Ghostly Tales From a Spirited Fea Spirited Few Oh What A BOO-tiful Mourning: An English Ghost Story...

October 2004Volume 11 Number 8

Residents, Associates, Families & Friends www.asbury.org

A NEWSPAPER FOR ASBURY METHODIST VILLAGE

INSIDE:Protecting Yourself Against the Flu .......................5

Francis Asbury Really Got Around ........................6

That Was the Week That Was at Kindley ........... 10

Asbury Acts of Kindness .......................................11

Alaska—It’s Cool!By Martin Moon, Diamond

Twenty-four Asbury residents and friends used trains, planes, buses and a cruise ship to discover the beauty and vastness

(and cool weather!) of Alaska from September 2 through 12.

After flying from Baltimore to Anchorage on September 3, the group boarded the dome cars of the McKinley Express luxury train for a two-day tour of snowy and mountainous Denali National Park, with close views (but no close encounters) of wildlife, including bear, deer, moose, wolves, mountain goats and eagles. One brave bear wandered alongside the train at a sop.

Then, on to Fairbanks and a visit to the his-toric Gold Dredge No. 8 and an opportunity to pan for gold. Among the most successful, Liz Van Billiard recovered nuggets valued at $11- plus by the nearby assay office. The Dredge tour included an all-you-can-eat miners’ lunch (stew) and a stop at the Trans Alaska Pipeline site.

Another plane ride (Alaska Airlines) back to Anchorage and a scenic bus ride to Seward to board the 55,000-ton Statendam of the Holland America cruise line. A day of cruising the Col-lege Fjord followed with snow-capped moun-tains at port and starboard was especially sce-nic for passengers in deck chairs sipping hot

Ghostly Tales From a Spirited Few

Oh What A BOO-tiful Mourning: An English

Ghost StoryBy Reg Westlake, Villas

I don’t believe in ghosts — but per-haps I should after learning about a true experience in Aldeburgh, a town

on the east coast of England, and famous

With the cool crisp air of Autumn come the chilling tales of ghosts and goblins, spooks and spirits, and things

that go bump in the night. Read on…if you dare!

The Spooky Truth About Local Spirits

By Paula Strain, Edwards-Fisher

Ghosts haunting Mountain Mary-land are different from those in Metropolitan or Tidewater Mary-

land. For one thing, their haunting life is much like ours—two generations or 50 to 70 years long. While a few do horrify or terrify, most seem to want to assist

The Haunted KitchenBy Marj McGuire, Villas

When John was transferred from Orono, Maine, where he had an office on the University campus, to southern Maine, we bought an 1820 sea captain’s house in Wells with property running down

to a cranberry bog and open water beyond.The house was a New Yorker’s (me) dream

house: white, with the original old glass in the window panes and black shutters all around, sitting on a granite foundation with a granite stoop, and a hipped roof with tall white chim-neys on either side. Fireplaces in every room, mostly boarded over, and the usual New England ell containing a dining room, pantry, kitchen and porch. We learned that the house at one time had

Reporter, Martin Moon and wife, Janice, think Alaska is pretty cool—freezing, in fact!

Continued on page 7

It was here that the Aldeburgh seawall ghost went walking…or did it?

The Galloping Goose—oooo, spooky!

Gland. For one thing, their haunting life is

Continued on page 15



2 OCTOBER 2004 VILLAGE LIFE

VILLAGELIFE

EditorLinda Williams Aber

Communications Publications Coordinator

Asbury Methodist Village201 Russell Ave.

Gaithersburg, MD 20877301-216-4106 • [email protected]

Resident EditorsSally Schear, Kindley

Melva Hiatt, MundLois Lord, Trott

Gordon Allen, 419Alice Furlong, E-F

Resident StaffBuilding 419: Genevieve Wimsatt

Diamond: Marjorie McFarland, Martha Grimm, and Martin Moon

Edwards-Fisher: Betty Goen, Joan Dunlop, Mary Rose Wells, Martha Hunt, Dorothy Welch, Paula Strain and Betty Savage

Kindley: George Boddiger

Mund: Judy Weaver, Winston Taylor and Anne Porter

Trott: Marjorie Brugger, Marion Livingston, and

Jeanne North (PACs)

Villas: Reginald Westlake, Tom Wilkinson, Marj McGuire, and

Mary Anstead

Printing: Chesapeake Publishing Corp.

Design/Layout: Electronic Ink

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S CORNER

The Best Is Yet to Be

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Village Life is published by Asbury Methodist Village

Communications Department

“The mission of Village Life is to provide timely, interesting and entertaining news about the lives, concerns and activi-ties of the people who reside, work and volunteer at Asbury Methodist Village.”

