Team Social Walking Program: Indoor Resting Point!

3rd Floor Bird Aviary!

Team Primrose and Grandparents Program!

Children, grandaparents, and creative fun!~program design by Dawn~

Team Intellectual Wellness: Book Talk!

San Damiano Residents enjoy Scott's presentation of the Christmas Blizzard. This program is sponsored by the Washington Centerville Public Library. 

Teams Memoirs, Pen Pals, and the St. Leonard Veterans' Service Organization

Members of the St. Leonard Veterans' Service Organization share their stories with the memoirs group and the grade school pen pals.

The Christmas Trees at St. Leonard!

3rd floor Traditional Assisted Care

Team Houck: New Buckeye Fans!

Go OSU!

The Christmas Trees at St. Leonard!

 

 

This tree is located in the Human Resources and Marketing lobby.

The Christmas Trees at St. Leonard!

 

 

Located in one of the memory units of the San Damiano Residence 



The Christmas Trees at St. Leonard

San Damiano Residence Lobby

Team HCC: Christmas Shopping!

Beth, Keith, and Ashley take a moment to enjoy the holiday decorations at the mall with their residents

The Christmas Trees at St. Leonard

Chaminade Hall 1st. Floor

The Christmas Trees at St. Leonard

Chaminade Security

The Christmas Trees at St. Leonard

The Franciscan Center

55+ Worker No. 11: Temporary Christmas Jobs

Christmas employment may offer more than just temporary employment. It is often true that most temporary Christmas positions do not offer opportunities for permanent employment or advancement. However, approximately 20% of all temporary positions are converted to permanent employment. In addition, temporary positions may offer transferrable skills that might boost your resume. For example, working in retail can give you experience in customer service, commercial decision-making, working with deadlines or under pressure, multi-tasking, and working with technology.

The Christmas Trees at St. Leonard!

3rd floor housekeeping supervisor's office

The Christmas Trees at St. Leonard

 

 

 

 

Nancy is decorating the tree in the dinning room of the San Damiano Residency

Team Intellectual Wellness: History from the Wright Brother's House!

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Park and presenter Mandy Way. Mandy portrayed being the Wright Brothers housekeeper and included some stories from Dayton's aviation history.

George Kratina and the History of the Sculpture of St. Leonard

Before I tell you about George Kratina, I would first like to tell you a bit about myself and the context in which I knew him. When I was a child, my grandmother, a former jewelry designer, was friends with Anna Kratina, George's wife. When I was about five years old, my grandmother ended her jewelry career, and went to the Penland School of Crafts to study ceramics. At Penland, she met an instructor named Val Cushing. She became friends with Val, and in time he introduced my grandmother to Anna Kratina and her husband George. Anna was an artist in her own right, and worked in ceramics doing sculpture, having taken up the craft after her medical career. As a child, I remember my grandmother bringing me over to Anna's ceramics studio so I could create sculpture with Anna. I also remember visiting George’s studio and seeing the huge commissions that he was working on in the converted barn on his property. In the corner of the studio where he worked, there was a full-sized plaster version of the sculpture of St. Leonard that had been used to cast the bronze sculpture that is now located at the St. Leonard Center.

When I was about thirteen, I started working with George in his sculpture studio during summers and over Christmas breaks. The first piece that I worked on with George was a large sculpture of three saints, St. Joseph, St. Patrick, and St. Francis, that was commissioned by a church in San Francisco. I remember this sculpture taking George five years to complete. I then worked with George on a sculpture of Sam Wilson, the historical figure on whom the caricature of Uncle Sam was based, created for the city of Troy, NY. I helped George for three years on that piece, between the ages of 13 and 16, and was able to work on that sculpture almost to completion. Even at that age, I recognized the value in what George had to teach me; I didn’t accept money from him, even though he repeatedly offered to pay me. These two commissions of the saints and of Sam Wilson were the last that George sculpted before he died in 1980 when I was 18.

I have never seen either Anna's or George's resumes, so all I can tell you about them is what I can remember from when I was a teenager.

As I recall, George told me that his father was a sculptor who apprenticed in the sculpture guilds of Czechoslovakia. George showed me amazing sculptures that his father had carved in stone and wood, and cast in bronze. George also showed me bronzes that he had created in his father's studio when he was quite young. One of his early sculptures won the Prix de Rome, a prestigious scholarship for art students. George's father wanted George to continue in sculpture, and was very upset when George initially chose to pursue forestry. Although forestry may seem distant from sculpture, I remember George taking me into the woods and teaching me how to identify different kinds of trees by their leaves, their bark, and their structure. Knowing the forest was integral to George being able to maintain his home, build rigging for large-scale sculptures, craft his own sculptural tools, and select trees for the wooden pieces that he carved.

