Volume 8, Issue 3 March, 2014

Newsletter Editor:

Marina Mathews

What’s Happening? Community Breakfast

Lakeshore Lodge

Steak Night

Moosehaven Golf

Tournament

Mardi Gras Party

Omelets!

Mandarin Lodge

Dinner Dance

District Sports & Meeting

at Moosehaven

Lakeshore Lodge

St. Patrick’s Dinner Dance

Florida Bermuda Days at

Moosehaven

John’s Social - Big Band

Michigan Deck Dinner

“Welcome to Ireland”

Pecan Park Flea Market

Mandarin Lodge Breakfast

Bunko!

BINGO! BINGO! BINGO!

AT MOOSEHAVEN

We will have a pony carousel, train rides, petting

zoo, bounce houses, face paining, game booths and

more!

Concessions available will include hamburgers,

hotdogs, cotton candy, snow cones, ice cream and

funnel cakes!

Easter egg hunts will be divided into age categories

so that children can gather eggs safely.

1701 Park Avenue * Orange Park * Florida

Easter Sunday Sunrise Service Sunday, April 20th

7:00am Moosehaven Riverbank Pavilion

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the things that need to be done or otherwise require your attention? Do you wonder where the time went when you realize how quickly your children/grandchildren have grown, how your hair has “suddenly” turned gray, or run into old friends that you haven’t seen in a while? How often do you remark that time seems to go faster and faster each year? Do you ever ask yourself, “How will I ever get everything done?

Perhaps this story will cause you to rethink your priorities.

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up the re-maining open areas of the jar.

He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else, the small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happi-ness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party, or fix the disposal.”

Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

As always, Just John

Just John

Pictured Left: Resident Betty Paulsen has fun mak-ing up a big pan of Bread Pudding for other residents to enjoy. Just another ex-ample of the community spirit seen every day here at Moosehaven, Another Day In Paradise! H

ow

Do

Yo

u F

ill

Yo

ur

Jar?

“Doing Life or Living Life”

Jesus entered a village and came to the home of Mary and Martha, sisters of Lazarus. Martha welcomed him

and made him feel quite at home. Her sister, Mary, sat before the Master, hanging on to every word he said.

But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them.

“Master, don’t you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.” The

Master said, “Martha, Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing.

There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away

from her.” (Luke 10:38-42 – paraphrased)

Mary is content to sit at Jesus’ feet soaking up the Word, (front porch sittin’) and her big sister, Martha was

“doing.” Is one right and the other wrong? No. Duty and Devotion are both necessary but there must be a bal-

ance. At this particular time, Jesus pointed out what was most important. Martha was serving Jesus and Mary

was worshipping Jesus. Perhaps Jesus was inviting Martha to greater freedom; blessing her with freedom to

seize choice moments in which to live beyond as well as among her responsibilities.

There is much to say about these two remarkable women, but for now let it serve as a reminder to us to recog-

nize the importance of our daily routines, but more importantly to see beyond them to help us balance out our

duties and devotions before us.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew

6:33

Modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. There are times we find ourselves running

in so many directions that we fail to recognize those “little” things that get us sidetracked from doing what we

should do and fret because we don’t.

The danger in this is we get used to it. It starts to feel normal. We have the same 24 hours in the day that our

ancestor had, yet we rarely do any “front porch sittin'.” I remember growing up visiting relatives and it seems

like we always ended up on the front porch. The grown-ups talked and laughed while the youngsters ran and

played out in the yard. I don’t know about you, but I could use some “front porch sittin.”

When is the last time you really listened to a friend? When is the last time you really laughed? When is the

last time you really kissed your spouse? When is the last time you really appreciated your family? When is

the last time you really appreciated yourself?

Life is more than doing – life is to be enjoyed. How about you? Which describes you best, “doing life” or

“living life?”

We should take the time to enjoy the blessings God has given us. Ecclesiastes 9:7 reminds us to enjoy life. It

says, “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted

your works.”

~LIFE IS GOOD, IT’S TOO SHORT TO FRET YOUR WAY THROUGH IT~

Simply Helen

Are you on Facebook? If so, be sure and LIKE Moosehaven! You can find all the latest news on our Heart Of The Community Events

Facebook

First Coast Wing War!

Think You Have The Best Wings Around?

Want To Put It To The Test? We Invite You To Enter

Moosehaven’s First Coast Wing War!

Saturday, May 31st For More Information

(904) 278-1210

mmathews@moosehaven.org

Chicken Wing Cook-off and Car Show Wing Eating Contest! Taking all contenders!

