The Prism Summer Review 2024
Camphill Ghent
elders in communit
Nurturing Connections
How caring volunteers like Meg make a difference for our community members and their families
O
n a Tuesday afternoon in July, Meg Brooks joined Suzette Verkozen in her bedroom in Camphill Ghent’s Adult Home. Suzette’s tidy, sun-drenched room was decorated with photos, and a stained glass clownfish glowed orange in the window above her bed. Meg had set an adjustable desk at the right height for Suzette to video chat with her sister Emmy, who lives in California.
Suzette was asleep in her chair while Meg and Emmy called and texted back and forth. After a few minutes of struggle—over entry codes, lost connections and a few other frustrations—Emmy appeared on the tablet screen.
“Suzette? Suzette, can you lift your head? Look who’s here,” Meg said softly. “Look at the camera.”
Meg donates her time to Camphill Ghent as a volunteer. She’s been facilitating these conversations between Suzette and her siblings for about a year now, but other volunteers did the same before she took it on.
For many, the ability to pick up the phone and catch up with a sibling can be something we take for granted. But the value in those conversations—
To learn more about volunteer opportunities, please write to admin@camphillghent.org
speaking with someone you’ve known your entire life, connecting over memories of places you lived, and family members and friends who have come and gone—is immeasurable.
“As you can see, there’s not much actual conversation that goes on,” Meg said, adding that when she first started assisting Suzette in her weekly calls with siblings, Suzette had more to say and didn’t tend to be as sleepy. “Mostly it’s that they see Suzette. They see she’s well dressed, they see she’s being well cared for. And I think that has turned out to be the most important thing.”
“There’s continuity here. It’s not like going to a nursing home where you’re in a world of strangers.”
Suzette slept peacefully through the sound of her sister’s voice while Emmy recalled Suzette’s decades of relationships and activities in Camphill; before retiring to Camphill Ghent, Suzette lived in Camphill Village Copake from 1966 until April 2012.
“One of the activities that you participated in was the bell choir,” she reminded Suzette. She was proud to describe Suzette’s accomplishments in Camphill Copake, where her art is forever part of Fountain Hall. ”Those beautiful windows all the way up the stairs—she worked on all of those,” she said. “And she has also done embroidery, she worked in the Bookbindery, she worked in the seed shop, she worked in the doll shop. I mean all kinds of things.”
It became clear that the textiles, the stained glass, and photos in Suzette’s room aren’t new. Rather, they’ve accompanied Suzette throughout her adult life. Of Suzette’s ability to continue in a Camphill community where she’s familiar with our rhythm, people, and spiritual life, Emmy says, “it’s critically, critically important.”
“I’ve noticed this in other residents as well that it’s important here, that they continue with the same people,” Emmy said. “Obviously, there are staff changes and all that, but there’s a continuity there.
Suzette Verkozen and Meg Brooks connect with Suzette’s family members together over video chat each week.
It’s not like going to a nursing home where you’re in a world of strangers. There are people from Copake who have moved over to Ghent, and the other people there, she’s known for all these years. She’s lived with them in their homes and done activities with them, and that’s a really big deal.”
In between her mini naps, Suzette would perk up and smile at her sister. Meg said that depending on the day, Suzette will say, “Oh, that’s my sister Emmy,” or, “That’s Kate,” or, “That’s Uncle Peter.”
She turned to Suzette.
“Even though you’re not necessarily talking a lot, you still are getting a lot out of these conversations and seeing things,”
she said. “There’s no way for us to know exactly. I think it’s a mystery of the mind.”
Just as Emmy, Suzette, and Meg said their farewells, Suzette perked up in time for lunch in the cafeteria. It was fresh chicken pot pie prepared from scratch that morning—a perfectly comforting and nutritious dish to enjoy among friends.
Camphill Ghent is fortunate to have volunteers like Meg, who are local and enjoy spending time with elders. Meg first connected with our community when she heard about our classical music concerts, which she still attends.
