MONTGOMERY MESSENGER DR. KING: JANUARY REMEMBRANCES T he month of January presents us with two anniversaries of special importance for remembering and celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: January 18, marking his birth 87 years ago, in 1929; and January 7, the 50th anniversary of King’s opening his campaign for fair housing in Chicago. Martin Luther King Day: January 18 On November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill to create a federal holiday honoring Dr. King. The holiday was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986, and was celebrated in all 50 states for the first time in 2000. Dr. King’s birth date is January 15, but the holiday is designated for the third Monday of the month. King was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African- American civil rights movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. At the 1963 March on Washington, he delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history. After receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, King expanded his work against poverty and the Vietnam War. In 1968, he was planning a national occupation of Washington, DC, the Poor People’s Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. King in Chicago On January 7, 1966, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference announced plans for the Chicago Freedom Movement, to expand their activities from the South to northern cities. He and his family moved into a building in North Lawndale, on Chicago’s West Side, just 13 miles northwest of where Montgomery Place now stands. He launched a drive for open housing and school reforms, and worked on other issues pertaining to segregation. In Chicago, King and his coworkers organized marches and rallies—including a July event in Soldier Field. By late July the Chicago Freedom Movement was staging regular rallies outside real estate offices and marches into all-white The Newsletter of the Residents of Montgomery Place Retirement Community 5550 South Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 60637 January 2016,Vol. 26, No. 1 http://www.montgomeryplace.org/category/news/messenger/ continued on p. 2
Transcript
MONTGOMERY MESSENGER
DR. KING: JANUARY REMEMBRANCES
T he month of January presents us with two anniversaries of special importance for
remembering and celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: January 18, marking his birth 87 years ago, in 1929; and January 7, the 50th anniversary of King’s opening his campaign for fair housing in Chicago.
Martin Luther King Day: January 18
On November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill to create a federal holiday honoring Dr. King. The holiday was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986, and was celebrated in all 50 states for the first time in 2000. Dr. King’s birth date is January 15, but the holiday is designated for the third Monday of the month. King was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American civil rights movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. At the 1963 March on Washington, he delivered his famous
“I have a dream” speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history. After receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, King expanded his work against poverty and the Vietnam War. In 1968, he was planning a national occupation of Washington, DC, the Poor People’s Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. King in Chicago On January 7, 1966, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference announced plans for the Chicago Freedom Movement, to expand their activities from the South to northern cities. He and his family moved into a building in North Lawndale, on Chicago’s West Side, just 13 miles northwest of where Montgomery Place now stands. He launched a drive for open housing and school reforms, and worked on other issues pertaining to segregation. In Chicago, King and his coworkers organized marches and rallies—including a July event in Soldier Field. By late July the Chicago Freedom Movement was staging regular rallies outside real estate offices and marches into all-white
The Newsletter of the Residents of Montgomery Place Retirement Community
5550 South Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 60637 January 2016,Vol. 26, No. 1
neighborhoods on the city’s southwest and northwest sides. Some current residents of Montgomery Place were among those marchers. Dr. King said that even in Alabama and Mississippi he had not encountered mobs as hostile to blacks’ civil rights as those in Chicago. In August 1966, Mayor Richard J. Daley agreed to negotiate reforms, which included a landmark ordinance prescribing open and affordable housing. In the months afterward, the city reneged on many of its agreements. The housing issues, for example, are as hotly contested today as they were in King’s time. While he was here, King gave his famous “Streetsweeper” oration: “If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.”
Phil Hefner
FROM THE CHAPLAIN
W e have a new year starting! A not-so-recent report in the Journal of Clinical
Psychology noted that about 45 per cent of people in the United States make New Year’s resolut ions, d e s p i t e p r i o r y e a r s ’ e v i d e n c e t h a t t h e resolutions often are not maintained. For the last few years, I have mostly avoided making them, but the alluring idea of a f r e s h s t a r t a n d t h e optimism of a clean new calendar year ahead does tempt me each and every January. Perhaps making communal resolutions would be a better approach and would come with the support, group energy, and yes, peer pressure, to garner greater success. What would you suggest as New Year’s resolutions for our community here at Montgomery Place? Before we completely turn our backs on 2015, I should mention that Christmas is still “on” until January 6. In terms of the Christian liturgical calendar, Christmas starts on December 25 and continues for 12 days. The Feast of the Epiphany on January 6 turns the liturgical calendar, and in some countries is the date on which gifts are exchanged. This means if you have not sent Christmas cards, there is still a bit of time left! On Monday, January 18 at 11 a.m. we will have our annual celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday with a special community service in the East Room. The focus this year will be the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s work with the Chicago Freedom Movement for open housing and desegregated schools. Please join us to honor Dr. King and to remember his work in our city. May 2016 bring peace and blessings to all!
