Winter 2015 - Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly

C I N C I N N AT I
N EW S
DIRECTOR’ S REPORT
Winter 2015
18th Annual Golf Outing
By Yogi Wess, Director
Dear Friends,
As 2015 draws to a close and 2016 beckons us, let it be known
how much your support is appreciated. Through your support we
are able to provide an anchor in the lives of our elderly friends.
Because Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly are present in their
lives they know they have a friend, a belonging group, a place to
call home. Thank you for being part of that and being the reason
it exists.
One needs only to watch the evening news and feel saddened by
the violence and destruction that colors our world. It is
challenging to remain hopeful and to maintain hopefulness. It is
through my encounters with our elderly, volunteers, donors and
people I meet in my travels where my hope remains and is
restored. When recently traveling with a group of our three elders
to Florida it was striking how much kindness was extended to us
– from the use of the condo to the waitress at the Waffle House in
Nashville where we found ourselves eating dinner at midnight.
Everyone was striving to assist, to extend a helping hand, to share
their resources, to provide an anchor in a thunderous world.
On Thanksgiving Day we had over twenty two new volunteers join
us in our celebrations- eager to meet our elders and offer a kind
word, spreading peace and comfort in our world that needs it. Our
on-going volunteers display regularly their commitment to our
mission of relieving isolation and loneliness through their multifaceted tasks which ultimately bring friendship, peace and love to
our elderly – all which is needed in our world. Our donors support
us financially, through in-kind donations, monetary donations and
grants proving that they are committed to supporting that which
cannot always be seen but that which is necessary – love, peace,
and friendship
Thank you for being part of Little Brothers-Friends of the Elderly. I
wish you all the best for a peaceful and loving 2016.
Sincerely,
Yogi Wess
Executive Director
Board of Directors
Jack Henn
Kathy Eby
Cathy Rolfes
Tom Fiorini
Marc Rolfes
Greg Ahrens
The cloudy skies and bursts of rain did not dampen the enthusiasm and excitement
of the ninety two golfers who arrived at Glenview
Golf Course on September 12 to participate in the
18th Annual Tom Wess LBFE Golf Outing. The
weather did affect the outing for some golfers but
when the scores were all tallied in First Place were
Tim Hall, Joe Pfaltzgraff, Tom Hall and Kyle
Cochran. Second Place winners were Mark
Berning, Buzz Deters, Jerry Berning and Chris
Berning with Third Place going to Kirk Fischesser,
Ben Yauss, Grant McCauley and Rick Yauss. The
Longest Drive for the Women was won by Susie
Ivanov with the Men’s Longest Drive winner
Drew O’Connor. The Closest to the Pin Split the
Mike Hungler strikes a pose
Pot winner was Kyle Cochran. Congratulations!
The major raffle winners were; First Prize: Bill Dorward, Titleist Set of Irons,
Second Prize: Fr. Gerry Sroka, Titleist
Driver, Third Prize: John Weale, Titleist
Wood, Fourth Prize: Jim Jones, Titleist
Hybird, Fifth Prize: Dick Klus, Titleist
Golf Bag. Thank you Titleist and Bob
Purdy for your generous support of the
raffle.
Thanks to our Platinum Sponsors - Beth
and Tom McLean, Jeanette Wess and
Kraft Construction, Gold SponsorsKamphaus Plastering, LLC, Glenmary
Home Missioners, Selection.com,
Anonymous, Anonymous and ID Images,
Silver Sponsors – Stanley E. Rolfes, PDT
Architects, LLC and Yauss Family
Dentistry. Due to our generous sponsors
we reached our “Putt it Forward” goal.
continued on page 3
Zak Yauss with Lou Yauss
_ ... Little Brothers ... _ ... flowers before bread ... _ ... Friends of the Elderly ... _
International Congress 2015
Every three years the
International Federation of the
little brothers of the Poor
hosts an International
Congress. The Congress is an
opportunity for staff and
volunteers from Little
Brothers-Friends of the
Elderly around the world to
come together to meet, share their common work, experience a new city and
have fun.
The International Congress 2015 was held in Cincinnati at the Kingsgate
Conference Center October 15th – October 18th and was successful in
bringing one hundred
participants together to meet,
share their work, experience a
new city and have fun.