George always talked about how he disliked people from Yale, which seemed ironic when I later learned that he was a graduate from that University. Among George's memories from Yale was that he rowed crew, which he must have been well suited for because of his broad shoulders and strong back.

George went back to his sculptural training when he worked as a design and sculpture professor at Cooper Union University in New York City. It was while he was living in New York City that he met his wife, Anna. At that time, Anna worked as a nurse at Riker's Island prison. When you met Anna, you had no doubt that she had worked as nurse for many years because of her broad shoulders and strong hands. Anna's maiden name was Spalla (which means "shoulder" in Italian). I remember Anna telling me stories about how when she started nursing, people used to make fun of her because she wore black stockings, due to her traditional Italian upbringing, not the white stockings of nursing. Anna became a nurse because it was one of the few professions open to Italian women at the time. Even then, Anna was not accepted by the greater medical establishment as a nurse, which is why she worked in a prison.

I don't know the story of their meeting, but I know that Anna and George married when they lived in New York City. My impression is that they chose to leave New York City as part of the same "back-to-the-land" movement that motivated Helen and Scott Nearing to leave the city and move out to the country. The Nearings were famous for their book, “The Good Life.”

At some point back in the 50s, George and Anna bought an old farmhouse in Old Chatham, New York. When they fixed the house up enough to live in it, they moved from New York City to Old Chatham New York to make it their permanent home. Their house showed the richness of George's forestry background, with beechwood floors made from trees that he had personally cut from his own property, had milled, cured, and installed himself. The house was also richly decorated by Anna’s extensive mosaic work and her own sculpture.

It was Anna’s connection with sculpture that led to the friendship with my grandmother and ultimately to my working with George. My grandmother talked about how Val Cushing would go to Anna's studio to throw large forms on the wheel that Anna would then richly decorate to create her sculptures. With Anna's extensive medical knowledge she created figures with bizarre anatomical form. Her sculptures were brightly colored and fanciful, like an adult three-dimensional version of Dr. Suess.

After moving to Old Chatham, George became a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where he taught sculpture and design to engineering and architecture students. While working as a professor at RPI, he also took on his own commissions, of which I can guess that one was the the bronze of St. Leonard that you have. I remember the studio itself having one entire end made of translucent fiberglass panels that allowed the north light in. I remember George telling me that this fiberglass wall of his studio could be removed if needed to allow large sculptures to be taken out. In his studio, George created large sculptures in bronze, enameled steel, and aluminum. His two final works, which I was able to help him with, were both created in sheet and cast aluminum.

The process that George taught me for sculpting in bronze had many steps. George would first create small versions of his sculptures out of wire and clay. George called these small, quickly done versions of the sculptures “sketches.” These three-dimensional sketches were about six inches tall, and allowed George to experiment with several different versions of the same theme. I remember seeing many small versions of sculptures George had done in his studio in varying positions, some seated, some moving, and others in more peaceful poses, like that of St. Leonard.

From these sketches, George would take the most promising designs and refine them so that he could show his clients different versions of what the sculpture would look like. I remember many of the sculptures that he completed, and I remember seeing the early sketches of many of those still in his studio. Thinking back, I do remember seeing some early sketches of St. Leonard among the hundreds of pieces decorating the large workspace. When a client had selected which of these small sketches they wanted him to refine, George would then create a larger, more detailed version of the sculpture. The more detailed version of the piece was typically about eighteen inches tall.

The process that George used for creating these larger sculptures is called a "waste mold" casting. George would first create the sculpture in plasticine clay, and then cover the sculpture in plaster. He would then carefully remove that plaster in small predefined segments. This plaster covering would become a mold for the more permanent plaster version of the sculpture. While removing this mold, the original plasticine version of the sculpture would be destroyed. George would then coat the inside of this plaster mold with a thin layer of soap to act as a separator, and then would form a positive plaster sculpture into the plaster mold that he had created. When this internal sculpture had hardened, he would then break away the external mold. This traditional process is fraught with risk, because at the time that you destroy the plasticine, the only version of the sculpture that you have is a plaster mold, and then to uncover the plaster cast, you then destroy the plaster mold -- hence the term “waste mold” casting.

