Author: Mary Eads

Hello February! You are one of my most favorite months! February is the last real wintery month, then comes March which brings us spring. J February is an uplifting month; it brings love to everyday life. Yes, I am a romantic at heart, but I really do love this month and this month’s activities calendar!!

We kick off the month welcoming a new member to the Activities team, Betsy! We will enjoy an ice cream social so everyone can have a chance to meet her! Who doesn’t love ice cream? (See…bringing in the love!)

Who remembers playing concentration with a deck of cards where you had to find the matches? Well we’ve brought that old classic back, Bartlett Woods style. We will be adding a new large cork board to our media room, this will enable us to play this game as well as “Wheel of Fortune” on a large scale for all to see and play! There will be prizes to pick from for the winners too. We are also adding “Volleyball”, again Bartlett Woods style. No need to be jumping around, this game will be played right in your chair. These games should bring some fun to help us pass the time until spring arrives!

Midcoast School of Technology right here in Rockland is a great little vocational school. They have a culinary program that puts on a café from January through April. This is open to the public and the meals are really quite good. Our residents love going, so we will be making a few trips this month as well as the next couple of months.

I am very excited to welcome “Red Cloak Tours” to Bartlett Woods. I’m sure you have seen the advertisements for the “haunted walk” through any one of the little towns here in the Midcoast. Luckily, they also give talks and Sally from Red Cloak Tours will be joining us on February 10^th to talk about ‘80+ years of Prohibition in Maine’. This is sure to be a very interesting talk.

We are lucky to have the very talented wildlife photographer, Carla Skinder, join us on February 12^th and share her photos of the wildlife, birds and landscapes of the Arctic. Whenever we are able to bring in someone who has traveled to such incredible places, we leave feeling like we have travelled right along with them. It is always very enjoyable.

Pope Memorial Humane Society is bringing in some love for us on Valentine’s Day. They will be here with some of their residents looking for a little love. It’s always nice to have the puppies and kittens here, our residents really enjoy playing with them and just loving on them, I think the animals love it even more.

We will also be enjoying a little Valentine’s Day party for our residents complete with little treats for all.

We have lots of music this month as well, RT 17 Ramblers, Simons & Goodwin, Kathleen Christie and the Extension Chords. It’s going to be a great month of music!

We have been very fortunate to have local churches that are willing to come here and provide a church service for our residents every month.   We have Pastor Seth Jones who provides an interfaith service and Lakeview Presbyterian Church. This month we welcome the First Universalist Church as well. It’s great for our residents to have these services right here at home. Thank you!

As you can see, we have a busy month. Along with all of this going on we still have daily exercise classes, knitting groups, discussion groups, cocktail parties, games, Bible studies, movies, shopping trips, scenic rides, dining out and even the Super Bowl on the big screen! It’s going to be a LOVEly month and we’ve saved a seat for you!

 

Karen Tooley

Activities Director

Well…we made it to another December! Hard to believe another year is coming to a close. But what a year it has been. We have been so many places, seen so many sights and made some great memories along the way. But wait…it’s not over yet!

We will be sending 2019 out with a bang!! We start the month off with a trip to the Opera AHKNATEN at the Strand Theater.   From there we must get in some Christmas shopping so a trip to Wal-Mart and Bixby & Company are in on the list.

Later in the month we will back at the Strand for the Bolshoi’s Ballet “The Nutcracker”. Always a Christmas favorite!

Friday the 6^th we head to Camden for the kick off to their Christmas by the Sea celebration with a beautiful Christmas concert at the First Congregational Church. We attended last year and had a wonderful time. It’s a very festive event. After the concert gets us in the Christmas spirit we return to Bartlett Woods to put up our own Christmas tree in the parlor. If you’ve never visited Bartlett Woods during the holidays, you should make plans to come see our beautiful coastal themed tree and decorations. The house just gleams with Christmas!

I have always felt music brings out the Christmas Spirit in even the coldest of “Grinch sized hearts” therefore every December our calendar is jam packed with music. Just look at the list of entertainers we have this year: The Davis Violin Duo, All that Jazz, The Cat & the Canary, Fiddlers-Owen & Madelyn Kennedy, Celtic Harpist Alex Bigney, Route 17 Ramblers and singer Kat Logan. Plus, we will be attending the Pine Tree Academy Bell Ringers AND Magic of Christmas at the Portland Symphony Orchestra on December 12^th! Phew….that’s a lot of music!

But it’s not just music…we will also be making some vintage cookie cutter ornaments, Christmas Birds’ Nests and Salt Shaker Snowmen as well as Christmas Floral Arrangements. Lots of fun crafts happening this month.