Several decades ago I became intrigued with the quote, “Grow old along with me; the

best is yet to be.” I even bought a sundial with that inscription and packed it away so that when we bought our first home I could put it in a special place in the yard. All my life I’ve been involved with older adults. And I guess it’s from all those experiences that I’ve gained a deep respect and admiration for seniors in our world, and why that quote has also become a part of me.

My great aunt owned a nursing home and as a child I was taken to work routinely by my mother, who was the Director of Nurs-ing, to interact with the residents. Throughout school I was involved in volunteer activities with seniors. Yet when I went to college I decid-ed I wanted to work with children. One week of work on the elemen-tary school playground convinced me to go back to my true calling. So I changed my major and ever since I’ve been working with older adults. I have learned many life les-sons from the relationships I’ve been so fortunate to have with seniors over the years.

My husband and I love to travel, especially to foreign countries. Even foreign languages haven’t been a barrier to those relationships I’ve had with seniors. I’ll never forget visiting an ancient spa in Budapest and having a very elderly woman sit down beside me and carry on a very lengthy conversation with me in her native language. I had no idea what she really said to me, but we connected on some level. And there was the senior gentleman on a cliff in the southernmost part of

Portugal, who taught me how to eat some sort of creature he would scrape off the rocks. He tried his best to tell me what they were, but I still have no idea, which is prob-ably a good thing! These types of traveling relationships remain with me as fond memories, and more life lessons.

As the evenings have turned cooler here at AMV, and as the days become shorter, I’ve noticed more and more couples out walking in the evenings. I always smile when I see them strolling hand in hand. It gives me more opportunities to reflect on relationships, and I won-der if they are experiencing the best that was yet to be for them. I’m grateful for the opportunities you’ve provided me over the past couple of months to re-establish relationships, form new relation-ships and help explain business and corporate relationships. And I hope that in various ways the AMV associates and I are helping you to experience a wonderful time in your lives. I continue to believe that as we work together in part-nership with each other, we can make the best even better.

Sue DaCamaraActing Executive Director

Back by popular demand, this month’s issue was

brought to you by ghosts, goblins, and a spook-tacular

staff of residents!

Dear Editor:At the recent meeting of the Vil-

lage Life staff, we were discuss-ing the Christmas Gift Fund , won-dering how to help our residents understand its importance. There was a wonderful article in the “Vil-lage Life” (Aug/Sept) by Jeanne North describing the Fund and who benefits from it. But many of the residents tend to take for granted all the work that goes on behind the scenes here. Most of us at the meeting agreed that if we think about the fact that we tip the waiter at a restaurant when we eat out and that the waiter usually has to share that with the dish-washers, bus boys, etc. it helps put into perspective our giving to the Fund. If each of us gave just a dol-lar a day each year ($365/year) to the Christmas Gift Fund, it would make our collective gifts to all the behind-the-scenes people much more meaningful.

Some residents feel that Grade 14 employees should not be included

in the giving, but it is important to understand that Pay Grade 14 at Asbury is not the same as U.S. Gov-ernment Grade 14.

I hope we will all give to the Christmas Gift Fund in a spirit of thanksgiving for all that is done for us both by those we see in the Dining Rooms, Maintenance and Housekeeping and by those we never see or speak to.

Anne Porter

Thanks for your letter, Anne. Per-haps this information submit-ted by Dan Muller, Villas, will be helpful.

The Asbury Christmas Gift Fund

There are more than 800 asso-ciates that serve Asbury residents. These include health care work-ers, kitchen personnel, wait staff, housekeepers, gardeners, mainte-nance, transportation and security personnel, and administrative staff.

Because it is the long-standing policy that residents may not give tips or gifts to specific associates, the Christmas Fund provides you, the residents, an opportunity to give a financial gift to associates as a thank-you for services rendered.

All of you have received a bro-chure describing the fund, and detailing how gifts may be made. Please consider this a friendly reminder that payments to the fund are due by November 15. Checks should be made payable to CCAV and sent to your Apartment or Villa representative. They are:Diamond: Home’ Reitwiesner (114)Edwards-Fisher: Wally Gedosch (414)419: Evelyn Lackey (215)Health Care: Administrator’s OfficeKindley: Reception DeskTrott: Elouise Weaver (601)Mund: Jack Busch (316)Villas: Art Hall (580)

Harold Lanman (Trott 613, x 5507) has copies of the Gift Fund Brochure should you wish to review the gift opportunity in more detail.

