the monthly newsletter for rivercourt residences

ChocolateFebruary is full of special celebrations this year—Superbowl Sunday, Groundhog Day, Mardi Gras, Chinese New Year, Presidents’ Day, Canadian Flag Day, Tu B’Shevat, Ash Wednesday, Friday the 13th, the Academy Awards, and of course, Valentine’s Day. What a festive month!What better way to tie them all together than with CHOCOLATE! It goes with everything. Everyone has a favorite and some would say, especially the darkest chocolates are actually good for you.

Some interesting things about CHOCOLATE:• A recent study indicates that when men crave food, they tend to crave fat

and salt. When women crave food, they tend to desire chocolate.• Aztec Emperor Montezuma drank fifty golden goblets of hot chocolate,

dyed red and flavored with chili peppers, every day.• Chocolate syrup was used for blood in the famous forty-five second shower

scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, Psycho, which actually took seven days to shoot.

• The average American consumes more than 10 pounds of chocolate every year.

• 76% of Americans say the ears of the chocolate bunnies should be eaten first.• 5% think chocolate feet of the bunnies should be eaten first.• 4% think the chocolate tails should go first.• One ounce of milk chocolate has only a little more caffeine than the amount

of caffeine in a cup of decaffeinated coffee. White chocolate has no caffeine.

Health BenefitsWhy is chocolate good for you?Chocolate contains a range of nutrients which include minerals such as potas-sium, calcium, and iron. It also contains the B-vitamin riboflavin. It is true that most of chocolates’ calories do come from fat but the ingredient, known as cocoa butter, is the kind of fat that consists mostly of monounsaturated fatty acid also found in olive oil; the “healthy” fat needed in all diets. Although

ContactsSusan Whitty-Kennedy ext. 242Executive Directorskennedy@rivercourtresidences.com

Sharon Amadon ext. 234Resident Care Directorsamadon@rivercourtresidences.com

Kim Landi ext. 227Reflections Program Director klandi@rivercourtresidences.com

Karen McKenzie ext. 222Director of Marketingkmckenzie@rivercourtresidences.com

Trisha McCaig ext 223Office Managertmccaig@rivercourtresidences.com

Cheryl Young ext. 240Activity & Volunteer Directorcyoung@rivercourtresidences.com

8 West Main StreetGroton, MA 01450www.rivercourtresidences.comp: 978-448-4122 f: 978-448-4133

February2015The

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Our music therapy pro-gram, called AlzAlive, started in January. It is an interactive pro-gram for our residents. Activities include sing-ing, playing musical instruments, group play, gentle movement to music, dancing, as well as learning relax-ation techniques.

Reflections: Making Music

Ethel, Rita and Rose play instruments.

Donald joins in with his harmonica..Rose starts dancing to the music.

Dr. Mary drums

Lois & Ethel

Erna sings while Peggy drums.

Bill & Fran

Bailey Bean, who first started as our ther-apy dog over six years ago surprised us with a visit, she is 12 years old and as lov-able as ever! January’s luncheon found us travelling to the Townsend House for a delicious meal. Bill was first for the Clean Plate Club!

In, Out, and About

Our January theme day was a LUAU of a time! It may have been 20 degrees outside, but inside we could feel the sunshine of the tropics and the breeze from the palm trees. The menu for the day was spectacular, photo opportuni-ties abounded with the décor, the leis, grass skirts and a very talented hula dancer. ALOHA everyone!

Susan’s CornerI thought you might enjoy the history of Saint Valen-tine’s Day.Saint Valentine’s Day, also known as Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is a holiday observed on February 14, each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it is not a holiday in most of them.St. Valentine’s Day began as a liturgical celebration for one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. Several martyrdom stories were invented for the various Valentines that belonged to February 14, and added to later martyrologies. A popular account of Saint Valentine of Rome states that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. According to legend, during his imprisonment, he healed the daughter of his jailer, Aste-rius. An embellishment to this story states that before his execution he wrote her a letter signed “Your Valentine” as a farewell. Today, Saint Valentine’s Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion, as well as in the Lutheran Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates Saint Valentine’s Day, on July 6 and July 30, the former date in honor of the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and the latter date in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni). In Brazil, the Dia de São Valentim is recognized on June 12.The day was first associated with romantic love in the cir-cle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In eighteenth century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”). In Europe, Saint Valen-tine’s Keys are given to lovers “as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver’s heart,” as well as to children, in order to ward off Saint Valentine’s Malady. Valen-tine’s Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the nineteenth century, handwrit-ten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards. Enjoy the day.

