Glenmeadow is a premier retirement community in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and I help its leaders raise awareness about programs and services through blogs and media outreach. This is a blog I wrote for the life plan community this fall. It appears as it does below on the Glenmeadow website.

Older adults choose to live here at Glenmeadow in large part for the socialization and varied, unique programming we offer. Our residents enjoy everything from in-house movies and theater offerings to a fitness center and swimming pool to games of cards, Scrabble, and Mahjong.

Then, last March, along came a pandemic—a new coronavirus that causes the upper respiratory disease COVID-19. Our residents were all at risk. We thought first about protecting them, and we followed the directives to isolate those who live here, providing for them in their individual apartments.

The very essence of Glenmeadow was unequivocally altered, but only for a moment. Well aware that social isolation is as damaging to older adults as smoking cigarettes, we quickly reinvented what it means to engage, to play, to learn, and have fun.

Our staff and residents have deep connections, and they missed us. So, we piped the sound of an old-fashioned ice-cream cart approaching into speakers in our hallways, and we delivered ice cream as they waited in their doorways. We made a chain of staff throughout the halls, and we sang to our residents. We recorded ourselves, singing songs. We made a video to show residents how we were boxing their meals, delivering the mail, and wearing face shields and other Personal Protective Equipment.

It was a hard time, and we wanted residents to know we were still here for them.

Our residents also love to expand their minds. They missed learning. So, we created opportunities for educational enrichment. We used our in-house television station, Channel 918, to provide all kinds of programming. Our staff members performed. Another created what we called the First Lady Series, in which we presented U.S. history in a video platform. We offered trivia games, word games, Bingo, Jeopardy, and our popular Scrabble games via a giant board we created and projected on the wall.

For our residents who enjoy keeping fit, we provided exercise classes on Channel 918.

The strength of our staff came through, loud and clear—as it always does. The pandemic made us stronger as a team, and we continued to bolster our residents in all ways. There was an outpouring of thanks and gratitude.

We put our own lives at risk, as a staff. We showed up, and we gave it our all because that is what we do. We care. We support. We help.

We excel at keeping older adults active, no matter what. Many family members often tell us that we extend the lives of their loved ones, and as evidence, we have five centenarian residents who have lived here for decades, and one Glenmeadow at Home client who turned 100 in November.

Thelma Brewster is 105. Over the years, she has been a volunteer, helping residents in assisted living with varies activities and reading aloud to them. She has enjoyed crafts, and getting her hair done once a week.

Mort Katz, 100, makes hand-made bookmarks and cards for his friends at Glenmeadow and enjoys catching up with the daily newspaper in the Glenmeadow library.

Shirley Akerman recently celebrated her 100th birthday with an a cappella performance of “Happy Birthday” by attendees at one of our pandemic-friendly, socially-distanced, al fresco bistro dinners.

Louise Nathan turned 100 at the end of September. She ran our book club for many years and is knowledgeable about current events and politics. She continues to enjoy the mind-sharpening programming offered daily in both socially-distanced venues here and streamed into her apartment on Channel 918.

Vivian Schoenman, also 100, was a huge part of our annual bazaar, as she made many crafts in her apartment. A resident for 22 years, she also enjoys watching entertainment programming on Channel 918.

Stanley Melvin is a centenarian who lives in a condo in Longmeadow and receives services through Glenmeadow at Home. He and his wife, Jean, appreciate the caring we provide.

We are here to enhance your life, whether you are sixty or eighty or over 100.

We will protect your health and your heart, whether our smiles are exposed or covered under masks and face shields.

We are Glenmeadow Strong, in a pandemic—and always.

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I help Glenmeadow, a life plan community for older adults in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, in creating free, educational programs for the audience it serves. I also promote the presentations through PR and social media, which helps raise awareness about Glenmeadow and its many quality offerings. This blog I wrote for Glenmeadow’s website offers a look at the third and final program in the Glenmeadow Learning series; it also provides a community service, offering a look at ways everyone can help protect the planet.