CHANGE OF DATE!!!!

Have you ever had a dream that you were falling and then you suddenly startle and wake up? Well, for many of us,

falling when you are awake is the real nightmare.

Statistics show that more than one third of adults aged 65 and older fall each year in the United States. 20-30% of people

who fall suffer moderate to severe injuries such as bruises, hip fractures and head trauma. In fact, 90% of all hip fractures

are a result of a fall.

So, if we know incidences of falling increase with age, what can we do to prevent a fall? Certainly no one WANTS to

fall. Well, easy fixes involve ensuring you have proper lighting, appropriate footwear, and no clutter to trip over, but

there are nearly as many potential solutions as there are causes of falling.

Muscle imbalances, pain, and vestibular (balance) deficits are some of the most common risk factors that can often be

improved with exercise and physical therapy. It is better to treat problems when they are subtle and only have minimal

functional impact rather than waiting until the risk factor causes multiple falls, increased pain, injuries, and decreasing

levels of quality of life.

No matter your age and no matter the area of difficulty, it is always better to try your best and move forward in the

most positive light. I once heard of a lecturer who told every member of his audience to raise their right arm straight up

into the air as far as they possibly could. With a sea of outstretched arms in front of him, the lecturer then said, “That’s

great! Now raise your arm even higher.” Every member of the audience strained to stretch their fingers toward the ceil-

ing even further. Groans of effort were heard all around the room. The lecturer laughed and said “Now why were you

able to reach higher the second time when the first instructions you received were to raise your arm up as far as you pos-

sibly could?”

This past Valentine’s Day we sent out close to 250 Valentines cards to Moosehaven residents and staff to share our

love and commitment to each and every one of you. We don’t have to strive to be perfect. With everything we do, we

always just need to do our very best. Whether that translates to improving our activity levels and exercises to build

strength and reduce falls or lending a smile and improving the appreciation of love and community with our neighbors;

it all builds us up to living our very best life.

Living on this beautiful Moosehaven campus is said to be spending each day in Paradise. I can think of no other way

to demonstrate our gratitude for every day blessings than to spend each day doing our very best for others as well as

ourselves. Jennifer Bothast, Therapy Director

Wing Eating Contest!

I heard many sermons preached in church while growing up about having a servant’s heart. I then asked my-

self the question, “how can you know if you have the heart of a servant?” One definition that stands out

above others I also learned was this. A servant’s heart has a true desire to serve others with nothing in re-

turn. This is something I decided to teach my three children as they were growing up, and now get to also

teach my seven grandchildren.

I got to witness the evidence of those teachings last year, when my oldest granddaughter, Ali came to visit

from California for the summer. She asked to come to work with me and volunteer here at Moosehaven. She

got to work with both of our Activities Directors, Brenda and Polly. Ali played Bingo with the residents,

helped decorate for events, pushed the Life Care Center residents in their wheelchairs, painted their finger-

nails, sang songs with them, and played card games.

At night when we would sit at the dinner table, she would talk and talk about the residents, tell me stories of

the day, and the fun they had. Ali also told me she made it a point to learn residents by name, so she could

interact with them better every day. She has been such a “people person” since she was a little toddler, and

truly loves to be around others and do for others. I never had to plead with her to get out of bed each morn-

ing because she always looked forward to coming to Moosehaven.

Sadly, last summer quickly came and went, and before I knew it, I was putting Ali, her brother and sister back

on the plane to go home. She makes it a point to ask how the residents and the employees are doing every

time we talk on the phone or text one another. Just the other day, I was in my office working, and a text came

across my phone that said…..”Tell everyone at Moosehaven I said hi! I miss working there”. I replied back

and asked what she liked best about working at Moosehaven, and she said, “My favorite thing was being

around all the residents and hopefully making their day better”.

Ali must have succeeded in sharing her servant’s heart last summer. There is hardly a day that goes by, that

either a resident or employee will ask me how she is doing, and to tell her hello.

We must learn to become servants if we want to experience true fulfillment. We need to become lowly, meek

and humble. As God’s servants we should have no other agenda, except to do His will. One of my favorite

Bible verses comes from I Corinthians 15:58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable,

always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Do you have a servant’s heart? Has God blessed you with the insight to see the needs of others and reach out

in compassion and understanding even when they, themselves cannot reach out and ask for help?

Janice Cieplinski, R.N.