Chaplain Julianne Buenting
BEST EVER HOLIDAY FUND
T he 2015 Holiday Fund netted more than $77,000 . . . the all-time best
total in the history of the Holiday Fund! Checks were distributed to 100 hourly wage employees on December 11, 2015, at the employees’ holiday party. Thanks and congratulations to the many residents who contributed so generously, and to the employees who inspired that generosity!
Paula Givan, Treasurer, Residents’ Association
JANUARY 2016 page 3
OUT AND ABOUT
Editor: Evi Levin
Contributors: Bernice Auslander, Dottie Barron,
Laurieann Chutis, Alex Elwyn, Carma Forgie, Paula
Givan, Phil Hefner, Joyce Turner Hilkevitch, Kyoko
Inoue, Edgar Krentz, Gerry Martin, Muriel Rogers,
Dorothy Scheff, Marilyn Weigensberg, Chuck West,
Barbara Wilson, Anne Zeidman
Staff Contributors: Chaplain Julianne Buenting
Artwork: Nate Kalichman
Layout: Carolyn Allen
Proofreader: Phil Hefner
Calendars: Carma Forgie, Barbara Wilson
Editor Next Month: Barbara Wilson
CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE
continued on p. 4
exhibits, first, Expressionist Impulses, the ebb and flow of key expressionist tendencies in Germany and Central European art; and second, Rose’s Inclination, a site-specific installation by Jessica Stockholder that intersects the lobby with a wave of color and texture. Free. ♦ Friday, January 8, at 12:30 p.m. the bus will go to the CSO Series A concert with Johnathan Nott conducting Brahms, Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80, Haydn Cello Concerto in C Major with cellist Johannes Moser, and Strauss, Ein Heldenleben. Tickets required. ♦ Sunday, January 10, at 2:15 p.m. the bus will be going to the South Shore Music Center for Pro Musica and a survey of works of contemporary composers: Debussy, trans. Webster; Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun , Moararet Bond Instruments of Revelation and Frescoes and Ash, Shostakovich, arr. Atovmyan Four Waltzes, and Bartók Contrasts. Tickets required. ♦ Thursday, January 14, at 7 p.m. the bus will go to the Court Theater for Satchmo at the Waldorf. It’s 1971, Louis Armstrong, world’s greatest trumpeter, having just finished a concert at the Empire Room of the Waldorf and nearing the end of his incredibly successful career, retires backstage and begins to reminisce about his life, revealing an intimate, unknown portrait of the man behind the trumpet, and the ever-evolving struggle to live with dignity as a black musician in a white world. Tickets required. ♦ Friday, January 15, at 11:15 a.m. the bus will go for lunch at La Petite Folie, our wonderful French restaurant on 55th Street. ♦ Saturday, January 16, at 11 a.m. the bus leaves for the Met Live in HD and Les Pecheurs de Perles, Bizet’s gorgeous opera of lust and longing set in the Far East. Soprano Diana Damrau stars as Leïla, the beautiful Hindu priestess pursued by rival pearl divers. Her suitors are tenor Matthew Polenzani and baritone Mariusz
W hatever the weather, we’ll be out and about on the Raspberry Bus for many trips
in January. Times listed are the departure times of the bus from Montgomery Place. “Tickets required” means you are responsible for obtaining your own ticket. See Concierge Dino if you need help getting tickets. ♦ Sunday, January 3, at 2:30 p.m. the bus will be going to Remy Bumppo for Fallen Angels. Before Julia and Jane married their comfortable husbands, there was Maurice. An elegant Frenchman and youthful indiscretion for them both, he has written to announce his impending return. Their blissfully ignorant husbands embark on a weekend of golf, leaving the door open to revelry and rivalry. Noël Coward’s celebrated wit sparkles in this risqué stylish sex farce of the Roaring Twenties. Tickets required. ♦ Tuesday, January 5, at 11:50 a.m. the bus will be going to the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago for an organ concert. Free. ♦ Wednesday, January 6, at 1 p.m. the bus will go to the Smart Museum of Art for two
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Q & A Kwiecien, who sing the lilting duet “Au fond du temple saint,” which opera fans know and adore. Tickets required. ♦ Sunday, January 17, at 2 p.m. the bus will go to Logan Center for the Pacifica Quartet and Schnittke: string Quartet No. 3; Shostakovich: Quartet No. 13 in B-flat minor, Op. 138; and Mendelssohn: Quartet in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2. Tickets required. ♦ Wednesday, January 20, at 1 p.m. the bus will go to a meeting of the U of C Service League. Joanne Dill, director of McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum, will talk about the Chicago River: Past and Future. Free. ♦ Friday, January 22, at 7 p.m. the bus will go to Mandel Hall for the Musicians from Marlboro with Anthony McGill, clarinetist, and Beethoven: String Trio in C minor, Op. 9, No. 3, Penderecki: Clarinet Quartet, and Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115. Tickets required. ♦ Wednesday, January 27, at 11 a.m. the bus will take us on the Loop trip, stopping coming and going at the Cultural Center and Water Tower Place. Free. ♦ Saturday, January 30, at 11 a.m. the bus will go to the Met Live in HD to see Turandot with Nina Stemme in the title role of the proud princess of ancient China, whose riddles doom every suitor who seeks her hand, opposite Marco Berti as Calàf, the brave prince who sings “Nessun dorma.” Tickets required.