With all of this happening we also managed to squeeze in a few speakers. The Penobscot Marine Museums photo archivist, Kevin Johnson will be here with another fabulous slide show presentation. Compass Rose Images, a sister photography team, from Greenville, Maine will be here to share some of their incredible wildlife photos taken around the world!

And we can’t forget Bartlett Woods’ own Christmas celebration “Friends and Family” This event is one of the most enjoyable evenings ever here. Chef Aaron and his team go all out with appetizers in all the common rooms around the house, with a different theme to each room. Then he serves a phenomenal, multi-course, dinner and then dessert! We also have live music to make the evening even more festive! This year, because we have grown so much and welcomed so many new residents, the event is being divided into a two night event. Each resident can invite 2 guests to bring!

Our residents are very appreciative of the amazing staff we have here and they all contribute to the “Employee Appreciation” fund. This fund pays for a beautiful staff Christmas Party. It’s the event we all look forward to and enjoy so much. We are grateful to all our residents for their donations that make this event possible.

Christmas Eve, ironically, is also National Egg Nog Day. So of course we must celebrate this yummy occasion. Christmas Eve afternoon, we will be showing the Movie White Christmas…complete with Christmas cookies and EGG NOG!

Once Christmas is over we turn our attention to New Year’s Eve! We will once again be hosting a New Year’s Eve cocktail party, with appetizers and Champagne. It also happens to be National Champagne Day! We thought we might add some fun to this event this year and throw in some Karaoke.

This year has been full of fun and exploration. I have loved every minute of creating excitement for our residents.   My job is so very rewarding!

2020 is sure to be a great year! We have some great ideas we will be putting into place for the New Year! See you in 2020!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year!

Karen Tooley~Activites Director

Well here we are approaching the holiday season again already. I’m really not sure how that happened so quickly, but it did and we are going to really enjoy the last two months of 2019.

We kick off November with some furry fun! Pope Memorial Humane Society will be here for a visit with some of their cats and dogs. It’s always a good way for the animals to get a little more socialized and our residents just love being able to cuddle a little fluff ball.

We have some serious wine lovers here at Bartlett Woods, therefore every year we take a trip to Lincolnville to enjoy a little wine tasting at Cellar Door Winery. It’s always a fun trip with some beautiful views to enjoy while sampling their delicious wines.

Camden Hills Regional High School has an amazing drama department and each year they put on a fall musical. This year it is Mary Poppins. Our residents have once again been invited to the dress rehearsal. We like to make an evening of it and enjoy dinner before the show. It’s always a fun evening out with some incredibly talented students.

In October the activities team welcomed a new assistant, Karry. She has been with us for a few weeks now getting the lay of the land and learning the ropes. Now she wants to get to know our residents. Karry will host a tea on Saturday the 9th for the residents. It should be a lovely afternoon of tea, cookies and conversation.

November means Veteran’s Day, a day to honor all who have served and are serving our great country. Every year we try to find a way to honor our own veterans. This year, we will have our honor roll as well as a house wide ‘Ice Cream Social” to show our appreciation for all they have done for their country.

November 11th is also National Origami Day. Just so happens we have a local lady who is no stranger to Bartlett Woods, Nan Haid will be here for a little Origami fun!

We have several entertainers who have been coming to Bartlett Woods for many years, but none quite as long as pianist, Arlene Gamble. Arlene has been playing at Bartlett Woods for 15 years! So this month on her regularly scheduled visit we will be surprising her with a cake and celebration of all her years of entertainment!

If you grew up in Maine, chances are you’ve been to Moody’s Diner at least once! Well, lucky for us it’s just a 20 minute drive away and even luckier for us, the owner is a friend of our new assistant, Karry. Dan Moody has offered to give a brief history of the diner when we visit for lunch on the 18th. It will be interesting to hear how the diner got its start, not to mention enjoy some of their delicious food!

It just wouldn’t be right to skip National Play Monopoly Day! So if you are looking for your loved one here at Bartlett Woods on November 19th, chances are they will be in the game room playing this iconic game!

With the weather turning colder, we tend to find more indoor activities to keep our days full. We have many movie buffs, so we like to take advantage of the matinees at Flagship Cinema. This month we will be going to see the newly released “Harriet”. A story about the life of Harriet Tubman, this looks to be an incredible movie.

Another long time entertainer, Michael Perry will be here with a slide show presentation of his 32 years of traveling around New England, complete with history and stories. He is always a crowd pleaser and usually has a packed house for his shows.

