Miramichi Lodge is an accredited Long Term Care Home that provides a high standard of resident-focused care.

With the support of dedicated staff, volunteers and community partners, our knowledgeable team promotes enhanced lifestyle

opportunities through a variety of specialized programs and unique services.

Miramichi Lodge Miramichi Lodge Values Their Volunteers

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Page 1 Miramichi Lodge values

their Volunteers,

Communication with Families &

Friends of our Residents

Page 2 Message from the Ad-

ministrator & Foundation Update,

Page 3 Minister of State visits

Miramichi Lodge,

Expo 150 Presentation

Page 4 Miramichi Lodge Gala

Sponsors & Donors

Page 5 Spotlight on…

Page 6 Recent Events and News-

letter Sponsors

Miramichi Lodge Volunteers were invited to at-

tend the annual appreciation dinner in the

Home’s Community Centre, held April 25, 2012

in conjunction with National Volunteers Week.

Over a hundred dedicated volunteers were cele-

brated with words of appreciation from Adminis-

trator Shelley Sheedy, Warden Bob Sweet,

Mayor Janice Visneskie, Chair Health Commit-

tee, and Mr. Jim Hutton, Chief Administrative

Officer, County of Renfrew. This year we wel-

comed our new neighbours, Algonquin College!

Karen Davies, Dean and Jamie Bramburger,

Manager of Student Affairs, who provided the

Lodge volunteers with an overview of the new

campus and programs as well as an up-to-date

video of the construction of what will be a most

beautiful new building. Thank you to each and

every one of our dedicated volunteers who truly

do make a difference in our residents’ lives.

June 2012

Pictured in back row are: Warden Bob Sweet, Administrator Shelley Sheedy, Health Committee

Chair Janice Visneskie and Renfrew County CAO Jim Hutton.

In the front row are: Volunteers Joan Anderson, Darlene Liedtke, Brian Wilson and Karen Stewart.

In order to promote effective communication with families of our

residents, Miramichi Lodge has recently created a Facebook busi-

ness page. This means that families and friends of our residents

have another option to stay updated on activities and news con-

cerning the Lodge. We believe this will be a useful adjunct to the

current methods of regular communication which include monthly

mail outs to substitute decision makers, newsletters, the electronic

sign and monitor, general information sessions and so on. For the

latest news on resident activities and the Lodge in general, check

us out regularly at:

Miramichi Lodge Promotional Video

Thanks to Bruce McIntyre, County of Renfrew Media Relations

Coordinator, we now have a promotional video on Miramichi

Lodge. This video will provide useful information for prospective

residents/families, as well as aid in recruitment of staff and volun-

teers. You can find it at:

Communication with Families and Friends of Our Residents

Facebook.com/ML.LTCH

Miramichi Lodge June 2012

Welcome to our new Residents: Godrey

Gravelle, Leona Gravelle, Allan Pryatt,

Eleanora Thomas, Helen White &

Geraldine Wyise.

Staff: Beth Alexander - RN, Lee Anne

Baldini - RPN, Kealie Brennan - PSW,

Karen Fowler - RN, Carolyn Fox - RPN,

Sadie Grahl - PSW, Lindsay Sheppard -

Food Service Worker & Tara Theriault -

PSW.

A difficult but necessary topic to talk about

- resident abuse in long-term care homes.

As you may know, the Minister of Health

and Long-Term Care established a Task

Force in November 2011 in response to

media reports of incidents of abuse and

neglect in long term care homes as well as

the underreporting of these incidents. This

task force included broad representation

from across the long term care sector, in-

cluding family and resident councils,

nurses, physicians, unions, personal sup-

port workers, long term care provider asso-

ciations and advocates. Their focus was to

develop an action plan that examined and

addressed the factors contributing to inci-

dents of abuse or neglect in long term care

homes. The task force conducted a compre-

hensive consultation process to obtain in-

put from interested parties throughout the

long term care sector. It received close to

2,000 surveys and submissions, and had

input from over 40 industry and subject

matter experts. The full report is available

at: http://longtermcaretaskforce.ca/images/

uploads/LTCFTReportEnglish.pdf and the

Executive Summary is available at: http://

longtermcaretaskforce.ca/images/uploads/

LTCFTExecSummaryEnglish.pdf.

What is Miramichi Lodge doing? We en-

couraged residents, families and staff to

provide feedback to the task force by par-

ticipating in the survey. We have a com-

prehensive “Prevention of Abuse and Ne-

glect” policy which all new staff are edu-

cated on during the orientation program

and is reviewed annually with current staff.