Carma Forgie
Out and About from p. 3
Residents are invited to submit questions for this
column to Box 704 of the in-house mailboxes
Q: What is that piece of plastic high up
on my apartment door outer frame?
A: The plastic tag on your apartment door outer frame is a device to aid the security staff in checking the wellbeing of residents. Around 2 a.m. every night, a security staff person makes the rounds of al l the Independent Living floors and apartments to put each tag in an upright position leaning against the door. The next morning when the resident’s door is opened, the tag will fall down into its normal position. Between 11 and 11:30 a.m., another security person makes rounds of all floors and all apartments to see that all the plastic tags are in a down position. If a tag is still up, security will knock on the door to be certain that the resident is all right. If there is no answer, security will enter the apartment to see if the resident has fallen or needs assistance. You will notice a dot on the tag. There is a dot for each resident of the apartment. If the dot is green, it means the resident is able to evacuate in case of an emergency. If the dot is red, it means that that resident will need staff assistance should an evacuation become necessary. When you open your door in the morning, you should hear or see the tag falling down. In the event that the tag is not working properly, you should immediately noti fy Zesmond Woodard, Securi ty Director, at 4595.
Barbara Wilson
JANUARY 2016 page 5
NEW ARRIVALS
continued on p. 6
Anne Cifu moved into apartment 907 (phone 4346) on October 30, 2015. She was born and raised in Brooklyn and moved to Manhattan when she married Robert Cifu, a psychiatrist in private practice. She lived in Midtown and the East Side until she moved to Chicago earlier this year. Robert passed away several years ago. Anne attended Marymount College and then went to fashion school for a year. She immediately began her career as a writer, mostly in advertising. Her mother was a newspaper and magazine writer, and Anne feels she inherited her mother’s talent and inclination. After stints with various stores, including Macy’s and Bonwit Teller, she took a break when her son Adam was born. She returned to work at an agency, mostly writing TV commercials. She then worked for Estee Lauder, where she became the head of international advertising and an expert in skin care, for eleven years. Anne’s second career was with Bottomless Closet in New York, an organizat ion that helped
Laura and Alex Veliko moved into apartment 809/811 (phone 4596) on September 15, 2015. Laura was born in Detroit, Michigan; she is a graduate of the Gregg Business School. Her business career included working for General Motors/Delco at its Detroit headquarters. She attended the University of Michigan School of Public Health and worked in the Framingham, Massachusetts Public School Systems’ Guidance Department. Alex was born in Manhattan, New York and attended New York University’s School of Engineering until going into the Marines during the Korean conflict. After leaving the service, he continued his education in electrical engineering and mathematics at the University of Michigan and graduate work in these disciplines at MIT in Boston. Laura and Alex met in Detroit and married in 1959. Both come from parents born and raised in Albania. They raised two daughters who enjoy successful careers in administration and international affairs respectively. The family lived in Framingham, Massachusetts for 29 years, in Paris for three years, and in Vancouver, Washington for the past 22 years. Alex’s work as an electrical engineer took the family all over Western Europe, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. After retirement, Laura and Alex moved to Vancouver, Washington where they became very active in community affairs. This included involvement with the Evergreen school district, the Vancouver police (where Alex was advisor and chair of the Police Gang Task Force), the Fire Department in an advisory capacity, chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission, and in local and state politics. Their elder daughter Lydia works as an editor at the U of C Argonne Laboratories and lives in
Hyde Park; she introduced her parents to Montgomery Place. Her younger sister Cynthia works for the United Nations as a Human Rights advisor and is presently in the Philippines. She has worked for the United Nations in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Haiti, and Africa–wherever there is conflict. The Ve l ikos have j o ined a number o f Montgomery Place’s activities and are pleased with both our many activities and our proximity to cultural opportunities. Welcome!
