Ripples / August 2008

VOL. 9 No. 9 Ripples is published monthly for the residents and friends of MALLARD LANDING RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

FROM DALE'S DESK...

For the 10th year in a row, readers of The Metropolitan Magazine have voted Mallard Landing the BEST RETIREMENT COMMUNITY in their annual “Best of the Eastern Shore” contest!

Doug Naarup, Metropolitan’s publisher, has said, “Our readers expect high standards and they have voted accordingly.”

What an honor and a tribute to all the people whose efforts through the years to develop and maintain our beautiful, successful community have produced such positive results.  We are especially proud of the way staff and residents continue to work together to ensure the happiness and comfort of all the people who call Mallard Landing “home,” whether they actually live here or simply work on our campus and come to feel that Mallard Landing is their “home away from home.

Dale

August Birthdays

August 1 Frances Moultrie 
August 3 Ester Blishche
August 6 Dolores Dattore 
August 6 Dick Hughes 
August 10 Val Hannah 
August 11 Gladys King                                
August 18 Carolyn Robinson      
August 20 Nellie Henry      
August 20 Pete Cooper      
August 21 Sam Leishear      
August 23 Charlotte Chenoweth
August 23 Paul Pavlos
August 24 George Rotariu          
August 24 George Fisk          
August 27 Winston Sibert          
August 27 Al Lotz          
August 29 Ted Bonwit          
August 29 Louis Shockley          
August 30 Bill Hughes          
August 30 Bob Curtis          
August 31 Tom Roeck          

August Anniversaries

August 4    Ray and Phyllis Strong      
August 11  Earl and Betty Blansfield        
August 24   John and Norvalee Broyhill       
August 29   Jim and Eileen Deehan       

Get Well

     Louise Morgan
Jack McAllister
Bill Mortimer
Bob Hall

New Residents

HOW TO CALL THE POLICE WHEN YOU’RE OLD

George Phillips, an elderly man, from Meridian, Mississippi, was going to bed, when his wife told him that he’d left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off the light but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.

He phoned the police, who asked, “Is someone in your house?” He said “No.” Then they said, ”All our patrols are busy. You should lock your doors and an officer will be along when one is available”. George said, “Okay.” He hung up the phone and counted to 30. Then he phoned the police again.

“Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people stealing things from my shed. Well, you don’t have to worry about them now because I just shot them.” And he hung up.

Within five minutes, six police cars, a SWAT team, a helicopter, two fire trucks, a paramedic, and an ambulance showed up at the Phillips residence, and caught the burglars red-handed. One of the policemen said to George, “I thought you said that you’d shot them!”

George said “I thought you said there was nobody available.”

--Contributed by Bill Simmons, who says it’s a true story, the moral of which is “Don’t mess with old people.”

Meet Your Neighbors

Jeanne Y. Torrey
    Grandview
A relatively new resident is Jeanne Torrey, who moved into Grandview in April 2008.

Jeanne was married for 55 years to Bill Torrey, a Mercedes Benz-Toyota dealer. A graduate of George Washington University, she was a homemaker and community volunteer.

The Torreys moved to Salisbury in 1963 and then to Oxford in 1984. They did a lot of sailing and motor boating on Chesapeake Bay and also traveled to Germany, Japan, and Hawaii.

Jeanne was president of the Junior Board at PRMC in 1976 and was active at Asbury Methodist Church. She has three sons, six granddaughters, and two grandsons. She has already become a regular bridge player at Mallard Landing.

Jeanne Torrey

MEMORIAL GARDEN

When you are walking around the path at the end of 1101, (the Parkview Building), please notice the Memorial Garden.

The two pink dogwood trees were donated by Tish and Merrill Ewing in memory of Tish's brother, Ben Wilson. The three "KnockoutRose" bushes and five Burning Bushes were given by Phyllis Weitzel and friends, Warren and Pat Bourguin, in memory of George Weitzel.

Enjoy their beauty in the coming years.

The Donors

Great News from the Vineyards

California vintners in the Napa Valley area, which primarily produce Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Grigio wines, have developed a new hybrid grape that acts as an anti-diuretic. It is expected to reduce the number of trips older people have to make to the bathroom during the night. The new wine will be marketed as PINO MORE!

Found and contributed by Gen Deggendorf

Unusual Pain
(Reminiscences of a career in medicine)

As an assistant resident in medicine at Johns Hopkins, one of my favorite assignments was the Steering Clinic. A patient who had been seen in one of the many clinics and was then thought by that clinic to need a referral to another clinic was sent to the Steering Clinic for the transfer to be carried out.

Result: I sat at a desk with one nurse as an assistant and saw anywhere from 30 to 80 patients a day to arrange for referrals. One morning a patient was referred from the Dental Clinic to the Neurology Clinic because of pain in the right lower jaw, which had not responded to the removal of all her lower right teeth. They thought she might have trigeminal neuralgia. A glance at the patient showed a woman of about 60 years who was breathing rapidly, obviously in great pain in her right jaw, and with swollen ankles. Instead of referring her to the Neurology Clinic, I sent her immediately to the Emergency Room for an EKG, which showed that she had had a heart attack, and she ended up admitted to the Osler Medical Floor.

Some years later when I was practicing in Annapolis, a city policeman was referred to me by our city’s leading orthopedist because he had persistent pain in his left wrist (which was in a cast now) and the orthopedist did not know what else he could do for him. He was obviously in pain, 40 years of age, was breathing a little rapidly, and had swollen ankles. His EKG run at once showed that he had had a heart attack, and I admitted him to the hospital and he did well.