Exploring the AreaGroton Historical Society & Museum172 Main St. 978-448-0092Kimball Farms400 Littleton Rd.,Westford 978-486-3891Gibbet Hill Barn, Trails, and Restaurant61 Lowell Rd.Fitchburg Art Museum,free passes available at front desk978-345-4207 Carter Myseum of Groton HistoryLone Lane 617-823-5757 The Natural Market148 Main St. 978-448-5075Bliss Bakery134 Main St. 978-855-7562The Herb Lyceum (New American)368 Main St. 978-448-6499Filhos Cucina (Italian)235 Main St. 978-448-5664Main St. Café(Friday Night Entertainment )159 Main St. 978-448-9634

Winter in Groton

Staff Profile: Cheryl YoungOnboard now for more than four months as part of the team at Riv-erCourt I have met all the residents of this wonderful commu-nity and it continues as my priority to get to know all of you and your families to much greater extent. As activ-

ity director and writer/editor of this newsletter I wish to share in part, my story. I was born in Clinton, MA in 1955 and grew up the middle of three girls, in Bolton, MA. We would move to Acton in 1968 when my Dad became Farm Superin-tendent of MCI Concord and we would move onto “the prison farm house.” Yes, many stories could be shared about being the new girl in school living “on the prison.”I graduated from ABRHS and attended Springfield Com-munity College earning my degree as physical therapist assistant. I worked for several years in that capacity, gain-ing valuable exposure and experience at Mass Rehab and New England Rehab as well as several years in long term care. I married my high school sweetheart, built a home in Acton, raised a daughter, Amanda, and continued work-ing in healthcare with a few “respites” taking me into retail management and a store of my own in Townsend called

“Back to Basics.” Then it was back to healthcare, again as a physical therapist assistant until I was recruited into activities. I worked for many years as a certified activ-ity director, the last twelve years as director of activities in the Memory Support Neighborhood of Concord Park Assisted Living. No longer married, I have been partnered with Richard, a silent movie pianist, for many happy years enjoying our interests of kayaking, hiking, biking, yoga, a vegan diet choice, and my antique button collection.My daughter lives in Burlington, VT, working as a mas-sage therapist as well as a Doula, assisting in the birth process of many families so far. I have many goals on my list to provide further social, physical, intellectual, creative, and spiritual programs here at RiverCourt. Please let me know what’s on your mind. My office is always open to you and your families.Blessings, Cheryl

Our new ZenTangle class with Jean T. proved it’s never too late to learn a new art form. ZenTangle is fun, relaxing, and meditative. It increases focus and creativity by creating images from repeating patterns. Our resident students learned you don’t need to be an artist to create a beautiful work of

abstract art.

Barbara was born in Ayer, MA, on Janu-ary 7, 1938. She has two brothers, Arthur and Paul, and a sis-ter, Dorothy. Barbara grew up knowing that she wanted to be a teacher and more specifically a physi-cal education teacher. Sports have been a passion all her life. Barbara graduated from Boston Uni-

versity Sargent College and began her teaching career at what was once known as the Lancaster Industrial School for girls. Lancaster was a school for girls com-mitted through the court system because of their criminal behavior. Under Barb’s teaching the girls

learned the importance of education, team building, and retraining their behavior for future advancement.At the end of three years Barbara was offered a job in the Ayer school system. Barbara is proud of the fact that she coached the Ayer girls basketball team to sev-eral championships. In her spare time Barbara has expressed her artistic flair with quilting and decorative painting. While still teaching, Barbara also co-owned a bakery for more than three years in Hollis, NH. The bakery was known for its mile high apple pie, homemade breads, and pizza. Another love of Barbara’s has been the ocean, prompting her to buy a “sweet little cottage” in Ipswich as a second home in the early 1970s. Barbara has recently moved to RiverCourt and has quickly made new friends and is finding herself once again taking up new creative inter-ests and continues promoting physical activity, joining in with exercise class and ZUMBA regularly.