Evi Levin
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New Arrivals from p. 5
ART WALK IN THE NEW YEAR
D o you have original décor? Beloved souvenirs? Antiques? Art objects? Share
them with your neighbors! Those who have enjoyed our previous Open House/Art Walks will be pleased to hear that the Art Committee has scheduled another round for February 17, 18, and 19, 2016.
We are giving you lots of notice to think about opening your apartment for a couple of hours on one or two of those days so that others can enjoy your treasures. A more formal request for hosts will be sent out by the middle of January. Join the fun!
Bernice Auslander, Art Committee
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS
T he League of Women Voters will meet on Thursday, January 28 at 1:30 p.m. in the
East Room. The new year will bring new challenges. National League recommends that we review and update our position on campaign finance which was adopted in 1974. Since then there have been many changes—new schemes and methods—to raise money and influence elections. Certain protections against corruption in our political process have been eroded. The Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court has drastically changed the laws to allow unlimited private spending in elections. The League has always fought for comprehensive finance reform and continues to look for ways to limit the size and type of contributions by special interest groups. Public financing for electoral candidates has been our goal. Come and help us understand the current situation and determine how we can shape a more democratic and fair method of campaign finance. Everyone is welcome!
Dorothy Scheff, Chair, League of Women Voters
MUSIC IN THE EAST ROOM
P lease join us for January music in the East Room on the following dates.
♦ Sunday, January 10, at 2 p.m. Dana Brown, pianist and Associate Professor of Opera and Vocal Coaching at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, in recital with soprano Rebecca Simone Schorsch. ♦ Sunday, January 17, at 2 p.m. University of Chicago piano and voice students in recital. ♦ Sunday, January 24, at 2 p.m. Amber Scherer, pianist, in recital.
Muriel Rogers, Chair, Music Committee
disadvantaged young women prepare for job interviews through coaching and giving them gently used good clothes. Son Adam Cifu is a physician and professor at the U of C medical school, and his wife Sarah Stein is a pediatric dermatologist. They have 13-year-old Ben and 10-year-old Amelia who walk to the Lab School. Anne had visited them in Hyde Park often, and when she had a stroke last July, Adam suggested she come to Chicago for rehab. After six weeks at the Healthcare Pavilion, she decided to move to Independent Living and stay. Anne is an aficionada of all things Italian, dance, and film. She likes technology and thinks she has it in her DNA. She and Robert had a country house 60 miles north of New York City where she did a lot of flower and vegetable gardening. She has joined the film committee and hopes to get into some other activities as her recovery continues. Welcome to Montgomery Place, Anne!
Paula Givan
JANUARY 2016 page 7
Moreover, if you do argue your case, others would not think badly of you. In Japan, I might well have found myself in a rather uncomfortable position if I had acted like an American. By the way, the new head that the majority chose turned out to be terrible, and my colleagues complained bitterly about him.
Kyoko Inoue
DIFFERENCES IN CONVERSATIONAL STYLE IN THE US AND JAPAN
I did not realize until I began to live in America that there were cultural differences in how people engage in conversations. Many Americans like to talk about themselves openly, so the listener has some ideas of who the speaker is at the end of the conversation. The Japanese generally do not talk about themselves. In a conversation between two people, the speaker tends to ask questions—where the other person was born, where she lives, where she works, etc. Thus, the Japanese listener, in contrast to an American listener, does not find out much about the speaker. Another related issue in conversation is the role of silence. Here, too, American and Japanese practices diverge markedly. For instance, a group of people is trying to choose a restaurant to go for lunch. Among Americans, if someone does not say anything, others would think that she would be satisfied with whatever restaurant the group chose. Silence is taken as an expression of tacit approval. In Japan, it is the opposite. When a person is quiet, people would often take that to mean she might not like the choice that the group is making. So they would ask if she has some hesitation about the restaurant. Finally, the Japanese tend to feel that expressing opposition is difficult because they are very sensitive to how they are viewed by others, especially those in their peer groups. For example, when my department was searching for a new head, several people expressed strong support for one candidate. For various reasons, I doubted that this candidate would be a good choice, and I thought I expressed my strong opposition. I hoped that people would listen to me, but they did not. I complained to Richard about it, and he told me that in America, if you don’t continue to present your case, others will assume that you are going along with the others.
