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 6th 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 12th! 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