Clinic Director, Moosehaven STAFF

BIRTHDAYS Julio Figuetoa

Tonda Williams Debbie Spears

Eric Colvin Addie Jordan

Jeffrey L’homme Paula Wrye

Rosalynn Flemons Rulx Desir

Brenda Jewell Donna Ward

Martin Rodriguez

At Moosehaven

Saturday, March 22nd & Sunday, March 23rd

For more information www.floridamoose.org

Live Band on Saturday Night!

had a son, Glen Howe who lives

in Tallahassee, Florida. After her

son was older, she went to work

for Sears for eighteen years in the

catalog department. Mike says

her son really looks after her and

is a wonderful son. She is very

proud of her daughter-in-law,

Cheri. She has four grandchil-

dren and four great-

grandchildren. Since Mike was

an only child and had one son I’m

sure she is enjoying all the grand-

children.

Mike joined the Loyal Order

of the Moose two years after her

husband passed away. She re-

ceived the Academy of Friend-

ship in 1991, Past Senior Regent

in 1996, College 1997 and Star

Recorder in 1999. She signed

twelve members into the Loyal

Order of the Moose.

Mike moved to Moosehaven Jan-

uary 25, 2000. She had to find

homes for her two dogs that she

had for years when she came to

Moosehaven. She had a German

shepherd and a peek-a-poo. The

same person took both of them so

she was happy they got to stay

together. She said she loves liv-

ing here. She works in the sew-

ing shop for the Life Care Center.

Not surprising since she learned

to sew at such an early age. Mike

loves to watch movies and listens

to easy listening music. She reads

all kinds of books but especially

likes romance novels. If she

could leave the next generation

any advice it would be to join the

Moose and retire at Moosehaven.

I really enjoyed spending time

with Mike and getting to know

her. I suggest you take that op-

portunity and do the same.

Paula Wrye,

Medical Records

UP Close and Personal

with Evelyn ‘Mike’ Howe

Evelyn “Mike” Howe was born

in Washington, DC on November

11, 1932 to Floyd Webster and

Lillian Michael. At a very young

age people started calling her

Mike because of her last name

being Michael. She has been

called Mike ever since then. She

was an only child and lost her fa-

ther to tuberculosis when she was

just seven years old. After her

father died her mother went to

work as a seamstress and starting

teaching her how to sew when she

was seven years old. Mike had to

learn at a very young age to take

care of herself while her mother

worked. She had some parakeets

at home that kept her company.

When Mike was a few years

older she used to go to a place

called Friendship House after

school. It was a type of youth

center to keep kids busy and off

the streets. They would play

games and do crafts and were

busy all of the time.

After Mike received her GED

a friend introduced her to Jerome

Howe. They started dating and

were later married on December

18, 1954. They made their home

in Virginia and were married for

thirty-three years. Unfortunately,

he fell ill and passed away Octo-

ber 6, 1988. Mike said he was a

wonderful husband. He had a ca-

reer in the United States Navy

and eventually retired. He spent

a lot of time out to sea while she

stayed in Virginia. When Jerome

was not out to sea, some of the

things they liked to do were go to

movies, the zoo and site-seeing in

Washington, DC. They

Make sure you visit the Moosehaven

website where you can see

information about all of our

Upcoming Events. Copies of the

monthly newsletter are also kept on

the website under the Moosehaven

News page!

MOOSEHAVEN.ORG

Evelyn ‘Mike’ Howe

Admissions News The Moosehaven Admissions Com-

mittee met on February 18th to

consider 10 new applications. The

committee approved one couple,

three single ladies and three

single men.

John Griffith from Myrtle Beach,

SC Lodge 1959 will arrive at

Moosehaven on March 6th and

Ethel Hoepfl from the Golden Tri-

angle, FL Chapter 1389 will arrive

on March 18th.

F. Ross Fleet Semi-Retired

Director of Admissions

elephants can sense when another

elephant is upset, frightened, in-

jured or sick. When they sense that

something like this is being experi-

enced by another elephant they will

attempt to comfort the other ele-

phant by touching with their trunk

or making a particular sound that

they do not make at other times.

They will tend to gather together

while they do this. Researchers be-

lieve that elephants are like other

animals that have been observed

exhibiting similar behaviors. All of

the animals who exhibit this type of

behavior tend to live in communi-

ties (herds, pods, flocks, etc.) Ele-

phants join dolphins, apes and cer-

tain kinds of birds in being viewed

as showing some form of compas-

sion for others in their community.