VILLAGE LIFE OCTOBER 2004 3

On August 30 Karen Beasley, daughter of Marion Beasley, Mund, sang in the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Cen-ter. Other performers were Frank Sinatra, Jr. and Toni Ten-nille. The event was put on by a member of the Republican National Committee, but Kar-en’s father assures us that her performance there does not necessarily indicate her politi-cal preference. Many Asbury residents are fans of Karen’s as she has performed here several times.

The weekend of September 10 Polly Brown, Mund, went with Mr. and Mrs. Paul “Eddie” May (Polly’s daughter Lexie and her husband) to Philadelphia to see Polly’s son, David, in an Off-Broadway play. After spend-ing the night they went to the beach in Delaware. August 29 - 31 Polly hosted Mr. and Mrs. Walter McClelland of Ojai, Cali-fornia.

Kim Gorman, granddaugh-ter of Elsa Tutwiler, Mund, and her children spent the day August 19 with their great grandmother, swimming in the pool among other activi-ties....In early September Eliza-beth Gifford, Mund, spent a week and a half with family in Michigan....September 19 - 24 Earl and Anna Kragnes, Mund, attended an Elderhostel in Castleton, Vermont. Castle-ton was the birthplace of Cal-vin Coolidge....In September Sarah Want, Mund, went on vacation in Rehoboth, Dela-ware, with her son’s family.

Ellie Wagner, Ching-ye Lee, and Elsa Tutwiler, Mund, Harriet Renison, Trott,and Genevieve Wimsatt, 419 were with other Asbury residents on the Eyre tour to the Fin-ger Lakes in western New York in early October......In August John and Lois Odle, Mund, attended a family reunion in Maine......On August 5 Mildred

Reynolds and Ken Hall, both of 419 building, were married in Juneau, Alaska, in the Glacier Rainforest Garden.

Mary Ebinger, Mund, announced at the Mund Coun-cil meeting on September 7 that the Great American Bake Sale, held on June 18 in the Mund parlor, raised $1951 for the benefit of America’s 13 mil-lion children at risk of hunger.

The funds raised by the Mund Bake Sale put this sale in the nation’s top ten. The sale is sponsored by Share Our Strength, a nonprofit organiza-tion dedicated to ending child hunger. Mary, the local organiz-er, provided refreshments at the September 7 Council meeting as payback for the residents’ generosity.......During the Sep-tember 4 weekend Kay Weis, Mund, hosted her son, George Weis of Sacramento, Califor-nia, who was on his way home from New York where he was a member of the protest group, Billionaires for Bush.

Congratulations to Winston Taylor, Edwards-Fisher! This year marked the first presen-tation of The Winston Taylor Awards for excellence in reli-gion communication. Winston was a member of the Religious Public Relations Council for fifty years and was National President in 1967-1969, and he established this award in 2003. The first awardees were David Anderson, who is retired Religion Editor of United Press International, and Jim Wallis , publisher of Sojourners Maga-zine. Hosted by Greta Kreuz, WJLA-TV Reporter, the event was held at the National Press Club, with guest speaker, Rev-erend Welton Gaddy President, The Interfaith Alliance. “One Nation Many Faiths: Religion in the 2004 Elections.”

(Judy Weaver, Mund)

Village Life Bits and Pieces

Wonder what your neighbors have been up to? Here are all the little bits and pieces that add up to happy times on

and off the Asbury Campus.

By Joan Dunlop, Edwards Fisher

The excitement of the politi-cal conventions is over and now is the time to plan to

exercise one of the most basic priv-ileges of a democracy — the right to vote. That right has been secured, preserved, and made more inclusive at great cost in our nation’s his-tory and it deserves to be honored.

To those new to the area the deadline for voter registration is October 12th. On the Asbury Cam-pus please call the follow-ing people for registration assistance:

Rosalie Silverberg-X5007, Genevieve or Keith Steele-X6628 or Ken Jones-X5210.Address changes should also be processed before this deadline.

If you will be out of town or physically unable to go to the polls on election day, November 2nd, you can arrange to vote by absen-

tee ballot. Call the Board of Elec-tions at 240 777-8683 or visit their web site at www.777vote.org for further information.

The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot is October 26th, but since the forms must be mailed, complet-ed, and returned before election day it would be wise to treat October 12th as the absentee bal-lot deadline also.