We have some great music this month also, All that Jazz, Harborside Harmony as well as the Finnish Lap Harp group.

Lastly, Chef Aaron will be preparing an incredible Thanksgiving Dinner for our residents. We will also have the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on the big screen and after dinner we will show the traditional Thanksgiving night movie “Home Alone” in our media room.
As always we have our exercise classes, discussion groups, dining out, shopping trips, games, cocktail parties, church services, knitting groups and in house movies. We saved a seat for you!

 

Karen Tooley
Activities Director

ROCKLAND, Maine – Retirees considering returning to work part-time are invited to meet with Maine Department of Labor staff on Tuesday, September 10th at 2 p.m. The meeting, which is free and open to the public, will take place at the Bartlett Woods Retirement Community, 20 Bartlett Drive (just off outer Talbot Avenue) in Rockland.

With Maine’s low unemployment, employers are looking vigorously for workers and many area retirees have valuable skills attractive to businesses seeking to fill out their staffing.  This is especially true in the mid-coast, where there is a need for seasonal workers in a number of occupations important to the local economy including (but not limited to) jobs in retail, food-service and lodging.

Department staff will present ways that retirees can engage in part-time work with local businesses. Information will include ways to find possible employment and how to schedule such work, sometimes by working two or three days a week. Additional workers are especially needed at the end of the summer and across the winter holiday period.

To register for this informational meeting, contact Lori Schafer, Admissions Director, at 207-594-1159 or lschafer@bartlettwoods.com by September 9th. Space is limited.

Maine Department of Labor is an equal opportunity provider. Auxiliary aids and services are available to individuals with disabilities upon request.

For more information about Bartlett Woods Retirement Community, visit www.bartlettwoods.com or call (207) 594-2745.

When I was a little girl my neighbor had a white flowering bush and I remember asking her what it was. She told me that’s a “school bus bush”. She then explained when the bush bloomed, the school buses followed. I’ve always remembered that as sort of the end of summer when the “School Bus Bush” bloomed. What I later learned is they are actually Hydrangeas bushes.

They are in full bloom now, but summer isn’t officially over yet, it can’t be, there is still fun to be had! We start of the “school bus bush season” with an amazing trip all the way up to Rangeley and into Oquossoc. We will be enjoying the “Oquossoc Experience”.   Which consists of a cruise on Rangeley Lake aboard the Oquossoc Lady II from Rangeley Region Lake Cruises, lunch at the 45^th Parallel Wood fired Grille and then tour the Rangeley Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum. It’s sure to be a long, but incredibly fun filled day. Plus the scenery really is stunning; they don’t call it “God’s Country” for nothing!

September 7^th is the 3^rd Annual Millay Fall Arts and Poetry Festival, in honor of Rockland’s own Edna St. Vincent Millay. This year Bartlett Woods will be hosting a screening of “Burning the Candle: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay”. There will be a volunteer here from the Millay House to lead a discussion as well. This event is open to the public, so mark your calendars!

We are excited to host an event with David Grima of the Maine Department of Labor with an interesting topic, “Retirees and Rejoining the Workforce”.   This event will be on Tuesday, September 10^th @ 2:00 pm on the 3^rd floor here at Bartlett Woods.

There are so many places here in the Midcoast to explore so we will take a short drive up the coast a bit to Northport, located between Lincolnville and Belfast; this little town really has some unique places to visit. Northport Landings Gallery and Espresso Bar has some one of kind Maine made items and let’s face it, who doesn’t love a good Espresso when you are curio shopping? From there we will go just down the road and check out the Maine Alpaca Experience. This is a shop where you can find many useful and beautiful items all made from Alpaca yarns, we might even get lucky and get to see a few of these beautiful creatures. This will be a fun trip.

In keeping with our something new every month for 2019, we have invited Nancy Lubbin to come teach a class in Zen tangle. What is Zen tangle? Zen tangle is an intuitive art from, yoga for your brain, a creativity exercise, a focusing technique, a relaxation/meditation experience. And most of all, its fun!

September brings back our Knox County Knitters group. This is a group of ladies who had been meeting at a local yarn store every week, when the store closed; we invited them to meet here.   We have many knitters in house and they all love sharing their projects. It’s a fun afternoon and there is always someone there to help you if you get stuck.

We are so excited to welcome back Compass Rose Images, two sisters, who are photographers, based in Greenville Maine who travel the world to get the most incredible shots of wild animals I’ve ever seen. They will be here on Wednesday, September 18^th @ 2:00 pm, please join us, you won’t be disappointed.