“The day volunteers like Meg who spend time with our residents in
the Adult Home make a world of difference in our days. They read to us and accompany us for nice long strolls in the fresh air,” said Amanda Pierro, Camphill Ghent’s executive director. “Camphill communities consider the lifetime of contribution and remaining potential we carry into our elder years, and caring volunteers like Meg provide wonderful companionship throughout this period.”
Suzette designed and created this stained glass clownfish in Camphill Village Copake years ago. It now lives in her bedroom window in Camphill Ghent’s Adult Home.
Suzette Verkozen with Helen Wolff in the Camphill Village Copake Stained Glass Studio in 2003. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
Suzette Verkozen, Ros Shaderowsky, Chris Lydon, and Danny Miller in Arbutus House. Suzette and Ros continue to see each other every day in our Adult Home.
Laurie Benton, Ilene Oloff, and Suzette Verkozen bless their meal in Camphill Village Copake’s Russet House in 2003. Photo by Harold Shapiro.
Gardening for Wellness
The pursuit of wellness—social, physical, spiritual, mental, environmental, and so on—can take many forms over different phases of our lives. Here and now, Kathleen Leitner is contributing to wellness opportunities for herself and others in Camphill Ghent’s ever-changing vegetable garden.
“It’s not a surprise that I’m strong and healthy,” Kathleen said while picking weeds out of the berry beds. “Do you know that I make a gallon of juice about—well, I’d say
every week and a half—a gallon and drink it?”
Her favorite are the red currants, partially because she experienced them vividly as a child.
“We were in Switzerland and we stopped for an American CocaCola for the kids, but we were given something else,” she said. “We were given currant juice with soda water. I nearly flipped. It was such a strong, wonderful flavor.”
Kathleen Leitner harvests currants from the bushes she maintains throughout the year.
Kathleen credits the garden at Camphill Ghent with turning her health around since she first arrived as one of the earliest members of our community more than 10 years ago.
Once greatly impacted by a number of illnesses affecting her joints, Kathleen is able to tend to the garden several hours a day throughout the growing season. Many marvel at her dedication and ability, and Kathleen is grateful for the raspberries.
“And currants and gooseberries; anything that is extremely good for arthritis and complications with arthritis and also physical health,” she said.
Kathleen says the success of our garden is a community-wide effort that wouldn’t be possible without dedication from others. Over time we’ve received donations of plants and seeds, and the garden is truly prolific because our friends and community members contribute in different ways.
“It sort of happens naturally,” said Kathleen. “Christina is starting plants inside, Tehilla is also starting plants inside and asked me to water her plants. She’s got babies. So you want to see them?”
Kathleen stepped into our hoophouse in the garden and walked between two rows of tomato vines to a germination table, where some deep green seedlings in a simple wooden box filled with soil were staying cool and moist under white cloth.
“These will be our winter kale, and there’s some leeks and I think spinach here, and I was asked to keep these damp,” she said, unveiling more seedlings. “And this box here, all through winter, houses a salad garden and a kale garden. And the tomatoes will be taken [out] and then other vegetables will be planted here all winter long.”
The garden brings a number of visitors throughout the day, including early morning harvesters, afternoon pollinators, children who are visiting grandparents, and patients who inspect our berry patch after leaving our nearby medical offices.
Lately, Christina Bould has been tending to a number of vegetables in a raised bed that was built by another community member. Her late August bed includes basil, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and some spinach seeds that hadn’t germinated yet.
“At the moment I’m sort of taking stock of what is growing and what’s coming to an end,” she said,
while Kathleen continued weeding berries nearby. “I’m still trying to plant some things for the fall.”
She’s been studying Rudolf Steiner’s “Agriculture Course,” which is considered essential reading for those wishing to learn about biodynamic agriculture and Steiner’s methods of food production.
“It’s very interesting. You learn a lot—what to do and how it’s all interrelated, you know,” Christina said. “Everything has an effect on everything else.”
Tomatoes in the hoop house will soon be removed to make way for winter crops.
Kathleen Leitner, Marjorie McCoy, and Marion Johanson pour fresh currant juice into popsicle molds to share with friends.
Volunteer Tehilla Muller harvests curly kale for an evening potluck with Free Columbia in Hudson.
