Senior Care Profiles

Envisage

What does your future look like as you age? Do you have a long-term care plan in place? Envisage is a members-only program that works in tandem with your financial plan so that if or when you need any kind of personal assistance, you’ll be able to easily access high quality caregiving within the privacy of your own home. Envisage offers an array of services for those who do not want to use an assisted living or a nursing home community to receive the care they might need – those who want these things to be handled and managed for them, so that they can have the highest possible level of control over their own lives. To learn more about Envisage, sign up for a virtual seminar at www.Envisage.org/events or call us at 866.435.6777.

St. Barnabas Communities

It’s always the perfect time to enjoy retirement living at St. Barnabas. The beautifully landscaped campuses provide a peaceful space to relax and enjoy Mother Nature. Our residents stroll walking trails with their dog, play bocce with friends, fish at our private pond, golf on one of our two 18-hole golf courses or join neighbors for happy hour on the Crystal Conservatory pool deck. Our indoor mall at The Village includes a bank, gift shop, library, general store, chapel, salon, wine room and three restaurants where residents gather daily for events, entertainment, happy hour and chef-prepared meals. We offer a diverse array of amenities to match your lifestyle and these are just a sampling of the St. Barnabas retirement experience exclusive to our residents. Call 724-443-0700 to find out how you can start enjoying your retirement! www.stbarnabascommunities.org.

Presbyterian SeniorCare Network

Presbyterian SeniorCare Network is a not-for-profit that’s been focused for more than 90 years on making aging easier®. As the region’s largest aging services provider, we have created a network of interconnected living, service and care options to meet the needs of older adults from all walks of life wherever they are on their life’s journey. Our continuum of care and services includes Independent Living/LifePlan Communities, Service-Enriched Low-Income Housing, In-Home Programs, Personal Care Communities, Skilled Nursing and Short-Term Rehabilitation Care Centers, Alzheimer’s/Dementia Care and Adult Day Services. We are privileged to serve 6,500 older adults annually across 10 Western Pennsylvania counties. Every day lives are being enriched and changed positively by our compassionate and well-trained team members and volunteers – people whose calling is to serve others and whose dedication to excellence is consistent with our faith-based mission of improving the lives. Learn more about our living and service options at www.SrCare.org.

UPMC Senior Communities

Make the most of what life has to offer by making one of UPMC Senior Communities your new home.

Choose from a variety of locations around greater Pittsburgh that keep you close to your family, friends, church and shopping preferences. Feel safe and secure in an environment that surrounds you with all the support you need to continue living your senior years to the fullest. Let go of snow shoveling, grass mowing, home maintenance, cleaning and even transportation and cooking if you prefer. Choose from a complete schedule of engaging social and spiritual activities with many new friends. At UPMC Senior Communities, we offer all this and more at reasonable pricing options that enable you to take full advantage of this lifestyle. By offering a variety of facility styles, levels of care and payment options, UPMC Senior Communities can accommodate your preferences. Knowing what is right for you is based on knowing what you need to live life well, regardless of the level of support you require. Perhaps you are looking to enrich your life with more social activities and interactions, or to move to an environment that enables you to be free of daily obligations, such as home maintenance. You may need some assistance with managing your health and wellness, or you may require more medical help due to more significant health issues. Offering options in independent living, personal care and assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing and rehabilitation, this spectrum of living styles is designed to accommodate your needs and provide you with the fullest lifestyle possible. UPMC Senior Communities is proud to be part of UPMC – one of the most innovative and patient-centered health systems in the country. That affiliation brings valuable benefits to our residents and staff. As members of the larger UPMC family, our residents benefit from the opportunities and resources that can only be found in a world-class health system. For more information and to schedule a tour, visit UPMCSeniorCommunities.com or call 1-800-324-5523.

Aging we all do it and don’t give it a second thought, until…LIFE CHANGES-heart attack, stroke, dementia, or worse. I can help sift thru the maze called senior care. Should mom stay at home or go to a facility? So many choices. How can we afford this to happen? More choices. From a client’s family “Our stress level was high and we knew my sister needed so much more. The only local point person was Lorna. She was the only source of any peace of mind we had during this entire ordeal. She was always willing to do anything for my sister or us, no matter the request. She became family to all of us in so many ways.” If you are looking for help in a person who can walk you thru these anxious times, please contact me Lorna Gavin RN, Elder Care Manager, Certified Dementia Practitioner. 724-602-9559 | lorna.aging.gracefully@gmail.com