At first glance this seems like a

little piece of fluff for professors

from a prestigious institution like

Emory University to be dealing

with. (By the way my grandfather

graduated from Emory). But if you

consider it carefully, this infor-

mation challenges what we often

think of as something that makes

humans different from other ani-

mals. In fact we often talk about the

difficulty many people have with

showing compassion and empathy

for others and that showing com-

passion is an expression of strength

and maturity. Arthur Jersild is quot-

ed as saying, “Compassion is the

ultimate and most meaningful em-

bodiment of emotional maturity. It

is through compassion that a person

achieves the highest peak and deep-

est reach in his or her search for self

-fulfillment.” Matthew Fox speaks

of compassion this way,

“Compassion is not sentiment but is

making justice and doing works of

mercy. Compassion is not a moral

commandment but a flow and over-

flow of the fullest human and

divine energies”. We clearly value the ability to feel empathy and act compassionately very highly given the superlatives and language cho-sen by these two men to try to de-scribe how they think about the concept.

Compassion seems to have al-ways been a force in the mission of the Moose. Compassion must have played a part in the desire to estab-lish Mooseheart and Moosehaven. You can easily sense compassion when you see the outpouring of support for the ongoing care pro-vided to the children at Mooseheart and seniors at Moosehaven.

At Moosehaven you can see the depth of character the residents show as they treat each other with empathy and compassion when the community comes together in joy and sorrow. Compassion seems to be a trademark of a community whether that community is made up of Moose, or dolphins, or apes, or birds or even elephants.

Maybe the elephant mascot did not have anything to do with the luggage tags or the size of the play-ers. Maybe back in 1930 the people at Alabama saw a day coming when the football team would need (like elephants) to comfort each other when they were upset or sick. That time came this year because they were certainly upset in the Iron Bowl and sick after the Sugar bowl.

Well, people in Auburn and Okla-homa will think I am funny. Maybe the people in LSU, South Carolina and Texas A&M will too.

Bill Tippins

Life Care Administrator

BILL'S BOARD Somebody asked me why the

Alabama mascot is an elephant

when they are called the crimson

tide; like I am supposed to know

that. I got curious about it, so I

looked it up. It seems there are two

stories of how the elephant mascot

came to Alabama. In the first sto-

ry, the team was traveling to the

Rose Bowl at the end of the 1926-

27 football season. As a good luck

gift the Rosenberger’s Birming-

ham Trunk Company gave each

player leather luggage tags. The

tags bore an impression of the

company’s logo, a large red ele-

phant. (Apparently the pun was

intended) A reporter, Grantlan

Rice, was there and equated the

tags with the player’s very large

size and started referring to them

as the elephants. The second story

also involves Mr. Rice. At the

1930 football game against Ole

Miss, Mr. Rice remarked “hold

your horses here come the ele-

phants” as Alabama’s varsity team

ran onto the field. He was again

referring to the large size of the

players and the noise they made

running onto the field. The team

was called the elephants from that

point forward. In 1979 the mascot

for the team officially became the

elephant. They call the mascot

“Big Al.” Apparently that pun is

intended also.

Speaking of elephants, I read a

short article on Yahoo that said

researchers from Emory University

have been studying elephants and

have gathered tons of data. One of

the things they discovered is that

Resident Birthdays In March! Julia Tucker Alfreda Vertigan Gertrude Puda Robert Kennedy

Ruth Wingard Clarence Hollon Jean Davis

Rita Gabbert Sandra Shepard Clara Ruth

Dorothy Keim Wallace Bennett Mary Kurey

Leona Printz William Beard Howard Mathias

Jack Shea Betty Bunn Joseph Banks

Lewis Wingard Harold Embrey Rosemary Taylor

Paul Moore James Gottlof Marian Bundy

It was reported that Nikki Clark, Physical Therapy, goes further than the distance in servicing our senior

Moose.

It was reported that the staff at Katherine Smith go further than the distance in their care of our resi-

dents. The residents are healthy and happy!

It was reported that the Campus resident drivers do a fantastic job of getting our residents and visitors

to campus where they need to go!

It was reported that semi-retired, Director of Admissions, Ross Fleet, went further than the distance and

did an amazing job on the 7th Annual Moosehaven Golf Invitational.

It was reported that Nicole Blue keeps going further than the distance by taking on additional duties

and responsibilities.

It was reported that our Maintenance and Inventory Management staff go further than the distance eve-

ry single day!

It was reported that our resident volunteers go further than the distance by helping staff provide the

best possible retirement for our residents.

Remember, if you have someone you’d like to turn in for going over and above,

please contact Marina, Doreen or Helen.