Village at Brookwood Winter 2013 Newsletter

Winter 2013 • The Village at Brookwood

Enjoy All The Benefits of

Relaxed Residency Lifelong Learning @ The Village

How to Have a Safe, Warm & Healthy Winter

from the Executive Director

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Back to the Books?

With age comes wisdom, perspective and an appreciation of the things we may have disliked when we were younger. Eating spinach is one thing that comes to mind, as does going to school. I always dreaded having to return after the holidays and the extended winter break.

These days, however, it’s a different story. When reading an article or seeing something on the news, how many times have you said to yourself: “I wish I had paid more attention in that history class during high school,” or “I wish I had taken that drama course I wanted to in college.”

Now is the stage in your life when you have more time to explore those classes you didn’t take, pick up a new language or learn a new skill. And even better, staying actively engaged in lifelong learning is one of the keys to successful aging!

Last year, an Associated Press article reported on the trend of retirees moving to communities near universities and colleges. In addition, the colleges and universities work hard to attract seniors to their campuses. Staying involved in a university atmosphere is positive for seniors and allows us to keep our minds active and focus on what we want to pursue during this time of our lives.

Here are a few reasons to keep on learning and make your home near a college campus: • You get to explore the topics that you are interested in, not those that were required by your college major. That art history course you could never find the time to take while you were pursuing business degrees?

Now is the time!

• You’ll meet new friends that share your interests. Staying socially engaged is another important aspect of successful aging.

• You’ll keep your brain active and sharp. Building and preserving brain connections through learning, working and hobbies is a lifelong process.

• Living near a college or university campus gives you access to campus cultural and sports events, as well as the ability to interact often with others of a different generation.

The Village at Brookwood works in conjunction with Elon University on lifelong learning programs for seniors. When you move to The Village, your first year’s tuition for the Life@Elon continuing education program (see page 5) is already paid, and your transportation to classes is taken care of.

Want to know more? Visit our website or come for a visit — so you can get back to the books too!

Daniel L. Cuthriell Executive Director

Welcome!

We look forward to getting to know our newest residents: • Willie and Mabel Long Burlington, N.C. • Margo Adams - Hazard, Ky. • William and Rita Arnette Graham, N.C. • Alice Coggin - Ahoskie, N.C. • Martha Calleson - Wetumpka, Ala.

(800) 282-2053 www.VillageAtBrookwood.org

C A M P U S S P OR T S S P O T L I G H T

Eagle Scout Builds Bocce Ball Court for Residents

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This spring residents will test their skills and strength with a new regulation-sized bocce ball court on The Village at Brookwood campus. The new bocce court is located beside the outside-dining patio and adjacent to the pond, along with the existing shuffle board court. The bocce court measures 47 by 10 feet and was created with sand and topped with crushed oyster shells, a great surface for the tossed balls.

Last February, Wellness Coordinator Kristy Pardue began searching for someone to initiate and complete the project, and she enlisted the help of local Boy Scout Troop 17. Trey Weston, a student at Greensboro Day School and member of Front Street United Methodist Church, took on building the court as his Eagle Scout project.

After gaining approval for the project by the North State Council, Trey, who plays basketball for his school and for a travel team, ran into a few bumps along the way. First he broke his hand, and just after that healed, he broke his finger.

Once his recovery was complete, he focused on the Eagle Scout project in September and completed it in two months.

“It takes a lot of hard work to do something worthwhile,” Trey says. “Throughout the project I took pride in knowing how much enjoyment the residents would receive from playing Bocce. I learned a lot throughout the entire process and thank The Village at Brookwood for the opportunity.”

Bocce ball is quite the competitive sport at The Village, and the residents are ready to test out the new court.

“The project looks great, and since our winter has been fairly mild so far, the residents might be able to use it before spring,” Pardue says. “They are looking forward to playing on an official regulation court and being outdoors!”

Customization for Garden Homes and Apartments When you choose to make The Village at Brookwood your home, you are not moving into a cookie-cutter neighborhood. You are selecting a new home that can be customized to fit your lifestyle.

At The Village, you have the option of a freestanding Garden Home or an Apartment Home. When one of these homes becomes available, it may be eligible to receive upgrades, and our creative staff works closely with new residents to decorate the homes to fit personal styles and individual needs.

In the kitchen, which is the heart of any home, these renovations and upgrades may include: • New custom countertops • New tile floors • New cabinetry to accommodate a selfcirculating, above-the-stove microwave • New glass-top stove In addition, details such as crown molding in the formal areas and chair railing in the dining area are added before new residents move in. Residents also select new paint and carpet for their home. And, if new residents are so inclined, they may add hardwood floors and other upgrades such as built-in bookshelves for an additional cost.