The opening reception on
Thursday evening was held at
Queensgate where attendees
were treated to a Queen City
Buffet. Delegates from
Kathy Eby (Cincinnati),
Germany, France, Ireland,
Simone Mitchell-Peterson (Chicago),
Romania, Mexico, Spain, Poland,
Yogi Wess (Cincinnati)
Switzerland. Canada,
Minneapolis/St.Paul, Chicago, San Francisco, Upper Pennisula Michigan,
Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Boston all agreed that Cincinnati Chili and
Graeter’s ice cream were delicious.
of life. Kathi Boyle presented on LGBT older adults and Gary Pollock
addressed the issues of mental health and the elderly. Jacki Millay engaged
the audience with her knowledge of TaiChi and together with staff from
Germany, Mark Browning discussed new trends in senior housing. It was an
array of interchanges with valuable information. \
One of the highlights of the Congress was the debut
of the video “Escaping Isolation” by Marley
Molkentin. Marley’s video received a standing
ovation as it emotionally featured the effect of
isolation on the elderly featured in the video and the
impact friendship, love, being with the elderly
makes.
Presenter
Marley Molkentin
On Friday
evening
everyone was transported to our office
for a reception and to view our elder’s
art show. The art of Florence McNeil,
Jim Acra, Larry Adams, Darlene
Batsche, Maxine Dorn, Jo Marie
Affeldt, Nellie Bryant was
Germany Delegtaion – Felicitas Redel,
Nikki Therrien (Boston) and
Cathy Aten (UP Michigan)
professionally and beautifully
displayed by volunteer art teacher
Mary Beth Cluxton. After the
reception it was on to the
undercroft at St. Clare where a
delicious meal was enjoyed
thanks to Chef Mary Seguin. On
Saturday evening everyone
found their way to the
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical
The theme of the Congress was “Together We Can
Martin Herzhoff and Reiner Behrends
Overcome Isolation” with ten featured speakers
Gardens for dinner and a
who expertly addressed the theme. Keynote
night of dancing.
speaker, Dr. Jerome Gabis
spoke about the
The International Congress
importance of being
was a success. We were
“with” our elderly and the
thrilled to host and proud that
following day’s keynote
we succeeded in bringing
speaker Teepa Snow
people
together, providing
Presenter
spoke of understanding the
valuable information,
Dr. Jerome Gabis
progression of
showing off our city and
Ireland Delegation – Jim O’Brien, Lisa
dementia and
O’Connor and Elaine Aughey
having fun.
seeing gems and
Presenter
not just loss. Joan
Teepa Snow
Fopma-Loy
addressed the importance of art through the
Opening Minds through Art (OMA) program
and Kevin Bryan talked about the elders
who are aging in prison. Jean-Michel
Giraud, CEO of Friendship Place in
Gloria Adams (Cincinnati)
Washington DC presented on elderly and
and Jewanna Carver
homelessness and Sr. Barbara Leonhard OSF
Romanian Delegation – Anca
IC15 Committee – Yogi Wess (US), Pierre
(Chicago)
spoke about spirituality and the second half
Iosub and Anca Zavadescu
Assilen (Canada), Barbara Bringuier (France),
Thank you Caryl and Jerry Hartmann
Simone Mitchell-Peterson (US), Julianne
James (US) and Cathy Aten (US)
For ten years Caryl and Jerry Hartmann have been sending birthday cards to our elderly friends (approximately 180 per year). The cards arrive on the
elder’s birthday and to their delight and surprise there is always a dollar bill enclosed. Over the years we have received numerous calls from our
elders expressing their gratitude for being remembered with a card – but especially the dollar! On a birthday visit to our elder Anna Stamm a few
years ago she had five birthday cards on her refrigerator, each one from Caryl and Jerry. In 2010 when Caryl sent a birthday card to an incarcerated
elder we quickly received the dollar back with a “notice of an unauthorized item received” document!
Thank you Caryl and Jerry for your commitment to this program. Thank you from the many elders you have made happy by showing you care and
the additional celebration of the dollar.
We are happy that Kathy Eby will be carrying on this Happy Birthday program – Thank you Kathy!
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_ ... Little Brothers ... _ ... flowers before bread ... _ ... Friends of the Elderly ... _
Golf Outing continued
We are grateful to Jim Emmons at Jim
Dandy’s BBQ for catering the delicious
dinner and Paul Schildmeyer and his staff
at Glenview for another successful event.
Thanks to the Golf Committee of Rick
Yauss, Mark Browning, Nancy Erwin,
Dave Ratajczak and Larry Gibboney for
their work toward the success of the
outing. Our net income for the outing
was $24,324!