Most all of us are well familiar with the standard mantra that trumpets the protection of the planet: Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Terra Missildine, a recent Glenmeadow Learning presenter, points out, though, that many well-intentioned people focus on only one effort in the triad: recycling.

“Many people don’t think about reducing or reusing. Those efforts are oft-overlooked and more effective,” Terra told several dozen people who gathered last week at Agawam Public Library for our third and final Learning program,  “Environmental Responsibility: Taking Steps to Protect Our Planet.” 

An educated audience took an active role in Terra’s presentation, brainstorming ideas with her on ways to—as Terra says—“live lighter on the planet and lower our impact.” They discussed ways individuals can reduce and reuse, and Terra talked about the importance of watching where legislators stand on the environment. She also reviewed the United Nations global goals, relating to the environment.

“Consumption is the number one environmental problem today,” Terra said, noting, for example, that 35 million plastic flip-flops end up in the ocean each year. “People need to think more carefully about what they buy. There is a lot of waste. Planned obsolescence is built into so many of our products today.”

While recycling is very important, Terra said it’s not an infallible system; many materials that people put in their recycling bins never actually get recycled. Some materials might not be clean and can contaminate an entire truckload of items, and some materials we think are being recycled might not be accepted in our particular community.

Also, Terra said there is an environmental cost to recycling—trucking the materials and processing them, for instance.

Terra outlined additional steps people can take to protect the planet, including “voting with their dollars” by not purchasing low-quality products that have a short shelf life and will end up in landfills. 

She also said people can use their actual votes to elect more candidates who have a history of supporting measures that are environmentally sustainable. She suggested researching candidates on line to get a sense of their philosophies and voting records, where the environment is concerned.

In terms of products that are environmentally friendly, Terra recommended those made by Shaklee, such as Basic H2, which is a concentrate that makes thousands of gallons of product. Terra passed out samples.

To take sustainability to another level, Terra suggested that people who believe in “Reduce, reuse, recycle” become community advocates, educating people they meet one-on-one on best sustainability practices. She stressed that advocates should not shame others but educate them instead.

Terra was raised in a family that values the outdoors. She became an advocate for the Earth herself around the turn of the millennium. At that time, Terra was raising sheep on an organic farm and had enrolled in a sustainability program at the University of Massachusetts. She started thinking about how toxins were affecting people’s health; she had also developed allergies and chemical sensitivities to such things as laundry detergent. 

Terra was newly married to her husband, David—who was in the audience at our program. They decided to launch a business called Beloved Earth, the first environmentally friendly cleaning company in Western Mass at that time. They made environmentally friendly alternatives to cleaning and other household products by using ingredients such as baking soda and vinegar. (Now they use Basic H2 in clients’ homes and businesses.)

Beloved Earth now supports 18 staff members and still operates by cooperative principles. The business will mark its 15^th anniversary in 2020.

Indicating its an uphill battle, Terra said she is confident that systemic change—while slow—is in motion to protect the planet and that, if people commit together, we can slow the damage and perhaps get on a track to begin to repair the Earth.

“Protecting the environment has been a conversation since I was my daughter’s age, and she’s 5,” Terra said. “That gives me hope.”

Terra offered these resources:

• To learn how to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle: https://biofriendlyplanet.com/
• To see what one nonprofit is doing to support climate legislation in the state, and how people can find a local chapter and get involved: www.massclimateaction.org
• To check out the United Nations global goals: www.globalgoals.org 

Glenmeadow Learning is one of many free programs Glenmeadow offers to members of the wider community. It represents only one facet of the life plan community’s mission to serve seniors across the region and to operate as a socially accountable organization.

We are busy planning the events in our spring 2020 series! Stay tuned.

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FLORENCE— Sue Keller, owner of the Strong & Healthy Smiles dental practice, will offer a program for families and health care professionals on Tuesday, Oct. 30 on tooth and gum health for pre-and post-partum women and for babies in their first year.

