New Boxing Gym, Fourth of July, Jr. Astronaut and More

Dear friends,

We hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July holiday and are enjoying a safe and happy holiday weekend. We had 4th of July festivities across the Jewish Home Family. The Gallen Day Center had a great party on Wednesday, as they were closed on the holiday but both Jewish Home Assisted Living and the Jewish Home at Rockleigh enjoyed Independence Day themed activities and menus. We even had some of our Rock Steady boxers come to Jewish Home Assisted Living to do some boxing on the holiday. They didn’t want to miss a day and we were happy to accommodate them!

One of our highlights this week was the official ribbon cutting for our third Rock Steady Boxing location. We have been open at Jewish Home Assisted Living for two years and at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades since March. As of July 1, we have a fully equipped Rock Steady gym on the Rockleigh campus as well. We anticipate that this location will not only meet the needs of those who either live with us at Rockleigh or are members of the Gallen Center, but will also be convenient for community members who live in this part of Bergen County or in Rockland County. Our team did an amazing job creating this space out of an existing room and turning it into a beautiful and motivating arena. The walls are filled with inspiring art and sayings and one wall even features a display on Jewish boxers from the past. It was all done with great love, care and thoughtfulness. (Click here for photos) We had a packed room for the ribbon cutting and also a special treat. One of our board members, Ronnie Aroeste, has a friend who runs a boxing studio. Ronnie brought his friend and a young, professional boxer to be a part of our grand opening. They gave a brief demo for us and even boxed with some of our residents! It was a meaningful and joyous afternoon and we are excited about seeing this new location blossom! (Click here for a news segment about the event)

At the Jewish Home at Rockleigh, our week began Sunday with An Afternoon of Music featuring Carol Skarimbas. Carol is a wonderful piano player and singer and she entertained our elders and their families with a wide selection of show and popular tunes. On Monday, we had another session of Opening Minds through Art (OMA), an important program for individuals living with dementia. This week the art projects were collages with tissue paper. They began by creating a watercolor painting and then layering colored tissue paper and painted paper on top of the watercolor paint. The collages were finished with a sprinkle of glitter. Our resident OMA artists enjoyed the project and working with the volunteer and at the end of the session, all enjoyed seeing each other’s finished art work. Tuesday featured a meeting of the Women’s Club. This week’s topics included favorite vacations spots and all of the participants enjoyed sharing their experiences. Lively conversation took place later on in the evening as well during the “ Having Our Voices Heard” program. The elders reminisced about the old time comedians, the TV shows they used to watch and the “crooners” of the 40’s and 50’s. By elders’ requests, we had Movie Matinee Wednesday afternoon featuring “The Upside” movie. This comedy-drama is about a paralyzed billionaire and his friendship with a recently paroled convict whom he hires to take care of him. Our elders enjoyed the movie very much, and a lively discussion followed after the showing of the film. And our 4th of July included a variety of activities including trivia, a concert and a screening of the film “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”

Gallen Day Center participants began the week with a meditation program, helping to get everyone focused for the week ahead. They also enjoyed a presentation on Canada Day and a chance to learn about Canadian history and culture. On Tuesday, we began with an active session of boxing and also had fun with some patriotic-themed activities and games. Wednesday’s 4th of July party featured music and dancing and Friday included boxing, Move to the Music and a favorite, our monthly ice cream social.

Jewish Home Assisted Living began the week with a wonderful concert on Memory Lanes. These monthly are made possible by the David West endowment fund. David West was a member of our Memory Lane community and this concert series was created in his memory. Sunday also included a lecture by Rabbi Korenblit entitled “Independence Day as a Jewish community.” On Monday our lecture series focused on Olivia de Havilland who celebrated her 103rd birthday this week! . She appeared in 49 feature films, including “Gone with the Wind” and is the last surviving star of that era in Hollywood. On Tuesday we had an “astronaut for a day” program. Volunteer Lilah Cochrane who told us about astronaut Sally Ride and Gina Viola discussed Neil Armstrong. We followed that with a showing of the film “First Man” on Tuesday evening. Also on Tuesday, I had the chance to host “Book Bites” and we shared two very different short stories about people’s choices to do good or evil. We had a fun and lively discussion. Men’s Club had a great meeting and an intense discussion about global events. On Wednesday we talked about Mt. Rushmore and the Independence Day celebrations that take place there. Conversations about Mt. Rushmore and other vacations followed. We finished Wednesday with another wonderful concert as part of our 2019 Billie Kramer concert series and featuring Mary Taylor and an “Evening of Love.” Thursday included a lecture on Thomas Jefferson, a barbecue dinner and the film “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” We wrapped up the week with a celebration of P.T. Barnum’s birthday and a showing of the film “The Greatest Showman.”

All the best,

Carol Silver Elliott
President/CEO
The Jewish Home Family