Mark your calendar for
Saturday September 17th,
2016 for the 19th Annual
Golf Outing.
Yogi Wess presents Greg Hermes with
his Early Bird Prize
Chairperson Rick Yauss
Trip to Florida
In the words of our elderly friend George Hamm who was one of
the three elders who recently spent eight days on our trip to
Florida, “We lived like the Rockefellers”. Due to the generosity
of Rose and Tom Inderhees who allowed LBFE the use of their
condo in Destin, FL we had a ball and did live well.
Our first day of travel found us lunching at the famous Loveless
Café in Nashville and then on to Cullman, AL where we spent the
night. We arrived in Destin Sunday night and quickly found a
beachfront restaurant to enjoy dinner as the sun went down. The
week was spent enjoying the beautiful surroundings, taking a day
trip to Mobile, AL, spending an evening at a local BINGO hall,
taking in a movie, spending Veteran’s Day at Eglin Air Force
Museum and enjoying delicious food.
Marc Rolfes and Jacqueline Wollman
busy registering golfers
On our way home we fulfilled a “bucket list” wish of Carol,
George and Joe and attended the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman
Theatre in Nashville. We were entertained by new talent as well
as some of the entertainers who have been with the Opry for
years.
Honoring our
Veterans
Barbara Tello, one of our elderly friends
who is Native American has a great love
and respect for all veterans. She
(l to r) Charles Shinpock,
explained that Native Americans have a
Ernie Hill, Barbara Tello,
great tradition of patriotism and have
Joe Heybruck, Silas Warman,
fought for our country valiantly. She
Edgar Loop
makes small decorative plaques with an
American flag, a map of the country that the person served in (WWII,
Korea, and Vietnam) and a short poem she wrote to honor these men and
women. She wanted to give these out to all the veterans in LBFE.
It was a great vacation in which we truly did live like the
Rockefellers! Thank you Rose and Tom!
We decided to have a lunch to honor these elders which also happened to
be Barbara’s birthday. We gathered at Red Squirrel for a great lunch and
the presentation of the plaques. It was fascinating to listen to the men talk
about their military experiences, in combat and behind the lines. One of
the men said he hasn’t talked about his service for years but being with
other older veterans he enjoyed the comradery. Five men attended with
four unable to attend because of sickness or being too frail. Most were
from the Vietnam War with one who was involved in the Korean era.
Sadly most of our WWII vets are gone.
The Florida Gang: Randy Yauss, George Hamm, Yogi Wess,
Carol Brunner and Joe Heybruck
We thank Barbara for giving us the opportunity to honor these brave men
and women.
_ ... Little Brothers ...
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... Friends of the Elderly ...
_
Summer Outings
When the warm winds of April begin our elderly know it won’t be
long before our summer outings will start. They always plan on the
annual events: Red’s game, Riverdowns, B&B Riverboat, movie and
lunch, picnic at Winton Woods, Fountain Square but what gets them
excited is the addition of new outings.
Spring Grove Tram
This year we added a tour of Spring Grove Cemetery, Sunrock Farm,
and Entertrainment Junction. The tour of Spring Grove consisted of a
ride on a small train driven by a tour guide who explained many of the
fascinating details about the mausoleums, sculptures, wildlife, and the
beautiful plants and flowers. We learned about Cincinnati history and
some of the reasons why some of our well known streets are named
after famous people.
Barbara Bartelt feeding a goat
Florence McNeil finds a
friend atop her head at
Sunrock Farm
We were a little nervous about
Sunrock Farms. Would elderly
enjoy a small farm with a variety
of animals? It was a huge hit.
After a picnic lunch outside the
farmers put a show on for us. We
all got to pet various farm animals,
milk the goats, and learned about a
working farm. This will be
something we do again.
Meeting a friend at Sunrock Farm
Entertrainment
Junction is something
that has to be seen to
be believed. The
elders enjoyed a huge
display of working
model trains with
incredible historic
reproductions of
buildings
in which the
Entertrainment Junction
trains travelled
through. Everything was done down to the smallest detail. There was
a wonderful reproduction of old Coney Island. This brought back
many good memories for many of our elderly who had spent time at
Coney and especially Moonlight Gardens. As always a good
homemade lunch was served on site.
The Cincinnati Zoo was on the list
this year and many were eagerly
anticipating this trip but bad weather
intervened. We will do this in the
spring of next year.
