from truly caring about each other, each relationship has greater depth and satisfaction, that spills over into the time we spend together doing activities.

Norma is grateful for the flexible family life her husband and three children support. With a recreation program that includes day trips, concerts, plays, arranging on campus special interest groups and the exercise program in the Village’s fitness center, it would be less likely for Norma to be present and energetic not only during the week, but during the evenings and weekends, without the family support.

The residents are encouraged to participate in the variety of activities that build their physical, intellectual, spiritual and social well-being. And with this encouragement, the residents
respond with statements of how much they love living at Palm Village, enjoying the many wonderful friends and neighbors. “They feel secure and know that they will be taken care of in the future, no matter what,” they tell Norma.

Norma repeats Linda’s sentiment that the staff works as a dedicated team, with each person developing respect for the care they give to the residents.

For Norma, the favorite part of her job is the residents as she states, “I love getting to know each one, learning their stories, hearing about their families, and having the opportunity to share in their lives on a deeper level. They bring so much joy to my life!”

And Palm Village is grateful to Linda and Norma because yes, they do truly provide Continuing Care.