As an election judge in the Asbury precinct I have seen count-less examples of voters who go to the polls in spite of many handi-

caps. Their great sacri-fice of comfort and ener-gy is a wonderful exam-ple to us all, so read the papers, watch television, wade through position papers and come to the 417 auditorium any time

from 7:00 a.m. to 8 p.m. ready to cast your ballot. Your vote can and will make a difference.

Are You Jazzed About Jazz?

Mark your calendars! On Friday evening, November 5, the Ros-borough Distinguished Speaker

Series will host a lecture and book-signing by professor of music, lecturer and author, Dr. Joshua Berrett. His latest book, “Louis Armstrong & Paul Whiteman – Two Kings of Jazz”, to be released in November, will be available for sale and signing (at AMV’s discounted price of $20.00). Watch your mailbox in mid-October for the official invitation and full details.

—Asbury Foundation

Dr. Joshua Berrett

VOTERS WANTED


I recognized him as he walked to his car across the Post Office parking lot and I didn’t hesitate

to call his name. I had not seen him in more than ten years. I rec-ognized him and I didn’t hesitate to call his name. At least, it did not feel like I hesitated.

And as I am wont to do, I gave thought to this meeting once he and I had gone our separate ways. During my time of reflection, I real-ized that I, indeed, had hesitated. I hesitated and in those few brief moments that I did, I remembered.

I remembered how he had nur-tured and supported me early in my

career. I remembered the oppor-tunities he afforded me to serve in leadership positions within the organization and beyond. I remem-bered him urging me to apply for a district level position and celebrat-ing when I was appointed to it. I remembered him saying how glad he was that we were now peers.

I remembered also how he met with the old boys behind closed doors when change was in the air and how he made promises that were not his to make. I remem-bered how he undermined me and then pretended he did not know I would be offended by his conduct.

I remembered him behaving in an assortment of self-serving ways and pretending not to know what I was talking about when I brought these things to his attention. I remembered how quickly a rela-tionship that was built on respect and honor had deteriorated and had become a burden to me.

I remembered. I remembered… and it didn’t matter. In those few moments between recognizing him and calling his name, I remem-bered the hurt and the disappoint-ment… and it didn’t matter.

I discovered I had forgiven.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Discovering Forgiveness

Martha A. BrownDirector of Pastoral Care

There are two theories to arguing with a woman—neither one of them works.

You need only two tools: WD 40 and duct tape.If it doesn’t move and it should, use the WD 40.If it moves and it shouldn’t, use the duct tape..

By George!This Village Life

(Collected by George C. Boddiger)

IN MEMORIAM

Resident Facility Date of Death

Francis Howard WHCC 8-16-2004Alfredo Soto WHCC 8-24-2004Roderick Pressly Kindley 8-27-2004Evelyn Florence Kalb WHCC/Mund 8-31-2004Georgette McCann WHCC/Kindley/Mund 8-31-2004Carolyn Harwood 419 9-3-2004Margaret Bedsworth WHCC 9-5-2004J. Wallace Crow Kindley 9-7-2004Leonard Leslie Kindley 9-8-2004Wayne Fichtner WHCC 9-15-04Genevieve Nelson WHCC/Kindley/Diamond 9-16-04John Dwyer WHCC 9-17-04Frederick Myers WHCC/Kindley/Diamond 9-18-04John Board WHCC 9-21-04

A moment of silence was observed for the deceased.


by Jeanne North

At the September meeting of the Dining and Nutri-tion Services PAC, members

heard about a new initiative: the upcoming Oktoberfest celebration. The event aims to emulate the tradi-tional Oktoberfest of Munich, Ger-many, which began in October of 1810; that year Bavarian King Max Joseph offered a giant celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig, later to become King Lud-wig I, to the Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hilburghausen. That first Oktoberfest included horse races and later evolved into a tradition of 16 days of festivities including parades, beer tents, bands, floats, dancing and drinking, sideshows, booths and rides, with men, women and children dressed in traditional lederhosen and dirndl skirts. Today some 6 million visitors from around the globe flock to what is touted as the largest public festival in the world.

For the Asbury event, set for October 21 from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m., a giant tent will be set up on the lawn in front of Kindley. An “oompah band” will provide musi-cal ambiance to match the food offerings of German variety, which will include (nonalcoholic) beer, and a Farmer’s Market will add to the atmosphere. One dining room (probably Crawford) will be closed that day at lunchtime, to provide wait staff for the event, which promises to be a gala affair. Hope for good weather!