On a Sunday in July we had the
picnics for our homebound people
Fourth of July Festivities
who enjoyed brats and metts with
homemade potato salad, deviled eggs, and ice tea. They also enjoy the
visits by the volunteers who take the picnic meals out.
Also of note this summer was our 4th of July party and quarterly
birthday party. The 4th of July party
had great traditional picnic food and
live entertainment with many patriotic
and old Americana types of songs.
Folks with birthdays in July, August,
and September celebrated with a
delicious dinner and entertainment by
the Golden Eagles who are an acapella
group and sang great old standards.
Many songs brought back nice and sad
Ryan and Florence enjoying cake
memories.
at the Birthday party
Hocking Hills Journey
On a bright, clear autumn morning, three cars
headed northeast with eight of our elderly friends,
two staff, and two volunteers for an overnight in
Hocking Hills. Our first stop was in Logan, Ohio
at the home of Sunny (Sunny was a active
volunteer when she lived in Cincinnati) and Dave
Jim Acra enjoys
Nelson. They greeted us with a delicious lunch of
the scenery
pasta and meatballs, salad, garlic toast and mint
chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. After relaxing on their deck
overlooking acres of trees putting on their color show, we answered the
siren call of Sunny's piano playing. We all gathered in the great room to
sing and sway to old favorites. Sometimes we just listened to the melodies
Sunny played so eloquently.
After Sunny's we left for a long drive
through the Hocking Hills countryside
and ended up at Ash Cave for a small
hike. From there we went to The Olde
Dutch Restaurant for a buffet feast (glad
we wore our stretch pants) and finally
checked into our hotel. Bedtime came
early for many of us.
Alberta Stinson relaxing at
Weavers Deli
After a small breakfast at the hotel, we
checked out and headed to the local
shopping area...the Logan Antique
Mall, Weaver's Deli, and Wal-Mart.
Many treasures were purchased and a
lunch porch-side got us through to our
next adventure. As nice as the day was
on Friday, the weather did a complete
On the Hocking Valley
turnaround on Saturday. The day was
Scenic Railway
cloudy, grey and drizzly but it did not
dampen our spirits. We boarded the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway train
in Nelsonville which lasted almost two and a half hours and it was a joy to
ride in the old-style train cars, gently swaying back and forth. The lull of
the train's movement put a few of us to sleep.
After two full days of fun we headed back to Cincinnati with fond
memories. But an LBFE event isn't complete without food, so our last
stop was Steak 'N Shake in Chillicothe. Our journey is complete!
_ ... Little Brothers ... _ ... flowers before bread ... _ ... Friends of the Elderly ... _
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Visiting Volunteer Corner
We have such dynamite visiting volunteers who have such
wonderful stories about their relationship with their elderly
friend that I have decided to introduce a new feature to our
newsletter. This issue, I am spotlighting Julia Soriano and her
old friend, Darlene Batsche. I know you will be as touched as I
was when you read her story.
Laurie McGrail
“Firstly, I’ll say that Darlene and I do so much together because we
have so much in common. Most of the places we go are places I want
to go and she goes along. For example, I like to grocery shop, so when
I am going to the grocery store, I often take her with. Of course, I
don’t take her with me when I’m in a hurry. But it often works out.
I run most of the errands for my family, so I pay attention to the little
errands she needs to run too. I may need to pick up allergy medicine at
Walgreens and she may need tape, so we’ll go to Walgreens together.
It’s surprising how much fun we have doing regular, everyday errands.
I’ll interject my volunteer help comment here – When a person can’t
drive and it’s hard for them to leave the house, it can be a treat for them
to just go out and bop around.
Darlene and I both LOVE good quality ice cream and cookies. Often
our trips out include a nice long break at Graeter’s. I introduced her to
their big chips. We also spend a great deal of time in the cookie aisle
when we go grocery shopping.
Darlene loves bargains and sales. For my family, I watch for specials
and save coupons. Personally, I don’t like doing all these penny
pinching things. Knowing Darlene will be excited about the $1
Coney’s on a certain day or the $1 burgers at Bar Louie’s on
Wednesday’s makes slogging through all that information more fun.
Sometimes I work as a mystery shopper and Darlene loves going with
me to do that. Usually it’s in a store and its fun for us to make up
stories and have a secret about what we are doing. Having her with me
slows me down, but I also get terrific information about how much
courtesy and patience employees have.
Like many people who have lived in the same home for decades,
Darlene has a lot of things. I enjoy going through and organizing
things. I don’t always agree with her about what to do with her things,
but these times are nice relaxing times when she can tell me stories of
where things came from.