PLAYREADERS
P lays from the 2008-2009 list of Best Short Plays of the Year will be on the Playreaders
program on Tuesday, January 12, at 7 p.m. in the East Room. A very irreverent look at the meaning of “church,” called House of the Holy Moment, will head up the program and one called A Second of Pleasure will finish the evening.
Anne Zeidman, Chair, Playreaders
JANUARY BIRTHDAYS
1/ 2 Bill Barron
1/2 Lois Watson
1/ 3 Hedy Turnbull
1/6 Bernie Bergmann
1/7 Paula Givan
1/12 Nate Kalichman
1/15 Delle Schwartz
1/19 Dorothy Gans
1/21 Anne Cifu
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NEW YORKER READERS
T he New Yorker Readers will meet on Saturday, January 16, at 2 p.m. in the LLLC. The article t o b e d i s c u s s e d , f r om t h e November 15, 2015 issue, is “The Gene Hackers,” by Michael Spe c to r . I t d e a l s w i t h n ew technologies that wi l l enable scientists to manipulate our DNA more easily than before. Bob Uretz will lead the discussion. If you need a copy, please call me at 4647.
Dorothy Scheff, Chair, New Yorker Readers
IT’S FREEZING! LET’S GO FOR A NICE WALK
M other Nature was kind to us early this winter, but rest assured she keeps some
nasty tricks up her sleeves involving ice and snow and bone-chilling temperatures. Which
makes this the perfect season for a relaxing walk. No, not
around Promontory Point, beautiful as that may be . J u s t t ake t he
elevator downstairs any Monday, Wednesday
or Friday morning, hop on our van at 8 a.m., and join us
for a 40-minute walk in climate-controlled comfort at the Museum of Science and Industry. You can circle the museum’s third floor at whatever pace you like, even if you use a cane or a walker. Along the way are drinking fountains, restrooms, benches for rest breaks and hundreds of fascinating exhibits to tempt you into stopping for a few moments. As a bonus, with no extra effort you’ll lower your blood pressure, increase your energy, relieve your stress, reduce your chances of a stroke, sleep better, be happier, and grow older a little slower (I personally guarantee it.) The Mayo Clinic says “walking is a gentle, low-impact exercise that is accessible to just about everybody.” It’s safe, simple, and good for you. What’s not to like about that? If you decide to walk with us regularly, or only once in a while, just ask Dino for the one-page form you can fill out, which he’ll fax to the University of Chicago’s Community Fitness Program. In short order you’ll receive an official museum pass and a free t-shirt and you’ll be ready for a comfortable short-sleeved stroll while the sidewalks are slick with ice and gales are howling off the lake and the wind-chill temperature is 20 below zero. Pleasant perambulating!
Chuck West
HEWSON SWIFT CONCERTS
D uring the first month of the new year we have a most varied array of
concerts every Wednesday evening. ♦ J anua ry 6 , we have t he Chicago Children’s Choir presented by Emery Percell on a CD entitled “40 Years of Harmony,” with 27 different concert pieces recorded between 1963 and 1996. ♦ January 13, Ed Krentz will introduce a recording of the Bach Goldberg Variations played by former resident Marjorie Benson on her own harpsichord in apartment 412. ♦ January 20, for aficionados of the Chicago Sinfonietta, Lois Livezey will present a concert played in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. ♦ January 27, Don Reynolds has combined several compositions by Franz Schubert for an evening of chamber music with the string quartet “Death and the Maiden,” the Quartetsatz, and the song “Death and the Maiden” on which the string quartet is based, sung by baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau accompanied by pianist Gerald Moore. Everyone is invited to join us every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Lounge.
Evi Levin, Chair, Hewson Swift Music Series
JANUARY 2016 page 9
STILL LEFT FROM AMERICA’S ORIGINAL SIN
W hen we learn about the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, we may
feel pleased with the abolition of slavery here. But in 1803, 60 years earlier, Denmark had outlawed slavery, Britain did in the homeland and Canada in 1833, and France did in 1848. Finally, the Dutch West Indies, along with the United States, outlawed slavery in 1863, the year the thousand slave boats were snuffed out. Lincoln privately detested slavery, but with the Democra t s in cont rol o f the House o f Representatives, he was slow responding to the abolitionists’ call. In 1862, Congress annulled the fugitive slave laws, prohibited slavery in the US territories, and authorized Lincoln to employ freed slaves in the army. (The South had pushed through a law forbidding hiring of slaves.) As the war dragged on, liberating slaves meant weakening the Confederacy, and, with few pro-slavery congressmen, Lincoln decided to announce the Emancipation Proclamation. Thereby, he declared three million slaves to be “then, thenceforward, and forever free.” This transformed the war from one against secession to one of “a new birth of freedom” as Lincoln proclaimed in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln felt this was an act connected to the war, and might not apply afterward. So the 13th Amendment, outlawing all slavery, was proposed and passed the Senate April 1864 w i t h t h e n e ce s s a r y two - t h i r d s o f t h e overwhelmingly Republican Senate. (It was different in those days!) However, the House of Representatives, with a higher proportion of Democrats (different again), did not pass the amendment by the two-thirds majority until January 1865, three months before Confederate Gene ra l Robe r t E . Lee ’ s su r r ende r a t Appomattox. Alabama became the 27th state to ratify the 13th Amendment December of 1865, thus making the required three-fourths of states ratifying.