Other news from the Dining PAC: The Shoppe and catering are increasingly popular as ways to

use up meal credits. The Shoppe can now take orders for beef tender-loin, New York strip steaks, ground beef, chicken, salm-on, shrimp and tuna, as well as cakes and pies. Also, catering ser-vice can provide any kind of service desired, from breakfast crois-sants to sandwiches appetizers, dessert trays or full meals. For information, call Tim Rinkel, Cater-ing Manager, at x6094.

In an effort to involve residents, the Dining staff is working with the Dining PAC to form a menu committee to help formulate new menus. Also, the staff is planning to develop a training video to help train new wait staff members.

One rather delicate matter was broached: the subject of taking food out of the dining room. Andrew Lindquist, Campus Dining Director, pointed out gently that for buffets, the policy is all you can eat, not

all you can take. Wait staff is reluctant

to challenge residents, who may feel they are entitled to take out what-ever they wish. In the interest

of fairness to all, residents are

simply asked to consider the implica-

tions of their actions.Do you watch

Asbury View on Chan-nel 99? If so, per-haps you caught the

launching of another initiative. The Health Services PAC aired the first of a series of panel discussions on AVTV’s Asbury View the week of September 27, on Care Manage-ment on campus. Chip Hickey of AVTV moderated the discussion; participants were Kathleen Link, Resident Co-Chair of the Health Services PAC, Pat Ramtahal, Care Management nurse, and Jean New-man, PAC member. This was to be the first of a series of panel discus-sions on Asbury health services on

campus. The second program, also on

Care Management, will be aired in late October. The PAC plans to develop other topics for discussion on AVTV, with an eye to provid-ing Asbury residents information about health services on campus. Watch for future programs.

At the September Buildings and Grounds PAC meeting, PAC mem-bers heard from Associate Co-Chairs Dan McMurdo and Lenny Hines a review of summer proj-ects, including the power washing of the gazebo, curb and sidewalk repainting, the installation of a ter-mite control program for the Villas, improved lighting in hallways of Edwards-Fisher, the ongoing eleva-tor renovation in Mund, an emer-gency PA system in WHAT BUILD-ING, the humidifier installation in 419. The electric wire deer fence seemed to help keep deer away from the gardens. One unhappy note was the revelation that some-one (or someones) had taken pota-toes and other vegetables from the east garden.

The next big projects, set for early October, are the planting of spring bulbs and the setting out of pansies. The butterfly garden will be returned to grass and fresh wood chips will be put in the com-mon areas.

PAC members bring to the atten-tion of the co-chairs items need-ing attention. Resident Co-Chair Dr. Conrad Link spoke at length about the increasing work load for the gardening staff resulting from the landscaping requirements of addi-tional buildings.

THE DOCTOR IS IN

Peek the PACsat

Oktoberfest Comes to Asbury!

Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hilburghausen

Influenza or the “flu” is a seri-ous viral infection. It is a wide-spread problem, especially

among seniors. There are two types of vaccine: (1) the flu shot and (2) the nasal-spray. The flu shot is the type recommended for seniors. Both types of flu vaccines work in the same way; they develop anti-bodies in the body, and these anti-bodies protect against the virus.

General Symptoms■ Fever ■ Sore Throat■ Chills ■ Cough■ Headache ■ Muscle Aches

Persons At Increased Risk For Complications

■ 65 years of age or older

■ Nursing home and assisted liv-ing residents

■ Persons with chronic heart or lung conditions and asthma

■ Persons with weakened immune systems due to metabolic diseases (like diabetes), kidney dis-ease, or chronic infections

■ Children and adolescents on long-term aspirin therapy

■ Women in their second or third trimester of pregnancy

Persons Who Can Transmit The Flu■ Health care personnel in hos-

pitals, outpatient settings, nursing homes, chronic-care facilities, assist-ed living residences, and home care settings

■ Household contacts of persons

in high-risk groups

Persons Who Should Not Be Vaccinated Are Those With

■ Allergy to chicken eggs■ Reaction to an influenza vac-

cination in the past■ Acute febrile illness (*these

people may be vaccinated after their recovery)

Myths■ “You can get the flu from the

vaccine.” False - The vaccine is made with inactivated organisms that cannot cause infection.