Relax RE S I D E N T P ROFI L E

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... There Are New Options for Securing Your Future!

Rita and Tom Arnette are people who plan. The former school librarian and former Air Force officer who worked for various Department of Defense contractors returned to North Carolina from the Washington, D.C., area to help take care of Tom’s aging father. However, their plan was to eventually move to a continuing care retirement community (CCRC).

The Village at Brookwood’s new Relaxed Residency Program is the perfect avenue for people like Rita and Tom who have a plan in place for aging. With an initial payment and a low monthly fee, potential residents are able to enjoy many of the services offered to current Village residents, including access to amenities such as the Wellness Center, dining, participation in activities and wellness programs, and use of the health clinic. In addition participants’ entry fees are frozen at the fee schedule for the year they enter the program — and they have up to three years to move in.

The Arnettes were the first couple to take advantage of this new program. “We had always planned to move into Burlington eventually and to a place like this,” Rita

says. “We did a continuing education program through Duke that visited all of the CCRCs between here and Raleigh. We liked the warmth of The Village.”

The Arnettes also had relatives and friends who lived the community. “That's when I saw the apartment, and I knew if we moved to The Village, that was the apartment I wanted,” Rita says. She was impressed with the spacious, open, light-filled apartments. “The apartments are far superior,” she says. “The ceilings are higher, and this particular apartment has a lot of windows and a pond view.”

The Relaxed Residency program helped guarantee that the Arnettes would be able to move into the apartment they wanted. “We decided because we wanted a specific apartment model — and we wanted to have the pond view and all of that — that we needed to be in a line that offered us the greatest opportunity to get this particular style of apartment and the location,” Rita says. “And we made use of the Relaxed Residency.

I participated in the water aerobics on Monday mornings.

Tom got involved in donating books to the library. We

came over for meals and went on trips with the people here.”

While the couple participated in the Relaxed Residency Program, they were still living in the lovely house they had built on Tom’s grandparents’ farm south of Graham. They had lived there for 10 years while they assisted Tom’s father. “As Tom’s dad needed more help than we could give him, finding the kind of help that he needed in the country was very difficult,” Rita explains. “We did not want to face that for ourselves.”

If participants in the Relaxed Residency Program develop a need for care in Assisted Living, Memory Care or Skilled Nursing during the three-year period, they have the ability to access supportive care in Heritage Place, the private assisted living and skilled nursing sections of The Village.

The Arnettes enjoyed the Relaxed Residency Program for two years before getting the apartment home they desired.

“It worked well for us,” Rita says. “For our purposes, we did not want to move into a house — we had a house in south Graham. We chose to come directly to an apartment so we can age in place in this apartment and stay in it as long as possible for both of us — and additional help would be available to us if we need it.”

Lifelong Learning @ The Village It’s a New Year — why not make a resolution to learn something new? Get involved in the Lifelong Learning Program at The Village at Brookwood.

Life@Elon, the lifelong learning program at Elon University — the private, liberal arts university located just minutes from The Village — is part of the program. The university’s continuing education program, which is for anyone ages 50 and older, has fall and spring sessions with classes from “Social Media: Understanding Our Grandchildren” to “Stem Cell Research and the Future of Health Care.” Tuition is $100 per year, and when you move into The Village, you are offered a full one-year tuition, which includes a complimentary membership to the Belk Library on the Elon campus. Classes are held on Tuesdays in either the morning session or the afternoon session. The Village offers transportation to both sessions.

“Because we believe lifelong learning is such an important part of aging successfully, The Village encourages all of our residents to participate in Life@Elon,” says Dan Cuthriell, Executive Director. “Tuition is economical, and we want to make sure there are no transportation barriers for our residents.”

In addition to Life@Elon, The Village offers a quarterly wellness presentation planned by Kristy Pardue, the on-site Wellness Coordinator.

Upcoming topics include: “What Size Is the Right Size?” on portion control and “Choosing the Right Shoe for Balance.”

Whatever your interests, The Village offers a way to continue your learning. Book clubs, guest lectures, travel and other life enrichment programs bolster the intellectual health and curiosity of Village residents well into the New Year and beyond.

Holidays at The Village

December was a busy month for Village residents. Day trips included traveling to Winston-Salem to experience the sights and sounds of a Moravian Christmas at Old Salem, as well as a post-Christmas trip to the N.C. Museum of Art in Raleigh for two exhibits — “Still-Life Masterpieces: A Visual Feast from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,” and “Edvard Munch: Symbolism in Print.” Several residents also went on a three-day “Special Christmas Tour in Dixie” to the Smoky Mountain Opry, Grand Majestic Theater, Smith Family Theater, Biltmore Estate and Deerpark in Asheville.