Dental Wellness for Pregnancy and Baby’s First Year will be offered for providers and families and women who are pregnant or have a newborn from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Strong & Healthy Smiles office at 40 Main St., Suite 204, in Florence.

“Parents and grandparents-to-be, healthcare providers, and anyone who is curious about discovering that community dental wellness starts even before pregnancy are welcome to join us,” said Keller, a solo family practice dentist for over two decades and the mother of two teenagers “with strong and healthy smiles.”

“All questions are fair game, and guests will leave with dental wellness handouts, baby tooth care kits and knowledge about a dentally-healthy pregnancy and raising cavity-free kids,” Keller added.

Participants will learn pre-pregnancy dental wellness planning and post-partum preventive care and discover the importance of professional gum care during the hormonal changes of pregnancy and post-partum months.

Keller will also teach parents a nursing/feeding pattern that minimizes the chance of cavities from nursing and bottle feeding and demonstrate how to brush a baby’s teeth without taking the child out of the highchair.

“Brushing after meals creates a healthy habit for a lifetime of smiles,” Keller said.

The cost for the program is $30 before Oct. 23 and $40 afterwards. For tickets, visit www.eventbrite.com/e/dental-wellness-for-pregnancy-and-babys-first-year-tickets-50409103987?ref=eios&aff=eios#tickets.

Learn more about Keller at: https://www.strongandhealthysmiles.com/dental-wellness-sue-keller.html or www.facebook.com/StrongandHealthySmiles/.

For more information, call 413-586-9363. 

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LONGMEADOW—Glenmeadow will offer a program focused on humor on Friday, Oct. 20 from 10 a.m. to noon at the life plan community at 24 Tabor Crossing.

Called “Improv and Anecdotes: Lessons on Storytelling through Humor,” the workshop will provide lessons on comedic improvisation and telling stories with wit.

Presenter Steve Hays of The Drama Studio in Springfield will lead with Dan Morbyrne, an instructor, and the two will also incorporate music and song. They advise participants to bring their memories and sense of humor.

Hays founded The Drama Studio in 1987 along with a group of educators and parents who envisioned an institution at which youth could enter into a serious study of acting. The school has a mission to enrich and validate the adolescent experience.

The program is free, but space is limited and reservations are required. To enroll, call (413) 567-7800 or visit glenmeadow.org/events.

Glenmeadow Learning is one of many free programs Glenmeadow offers to members of the wider community. And these programs represent only one facet of the life plan community’s mission to serve seniors across the region and to operate as a socially accountable organization.

Established in 1884, Glenmeadow is a nonprofit, accredited life plan community; it provides independent and assisted living at its campus at 24 Tabor Crossing in Longmeadow and expanded Glenmeadow at Home services throughout greater Springfield.

To learn more about Glenmeadow and its history and offerings, visit www.glenmeadow.org.

About Glenmeadow

In the 1800s, elderly individuals without family or means were sent to live at what was called “the poor farm.” In 1884, a group of civic leaders raised funds among themselves and other area families and purchased a house on Main Street in Springfield’s south end, establishing The Springfield Home for Aged Women. Quickly outgrowing that house, land was purchased on the corner of Chestnut and Carew streets, where a new home was constructed and opened in 1900. In 1960, the name was changed to Chestnut Knoll, and, in 1992, it began to admit men.

In 1993, the organization purchased a 23-acre parcel in Longmeadow to build a new community that would provide both independent living and assisted living in one building with various common areas. This was a new concept known as a continuing care retirement community. Existing residents from the old Chestnut Knoll property were moved to the new campus in 1997. Shortly after the move, the board voted to change its legal name to Glenmeadow to coincide with the name being used by the developer of the property.

Continuing care retirement communities are now referred to as life plan communities, responding to the needs of the aging population with new opportunities for care, plus creative, educational and personal exploration. Glenmeadow offerings, which include everything from senior living options and handyman services to personal care and travel programs, are provided at its Longmeadow campus and across the region through Glenmeadow at Home. Glenmeadow strives to fulfill its mission of nurturing the whole person in mind, body and spirit.

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