■ “The side effects are worse than the flu.” False – The worst

Merlyn Vemury, M.D., Ph.D.Internal Medicine/Geriatrics/

Nutrition

Dr. Vemury is the Medical Direc-tor at Wilson Health Care Center and Kindley Assisted Living. She is Board Certified in Internal Medi-cine, and has worked extensively in Geriatrics. She has privileges at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Holy Cross Hospital and Suburban Hospital. Dr. Vemury is a Medicare participant and accepts Medicare assignments. Office# 301-593-7793

Protect Yourself Against The Flu

Continued on page 6


l.to r. Charlene

Hightman, Pharmacy

Techni-cian, Angie Schneider, Pharmacy Manager,

Guy LaFrance,

Driver

NeighborCare Corner

The State of Maryland is continuing to provide its prescription drug program for Maryland Medicare beneficiaries. This program provides up to $1100 in outpatient drug benefits per person

in a twelve month period. The program is administered by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. Because the program is currently being made available to a maximum of 37,000 individuals, it would be wise to apply as soon as possible.

Certain eligibility requirements have been established by the State. To qualify for the program, you must be a resident of Maryland and a Medicare beneficiary. You may not be enrolled in another program that provides prescription benefits at the time of application. The household income may not exceed 300% of Federal Poverty Guidelines. This trans-lates to a maximum annu-al income of $27,930 for a one-person household, or $37,470 for a two-person household. Remember, this is income only, not assets.

The cost of the plan is $120 per year. This fee is paid directly to CareFirst. There is no deductible with this program, but you must pay a co pay for each prescription. The co pay per 30-day supply is $10 for generic drugs, $20 for preferred brand-name drugs, and $35 for non-preferred brand-name drugs. The maximum benefit is $1100 in a twelve month period. When this maximum has been exhausted, the card func-tions as a discount card only.

To obtain more information and an application, contact CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield at 1-800-972-4612. Information may also be obtained from their website, www.carefirst.com.

By Winston H. Taylor, Mund

The statue of a sturdy Francis Asbury preaching to one of his flocks is familiar to most

Asbury residents, out of the win-dows near the swimming pool. But few may know of another Asbury statue, astride his horse during his 45 years of traveling the circuit among American Methodist church-es. That statue, celebrating its 80th birthday this fall, stands prominent-ly along Washington, D.C.’s 16th and Mt. Pleasant Street, often called the avenue of churches.

The bronze equestrian statue was dedicated October 15, 1924, in a ceremony highlighted by an address by President Calvin Coolidge. Henry Augustus Luke-man was the sculptor and Evarts Tracy was the architect.

The statue had been placed there through joint efforts of six branch-es of Methodism then extant, under the aegis of the Ecumenical Meth-odist Commission of the U.S. and Canada, to promote observance of the centennial of Asbury’s death in 1916. It was placed in Washington not only because the “prophet of the long road” had preached exten-sively in this area, but also because, as one person noted, “He was the only English preacher who went not back to England at the out-break of the (American) Revolu-tion.” Because the British and Amer-ican Tories put a price on his hear, Asbury was in hiding in Delaware during much of that war.

At the time of the statue’s place-ment, it was reported that the statue was the only one of Wash-ington’s then 16 equestrian statues which was not a military figure. A mounted statue of Methodism’s founder, John Wesley, was placed

on the campus of Wesley Seminary in Washington in the 1960s.

After its dedication, the statue was presented to the government by the then Methodist Episcopal bishop of Washington, William F. McDowell. During the 1960s, when the denomination was considering moving its Washington headquar-ters from Capitol Hill to a new site near church-related American Uni-versity in northwest Washington, Congress authorized ceding title to the Methodist Corporation, which was spearheading plans for the new project, with permission but no obligation to move it.

The move never occurred, largely because the headquarters change was finally not approved. Another reason may have been that the stat-ue transfer would have been pro-hibitively expensive. The 12-foot high statue weighs 5,500 pounds, and it’s granite base weighs 55 tons.

The Statue stands amid a clus-ter of nearby churches—Baptist, Catholic, Unitarian, Presbyterian and others—and was adjacent to a Methodist congregation, which closed as many of its members moved to the suburbs after the racial disturbances in Washington in 1968, following Martin Luther King’s assassination.

Inscriptions on the base include: “Frances Asbury, 1745-1916, pio-neer Methodist bishop in America,” “The prophet of the long road,” “If you seek the results of his labors you will find them in our Chris-tian civilization,” “His continuous journeying through cities, villages and settlements from 1771 to 1816 greatly promoted patriotism, edu-cation, morality and religion in the American republic.”

side effects are a sore arm and/or low grade fever for 24-48 hours.

■ “Flu vaccine must be given before December.” False – While the best time to get vaccinated is October or November, getting vac-cinated later can still be beneficial.

■ “I got vaccinated last year, so I don’t need to this year.” False – The flu strains and flu vaccines are different every year.