The moral of these tales is to emphasize what was taught to me at Hopkins very strongly. The pain associated with a heart attack may be felt anywhere in the body above the level of the navel and below the level of the upper jaw. This includes front or back and down to the hands in both arms. Any pain in this area is suspect if it does not respond to what seems to be immediately evident as a cause. Unfortunately, we must add to this the current reports that about 1/3 of all heart attacks may be pain-free.

We Remember a Book Lover

The Library Committee expresses thanks to Bill Guy for his donation of a large collection of Mickey’s books to our library. Because our shelf space is getting short and we already had copies of many of the books, we have chosen to share them with all our residents as a memorial to Mickey. All are welcome to help themselves from the books as they are placed in the drawer of the table outside the Pub, and as you read them, remember one of our earlier residents.

Family Humor

This letter from my mother-in-law was written in early February, after she had visited her mother-in-law (MaMa) and her sister-in-law Helen (Sis). Obviously, I thought it was worth saving the last forty or fifty years.

Dear Family,

Just thought I might write a few lines since it may be my last. This morning  I went out to MaMa’s and she told Helen that there was a piece of ham in the drawer in the refrigerator – not the freezer – if  that was enough she had better cook it. Well Sis got it out and the conversation went something like this:

Sis – MaMa, this ham is molded. How long has it been in the drawer?
MaMa - Mold never hurt ham. If it had, we would have been dead years ago. Home-cured hams always had mold.
Sis – I know that, but this ham is slimy.
MaMa -  Wash it in hot water.
Sis - It even smells strong.
Me - ( after all they were going to cook it for me and MaMa.) Oh, don’t bother with it.
Sis - But I know you want a piece of ham.
Me – No, really it doesn’t make any difference.
MaMa – Helen, wash that ham in hot water and cook it. She’ll eat it.
Sis – All right, MaMa, but why didn’t you tell me before that this ham was in that drawer? How long has it been there?
MaMa – I  don’t know Helen. I think since the children were here Thanksgiving. The ham is all right.
Me – Helen, don’t fool with it, please (softly)
Helen – Of course I am, as well as you like ham with your biscuits.
Me – (To myself) Yes, but not molded slimy ham.
MaMa – Helen, your sausage is burning.
Helen – Alright MaMa, I have only two hands and I’m trying to get the slime off this ham.

WELL, the ham was put in the pan and cooked, smelling everything up because it was so strong – but to take the cake, when we all sat down to the table MaMa says, ‘Now  Kathryn, you eat all of that ham because I don’t want any.”

“Happy He, who with bright regard looks back upon his father’s fathers”
                                                                                The above quotation from Goethe describes several Mallard Landing residents who enjoy the hobby of genealogy, and Frank Chapin is one of those. He has reconstructed his family lineage from Samuel Chapin, the earliest Chapin in America in the 17th century, to Frank’s three-year-old great-grandson Matthew (fourteen generations).
                                                                                In fact, the family can go back even one more generation to the will of Henry Penny in England, dated April 6, 1630. Old Henry left his “second great pan” to his daughter Cicelly Penny Chapin, wife of Deacon Samuel. Anyone who has been to the old manor houses in England and seen the array of big copper pans often displayed there can appreciate this choice bequest which probably came with Cicelly when they emigrated to Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1635 or earlier.
                                                                                The Chapins followed their acquaintance William Pynchon, founder of the colony, to Springfield on the Connecticut River, where Samuel became a deacon and a selectman whose duty was “to watch over morals, health, and public measures.” Among these were to assign seats in the meeting house, and it is recorded that Cicelly (Goodwife Chapin) “is to sitt in the Seate alonge with Mrs. Glover and Mrs. Hollyock.” Since Mrs. Glover was the minister’s wife and Mrs. Hollyock the daughter of Pynchon, Goodwife Chapin obviously got a prominent seat.
                                                                                  Deacon Chapin continued as a selectman and held other town offices for many years, but when Springfield was attacked by Indians and burned in 1675, he did not live to see the town rebuilt. His son wrote later “My father was taken out of this troubelsom world the 11th day of November about 11 o’clock of the eve, 1675.”

Norma Schumacher is proud to share with us this lovely photo of her granddaughter Katie (center), shown with her parents Susan and Richard Schumacher Jr., at her induction into the National Honor Society at Easton High School.  Norma noted with interest that the NHS chapter is named the J. Willard Davis chapter—James Willard was an ancestor of Norma’s, and Davis was her maiden name, but she doesn’t know of any connection with the person for whom the chapter was named.

Mallard Landing Council of Unit Owners
Board of Directors

Bob Hutchinson
President
Pete Cooper
Vice-President
Louise Morgan
Secretary
Bob Curtis
Paul Hooper
Al Lotz
Jane Moore

Treasurer
Luther Shepherd

Mallard Landing Staff

Cecilia D. "Dale" Loebe – Executive Director
Valerie Gravenor – Media Coordinator
Lisa Murphy – Community Relations Director
Lori Santos – Director of Human Resources
Carrie Brewton – Accounting Assistant
Brenda Young – Guest Services Coordinator
Jay Hambright – Executive Chef
Gary Chatham – Facilities Director
Crystal White-Marvin – Housekeeping Supervisor

EMERGENCY AFTER HOURS PHONE NUMBER:
443-944-4754

RIPPLES is published monthly by the Mallard Landing Newsletter Committee: Kay Hutchinson, Joan Alling
Lisa Murphy, Dale Loebe, ex-officio

Kay Hutchinson                  Joan Alling
Lisa Murphy                        Frank Chapin
Dale Loebe, ex-officio

Deadline: third Monday in the month
We welcome contributions of news items and other information. Call any committee member.

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