Sometimes as an Activities Director you get lucky and find a real “gem” of a speaker or singer. Well a few years ago we did just that. We found Bess Jacques and her husband Tom. Together they are “The Cat & the Canary”.   We just love their music and their energy and that they are willing to travel from Portland to come play for our residents. They pack the house and everyone leaves with smiles! We can’t wait for their return on the 20^th!

September 9^th brings “National Housekeepers Appreciation Week”. We love to celebrate all the amazing people who work and make Bartlett Woods so special!

We will close out this month with a trip inland to Augusta for a little shopping and lunch at Kume’, the Japanese Hibachi Grill.   Always fun to get out of town and do a little shopping.

As with every month, we have our exercise classes, shopping trips, ice cream outings, card games, social hours, discussion groups, craft projects, church services, movies and more.

We’re saving a seat just for you!

 

Karen Tooley

Activities Director

As I sit here writing this month’s blog, I’m shaking my head saying “How is it August already?” But then I think back over the last few months and all the places we have been and the things we’ve done this summer and I realize we’ve been having fun! And you know the saying “Time flies when you’re having fun!” Oh how true that is!

Fortunately we have even more fun planned for August! We start off the month with lunch at Miller’s Lobster in Spruce Head…a beautiful little spot right on the water. The very next week we will be out on the water aboard the Laura B from the Monhegan Boat Line for a Puffin & Nature cruise.   This will be our second time aboard the Laura B, last year we did their Lighthouse Cruise and once again we will enjoy a picnic lunch prepared by our very own Bartlett Woods kitchen. It’s sure to be a great day!

Bay Chamber Concerts puts on some wonderful concerts and we try to get to at least one every year. On August 14^th we will be attending the “Push Farther” concert on the Village Green in Camden. “Push Farther” is a Maine based group that performs progressive folk with blues, classical and fiddle influences. Once again our kitchen will provide a picnic lunch and we will enjoy another beautiful Maine summer day.

We are super excited to bring this young and incredibly talented fiddler, Owen Kennedy to Bartlett Woods. He will be here on the 19^th fiddling away the afternoon for our residents. He has his own website where you can listen to his music…be prepared to be amazed, when you learn he is only 13 years old!

Our biggest event of the year will be on Friday August 23^rd, it is “Bartlett on the Boardwalk”. Picture an old fashioned “Coney Island” scene, just in our back yard. We will have games, food, music, a mime “Silent Bob”, photo booth, and more fun than you know how to handle. This will be our third year hosting this event and our residents really look forward to it, I think it’s because they get to dunk a staff member in the dunk tank. But I think it really is just all the fun they have!

Along with these great events, we have some fun speakers this month, Tom Jamrog talking about hiking in Vermont and Renny Stackpole giving a history on the Whaling Voyages.

We will also have musical performances by Josie and Sophie Davis on their violins as well as The Route 17 Ramblers.

As always we have our ever popular scenic rides, shopping trips, lunches out, a walk along the Boardwalk here in Rockland, games, discussion groups, craft groups, exercise classes, cocktail hours and more.

There is always something going on for everyone to enjoy and we’ve saved a seat for you.

 

Karen Tooley

Activities Director

Summer on the coast of Maine, it just doesn’t get much better. We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful area. There is so much to see and do here, we just can’t fit it all into a summer, but that doesn’t stop us from trying!

Are you ready for it? You are going to need to put your seatbelt on for this month…here we go! We start July off with Mike Taylor Night sky-photographer. You may remember he was scheduled to be here with us in April, unfortunately, he had to postpone that visit, but we are excited that he could come back to us this month. His night sky photographs are simply amazing. This event is open to the public and we would love to have you join us on Tuesday, July 2nd @ 6:00 pm.

The very next week we are heading to one of the local wineries, Savage Oakes Winery in Union for a little tour and tasting. Who doesn’t love a good local glass of wine? Then we are heading to Appleton to visit Glendarragh Lavender Farm, oh I can almost smell it now. The very next day we are spending the morning at the beach. Maine has so many wonderful State Parks to visit and we are going to Birch Point State Park, or as the locals call it, Lucia Beach down in Owl’s Head. It’s a great spot to renew your soul with the sun, sand and waves. After spending the morning at the beach, we need to cool off. We will hit up one of our favorite ice cream spots, Bray Brook Farm in Appleton. So many options to choose from here!