All reported incidents are investigated and

appropriate actions taken. The management

team analyzes the Abuse Prevention pro-

gram annually with an eye to continuous

quality improvement. But, we know we

can always do more to reduce the risk of

abuse and/or neglect in our Home. We are

committed to providing high quality care to

residents and therefore support the work of

the task force to identify actions to improve

the care and safety of residents at

Miramichi Lodge. We will be meeting

with our Resident and Family Councils and

staff to discuss priorities and next steps.

Perhaps this is a good time for you to get

involved with the Family Council? The

next meeting, to discuss this issue, will be:

Please contact Wayne or Debby to find out

more information on our Family Council:

Wayne Blaedow: 613 735-1665 or

blaedoww@hotmail.com

Debby Schryer: 613 825-6204 or

deborah.schryer@gmail.com

Wishing you a happy and safe summer.

Shelley Sheedy

Administrator

Message from the Administrator

Foundation Update There is never a dull moment in the Foundation office.

First I am thrilled to announce the success of the 2012

Gala – Good Vibrations. The committee (Isabelle Rouger-

Harrington, Dolores Armstrong, Anne Beech, Laurie

Courchesne-Dooley, Marilyn Craig, Jane Haley, Ann

Jack and Theresa Sabourin) did an outstanding job setting

the sense for a flash back in time to the 60’s. The generos-

ity of our sponsors and donors (see the insert for names

and business and please support them when you can) was

again overwhelming. Add to that the support of our guests

and our successful evening saw over $40,000 raised.

The Foundation has successfully obtained a New Hori-

zons Grant. The program they will embark on is designed

to promote social interaction between the residents of the

Lodge and the community. Working with the staff and

various community groups and organizations, the program

will bring in seniors with no access to transportation as

well as school aged children to visit and socialize with our

residents. If anyone is interested in sitting on this planning

committee, please contact me at the Lodge.

The Foundation will continue in their efforts to enhance life for the

residents of Miramichi Lodge. We welcome new members to the

Foundation board or any of our sub committees (Gala, Paddlequest,

Bingo).

Donna Cotnam

Community Relations Coordinator

We are currently recruiting for volunteers

to augment our Literacy Program: Would

you like to help our residents to become or

remain tech-savvy? Highly rewarding, this

program requires volunteers who enjoy

working with seniors. We greatly need

your support, skills and talent in assisting

our residents to search the internet, send an

email, write a letter or create a greeting

card. For more information, contact Nancy

at 613 735-4693 Ext. 122.

Pictured above is one of the many groups of guests at the 2012 Miramichi

Lodge Gala ``Good Vibrations`` . They have supported the event since the

first one held in 2004.

Miramichi Lodge

Family Council Meeting

Mon. June 25, 2012 at 1:30 pm

Miramichi Lodge June 2012

The Miramichi Lodge Foundation recently

hosted the Honourable Alice Wong, Minis-

ter of State (Seniors), as the guest of honour

as part of the launch of a new intergenera-

tional program funded by the New Horizons

For Seniors Program.

Sherry Crone, Chair of the Miramichi Lodge

Foundation, was excited about the launch of

the new Intergenerational Program. "One of

the goals of our Foundation is to help the

residents of the Lodge enjoy a number of

activities that enriches their lives. This new

program not only assists some of the most

vulnerable in our society, but it allows the

volunteers of our Foundation to partner with

our residents and local school children to

provide healthy snacks and activities to the

program participants."

In attendance was Cheryl Gallant, MP for

Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, who stated

"seniors know that when it comes to federal

government programs, it is important to

have an effective voice in government. I am

here for seniors and all the people of this

great Riding, getting the job done." Mayor

Janice Visneskie, who is the Chair of the

County of Renfrew Health Committee, was

also on hand to welcome the Minister and

other special guests. “This is a great honour

for the Miramichi Lodge Foundation and the

staff and volunteers who deliver quality ser-

vice to our residents. We are grateful that

the Minister has found time in her busy

schedule to come and meet the individuals

who will be delivering this new program.