The Sheridan at Bethel Park

Comprehensive respect and individualized attention

Personal Care communities such as The Sheridan at Bethel Park can be ideal alternatives when a little daily assistance will preserve a senior’s independence. Surrounded with comfort and support, residents can take advantage of state-of-the-art programs, comfortable residences and engaging activities – all while their carefully made, individualized care plans address their level of need in the most helpful ways. For older adults who have Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, the round-theclock care and enriching programs of a memory support community provide a secure and confidenceinspiring choice. In The Sheridan’s embrace Memory Care program, for example, wellness, enrichment, creativity and connection are woven into the fabric of residents’ daily lives. They’re encouraged to find joy in the moment. The Sheridan at Bethel Park is a Personal Care and Memory Care community serving Pittsburgh-area seniors and their families with an inspired community of exceptional dining, comfortable residences and heartwarming care. Sheridan at Bethel Park, SLC, EHO, ADA, Pet Friendly |

Personal Care • Memory Care | 2000 Cool Springs Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15234 | 412-923-4892 | SheridanBethelPark.com

Weaver Homes

Welcome to Your Happy Place

We build luxurious single-level homes that are synonymous with happiness — spaces that are open and filled with natural light, private outdoor living areas that beckon you to linger. Our carefree living homes throughout Butler County promote happier, healthier living… with boutique-size communities where neighbors know neighbors, and openconcept designs allow family and friends to come together and feel right at home. We want your comfortable, personalized Weaver home to be your sanctuary. With us, you don’t just have the choice of floor plan; you have the ability to edit and expand upon it so it fits your unique style. Our level of personalization ensures your home is in sync with your family, and tailored to your tastes. In our Design Studio, our design specialist will walk you through all the options you have to make your home entirely your own. This way, when you step inside for the very first time — and every single time after that — you’ll know you’re right where you were always meant to be. Welcome to your happy place. Make yourself comfortable. We think you’ll be staying for a while. To get started building your dream home visit WeaverHomes.com

S&H Green Stamps

By Janice Lane Palko

Credit card points, fuel perks and discount cards are all known as retail loyalty programs in the marketing world and are designed as a way for businesses to retain customers, but they are nothing new. In 1896, the Sperry & Hutchinson company began offering S&H Green stamps in one of the country’s first retail loyalty programs.

Retailers purchased the trading stamps from S&H and then gave them away to customers at a specified rate when they made a purchase. From the 1930s until the late 1980s, shoppers collected stamps from primarily grocery stores and gas stations in various values and pasted them in booklets provided for free by the merchants. Typically, the booklets had 24 pages and a page required 50 points in stamps, making each booklet contain 1,200 points. The stamp booklets could then be redeemed for merchandise either from the Green stamps store or from its catalog. At one time, the S&H rewards catalog was the largest publication in the nation.

Green stamps weren’t the only game in Pittsburgh. A&P grocery stores awarded customers Plaid stamps, and Kroger issued Top Value stamps. Remember the consternation if the stamps were put into your grocery bag with the ice cream and the stamps became glued to your groceries?

A rocking chair my late grandmother gave me for my second Christmas she redeemed with Green stamps, and it is still going strong nearly 60 years later. It has been painted and given new life and now resides with my three little granddaughters.

I’m hazy on exactly where it was located, but I believe there was a stamp redemption center located somewhere on McKnight Road in the North Hills when I was a kid. Maybe someone can tell me where, or if they had one in their community, but I do remember going into one in the 1960s with my mom and her books of stamps and perusing the merchandise, things like clock radios, lamps, toasters and bathroom scales.

Collecting trading stamps was so popular, that it was estimated that 80% of households in the country collected them. In fact, trading stamps were so popular that a 1970 episode of The Brady Bunch dealt with a battle between the Brady girls and the Brady boys over who would get to redeem the family’s 94 books of “Checker” trading stamps. The teams engaged in contest building a house of cards for the coveted stamp books. The girls won the competition but decide to be magnanimous and buy a color television for the whole family to enjoy.

The economic downturn and the oil crisis in the 1970s, made offering trading stamps less profitable for retailers, and there were legal troubles for S&H Green stamps in 1972 that led to the decline of retailers issuing Green stamps. Eventually, the catalog ceased publication and the redemption centers closed, but until October 4, 2020, you could redeem Green stamps online.

So, if you now find some wayward Green stamps in a drawer hiding with your old Heinz pickle pin or your Pirates Green Weenie, you can’t get anything of value for them except anymore except for the good memories associated with bygone days. n