With this plaster version of the sculpture created, George would accurately position the sculpture in his studio, anchoring it firmly to the floor. Then George used a huge custom-made tool to assist him in creating a full scale version of the sculpture. This tool is called a three-dimensional pantograph, and it allowed George to select points on the small sculpture and locate these points in three dimensions on the full size version of the piece. After finding these points in three dimensions, George would create a three-dimensional armature for the full size version of the sculpture. If George were creating a bronze like St. Leonard, he would form plasticine around this three-dimensional armature, full scale. The process for creating a full scale sculpture was very much like the process for creating the small scale model. George would cover the large plasticine sculpture in plaster, again creating a "waste mold," which he would then carefully remove, and use this mold to form full-sized plaster sections of the sculpture. George would then ship these full size plaster pieces to an art foundry in Brooklyn to be cast in bronze. Years later, I had the privilege of actually working in that foundry, learning the casting process in detail.

What I remember about George was how encouraging he was to everyone around him. He had a relentless positive attitude that he used to inspire his students at RPI, and to inspire me. I remember meeting several of his students from RPI when they worked long hours on various sculptures in George's studio. I remember George’s work ethic and positive attitude would spread to everyone he worked with. I remember learning a selflessness from George that put the process before the individual. I don’t think George never signed any of his sculptures, feeling that this would express too much of his ego.

I remember something that George used to say: “You can do anything,” and then in a softer voice, “If you know what you are doing.” When George said you can do anything, I felt as if I could, which included building skyscrapers and creating the Hoover Dam. Then when George said, if you know what you are doing, I understood that he was not talking about having college degrees, but instead meant that I could do it if I were competent to do it.

When I went to college, I studied sculpture extensively, but even in my first semester in the school studio, the professors commented that I was already doing graduate level work. There probably isn’t a college in the country that has a sculpture program as comprehensive as the training that I received from working with George. Years later, I graduated from the University with a degree in mechanical engineering, and went on to become a mechanical designer. My success as a mechanical designer has been in no small part because of my early experiences working with George, or as he would say, “Having conversations in three dimensions.”

Among the many projects that I am currently working on is a novel in which one of the protagonists, loosely modeled on myself, apprenticed George Kratina. In the book, it tells how my protagonist is creating a sculpture of Anna. After Anna passed away, George wanted to create a tribute to her, which he started, but was unable to complete because of his failing health. In my book, my character is creating the tribute to Anna that George was never able to finish in his life.

George's farm house in Old Chatham, New York, is still owned by his cousin. It is located on Old Pitt Road. When I was last there about ten years ago, his cousin had several of George's sculpture students from RPI continuing to live in the house and maintain it as George and Anna had lived in it, richly decorated with George's and Anna's sculptures filling the house and covering the property.

Now, as I near my fiftieth birthday, it was exciting for me to make the trip from Pittsburgh to Ohio to see George's sculpture of St. Leonard. Attached find a photograph of Caitlin and me standing at the foot of the sculpture. We spent some time enjoying the work, and it meant so much more to me because I had known George, and because I had participated in every step of the process that would have gone into creating it.

Seeing the sculpture now, there is one additional point that I feel I need to mention. I can see that most of the sculpture was covered by a dark patina that George applied to protect piece when he created it. Unfortunately, on the top surfaces of the sculpture, on the feet of the sculpture, and on one place on the side of the sculpture, this patina has now weathered away and the bronze has begun to corrode.

I don’t know what resources you have for conservation, but I would hope that this sculpture of St. Leonard could have its patina reapplied to help protect it as George intended fifty years ago. The process that we used in the foundry involved preheating the sculpture and using a torch to apply the patina. This process may require having the sculpture taken off the base, being resurfaced, and then being placed back on its pedestal. A professional should be consulted to see if the sculpture could have its patina reapplied while still in place.



Regards, Phil Garrow

San Damiano Residence: Leisure and Fun!

Mark Snow entertains the residents with great songs and reminiscing.

Team Food Bank of Dayton: Tim and Casey Volunteer!

Tim Dressman and Casey Howard volunteer in the community to help distribute food to families in need. 

Virtual Team Brainstorm: Holiday Brain Teasers!

Good Morning Team Brain Storm:
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family & friends. Now that the Christmas season is upon us I thought I would do a series of Holiday Brain Teasers. We are at 18 members…please invite your friends & family to join us!

I love listening to Christmas music so I thought I would focus on carols for our first Christmas brain teaser.

Below are ten clues, each of which relates to the first line of a different Christmas carol or song. Unlike the title of the teaser, these clues only have the first letters of each of the words.