(Alabama, a former Confederate state, was forced to ratify the amendment as a condition for readmission to the Union.) On December 18, the 13th Amendment was officially adopted into the Constitution–246 years after the first shipload of captive Africans landed at Jamestown, Virginia, and were bought as slaves. Slavery, called America’s original sin, has left a legacy that remains a central issue in US politics a century and a half after that amendment was adopted. We still have need for actions such as the Black Lives Matter movement. We still have segregated neighborhoods; we have problems of discrimination in school acceptance and employment opportunities. We have a huge problem of voter acceptance! We still have a long, long, way to go to really get away from the remnants of slavery. And that is 400 years after that first ship docked in Jamestown.
Carma Forgie
GARDEN COMMITTEE
H ardy Montgomery gardeners do not allow winter weather to cover their green thumbs
with snow. At our first meeting of the 2015/2016 season in December, the Garden Committee decided to hold monthly meetings through the cold Chicago winter. We are going to think spring! In addition to our business meetings, we will present speakers, videos, and other topics of interest to a gardener. Our meetings will be held the second Tuesday of each month. This month’s meeting will be January 12 at 1 p.m. in the Lounge. (Other months we will meet in the LLLC.) A 16-minute video, How to Grow Pot Plants in a Container, will be screened. Guests are welcome.
Marilyn Weigensberg, Chair, Garden Committee
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director: Aviva Kempner. 1 hour 40 minutes. Presenter: Alex Elwyn. Foreign Language Film:
♦ Thursday, January 28, Caché, 2005. French language psychological thriller about an upper-class French couple terrorized by mysterious tapes that appear on their front porch dealing with the husband’s childhood. Writer/director: Michael Haneke. Starring Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche. 2 hours. Presenter: Evi Levin.
Joyce Turner Hilkevitch, Chair, Film Discussion Group
JANUARY FILMS
M ovie fans will enjoy a variety of fascinating films presented by ou r d i s c e rn i ng commi t t ee members on Mondays and Thursdays at 7 p.m. in the Lounge and on Channel 4. And, of course, popcorn and lemonade will be served on Mondays. Here’s the schedule: Monday Films:
♦ January 4, A Face in the Crowd, 1957. Director: Elia Kazan. Genre: drama. Film deals with a journal ist discovering a “corny” philosopher whose off-screen nasty self gets exposed. Screenplay by Budd Schulberg. Starring Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Lee Remick, Walter Matthau. 2 hours 6 minutes. Presenter: Phil Hefner. ♦ January 11, Von Ryan’s Express,1965. Director: Mark Robson. Genre: drama. US Air Force colonel leads his prisoner of war group to an exciting escape from WWII POW camp. Strong cast starring Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Brad Dexter, and others. 2 hours. Presenter: Rhoda Harvey. ♦ January 18, Murder by Death,1976. Director: Robert Moore. Writer: Neil Simon. Genre: spoof! Five famous literary detective characters and their sidekicks are invited to a strange mansion to solve an even stranger mystery. Starring Peter Falk, David Niven, Maggie Smith, Peter Sellers, Elsa Lanchester, Truman Capote, and others. 1 hour 35 minutes. Presenter: Evi Levin. ♦ January 25, Harper,1966. Director: Jack Smight. Genre: drama. Plot deals with cynical Los Angeles detective hired to investigate the disappearance of a wealthy husband. Writer: Ross Mac Donald. Starring Lauren Bacall, Shelley Winters, Julie Harris, and Paul Newman. 2 hours. Presenter: Leah Kadden. Documentary:
♦ Thursday, January 7, Rosenwald, 2015. Biography of Chicago philanthropist, Julius Rosenwald the son of an immigrant peddler who rose to become head of Sears. Writer and
FRIDAY NIGHT SPEAKERS
T he Friday Night Speakers programs start at 7 p.m. in the East Room, and usually run
for one hour. Everyone is invited to attend the programs. The schedule for January is: ♦ January 1, New Year’s Day, no speaker. ♦ January 8, Jamie Kalven, a Chicago area writer and human rights activist, will present a talk titled A New Era of Police Reform. ♦ January 15, Nora Gaines will lead a discussion with the Jane Addams Senior Caucus. Ms. Gaines is a staff worker with that organization. ♦ J a n u a r y 2 2 , J o hn McDe rmo t t , a community organizer with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, and son of Theresa McDermot t ,wi l l speak about Segregation and Housing Injustice in Chicago,
1996 and 2016.