Sweet August Peaches
The
Latest
from Our Orchard
The orchard in Camphill Ghent gave us so many beautiful blossoms in spring, and sweet, flavorful stone fruit in August. Our seniors were delighted to enjoy fresh peaches from our own land this summer, and we’re already looking forward to our apples, which have been coming along nicely!
Delicious sweet juices step forward and down, dancing around our tongues, tumbling towards bliss. The juice spills, rushing down our lips from orchard to bowl to kitchen to mouth.
We all enjoy that which is ours: the grapes and the raspberries and blackberries and soon-to-be apples. Apple of my eye; I see beauty everywhere.
forward down our lips to mouth. and blackberries and and we to to eat
Consider the fruits that come with juice and ripeness. They belong to us and we to them. We join our friends and break to eat what the fruits provide. How tasty and invigorating!
We are awakened and refreshed and enjoy this surprise!
- The HIlltop Poetry Group
- The Hilltop Poetry Group
Frances Manley admires a freshly picked peach on the patio at our Adult Home.
Vibrant blossoms covered our peach trees in spring!
Make a Difference Make a Bequest
Play a vital role in the future of Camphill Ghent when you join the J. Murray Logan Legacy Circle. By making a legacy gift to the Camphill Village Copake Foundation, which is chartered to support the work of both Camphill Village Copake and Camphill Ghent, you’ll ensure that future generations of adults and seniors with developmental disabilities will have the opportunity to enjoy a full life at Camphill Village Copake and Camphill Ghent.
For many of our J. Murray Logan Legacy Circle donors, planned giving generates a profound sense of personal and emotional fulfillment.
If you would like to learn more, or have already included Camphill Village Copake Foundation in your estate plans, please let us know by calling Chief Development Officer Lawrence Klein at (518) 567-1924 or by email at lklein@camphillvillage.org so that we can welcome you as a member of the Legacy Circle.
Karen Jane Hayden rests in her room, with a fresh seasonal peach in hand.
MOMENTS FROM OUR SUMMER
We loved experiencing the big sound delivered by the Eagles Trombone and Brass Band in June! It was such a fun way to kick off summer in Camphill Ghent. Photo by Kristina Labaty.
Gale Mortman sits with an ice cream at the Columbia County Fair. The Fairgrounds are just down the street and we look forward to going every year!
Photo by Lisa McPherson.
Our dear Bill Rosecan celebrated his 80th birthday in July! Our Culture Hall was full of some of Bill’s closest and oldest friends who had memorable stories to share, and Onat Sanchez-Schwartz led us all in song.
Stewart’s Shops generously donated ice cream and all the fixings so our Labor Day gathering could be even sweeter! Photo by Christine Pizzuti.
Kelly Jarrard and Frances Manley enjoy participating in our Tuesday painting mornings.
Adam Peck rolls out pie crust for delicious homemade chicken pot pies that our awesome kitchen crew prepared for lunch!
Ann Finucane, Margaret Carlson, and Judy Fletcher meet some very nice laying hens during the Columbia County Fair! Photo by Kristina Labaty.
Our friend Aldo Lavaggi performed a very special concert on Labor Day in our flowform garden. We listened and sang along to so many beautifully performed songs that Aldo played on banjo, guitar, and fiddle. Photo by Christine Pizzuti.
The Impact of Your Gift
An Update on Our Automatic Door Improvements
The six automatic doors that have been installed in Camphill Ghent continue to make a world of difference for our residents, thanks to the generosity of our Giving Tuesday campaign donors last November, as well as several wonderfully supportive local foundations. Each gift has contributed to greater independence for our community members, many of whom access our grounds and buildings along with their mobility aids.
“You can just tap that button and the door opens for you,” said Louise Frazier, who shares an apartment with her daughter Linda. “It’s a lot easer for people of my age, which is in my nineties.”
With the possibilities these six doors provide, we can more safely transition between spaces with ease, and visit each other more frequently without needing the assistance of another person.
Between materials and labor, the cost of replacing these doors was around $36,000. The value they continue to provide is boundless for our community members like Louise, who is one of many Camphill Ghent residents who chose our community because of our emphasis on socializing and gathering around the arts.