This partnership between the Federal Gov-

ernment and Miramichi Lodge will help

many vulnerable members of our society”

The Miramichi Lodge Foundation, in part-

nership with Miramichi Lodge, will be de-

livering a new and incremental collaborative

program that will involve the inclusion of

seniors and persons with disabilities in this

rural community. The bi-weekly program

will involve serving healthy snacks for sen-

iors and shut-ins, various entertainment pro-

gramming, and programming aimed at re-

ducing isolation and developing partnerships

with local community organizations. As

well, the program will incorporate intergen-

erational programming by partnering with

local schools to have children's participa-

tion. The goal is to facilitate meaningful

relationships amongst seniors to reduce iso-

lation/loneliness in the community and en-

hance the quality of life for our residents as

well as perhaps delaying admission to LTC/

other services for community clients. Spe-

cial thanks to Donna Cotnam, Community

Relations Coordinator and Bruce McIntyre,

County of Renfrew Media Relations Grants

Coordinator for their work on the successful

grant submission.

Minister Of State Visits Miramichi Lodge

The EXPO 150 Executive Committee recently made a

donation of $12,500 from their surplus funds to the

Miramichi Lodge Foundation. Shelley Sheedy, Admin-

istrator, thanked EXPO 150, stating the funds will be

used to furnish and decorate the two respite/short-stay

rooms. Mrs. Sheedy noted that long-term care resi-

dents moving into the Lodge are encouraged to bring

in furnishings from their previous residence; respite

clients only stay for a short time, sometimes less than a

week, so it is often not feasible for them or their fami-

lies to move furniture for such a short term. “The need

to make these two rooms as home-like as the long-term

care rooms has been on our wish list for some time and

will be enjoyed by residents now and for years to

come.”

EXPO 150 Donation

Pictured in the front row left to right are: Sherry Crone ML Foundation Chair, Cheryl

Gallant MP, Minister Wong, Warden Bob Sweet and Mayor Janice Visneskie, Chair

Health Committee.

In the back row left to right are: Mary Arsneau, ML Foundation Board member, Shelley

Sheedy, ML Administrator, 4 representatives of Pembroke Masonic Lodge No. 128 , Marc

Porier and Marilyn Craig, ML Foundation members.

Expo 150 Executive Committee members Guy Jamieson, Warden Bob Sweet

and Fred Blackstein present $12,500 donation to Shelley Sheedy, Miramichi

Lodge Administrator.

Miramichi Lodge June 2012

SPONSORS

Gerry Binhammer

C. A. Reiche & Sons Ltd

Heritage Manor

Carole Devine & Joseph Conway

(Remax Pembroke & Conway’s Pharmacy)

Dawn & John Turner

(Midas Auto Service)

Tannis Food

Pembroke Animal Hospital

Northern Credit Union

Centric Health

Ullrich’s On Main

Mike Yolkowski

Donors

Alice Anderson – Gemologist & Silversmith

AAA Limo

Algoma Central Railway/CN

Dorothy AllEMANG

AMC – Kanata

Atomic Energy of Canada

BATON ROUGE

Best Western Fitness Centre & Sandra Lesco

PETER BOCZAR

Bonnechere Caves - Chris Hinsperger

Brewers’ Edge

Brose Leather Goods

Canadian Tire Pembroke (Anne & Dennis Beech)

The Candlewick Gift Shop

Carpet Barn

Catalina Motel - Sault Ste Marie

Century 21 – Gloria, Michael & Bart Neville

The Cranberry Golf Resort

Sheila Cosentino

Brodie Cotnam

Couples Resort & Algonquin Spa

Dr. Patrick & Laurie Courchesne-Dooley

Tony Donnelly – Royal Lepage

Dragonfly Golf Course

Eganville Leader

Escapade - Eskimo

Fifth Avenue Collection – Gwen Greenstock

Furniture King

Giant Tiger

Gliss Restaurant – Sault Ste Marie

The Hen House

Hidden in the Mews

The House by the Side of the Road B&B

Integrated Health Centre

The Island Brae Golf Club

Alan Jeffs

Kelsey’s Restaurant

Lavalee Centre

Lookout Point Country Club

Marilyn Craig

David and Syndi McDougall

Gord McMillan

Mid-Town Cleaners

Miramichi Lodge

Moncion – Riverside Market

The National Art Centre

The Nook Crêperie

The Oaks of Cobden

OK Tire & Auto Service

The Old lilac garden

O’Reilly’s Treasures

Ottawa Valley Physio & Sports Medicine

Our Stone Cottage Prescott B & B

Michael Parent

The Pembroke Golf Club

Petawawa Physio/Sports Injury Clinic

Pure Life Adventures

Quality Inn & Suites

Red Bargain Barn

The Red George Pub

Roanoke Golf Club (Corry & Ed Chow)