♦ January 29, to be announced. The Speakers Committee would like to strongly request that any resident with an interest in helping to pick speakers for the Friday talks join the committee. We need your help. We usually meet every other week. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 13, at 10:15 a.m. in the Game Room. Please join us.
Alex Elwyn, Chair, Friday Night Speakers Committee
JANUARY 2016 page 11
THE MONTGOMERY “TOWERS”
T he story of the Montgomery “Towers” begins with a March 2015 letter to our
Garden Committee from R e v . L i n d a Wyg a n t , daughter of residents Mae Wygant and Gene Gressley. Rev. Wygant wrote to the gardeners on behalf of Grace Seeds Ministry and i t s Sha r e t he Ha rve s t p r o j e c t , wh i c h g r ows vegetables that are donated to food pantries in Chicago. One partner of Grace Seeds Ministry is the Museum of Science and Industry. The museum’s Smart Home Garden, grown by the Un ive r s i t y o f I l l i no i s E x t e n s i o n M a s t e r G a r d e n e r s p r o g r a m , produced more than a thousand pounds of fresh produce in one year. Because of changes in the museum’s plans for their growing space, Grace Seeds Ministry was given two of their aeroponic garden towers, each of which grows 20 plants. Rev.Wygant knew, through visiting her parents, that Montgomery Place has a garden, a greenhouse, and avid gardeners. She proposed that Montgomery Place become a Share the Harvest partner, using the aeroponic towers as the primary growing method. Nick Janakas, a Master Gardener and tower garden expert, committed to providing key education and ongoing support for the project. Rev. Wygant’s request met with a resounding yes. Arrangements were made to add an electrical outlet and create space for the towers. We became partners with Grace Seeds Ministry on May 16, 2015. The Ministry supplied two tower gardens, all supplies necessary for growing, education to the Montgomery Place gardeners, and all seedlings, harvest, and delivery of produce to those in need.
Montgomery Place provided a proper location for the towers, water and electricity, and resident gardeners Barbara Harrison, Carma Forgie,
Bernie and Barbara Greenberg, Paula Givan, Nate Kalichman, Mary Lou Shad le , and Lo i s Watson. Both towers were up and growing in the Montgomery Place garden area from May through October. During the summer/fall season an average weekly harvest was six large bags of a wonderful variety of greens and herbs. It was enough to provide fresh, healthy, delicious produce to many families who visited food pantries during the growing season. When temperatures dropped, the administration was approached with the idea of an experiment in
growing vegetables in the Greenhouse during the winter. They accepted the challenge and let the plantings begin. By December the plants were growing, albeit a bit slowly, in only one tower, but we hope to harvest a good “winter” crop. Congratulations to everyone involved in this project!
Marilyn Weigensberg
IN MEMORIAM
Anna Marie Sullivan
Mary Smith
page 12 JANUARY 2016
CLOSE ENCOUNTER OF THE WILD KIND
I have had several encounters with wild creatures, and I remember and cherish every
one. One very close encounter occurred with a large black (female, I later learned) bear in a campground near the boundary waters of Ely, Minnesota. I had spent the night in my sleeping bag along with my border collie, Samson, in a small clearing of the woods just outside of Ely. A sunny blue day dawned and I arose to fix breakfast and feed Sam. Eating outdoors is one of life’s great pleasures. Suddenly there was a scrambling in the brush and bushes that surrounded the campsite, and an impressive black bear burst from the wall of green. It was rather close quarters, but my immediate concern was for Samson, who was standing, growling, fur all akimbo. I knew that bears are generally afraid of dogs, but I did not want to see a confrontation between the big bear and my dog, so I opened the door of my nearby car, pushed Sam in and slammed it shut. Then I turned to the bear. She was extremely casual and continued about her business, picking off low-hanging blueberries and jamming them into her mouth. She hardly even looked at me, though of course she knew I was there. Her coat looked worn in places, wherever she sat or leaned, but she was not an old bear. Luckily for me there was no cub present to protect. She calmly turned into the woods while I hastily picked up what was left of breakfast and got into the car myself. I did not get to look directly into her eyes, though I would have liked to. The last I saw of her was her large black hindquarters disappearing again into the bushes.