Anyone can get influenza. Most

people are ill with influenza for only a few days, but some get much sicker needing hospitalization. In the U.S., the flu causes an aver-age of 36,000 deaths (mostly among seniors) and 114,000 hospitalizations. The “flu season” is usually from November through April each year. The best way to prevent/lessen the severity of the flu is to get vaccinated.

Reference: Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Dept. of Health & Human Services, 1600 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.

FLUContinued from page 5

Francis Asbury statue in D.C. celebrates its 80th birthday.

Francis Asbury Really Got Around

Phot

o: Ju

ana

Aria

s


By Eleanor W. Cunningham, Edwards-Fisher

In 1977 I was looking for something to write about as a member of a writers group at the Gaithersburg Senior Center. I ran

across a small cedar box containing several letters which my mother had written in 1920-21 from Lexington, Kentucky to her mother in Bucksport, Maine. I read the letters. My curiosity was aroused and I began to look for answers to my questions. Why did she go to Lexington to teach? Who sent her? Who did she teach? What was it like?

My investigation sent me to the public library in Lexington, KY, and copies of Lexington Lead-er newspaper articles from the late 1800s, tell-ing about the teachers and activities of Chan-dler Normal School, which opened in 1898 for the education of Black children when there were no public schools for them. To learn more, I read Catherine Clinton's “The Other Civil War, North of Slavery” by Leon F. Litwack, and “Chris-tian Reconstruction” by Joe M. Richardson. I had never heard of this piece of American history! When I mentioned it to my friends they also said they had never heard of an educational movement in the 1800s and early 1900s that sent thousands of trained northern teachers to the South to teach. For the first time, I learned

my mother was one of them!The movement was started in 1846 by the

American Missionary Association, a non-denom-inational group of abolitionists, who felt it their God-given task to build schools and educate the children of slaves and freedmen. They solicited funds and recruited teachers from the North, sent them South, and paid their salaries. AMA also built homes for the teachers on the cam-puses where they taught.

So behind the personal story of my moth-er, Ethel Valentine Applebee, I found another intriguing story that needed to be told — of thousands of brave young teachers who went to a strange environment to give Black children the opportunity to receive an education. They loved the children and were loved in return. Some of them called my mother AMiss Apple,@ and that became the title of my book: Miss Apple: Letters of a Maine Teacher in Kentucky, published in 2002.

(The book is available locally at the Christian Book Shop (next to Lord & Taylor) at Lake Forest Mall, on the internet from Amazon, and from the author at her apartment, Edwards-Fisher, Apt. #716, Phone 5337.)

Why I Wrote Miss Apple: Letters of a Maine Teacher in Kentucky

Photo: Joon Kim

chocolate and pea soup.Among the ship’s port calls were

Sitka, which retains much of its Russian heritage, including the historic and ornate St. Michael’s Cathedral, the restored Russian

Orthodox church, and the modern capital city of Juneau, the home of high producing gold mines prior to World War II.

In addition, we stopped in Ket-chikan, a bustling port city with wooden sidewalks and hillside homes reached by wooden steps.

Other highlights of the trip included a ship-wide moment of silence requested by the Captain on September 11 to mark the anni-versary of the terrorist attacks on New York City and the Pentagon. On a happier note, Vivian Otto, developer and director of the Alas-ka tour, hosted a pre-dinner hos-pitality hour for Asbury travelers in the ship’s “Queen Room.” Cli-maxing one of two formal dinners aboard ship was a dessert served with music and fanfare—what else?—Baked Alaska!

Disembarkation was at Vancou-ver, British Columbia, with a bus ride to the Seattle airport and a flight to Baltimore via Denver. A bus ride finally brought us home to Asbury at 2 a.m.

Participating in the Alaska trip were: Vivian Otto, Florence Craw-ford (Leisure World), Harriet Ren-son, Betty Roth, Sam Finlay, Liz and Lowell Van Billiard, Betty Goen,

Pat Jelineh (Jamestown, NY) Gordia and Harold Lanman, Maurice and Sarah Bernstein (Rockville), Janice and Mar-tin Moon, John and Edith Stedman, Pat Hilmoe, Jea-nette Crockett, Susan San-ford (NY), Felicia Stokely, Barbara Morris, Whitney Coe and Tom Nikels.

ALASKAContinued from page 1

Pack Your Bags and Be ReadyThe tourist season is closing at Alaska, but not at Asbury. Upcom-

ing trips announced by Travel Director Otto (x5299) include: The Finger Lakes, October 3-6; Bermuda, May 15-21; Cape May, April 26-29, and the Mississippi (St. Louis to Minneapolis), September 26-October 3, 2005.Photo: Martin Moon

Eureka! Sam Finlay wins in the gold panning and the slots !