Our residents come from all walks of life and have so many great stories to tell, and we are fortunate that they have great families too! We are honored to welcome Douglass MacDonald, PHD, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Montana, also the son of a couple who reside here at Bartlett Woods. He will be giving a talk on Yellowstone’s Native Americans on Friday July 12th at 10:30 in the morning. This event will also be open to the public; we hope you will join us.
Monday, July 22nd @ 5:00 pm we are very excited to welcome Arctic Expedition Leader, Rupert Pilkington. Rupert is an expert on Arctic wildlife, especially Polar Bears. He will give a photo presentation on his journeys and stories. This is a very special offering for us, you won’t want to miss this event.

Are you tired yet? I hope not, because there is still more to come, we will be taking a trip to Searsport where we will visit the Penobscot Marine Museum. This museum has so much to offer on the rich marine history of this area. It’s going to be a great trip and then lunch at Anglers Restaurant, where seafood is on the menu! The following week we will travel to the beautiful Belfast City Park for a picnic lunch. This park is amazing, sitting on the ocean’s edge with picnic tables, tennis courts, ball fields, a public pool and a massive playground. It’s one of the great treasures of the Midcoast! Did I mention they have an ice cream stand too?

Even with all these activities happening in July we still have our usual shopping trips, trips to museums, trips to farm stands and farmers market, scenic rides, dining out, music, exercise classes, movies, games, discussion groups, quilting groups, knitting groups, craft classes and time to enjoy each other’s company.

We are taking full advantage of the beautiful weather and all the Midcoast of Maine has to offer and we saved a seat for you!

Karen Tooley
Activities Director

Wow, it seems like just yesterday I was writing this blog for the month May and the month just flew bye. We had so many adventures and so much fun! June will be no exception!

For several months we have been corresponding with 5^th grade students at the St. George School who are learning to read and write cursive. We have about 15 residents who have been “pen pals” with these students and on Monday, June 3^rd the students are coming to Bartlett Woods to visit! We are very excited to welcome them and finally put a face to the letters.

In keeping up with our “trying something new every month” theme and we are hitting the road the first week of June. Going to visit the Portland Head Light at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth and then enjoy lunch at the Saltwater Grille in South Portland. The residents always look forward to a nice road trip where they can sit back, relax and let someone else do the driving.

June will be the first month of our new Quilting Group. We have many quilters here at Bartlett Woods and many have asked to have a monthly group where we can work on quilts together. For about a year we have also had a knitting group with ladies from the community as well as Bartlett Woods residents. We have invited all our knitters and quilters to join us on a trip to Bath where we will visit the Halcyon Yarn store and Marriner’s Compass Quilt Shop as well as lunch at the Taste of Maine restaurant. This is going to be a fun day with some really talented ladies!

On Friday June 7^th @ 3pm is our “Start the ART WALK with a walk in the WOODS!” This is also Rockland’s first Friday Art Walk of the season and we want to kick it off, with an art talk/walk with our curator and artist Pam Cabanas. Come hear the stories behind the Mid Coast Legacies in Art show. This event is free and open to the public, refreshments will be provided. For more information please visit our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/BartlettWoodsRetirementCommunity

We are so lucky to have many talented people in our community who really enjoy coming to share their skills with our residents. We will once again enjoy another class with artist Randy Fein. Randy is known for her clay work, and she will help us create clay relief “Tree of Life” sculptures. This will be a two week class and I’m sure the residents will all leave with beautiful sculptures to treasure.

Another “creator” of sorts is coming to share his creations with us. Bill Stinson from the Pour Farm Brewery in Union will be coming to give a talk and tasting of his craft beers. The Pour Farm is dedicated to brewing fresh beer in Maine using local ingredients.  Bill Stinson has been making beer and experimenting with different styles since 1987.  We are excited to taste his creations along with appetizers from the Bartlett Woods kitchen!

Father’s Day at Bartlett Woods always brings something special for the Dad’s here. This year we will be treating them to a “campfire cookout” in the back yard. We will be toasting hamburgers and hotdogs in our fire pit and Chef Aaron will be making some delicious side salads too. And of course no campfire cookout is complete without some S’mores! It’s going to be a delicious afternoon!

I don’t want to forget to mention all the entertainment we have coming in June, we are excited to welcome the Maine Audubon Society, musical duo Simons & Goodwin, musical group Rt 17 Ramblers, Pianist Arlene Gamble and Speaker Michael Perry!

Phew, it’s going to be a busy month and we still have our monthly shopping trips, scenic rides, daily exercise classes, discussion groups, games, lunches out, movies, and more!

There is always something to do here at Bartlett Woods and we’ve saved a seat for you!

 

Karen Tooley

Activities Director