Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

This past Wednesday residents, staff and families took a walk on the wild side. We packed a fabulous picnic lunch boarded a bus and headed to The Cape May Zoo. When we arrived we ate our lunch at one of the many picnic areas located at the zoo, then proceed to go and check out the animals.

We were delighted to see many animals such as bears, snow leopards, owls, monkeys, otters and some foxes. After walking around for a while we headed back to the bus for our trip home. The day was fun and brought back a lot of memories of trips we’ve taken to the zoo in the past.

Local leader in Alzheimer’s Care presents at AFA National Educating America Tour

Mary Jane Eicke, Executive Director of Juniper Village at Williamstown was honored to present at the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s Educating America Tour as part of its 15^th anniversary celebration. The Concepts in Care Educational Conference, held on May 19 at the Hilton Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing, provided the opportunity for people to learn from experts on topics, including: access to healthcare, transitioning from home to residential care setting, safeguarding your space, long-term care, perceptions of aging, and clinical trials and research.

With approximately 300 people in attendance, Mary Jane discussed care for the memory-impaired and Alzheimer’s disease. Juniper Village at Williamstown has received the Excellence in Care, Dementia Care Program of Distinction designation from the AFA consistently since 2010. At that time, JVW was the first in New Jersey and only one of thirty in the country to have received the honor.

“We are proud that our pioneering programs and innovatively designed environment has enabled us to be recognized by the AFA.  Thanks to our dedicated staff, we are one of an elite number of communities that they believe ensure quality of life for individuals with dementia and their families; and one that provides an optimal care setting,” explained Mary Jane Eicke.

As for being asked to present at the conference, she said, “It was an honor to be asked to present by the AFA. I was very proud to be part of it.”

June 2017 Events in Williamstown, NJ: Live In Wellness

“You are what you eat.” The old adage is now truer than ever. Good health is largely dependent on good nutrition, so much so that doctors trace many physical and emotional ailments back to a diet deficient in vitamins and minerals. Eating a well-balanced diet is a major part of encouraging long life, lowering the incidence of disease, and helping sick people recover. On the flip side, inadequate nutrition and poor quality foods can generally cut life span and open us up to many illnesses and disease. In effect, food is medicine per Webster's definition of medicine: "The science and art dealing with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease." Food acts as medicine - to maintain, prevent, and treat disease.

With this month’s Alive in All Seasons focus on food, we’d like to give you a prescription for a healthy diet: breakfast daily (do not skip); meals x3 (at least) daily; foods from each of the food groups per meal daily. The food pyramid defines the food groups as grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy and proteins. The amounts vary according to age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity level. Here’s a good guideline to start you on your way. Make half your plate fruits and vegetables. Make half your grains whole grains. Move to low-fat and fat-free dairy. Vary your protein routine and eat and drink the right amount for you.

Join us as we continue our focus on healthy aging by shedding light on our hydration program with healthy snacks and juices, and demonstrate how food and nutrition help us to Live in Wellness from a dietitian’s point of view.

Our fabulous June 2017 events in Williamstown, NJ at Juniper Village at Williamstown include our:

§  Classic Movie Night as we get ready to walk the red carpet at our screening of The King and I, so sit back, relax, and munch on some popcorn or candy along with an ice cold soda, and feel free to sing along to this 1946 classic starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr on June 8^th at 6:30 pm.

§  Father’s Day Magic Show to say Abracadabra and Hocus Pocus and enjoy a magical afternoon as we celebrate all of the wonderful Fathers in our lives, so bring the family and enjoy some of Dad’s favorite snacks, and who knows, you may be selected as the magicians helper, but just don’t disappear on us on June 18^th at 2:00 pm.

§  Summer Kick Off & Community Outreach Event because with this month’s focus on food, there’s no better way to celebrate the first day of summer then with an all-American hot dog or hamburger off the grill, so join us as we “Live In Wellness” with this summer kick off filled with delicious, and healthy food options, and to help others enjoy healthy food, we ask that you bring a canned item or dry good item that we will be donating to our local food pantry on June 21^st at 2:00 pm. (RSVP by June 12^th to 856-740-4444.)

