Jack Travelstead and his wife Jerry really enjoy their new home at Concordia Village – when they’re home to see it. “To be honest, we spend a lot of time off campus,” Jack says. And they have good cause. In fact, they have TWO good causes.
“My wife and I have traveled a good bit of the world doing mission work,” says the United Methodist pastor. “We’ve been to Haiti 20 times, taking a team to work and support the church’s mission there.” Their trips have also included work trips to Africa, Alaska, and middle America.
In their time abroad, the Travelsteads have met some incredible craftsmen – jewelers, carvers, marblecutters, and more – who did incredible work, but who couldn’t sell their wares because the economy was so limited where they lived. “Unless something changed for them,” Jack says, “life would never improve for them or their families.” read more…
Held to support LSS Benevolent Care, Meramec Bluffs‘ first-ever Works of HeART art auction was a rousing success, bringing in more than $4,500!
Featuring more than 200 works by regional and national artists, the event drew art aficionados from around the St. Louis area to raise funds for seniors who can no longer afford to support themselves. The event was the brainchild of Meramec Bluffs’ Activities Associate Katrie Spink and Stewardship Director Maggy Spencer, who spent weeks reaching out to the local art community to help line the walls of Meramec Bluffs’ Community Room with beautiful works.
Works of HeART was such a success that the date has already been set for next year’s auction. Mark your calendar for March 22, 2013 — it’s a fantastic way to support seniors and have a great time doing it!
“We’ll be trying five beers today, so brace yourselves.” With that advice, St. Louis Post-Dispatch beer columnist Evan Benn started pouring for Meridian Village’s beer-aficionados-in-residence who gathered in the Bistro Room recently for a high-end beer tasting event.
The visit from Benn doubled as a seminar on brew science, the history of American lagers and ales, and where to find the best suds in town. The author of “Brew in the Lou,” a newly released collection of his writings, Benn brought samples from hometown favorites like the Schlafley Bottleworks. But the show-stealer came from up-and-coming new microbrewery Urban Chestnut, whose Zwickel draft was universally hailed by the residents on hand. read more…
David Bertaina, PhD, doctor of Semitic language and literature, paid a visit to Concordia Village recently for a discussion comparing the Bible with the Koran — specifically the two holy books’ different perspectives on the life of Christ.
“It’s not easy to make comparisons between the two books,” says Bertaina, an assistant professor in the History Department at the University of Illinois – Springfield. “The New Testament consists of 27 books written over the course of half a century by as many as 10 authors. The Qur’an is a single book written by a single author over 22 years. So it’s difficult to compare them due to their makeup and historical context.” read more…
You may know a good steak when you taste one, but not the way Lenoir Woods resident FC Parrish does. He knows what makes a good steak at the biochemical level.
“It’s all about tenderness,” says FC, who earned a PhD in agricultural science from the University of Missouri. “That’s what consumers want. I spent a lot of time studying what makes beef tender.” While working at Iowa State University, FC helped his research team discover calpains, a class of enzymes that break down proteins. In a nutshell, they’re what make the difference between a tender New York strip and your Aunt Martha’s shoe leather-tough brisket. read more…
Forty years ago, Laclede Groves‘ chaplain Rev. Darryl Anderson was called to ministry. Recently, his friends helped him celebrate this momentous milestone with a reception in Laclede Groves’ Auditorium, featuring music by the Laclede Groves choir.
One of the biggest steps Lorraine McCracken took in her life was the time she traveled to interview for a job as a medical transcriptionist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. “I was 22 years old,” she recalls. “This was an adventure. I asked my brother to come with me, but he told me, ‘No, if I go with you, they’ll think you can’t do the job on your own. This will really impress them.’”
And that’s exactly what happened. Lorraine made her way from her home in Buffalo, New York, through two unfamiliar airports, and into an unfamiliar city. And she did it all without the use of her eyes. read more…
Say it loud and say it proud: “I’m not getting older. I’m getting better!” In the spirit of aging beautifully, we present a year-long series on The Classics — books, movies, cars, and music that just get better and better as time goes by.
Ring-a-Ding-Ding, baby! Nobody had a voice like the Chairman of the Board, Ol’ Blue Eyes, the Lean Lark, the Groovy Gallahad — the one and only Frank Sinatra. A multitime Grammy winner (with his first win for 1959’s “Only the Lonely”), he branched out into the film industry, taking home an Oscar for his role in “From Here to Eternity.” But it was his velvety voice that makes Frank Sinatra one of the true artistic giants of the past century.
- Growing up in Hoboken, New Jersey, young Frank Sinatra started singing for tips at age eight, and began singing professionally in his teens — which is good, because he was expelled from high school after only 47 days for rowdy
behavior. He sang entirely by ear, having never learned to read sheet music.
- Rumors of his relationship to organized crime persisted throughout Frank’s career. Under contract to Tommy Dorsey’s band, Sinatra allegedly called in favors from mobster Sam Giancana to “pursuade” the bandleader into releasing him from his legal obligations. Though never proven, the incident was fictionalized in Mario Puzo’s “The Godfather.”
- Every year, the owners of the Empire State Building honor Sinatra by turning all the lights in their famous skyscraper blue — what better tribute for the man who recorded “New York, New York”?
To learn more about Frank Sinatra, click here to visit his Wikipedia entry.
At what point does a fad become a full-on craze? Because, for the nearly 60 residents who take part in Laclede Groves’ Wii Bowling league, their sport of choice has officially turned into an campus-wide sensation.
“We’re starting our third year,” says Roy Pfund, one of the league’s top scorers,” and the competition’s really getting intense.”
The league, which started with just four teams, has nearly quadrupled in size, and has shown no signs of slowing down, especially as the members have only gotten better with time. “My wife hasn’t bowled more than three games in her life,” he says, “and now she has an average score of close to 200.” read more…
Talk about the days of wine and roses — the residents of Hidden Lake gathered for a special Valentines Day party in the dining room to enjoy fine music, good company, and a fantastic meal courtesy of the community’s Dining Services staff! Plus, earlier in the month, residents and staff alike broke out their red finery to support the American Heart Association’s efforts to fight heart disease.