Resident Profile: Barbara Boisseau

February BirthdaysMyrt Nihen February 10Madeline Inman February 12Carol Morse February 24Ed Dubois February 25Peggy Goodell February 27

Love cures people; the ones who receive love and the ones who give it, too.

–Karl A. Menninger

Three nonagenarians recently celebrated in December, Fran, Kitty, and Tom

Assisted & Independent Living

ArtMatters, the Art Awareness Program has come to RiverCourt!The activity room became a gallery filled with art ranging from cave drawings to Ansel Adams to Vermeer. IL resident Peg Braat shared, “I thought it was excellent! I felt like I’d been to an art history class and I’d like to go again.” We look forward to April for that.

FebruarySpecial Events and Entertainment at

RiverCourt

Super Bowl Party ........................................... Sun, Feb 1, Game TimeChinese Lion Dance—live demo ...............................Sun, Feb 1, 2:00Tim Barrett, Country Singer/Guitarist .....................Tue, Feb 3, 2:30Resident Council Meeting ........................................ Wed, Feb 4, 2:00Ceramics Class with Diane ..........................Wed, Feb 4 & 18 , 10:30New Watercolor Class with Priscilla ..........Wed, Feb 11 & 25, 10:30Steve Staines, Pianist ...................................................Thu, Feb 5, 2:30Veteran’s Breakfast at COA ....................................... Mon, Feb 9, 9:30The Traveling Boutique .......................................Mon, Feb 9, 1–4 PMLis Leal, Pianist ..........................................................Tue, Feb 10, 2:30New Silent Movie with accompaniment by Richard Hughes ...................................................Wed, Feb 11, 6:45ZUMBA with Sharon .....................................Wed, Feb 12 & 26, 1:30Men’s Lunch at Dream Diner .................................. Fri, Feb 13, noonAlex McDougall as “Frank Sinatra” .......................... Fri, Feb 13, 2:30 Valentines Theme Dinner .......................................... Sat, Feb 14, 5:30New Monthly Men’s Group with Ron ...................Tue, Feb 17, 10:30Adam Bergeron, Classical Pianist ............................Tue, Feb 17, 2:30Bach’s Lunch at Indian Hill.....................................Thu, Feb 19, 11:45Lady’s Lunch at Dream Diner ................................. Fri, Feb 20, noonMonthly Birthday Party ............................................Tue, Feb 24, 2:30Book Club Meeting .................................................. Thu, Feb 26, 4:00

Blood Pressure & Your HeartBlood pressure is the force that your blood exerts on vessels as it moves through your body. With each contraction of your heart (or heartbeat), blood is forced out, followed by a fraction of a second of relaxation before it pumps again. This pump-and-relax process exerts varying amounts of force on your blood vessels. In fact, your blood pressure naturally fluctuates throughout the day, depending on what you’re doing (exercising, sleep-ing, or making dinner) and how stressed you are (running from a mugger, reading a book, or talk-ing to a friend).Ideally, a “normal” pressure measures about 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or lower. The top number (your systolic pressure) relates to the force with which the blood leaves the heart, and the bottom number (your diastolic pressure) registers the pressure on the vessels as the heart relaxes between beats.

“If you have normal blood pressure, it tells us that the blood vessels are very flexible. And when your blood vessels are flexible, they are less vul-nerable to the buildup of plaque or cholesterol in the arteries,” says Nieca Goldberg, MD, the medical director of New York University’s Women’s Heart Program. In one out of three people, however, the number on the sphygmoma-nometer (the cuff used to measure blood pressure) inches above the 140/90 mm Hg mark—into territory known as high blood pressure, or hyper-tension. Unfortunately, people generally cannot feel the difference between 120/80 and 140/90, so many are unaware that they have high blood pressure. Women need to be especially vigilant about early detection and treatment. “Women are more sus-ceptible to organ damage from mildly elevated blood pressure,” Dr. Goldberg says. If your num-bers start inching above 120/80, don’t wait until you have full-blown hypertension to make the changes necessary to bring those numbers down. Prehypertension, which is defined as between 120/80 and 140/90, responds very well to diet and lifestyle changes.