Can you figure out what songs they are? I will give you the answer to the first one to get you started

Good Luck! Answers are below!
Kelly

1. CROAOF: A Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...)

2. IDOAWC

3. RTRNRHAVSN

4. GGROBAR

5. IHABCWY

6. ISMKSC

7. OTFDOCMTLGTM

8. FTSWAJHS

9. IBMBOJHSSOM

10. JBJBJBR

Kelly Lance
Team Captain

Answers:

1. A Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...)

2. White Christmas (I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...)

3. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose...)

4. Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer (Grandma got run over by a reindeer...)

5. Blue Christmas (I'll have a blue Christmas without you...)

6. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus...)

7. The 12 Days of Christmas (On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...)

8. Frosty, the Snowman (Frosty, the snowman, was a jolly, happy soul...)

9. I'm Gettin' Nothin' for Christmas (I broke my bat on Johnny's head, somebody snitched on me...)

10. Jingle Bell Rock (Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock...)

Team SDR Display Spooky Art Work from Halloween!

Program design by the Activity Professionals of the San Damiano Residence!

Virtual Team Parkinson's Research Exercise Slows Shrinkage of the Brain!

Dr. Jack Harless
Team Captain

We currently have 15 members. This week we looked at an article published on the Michael J. Fox Foundation website that showed several research articles supporting evidence that exercise slows brain shrinkage, as well as highlighting evidence that physical exercise appears to improve gait speed, muscle strength, and fitness in people with PD.

The Quest for Emotional Wellness No. 18: Meditation Application from the Mayo Clinic

Team SDR: Fall Fun Diving for Apples!

The residents are having some fall fun with this variation of bobbing for apples. Eye hand coordination can be a challenge with wet apples and a small spoon! ~Program design by Sister Christine~

Team Fitness Gurus: The CDC on What Counts as Aerobic?

Team Pitstick: Mom's Porch

This is a view from my mom’s back porch on thanksgiving day. It was a gorgeous day and I am grateful I was able to spend it with family.

Kristin

Team Kreative Korner: Bazaar Fun!

Team Kreative Korner: More Christmas!

Team Kreative Korner: Craft Bazaar!

Social Walking Program: Update! 915,221.88 Miles!

Team Dance: November 50/50 Dance!

Fit-For-Driving: 102 Year old Driver

Team Franciscan Center: Silver Sneakers and Forever Fit!

Dr. Jack Harless
Manager

Great News! We are now accepting Silver Sneakers & Forever Fit at the Franciscan Center. I know many of you have been asking about this program since we opened the center a little over a year ago, but the day has finally arrived!


For those of you who don’t know what Silver Sneakers & Forever Fit is, it is a fun, energizing program that helps older adults take greater control of their health by encouraging physical activity and offering social events. Health plans around the country offer this award-winning program to people who are eligible for Medicare or to group retirees. Silver Sneakers provides a fitness center membership to The Franciscan Center. This great benefit includes

• access to conditioning classes, exercise equipment, pool, hot tub and other available amenities
• customized SilverSneakers classes designed exclusively for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance
• health education seminars and other events that promote the benefits of a healthy lifestyle
• a specially trained Program AdvisorSM at the fitness center to introduce you to Silver Sneakers and help you get started
• member-only access to online support that can help you lose weight, quit smoking or reduce your stress

Please call 1-888-423-4632 to find out if your health plan offers SilverSneakers or Forever Fit. You can also call The Franciscan Center front desk at 436-2203

Team Franciscan Center: Member Hightlight!

What a difference a year makes!

Last December’s annual quest to “get back in shape” has evolved into a life changing experience for me and my husband Mike. After the first few days of dragging myself into exercise after work, I found I had more energy when I left, slept better, and was generally happier. I was hooked on evening water classes where Anna-Bridgette and Kristin encouraged me, and my new friends, to move our bodies in ways they hadn’t moved in years. Mike reluctantly joined me in Jon’s Wednesday night water plyometrics class. He now breathes better, has improved flexibility and has found new golf buddies. Our marathon roundtable dinners in the Station House after class have become the highlight of our week. We certainly count the Franciscan Center among our blessings this year.

Sue & Mike Koverman

Team Houck: Mathew and Evan at St. Leonard

        A visit with Grandma and Grandpa Butterfly at St. Leonard

Team Franciscan Center: Tips for Seniors!