Gerry Martin
MY LOVE My Love is like a day in May, Full of promise, Gentle as a breeze, Wonderful to be with. Promise of joys to come My Love is like a summer day Warm, sunny, gentle, Full of promise, Basking on the shore, Just happy to be with her. My Love’s like an October day, Crisp, colorful, bracing, Makes one feel alive, Ready for new challenges, Off to the future. A Winter day is like my Love, Full of light, exhilarating, fresh, Glad to be alive, expectant, Challenging, promising, Full of festive joy. In short, my love is for every day Yet not trite, blasé, or every day. She just fits in all the time! A marvel, a pleasure, A challenge, a delight.
Edgar Krentz
JANUARY 2016 page 13
CAN WE SORT IT OUT? Just as I thought it was sorted out (As British TV actors say): News of horrible Ebola virus tamed, Cars starting up on pure green fuel, Swish of fields of glinting power blades, Black is beautiful… From nowhere comes a jolt to equanimity. “Nowhere”: a wild place in every mind From which is launched an arrow, lance, Mushroom cloud. Or place to push a button on our vests To send us to a better place we know, By dropping coins into leaders’ Ancient bowls.
Ev Bernstein
LAMENT FOR A FICKLE LOVER The Poem followed me everywhere, like a mesmerized puppy. I came to expect it. It would point to the lilting blue of the sky; It would pause over the jeweled back of the crawling beetle glistening in the sun; It danced around in the sprinkles of rain or snow; It quietly wagged with pleasure in the dog’s tail; It glowed in the white neck rings of the male mallards riding on the lake; It even bounced in and out of dreams. But when I woke up in the hospital, not knowing how I got there It was nowhere around at all. The Poem drew itself up and huffed when I questioned it: “After all, I have myself to think of,” it said. Gerry Martin
BOOKLOVERS GROUP
T he book for January is The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre. This 1963 cold war novel received critical acclaim at the t ime o f i t s pub l ica t ion and became an international bestseller.
Anne Zeidman will be the discussion leader, and once again Anne and Ben Zeidman have picked up our monthly supply of 10 copies of the book from the Chicago Public Library’s Book in a Bag program. If you have a visual or physical handicap (too difficult to hold a book), the Talking Book Center affiliated with the Chicago Public Library will provide you an audio machine, books, and magazines through the mail. Another person has signed up for this service! This means seven people are receiving the book on tape as well as the 10 books we receive from the library. Call me at 4638 if you are interested in applying for this service or want to get our featured book. Let’s set a new goal of 25 people reading/listening to the book this coming year! Our next meeting, to discuss this book, and get the next book will be on Monday, January 18, at 3:30 p.m. in the LLLC.
Laurieann Chutis, Chair, Booklovers Group
page 14 JANUARY 2016
SPECIAL EVENTS IN JANUARY
FRIDAY 1 NEW YEAR’S DAY
SUNDAY 3 NOON -3:00 PM DINING ROOM BRUNCH
2:30 PM BUS TRIP REMY BUMPPO: FALLEN ANGELS (P. 3)
TUESDAY 5 11:50 AM BUS TRIP LSTC: ORGAN RECITAL (P. 3)
WEDNESDAY 6 1:00 PM BUS TRIP SMART MUSEUM (P. 3)
FRIDAY 8 12:30 PM BUS TRIP CSO SERIES A CONCERT (P. 3)
7:00 PM EAST ROOM FRIDAY NIGHT SPEAKER ~ JAMIE KALVEN (P. 10)
SUNDAY 10 2:00 PM EAST ROOM RECITAL: DANA BROWN AND REBECCA SIMONE SCHORSCH (P. 6)
2:15 PM BUS TRIP PRO MUSICA AT SOUTH SHORE MUSIC CENTER (P. 3)
THURSDAY 14 7:00 PM BUS TRIP COURT THEATER: SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF (P. 3)
FRIDAY 15 11:15 AM BUS TRIP LUNCH AT LA PETITE FOLIE (P. 3)
7:00 PM EAST ROOM FRIDAY NIGHT SPEAKER ~ NORA GAINES (P. 10)
SATURDAY 16 11:00 AM BUS TRIP MET LIVE IN HD: LES PECHEURS DE PERLES (P. 3)
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