While these risk factors deliver clues as to who might develop hypertension, no one is immune from risk. The American Heart Association reports that in as many as 95 percent of cases of high blood pressure, the cause is unknown. How Can High Blood Pressure Be Lowered? High blood pressure is not curable, but it can respond very well to treatment. Dietary changes—such as switching to a low-salt diet, watching your portion sizes, and avoiding processed and fast

foods—can help, as can exercise and weight loss. The DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) diet, a favorite of Goldberg’s that was developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, is a low-fat, low-salt diet that is rich in fruits and vege-tables and is designed to help bring blood pressure numbers down. When dietary changes are not enough, medications may help. Diuretics help rid the body of excess

fluids and sodium. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and AT2 receptor antagonists expand the blood vessels and decrease their resistance, thus saving them from damage. Beta-blockers lower blood pressure by decreasing the heart rate and cardiac output. Being diagnosed with hypertension can be scary, but on the positive side, it can be treated very effectively. With proper lifestyle changes and prescribed medications, it’s possible to get your numbers back into the normal range. In doing so, you’ll put less stress on your blood vessels, which in turn can lead to less mental stress. And that may go a long way toward helping you become the healthiest you can be.

Information courtesy of everydayhealth.com

The Wellness Clinic is held every Friday at 1:00 p.m. in the Wellness Office on the first floor.

–Nicole Young R.N., CDP

Welcome New ResidentsDiane ClarePeg EllwoodCharles ElwoodGloria LyonsLeah Tooker

Welcome New EmployeesJayne Severens, Activity Assistant

Samantha Lacasse, Activity AssistantRebecca Levensailor, Resident Assistant

Lyndsay Gabriel, Resident AssistantSharon LeBlanc, Resident Assistant

Ana Corsani, Resident AssistantJocelyn Wright, Dining Room Server

studies are constantly being done with chocolate (and why not?), studies in the past (e.g., Netherlands, 2006, Harvard, 2003) have shown two significant additional positives. In these test studies, the people who consumed cocoa regularly; had lower blood pressure than those that did not, were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, and had better peripheral blood flow. Why eat dark chocolate? Dark chocolate has the potential to have the largest quantity of cocoa solids—at least to 70%. This means that 70% of the chocolate is from the cocoa bean and less from added sugars, oils and perhaps other fillers. Thus, the antioxidants in the dark chocolate surpasses pecans (14% less) and red wine (25% less).

History of ChocolateThe origin of the cacao (pron. Ca-cow) tree is in dispute. Some say it originated in the Amazon basin of Brazil; others say it is native to Central Amer-ica. We do know that during his conquest of Mexico, Hernando Cortez, the great Spanish explorer, came upon the Aztec Indians using cocoa beans to prepare their royal drink which they called “chocolatl”

(meaning warm liquid). Excited about this new product, Cortez took some beans back with him to Spain. With some added cane sugar, the chocolate drink became very popular, especially among the Spanish aristocracy. Spain wisely started to plant cacao trees themselves which developed into a very profitable business. Remarkably, the Spaniards succeeded in keeping the art of the cocoa industry a secret from the rest of Europe for nearly a hundred years. Spanish monks, who had been involved with the pro-cessing of the cocoa beans, leaked the secret out finally and soon Europe started to develop their own cacao bean industry. Throughout Europe, the delicious choco-late drink became hailed as a health-giving food. In 1657, chocolate drinking houses started to open up, but mainly served only the rich, since the cost to make chocolate was still very expensive. As inventors created machinery, and thus eliminated the need for grinding the chocolate by hand, the manufacturing process became more efficient, thus less expensive, and produced an even better tasting

chocolate. By 1828, the great taste of chocolate expanded to a wider audience although it wasn’t until 1847 that the first “candy bar” was invented, and 1876 when the milk chocolate was first invented.

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Hear what people are saying about Deb.

Deb McGuire Activity Assistant

Deb makes the residents feel loved and makes them laugh. She always goes above and

beyond to keep the residents entertained. She is willing to cover for others and knows the importance

of safety and sanitation as well as entertainment for every-one. What separates her from others is her high spirits. I never

see her upset. She is upbeat and puts 100 percent into her position.

Employee of the Month