Matzah Pizza courtesy of Living Legacy

Wiggins Place loves to host Inter-generational events where tenants can invite their grand and great grandchildren for special programs.  On Sunday April 1st tenants and their special guests joined Rabbi Shmuli Friedman of The Model Matzah Bakery with the Living Legacy to make Matzah Pizza!

Wiggins Place tenant, Charlotte Markowitz, makes her very own tasty pizza.

Once of the tenant's grandchildren create a masterpiece

All smiles! 

Rabbi Friedman demonstrates (with a helper) the weights and measures of Matzah pizza

All the bakers are ready

The boys mix it up

Rebecca Eden's family poses for the camera

Platinum Club at Stone Gardens

The Platinum Club met once again to celebrate a member who has achieved the age of 97 or above.  This time around everyone gathered at Stone Gardens to celebrate our Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze members.  David Novak, Wiggins Place Intern, was on hand to shake a leg and join in all of the festivities.

David the Intern shakes it up with Noah Budin, Asst. Activities Director at Stone Gardens, at the 2nd Platinum Club Celebration

Platinum Club at Stone Gardens

David the Intern shakes it up with Noah Budin, Asst. Activities Director at Stone Gardens, at the 2nd Platinum Club

David the Intern takes a breather while watching the residents of Stone Gardens, RH Myers and Wiggins Place dance the afternoon away

Wiggins Place Seminar Series: Making your Money Last

Menorah Park Center for Senior Living presents another installment in their seminar series:

Making your Money Last- Financial Planning for Seniors

Program Highlights:

Overview of the Markets and a discussion of fixed income

Understanding the Political Landscape for 2012

Discussing the Longevity challenge

Quick guide to estate issues and beneficiary designations

 We invite you to join speakers Nan Cohen, Randy Schneider and Alan Yankowitz, JD for this fascinating seminar on Wednesday, March 21st at 7:40pm at Wiggins Place.  This is a complimentary event for Wiggins Place tenants and their families.

Light refreshments will be served

Brought to you by the Menorah Park Foundation and Creekside Financial Advisors, LLC

Menorah Park's Platinum CLub

On Wednesday, February 22nd, Wiggins Place was honored to host the first ever Menorah Park Platinum Club.  57 tenants and residents from all four buildings on campus and the Adult Day Care were invited to join Sam Weingard as he celebrated his 100th birthday.  How did one snag one of these coveted invites?  Why only by being 97 or over that's how.

We welcomed multiple tenants for a meet and greet along with a lovely selection of refreshments for all to enjoy.  Certifiates were passed out and members were honored passed on their level of membership:

Bronze - 97

Silver - 98

Gold - 99

100 + - Platinum

                     Congratulations to all of our members.  We will see you on the next birthday!!

Sam Weingard receives his Platinum Club Certificate

Sam Weingard's 100th Birthday

You only turn 100 years old once and when you do it should be celebrated  in style.  Sam Weingard turned 100 years old on February 22nd to much fanfare.  On February 19th his family hosted a wonderful and super fun party here at Wiggins Place.  Sam's family came from near and far to toast his special, once in a lifetime, day!

Pictures from Sam's 100 years!

Terrific group shot with Sam, his loving family and some of his Wiggins Place friends

Sam gets a little help from his son, Michael, with blowing out the candles on his beautiful and delicious cake.

Happy Birthday, Sam Weingard!  Wiggins Place loves having you as a tenant and we wish you many more happy years to come!!

Aging Resource Center Update

If I told you there were basic steps you could take to enhance your quality of life and reduce or delay your chances for memory decline, would you take them?

Research suggests that when we are informed, most of us will take proactive steps.

That’s the idea behind Menorah Park’s Aging Resources Center. We want people to have access to information that supports overall wellbeing, independence and reduces crises and the resulting stress (a major cause of memory loss). The site within our main Menorah Park website, www.menorahpark.org/arc includes a library of comprehensive information to help our community find many answers to questions that arise during the aging process. It includes search capability to make the information even easier to find.

Please explore the site and let me know what you think. I always welcome and appreciate input that supports our Menorah Park mission as experts in the field of aging.

In addition to the site, thanks to the Myers fund, we hold quarterly free Dinner Conversations for the entire community. The next one is about fraud prevention and protection and will be held on March 22^nd at 6:30 p.m.

I will send more information closer to the date.

I want to jump back to some brief information about ways to reduce memory decline, but first I want to thank Howard Epstein for his leadership of the Aging Resources Committee and all of the board members and staff involved in making this program a success.

Ways to reduce risks of memory decline:

According to Johns Hopkins, you will be in a better position to keep your memory strong well into later life by knowing to the following:

• New studies show that getting adequate sleep plays an essential role in learning new information, relating to names, dates, faces, facts, specific events - in short forming memory.

• Recent evidence-based research reported in the Annals of Neurology suggests that people who closely follow the Mediterranean diet have a 40 percent lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. The Mediterranean diet incorporates basics of a healthy diet plus a splash of olive oil and sometimes a glass of red wine along with other components that characterize the traditional cooking style of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. (Most healthy diets include fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains, and limit unhealthy fats. While these basic elements to diet remain tried-and-true, subtle variations or differences in proportions of certain foods may make a difference in your risk of heart disease.)

• Studies investigating the exercise/memory/dementia link have shown positive outcomes in recent years so keep moving.

• Johns Hopkins researchers have linked high levels of the stress hormone cortisol with poor cognitive performance in older adults. And another study, reported in the journal Neurology, found that depressed and anxious people are 40 percent more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment.

• Evidence from recent studies in the Archives of Internal Medicine indicates that controlling high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease are absolutely critical to cognitive function. This can often be accomplished by losing extra pounds (just 10 pounds can help), exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet, reduce sodium and limit alcohol.

Wish me luck as I work to take off those 10 pounds and more!

I wish all of you ongoing health and wellbeing!!