Jon Dolph Fitness Supervisor

Tips for seniors beginning an exercise program

Get clearance first – Before you begin, have a check-up and talk with your doctor or healthcare practitioner about any special conditions you might have. If something hurts, stop doing it -- If you have a persistent pain when you exercise, take a break. If you are sick, you should go easy or skip a few days. When you resume, start slowly again. Know that there are some warning signs that mean you should stop what you are doing and consult a doctor:

Chest pain or pressure

Breathing trouble or excessive shortness of breath

Persistent or sharp muscle or joint pain.

Nausea

Unusual balance difficulty

Severe illness

Start Slowly – Start with 10 minutes a couple times a day if you can. Go slow and be consistent.

Keep It Easy – Moderation is key, don’t overexert yourself.

Breathe – Remember to breathe consistently throughout your exercise.

Hydrate – Drink plenty of water before, during and after your activity.

Warm Up & Cool Down – Always ease your body into and out of exercise. Walk slowly or stretch for at least 5 minutes.

Build Up – Gradually increase the time and intensity of your activity. It will become easier as you exercise consistently.

Mix It Up – Vary the type of activity you do. Try a class like tai chi or yoga for variation. Doing new things will help you remain interested.

Team Franciscan Center: Massage and Alzheimer's Disease

Kristin Pitstick
Spa Manager

November is Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month! We know that massage therapy offers many wonderful benefits: increased circulation, decreased pain, and increased range of motion just to name a few. But did you know that massage can help those affected by Alzheimer’s? Let’s take a look at a few of the benefits massage can offer Alzheimer’s patients:


Reduces agitation and aggression

Improves quality of life

Improves balance and agility

Alleviates depression and anxiety

Promotes a sense of well-being

Increases body awareness and alertness

Reduction in the feelings of confusion

Eases the effects of isolation and boredom

Decreases stress

Assists with pain management and circulation

St. Leonard Massage Therapist, Tim Barringer, is certified in geriatric and special needs massage. He is here to serve our residents! With physician approval, Tim can perform “at home” appointments with residents that have limited mobility. If you have any questions or wish to make an appointment, you can call the Day Spa at 937.432.6540.

Team Its Great in Dayton: Learn How to Identify Trees in the Fall and Winter

Can you tell the difference between a maple and an oak when the trees have no leaves? Believe it or not, it's not that difficult if you know where to look and know the many clues.

On Sunday, November 18, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, you can join a park ranger to learn how to identify trees in the fall and winter. Meet at the  Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center  located on Wright Brothers Hill, 2380 Memorial Road (for GPS location, enter the intersection of Kauffman Avenue and Skyline Drive), Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, 45433 Free admission.

Team Franciscan Center: A Nutritional Fall Cleaning

Dr. Jack Harless
The Franciscan Center Manager

Recently, my wife & I decided to try to do a fall cleaning of sorts. We decided to try a nutritional purification program, a sort of internal cleaning of the body to clear out all of the toxicity & deficiency that tends to accumulate over time.

This would certainly fall under our Vital Life Nutritional Ecosystem, and it’s something that can often be overlooked. I know for me, eating can become monotonous & repetitive. I get used to eating in a certain way because I have done it that way for a long time, & I can eating unconsciously, without being very mindful of how & what I eat, & whether it is helping me move towards more fun & function, or frailty & failure.

What the purification program has allowed me to do, is to take inventory of some of the choices I have been making, and see if I really want to continue to make those choices. Some of those choices are not as healthy (and lead to toxicity & deficiency) I have discarded, & some of them that lead to purity & sufficiency I have kept.

The real value of having done this internal cleanse is that many of the cravings that I had are now gone. My taste buds have literally changed. It’s funny that I often think about the external environment & the toxicity that exists there, but less about the same toxicity that exists in my own internal environment, my body. I’ve also become more aware of some food allergies that I just kind of got used to & lived with.

It’s important to remember that any significant dietary change should be done under the supervision of a physician. What I would recommend is checking out our Nutritional Wellness Starting Point packet that can be found at any of the kiosks around campus. I have used this tool throughout this process & it is, in fact, how I became aware of a couple of the food allergies I mentioned earlier.

As we move toward the winter & we evaluate our changing needs, please consider your nutritional wellness as well & use the Nutritional Wellness Starting Point to move into greater fun & function with this important ecosystem, even during the winter season!

Team Houck: Bath Time Fun!

We love our visit with Grandma & Grandpa because they have the best sink for a tubby!!!

Team Dance: 50/50 Dance This Saturday!

50/50 dance this Saturday! Bring your Cds, a snack to share, and your dancing shoes for a night of casual social fun!

Team Houck: Zack Goes to College!

Zack at Western Kentucky as a freshman!