We look forward to sharing our June 2017 events in Williamstown, NJ at Juniper Village at Williamstown with you as you Live In Wellness.

Cultural Diversity In Juniper Village at Williamstown

On May 12^th the staff of Juniper Village at Williamstown gave each other a taste of their favorite ethnic dishes at a cultural lunch. All staff were invited to participate, and we had a beautiful variety of foods from all over the globe. Needless to say it was a huge hit and we can’t wait to do it again.

M O T H E R…. Put Them All Together They Spell Mother

This past weekend we celebrated all of our wonderful mothers with a beautiful brunch. Our residents and their families loved spending time with each other and even making new friends. We had lots of good food, great music and tons of fun together.  Please stop by and join us for any of our upcoming events, we would love to see you!

Take Your Child To Work Day

As April ended we found ourselves celebrating “Take Your Child To Work Day”. Our staff brought their children, grandchildren and nieces and nephews to work. They were they a tremendous benefit to us. The kids helped out by walking around outside the buildings with our residents, helped hand out supplies, and even enjoyed a pizza party lunch and fresh hot soft pretzels. We also had a visit from Rosebud the Therapy Hen and everyone got to enjoy her. It was a fun day for all!

May 2017 Events in Williamstown, NJ: Grow Strong Daily

Continuing our Spring Alive In All Seasons focus on healthy again, we continue to let wellbeing thrive with a May focus on Fitness. Staying fit throughout all seasons of life is possible and at Juniper we promote fitness every day of the week! We recently shared on our Facebook page a New York Times story, authored by Gretchen Reynolds, providing results from the Mayo Clinic who recently conducted an experiment on the cells of 72 healthy but sedentary men and women who were 30 or younger or older than 64. The volunteers were randomly assigned to a particular exercise regimen. There were some unsurprising differences: The gains in muscle mass and strength were greater for those who exercised only with weights, while interval training had the strongest influence on endurance. But more unexpected results were found in the biopsied muscle cells. It seems as if the decline in the cellular health of muscles associated with aging was “corrected” with exercise, especially if it was intense, says Dr. Sreekumaran Nair, a professor of medicine and an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic and the study’s senior author. In fact, older people’s cells responded in some ways more robustly to intense exercise than the cells of the young did. So pick up those weights, get on that bike and remember it’s never too late to benefit from exercise. And if you’re not doing so already, follow us on social media so you don’t miss a thing.

We invite you to Grow Strong Daily along with us with programs such as Fitness Five and our Route 66 Walking Program. Learn more about fitness and keeping your heart healthy at our Heart Healthy Luncheon and educational presentation. Staying fit throughout all seasons of life is possible.

Our fabulous May 2017 events in Williamstown, NJ at Juniper Village at Williamstown include our:

§  Cinco De Mayo Celebration because it's time to pull out your old sombrero, grab your maracas and join us for our annual Cinco de Mayo celebration and enjoy traditional Mexican food, festive music and a whole lot of fun, with this month’s focus on Fitness we invite you to “Grow Strong Daily” while learning a Mexican folk dance and interesting facts about the day, and last but not least, bring your business cards to exchange and be entered to win our door prize, then leave us a big OLÉ on May 4^th at 3:00 pm.

§  Mother’s Day Brunch because whether you are a mother or have a wonderful mother, we invite you to enjoy a beautiful brunch and music to honor the special mothers in our lives, so spend quality time with your family and ours as we share stories of all the wonderful moms out there on May 7^th at 9:30 am. (RSVP by April 28^th at 856-740-4444.)

§  Memorial Day Celebration for a tribute as we honor those who have bravely served our country as we share an afternoon of food, music and stories about the men and woman that served our country in the past and are currently still serving in our armed forces, while we hear from our own Resident Associate Sarah about how proud she is to serve our country, so we look forward to sharing this special day with you on May 29^th at 3:00 pm.

We look forward to sharing our May 2017 events in Williamstown, NJ at Juniper Village at Williamstown with you as you Grow Strong Daily.