“I can use the door at the Culture Hall where we have a lot of our programs, or I go to Hilltop to visit friends, or we have poetry groups and things like this,” said
Louise, adding that she plans her routes every day around how accessible spaces are for her and her mobility aid. “I’m in and out of [Hilltop] a couple of times a day, so it’s much better if I don’t have to maneuver with my walker. It allows me to go to events because I can do it more easily.”
The Hudson River Bank and Trust (HRBT) Foundation was one of four foundations that contributed to our impactful upgrades. Tony Jones, a member of the HRBT Board of Directors, said the Foundation is “committed to helping improve the health, security and satisfaction of the people in Columbia County through projects large and small that leverage the strengths of our local non-profit organizations and communities.” He added that, “making it easier to open doors is an ideal image of what that is about.”
The Hover Foundation, Stewart’s Shops Foundation, and the Camphill Foundation also contributed very generously to our doors. And our Giving Tuesday donors made the singular highest impact in our campaign, contributing a sum of $27,308 total.
Because fundraising composes 43 percent of our annual operating budget, the donations and grants Camphill Ghent receives make a tremendous difference for our programing, infrastructure, and health. We thank our donors for helping us to make these important improvements for the wonderful elders who make their home in Camphill Ghent.
Louise Frazier enters our mail room with ease since we were able to have an automatic door installed.
Steve Gitto exits the Camphill Ghent Adult Home with the push of a button.
Jeff Bentley is Camphill Ghent’s Piano
Man Behind the Scenes.
Jeff Bentley is a piano technician entrusted with the care of some of the region’s most well-known Steinway pianos. He cares for the pianos at Williams College and Bennington College, and he cares for all of the pianos at MASS MoCa. We at Camphill Ghent are fortunate to have Jeff caring for the Steinway in our Cultural Hall.
Jeff is a learned craftsman who enjoys his work. He knows his pianos for many years—their potential, the amount they’ve been played in between visits, and more. He’s been with our piano for 10 years.
“The purpose of this project is to improve the touch of the piano; to make it play as well as it possibly can,” Jeff said, dropping a small amount of fluid from a squeeze bottle onto some pins that had acquired some verdigris buildup over time. “When a concert pianist comes and plays, the piano will react the maximum for touch, tone, dynamic control. So you can play Chopin loud and soft and that kind of thing.”
Thirty years ago, Jeff attended the North Bennet Street School in the north end of Boston—one of the oldest master craft schools in the nation. It was initially established to teach the trades to immigrants, and Jeff says that enrolling in the 1994 fall semester changed his life.
“They teach bookbinding—four year book binding— and preservation, carpentry, jewelry making, violin making, they have one of the best furniture making programs, locksmithing, and a two-year piano technology program,” he said. “If I was independently wealthy, I’d take all the courses.”
While in Ghent, Jeff works by himself when the Culture Hall is empty and the doors are closed. It’s quite a different scene when we gather as a community to hear our piano being played so beautifully by professional musicians during our concert series.
Jeff says ours is a Steinway Model A, which is a 6-feet-4-inch piano, and that pianos are measured in length from the very front of the piano to the very back of the piano. Concert grands can measure 9 feet down to 7 feet.
“And this is just under a concert grand. Six foot four,” he said. “But it’s a great piano because you start getting that bass string length and that’s what’s important for tone and sound. You wouldn’t want a much bigger piano in here because it’s a small room.”
At the time of his interview, Jeff had recently been working on the pianos for the Manchester Music Festival in Vermont, which was celebrating its 50th season. He enjoyed working with Emerson String Quartet founding violinist Philip Setzer, who is also the music festival’s artistic director. Jeff said meeting new people is one of his favorite parts of the career he’s created in this area—including in Camphill Ghent.
“It’s a very interesting place. They’re wonderful people to work for,” Jeff said about our community. “I’m very lucky to be in this field and meet people like that here at Camphill.”
Hover your phone camera over the QR code below to see Jeff in action!
Camphill Ghent