Being a visiting volunteer is so great. I think what I like best is seeing
the world from a perspective of appreciating the moment and the little
things so much. Bring up ice cream with Darlene and she will tell you
all about the wonderful chips in Graeter’s ice cream! How lovely it
must be sometimes to have a mind that forgets what day it is, but
remembers ice cream as magical.
Are there things I don’t like about Darlene? Sure. I don’t like how
long she takes to pick out bananas for one. I don’t want to tell you
anything else though. That’s between me and Darlene.
Are there downsides to being a visiting volunteer? Most definitely.
When you spend a lot of time with a person, especially in their homes,
you learn all about their lives. Our friends have been alive a long time
and have had more years than we have to accumulate the normal
sadness of living: deaths, hard times, conflicts with family members
and good friends, health issues, etc. It’s so hard to watch them go by
and not solve them. But remember, you are accumulating your own
sadness too and you need most of your resources for that.
Do I have a favorite thing to do with Darlene? My favorite thing is
when she genuinely likes something and it’s very cool if she remembers
it. One time I took her to Grater’s and she thought it was awful. One
time we bought a lot of cans of soda together because I found a great
deal on four cases and she loved it.
5
The reality of spending time with a friend with short-term memory
issues is that you cannot be attached to creating a great memory; you
just make the most of the present, whatever it is. My goal is that
Darlene has fond feelings for me, over all. That’s a luxury that is much
easier for LBFE volunteers to accomplish than a doctor or nursing
home director, who is associated with the bad news they deliver.
I keep a magnet on my refrigerator that says, “Everybody needs to be
looked at.” That’s what I think the essence of a visiting volunteer is:
to look at a friend and have him or her look back at you. And how
precious is it when your friend is always delighted to see you?”
Cindy and Ricky
…..Coming and going
On September 1st Ricky Snow started working
with LBFE in the position of Elderly Services
Program Assistant. Ricky will be responsible for
visiting elderly, assessments, on-calls, elder
events, quarterly birthday parties and other job
duties as needed.
Ricky became involved with LBFE as a volunteer in 2006. Ricky is
twenty three years old, a graduate of Thomas More College with a
Bachelor’s degree in sociology and an associate’s degree in Biology
and Psychology.
Reflecting on his first couple of months Ricky reports “I have had
nothing but good experiences. The staff, volunteers and elderly are
welcoming and warm to someone so new to them. I feel comfortable in
the role that I am in and look forward to continuing to build on what I
have started here.”
Welcome Ricky and thank you for your caring, enthusiasm and energy.
As excited as we are to welcome Ricky we are saddened to say
goodbye to Cindy Goldfuss who will be retiring after she washes that
last dish on Christmas Day! Every day with Cindy has been a blessing.
Cindy began working with us when we were
transitioning to a new donor database and
perfected it with grace and determination.
Cindy demonstrated daily her commitment to
excellence, hospitality, attention to detail and
her ability to know what needs to be done and
to get it done. Cindy’s gentle demeanor,
kindness and love have permeated our office
and we have all been touched by her gifts and
radiant personality.
We thank you Cindy, we wish you all the best for a happy retirement!
Memorial Service
On Monday November 2nd a group gathered to remember and
honor our elderly friends who had died over the past year. We are
thankful for the time we had together and the friendships we shared.
Bernard Webster
Maggie Boyd
Ernestine Stewart
Stella McDonald
Dorothy Dahling
Joseph Hopkins
Billy Hoskins
Gene Becker
Sharon Atkins
Ed Harris
Beverlee Williams
Mattie Beckham
Evelyn Hunt
Lillian Candis
Robert Croswait
_ ... Little Brothers ... _ ... flowers before bread ... _ ... Friends of the Elderly ... _
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 3622
Cincinnati, OH
5530 Colerain Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45239
Address Service Requested
Save these dates!
Larry Adams Day
Join us to celebrate Larry’s 70th birthday and
his contributions to the Mt. Airy community!
2016
Saturday, Feb. 27
18th Anniversary Dinner
20th Century Theatre
Cincinnati
Chapter
Sunday, May 1
Italian Dinner
St. Clare Undercroft
Saturday, Sept. 17
19th Annual Golf Outing
Glenview Golf Course
513.542.7555
www.cincinnati.littlebrothers.org
Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015
1 – 3 pm
Celebration at the LBFE office
The celebration will include a display of
Larry’s creative artwork.