Residents were treated to a special concert of Christmas carols by the Blessed Sacrament School Chorus.

Charlie Pyles, H.D. Rudd, J.C. Thomas and Marty Newell at the resident Christmas dinner party.

Santa and Mrs. Claus (ak a Kristy Pardue) paid a visit to The Village this year.

hment cy? No, it’s Life Enric Is that Ethel and Lu ellness W d an n Stubblefield Coordinator Ruth An Love “I e th g Pardue durin Coordinator Kristy n. io at str Lucy” cookie demon

Christmas entertainment provided by The Elon School chorus.

Five hundred of resident Nina Holladay’s handmade pearl and gold beaded ornaments graced the Christmas tree in Village Square during the holidays.

Resident Brenda Schmidt, shopping for Christmas gifts at the Alamance County Arts Council.

Right: Residents Betsy Flowers, John Edgerton and Marge Freemerman got creative with their costumes at the Fall Festival.

Left: Brenda Murray, who has been with The Village since 2003, enjoyed a retirement party with friends and residents, including Lucille Pace.

HE A L T H N O T E S

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Cold Weather Tips for Seniors

Burlington is definitely blessed with a fairly mild climate. During the winter, that means the average high temperature is 50 in January and 54 in February, while the average low is only 30 in January and 32 in February.

And then, before you know it, it’s March and temperatures start heading back up into the 60s!

But a mild climate and a short winter don’t mean that older adults, who are more susceptible to cold, can let their guard down. Sometimes medications, such as those used for heart conditions, can prevent the body from regulating temperature normally. In addition, simply aging can decrease the body’s ability to feel changes in temperature. When this happens, hypothermia can be a real risk.

Here are some tips to keep safe, warm and healthy this winter: • Dress in layers both indoors and outdoors.

• Wear several layers of loose-fitting clothing, which traps warm air and keeps you warmer. Tight clothing can keep blood from flowing freely and make you lose body heat.

• When you go outside, cover all exposed skin. This includes hands, feet, ears, face and head.

• Mittens may be a better hand cover than gloves because they allow the fingers to touch, which generates heat.

• Avoid caffeine and alcohol, which can cause the body to lose heat more rapidly than other drinks.

• Soups and stews with a lot of vegetables and little salt can help warm up and nourish the body.

• Drink plenty of water (six to eight glasses) to avoid dehydration, particularly when the weather is cold and dry.

Of course, the good news is that when the weather outside is not so delightful, the cozy comfort of The Village is.

And with plenty of social activities, dining, exercise options and other life enrichment and lifelong learning activities, you almost don’t have to go outside at all!

BUSINESS REPLY MAIL

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BURLINGTON, NC

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The Village at Brookwood 1860 Brookwood Avenue Burlington, NC 27215-9924

1860 Brookwood Avenue Burlington, NC 27215

Sponsored by Alamance Regional Medical Center

The Village Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary!

The Village at Brookwood will celebrate its 10th Anniversary this year. Sponsored by Alamance Regional Medical Center, The Village was built to offer senior living in a premier continuing care retirement community (CCRC) with a full continuum of care.

“We began accepting reservations in March of 2000,” says Dan Cutrhiell, Executive Director. “We reached our pre-sale numbers in September of 2001 and began construction the following November. Construction was completed in July of 2003.”

The Village opened its doors on July 21, 2003, and three residents moved into apartments that very day. “We moved five to eight residents a week into the cottages and garden homes through early October and then had a grand opening gala event,” Cuthriell says.

Today, The Village is one of the few CCRCs in North Carolina that offers LifeCare contracts and is illustrative of a health system’s successful mission to provide a continuum of health care services that allow people to age in place successfully and retain their independence.

With a 50-acre campus, a Wellness Center Please contact me about the following: that opened in May  Scheduling a visit to The Village with a complimentary lunch of 2009, and under 200 residences, the  Friends Advantage Program (waiting list) charming, close-knit community is looking  Send me a free brochure about The Village at Brookwood. forward to celebrating its first decade.

Name _______________________________________________________________ “Our anniversary plans include a gala Name _______________________________________________________________ event for residents and Address _____________________________________________________________ a planned excursion,” Cuthriell says. “We City____________________________________ State_________ Zip___________ are forming a resident Phone ( _____ )______________________ Best time to call: _________ a.m. / p.m. committee to help with the planning for this E-Mail ____________________________________________________ Winter 2013 exciting year!”