Theresa Sabourin and Dale Slater

Sands on Golden Lake Inn & Resort

Sandstone Imports

Laurie Serran

Shanty House Restaurant

Smitty’s Home Hardware

Sunset Nursery/Garden Centre/Greenhouse

St Lawrence Shakespeare Festival

Upper Canada Village

Tanglewood Honey

Thai Gardens

Tip Top Trimming (Blake Simpson)

Gerald Tracey

Valley Goldsmith

VIA Rail Canada

Victoria Rose Tea Room

WAL-MART

Westwinds Restaurant

Whitetail Golf Club

Wilno Craft Gallery

Wilderness Tours

White Water Premium Candle Company

Miramichi Lodge 2012 Gala Sponsors & Donors

Marion was born and

raised on the family

farm outside the Vil-

lage of Golden Lake.

She was the only

child of Alex and

M i l d r e d G a h r .

Marion attended a

one-room school

house from grades 1 to 8 and still keeps in

touch with several school friends. She con-

tinued her education at Pembroke Colle-

giate, followed by Pembroke Business Col-

lege. After the family farm was sold,

Marion moved to the Pembroke area, where

she lives now. Marion is married and has

four children, now all married, and enjoys

her nine grandchildren and three great

grandchildren!

Following school, Marion’s first job was at

the Department of National Defense in Ot-

tawa and then Camp Petawawa. She also

worked for the Ministry of National Re-

sources and Woolworth’s department store.

Marion loves to travel, bake, garden, eat out

with friends, reading and volunteering. She

is also an avid walker and sports enthusiast.

In addition to volunteering in the Gift Shop

and for the Auxiliary Tulip Tea held at

Miramichi Lodge, Marion also volunteers at

the Germania Club. Marion says what she

enjoys most about volunteering at the

Lodge is chatting with the residents and

helping them find items in the Gift Shop.

Miramichi Lodge is so glad Marion finds

the time to volunteer at the Lodge - there is

no doubt the residents enjoy the time

Marion spends with them! Thank you

Marion.

With a workforce of over 200 people, there

are both happy and sad life events regularly

occurring amongst our personnel. Typically

co-workers will collect funds to recognize,

for example, a wedding, a new baby, as well

as a death in an employee’s family. How-

ever, it is easy to miss someone and difficult

to ensure a sense of equality in terms of the

amount of funds collected to purchase a gift

or remembrance. The Miramichi Lodge

Staff Association (MLSA) was started more

than thirty years ago as a way to ensure im-

portant events in staffs’ lives were recog-

nized equitably by their co-workers and to

reduce the weekly if not daily collection of

money amongst staff. All employees are

invited to join the MLSA. If an employee

volunteers to join, a small deduction is taken

off of his/her’s biweekly pay which goes to

the MLSA. The Staff Association then uses

these funds to not only recognize the signifi-

cant events in employees’ lives, but to also

organize a number of social activities for

the staff. For example, the popular MLSA

Christmas party, regular potluck lunches,

golf tournaments, sleigh rides and so on

which all help to maintain positive staff mo-

rale.

The Executive of the Miramichi Lodge Staff

Association are volunteers and are represen-

tative of the various departments and types

of workers that are employed at the Lodge.

Currently, the Executive includes Sonya

Howard, Mark Kranz, Jean Bird and Marcie

Beauchamp, pictured above in the back row

from left to right, Angela Yahnke and Kim

Barr in the front from left to right. Missing

from the picture is Clorissa Gutoskie. The

MLSA is very proud of the fact that the As-

sociation is open to all employees at the

Lodge including unionized and non-

unionized staff as well as managers. But

perhaps what the Association is most proud

of is when they fundraise for those less for-

tunate than us. For example, following the

earthquake in Haiti several years ago, the

MLSA challenged Marionhill staff to raise

funds for Red Cross; Miramichi Lodge staff

contributed over $1,000, with the real win-

ner being the people in Haiti.

Continued in next column

Miramichi Lodge June 2012 Spotlight on...

Erna “Silke” was born

on January 14, 1919 in

Pembroke. She was the

youngest in the family,

having 2 sisters and 3

brothers. Unfortu-

nately, she is the last

surviving family mem-

ber. Erna recalls her

own mother being a fabulous teacher and

always having the utmost patience with the

children. Erna attended school up to Grade

8 in Black Bay; the old log schoolhouse has

now been restored as part of Petawawa’s

Heritage Village. Erna’s faith has always

been strong and she was taught that Sun-

days were reserved exclusively for God; she

loved to sew and actually hid in the pantry

to sew on Sundays, where she knew she

wouldn’t get caught!

Neighbors were all friends in those days

and it was common to have get togethers

and dances at each others’ homes. One

evening, Erna’s driver had a flat tire so she

had to stay back and wait until the tire was

fixed. It was then that she met and fell in

love with Lloyd Rowe; he was always well-

dressed and had the most captivating eyes.

Lloyd asked her to dance…and the rest is

history! The two were married on Novem-

ber 16, 1936 when she was seventeen.

They lived on Mackay St. in Pembroke for

many years and then in Petawawa and later

in Westmeath. Together they had two chil-

dren: Gerald and Betty Ann. Erna also has

6 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

She has always loved being a mother and

fondly remembers how she learned to skate

with her own children. Lloyd had many

jobs over the years, from sawmill and sales

work right up to Prudential Insurance.

Lloyd was a good dancer and also played

the fiddle very well. Erna spent most of her

years looking after the home and family.

She was an excellent seamstress and en-

joyed knitting, crocheting, and crafts of any

kind. The family enjoyed many camping

trips, travelling to Florida and other States

with the insurance company. Sadly, Lloyd

passed away in 1987.

Erna has always enjoyed having dogs for

pets, even from when she was a child.

Erna moved in to Miramichi Lodge in No-

vember 2009. She loves to read magazines

and newspapers and keep in touch with

family. She has always been a people per-

son and enjoys staying connected with oth-

ers. Erna has many wise tidbits from her

life experiences to share and is proud of all

she has accomplished over the past 93.5

years.

Resident - Erna Rowe Volunteer - Marion Remus Employees - MLSA

Continued from previous column

The Executive say that they have fond

memories of the many staff that have

worked at the Lodge over the last 43 years

and are happy to serve our great employees.

There is no doubt that the caring nature of

the Miramichi Lodge Staff Association Ex-

ecutive contributes to the friendly and fam-

ily-oriented environment at the Lodge. On

behalf of all the staff at Miramichi Lodge,

both past and present, we say ‘thank you’ to

the Miramichi Lodge Staff Association for-

taking the time to celebrate the good times

and helping us to take care of each other

during challenging times, so that we can

take the best care of our residents.

Miramichi Lodge would like to thank the following sponsors:

615 Pembroke St. E.

For all your Homecare Needs

Miramichi Lodge June 2012

Miramichi Lodge

725 Pembroke St. West

Pembroke, ON. K8A 8S6

Tel: (613) 735-0175

Fax: (613) 735-8061

E-Mail:

kfabian@countyofrenfrew.on.ca

Administrator:

Shelley Sheedy

Auxiliary President:

Alix Delahaye

Foundation Chair:

Sherry Crone

For questions or comments, please

write to the address above or

phone, fax or e-mail

The Miramichi Lodge

Newsletter is published quarterly by

Miramichi Lodge to keep the com-

munity informed of the activities

of our Long Term Care Home.

Layout by:

Volunteer Herb Gangl

Family Council:

The purpose of the Family Coun-

cil is to give families /friends a

voice in decisions in our Home.

Please contact Wayne Blaedow

at: blaedoww@hotmail.com

613 735-1665

or Debby Schryer

at: deborah.schryer@gmail.com

613-825-6204

if you are interested in joining the

Family Council.

613 723-4396

Recent Events

Drews Security Ltd. Burglar Alarms - Locks - Safes - Door Hardware - Surveillance Cameras -

Automatic Openers - Handicapped Access - Security Equipment

630 Boundary Rd. Pembroke, ON K8A 6M8,

E-Mail: drews_security@sympatico.ca

Tel: 613-732-8161 - Fax: 613-732-7062

The Ladies Auxiliary hosted another successful Tulip Tea on May

8th. In the above photo is Georgina Kuehl pouring tea for Auxiliary

member Janet Campbell.

The Spring Family and Friends Candlelight Dinner was well at-

tended again this year on May 10th.

Pictured above is resident Terersa Kruger and family members

from the left are Thomas, Colleen and Danielle Moncion.

Spring brought new short-term residents to

the Lodge. Above is one of the robin’s nests

that staff and residents kept a close eye on.

The Health Arts Society of Ontario provided an-

other enjoyable concert in June. Pictured above

are performers Kirsten and Margaret Waymann.