Photos: Martin Moon

At left, Pat Hilmoe and Jea-nette Crockett compete for the gold.

Below, Betty Goen eats all she can eat at the Miners’ Lunch.


The 2004 Montgom-ery County Fair ended on August

21st with Asbury residents winning one Grand, 10 First, 11 Second, 5 Third and 4 Fourth prizes for art and photography. It is an abundant harvest, which was on display in the Hef-ner Auditorium until the end of September.

Winners are arranged in alphabetical order.

Lee BACHRACH (Villas):1st prize Adam & Eve (cross stitch)4th prize Medieval Panel (cross stitch)4th prize Henry the Eighth (cross stitch)

Evelyn BROWN (Diamond):2nd prize Sunrise (watercolor)2nd prize Homestead (watercolor)3rd prize Abstract (watercolor)

Carroll CREITZ (Mund)2nd prize Horseshow at Asbury (photo)2nd prize Sue’s Bouquet (photo)2nd prize Peaceful Valley (photo)3rd prize Baltimore Inner Harbor (photo)

Melva HIATT (Mund):1st prize Red Rock (watercolor)1st prize Brookside Nook) (watercolor)

Margaret HUA (419):Grand &1st prize Summer Cottage (watercolor)1st prize Ballet Dancer (watercolor)1st prize Lily Pond (watercolor)2nd prize Watching the Boat Go By (watercolor)2nd prize Golden Autumn (watercolor)2nd prize Ducks on the Pond (watercolor)Pat MUNDY (419):1st prize Daisies (watercolor)1st prize Tomatoes (watercolor)3rd prize Roses (watercolor)

Ruth SMITH (419):3rd prize Country Estate (watercolor)4th prize Roses (watercolor)4th prize Chickadee & Pine Cones (watercolor)

Carl WEISS (419):2nd prize Torture Kills Democracy (collage & multimedia)2nd prize End Occupation of Iraq (collage & multimedia)3rd prize End Wars’ Amputations (collage & multimedia)

Jean YOUNG (Villas):1st prize Heart Sampler (cross stitch)1st prize Lamplight Bridge (cross stitch)2nd prize Santa Claus (cross stitch)

(submitted by Jane Allen, Villas)

We would like to introduce you to Asbury Associate Charito Beall. Charito is

a nursing aid at the Wilson Health Care Center in 4-North. She has

worked 16 years at Asbury. The reason you should know her is because she won a First Pre-mium Ribbon and a Grand Cahmpion Rosette for a 28-

1/2 pound cabbage at the Mont-gomery County Agricultural Fair this year!

Charito works five garden plots in the Associate section of Asbury Gardens. She has displayed at fairs for three years, but this year she

really outdid herself.In addition to the huge cabbage, she won three other First Pre-

mium Ribbons for more cabbage, several exhibits of tomatoes and squash. She received three Second Premium Ribbons for more cabbage, eggplant, and she has assorted Third, Fourth and Fifth

Ribbons for other exhibits of peppers, squash, eggplant, tomatoes and even more cabbage.

Congratulations, Charito. We are proud to know such a success-ful gardener and will look forward to your exploits next year.

(Marjorie McFarland, Diamond)

Asbury Associate Gardner is Champion at Fair

Photo: Marjorie McFarland

Charito on the right with her mother, who also works at Asbury.

Photo: Marjorie McFarland

The Grand Champion Rosette won by Charito Beall at the Montgomery County Fair for her 28-1/2 pound cabbage.

A Fair Amount of Fair Winners


A Singing Quartet

The African Love birds in the lobby of the Wilson Health Care Center are now almost fully grown. They are cavorting and chirping on the branches and toys in their cage. Two of the birds have the gray-blue-green coloring of Papa Bird. The other

two are yellow and take after Mama Bird. They are a major attraction at the Wilson Healthcare Center.

Hmmmm…just how much DO Jo and Ned Hopper weigh together? Ooops! Sorry, Hoppers! It’s the pumpkin’s weight we’re supposed to guess. Giant pumpkins outside of the Hefner and Crawford Dining Rooms keep residents guessing while they wait. The one whose guess is closest to correct is the winner, but we bet there’ll be pumpkin pie for all!

Residents roared when the Leopard Ladies leapt into sight a tone of the Friday All-You-Can Eat Barbecues held each week all summer at the Russell Avenue Café on the AMV campus. While many may

think of Asbury as a rather tame place, the just-fur-fun group of Asbury Associates organized the dress-in-leopard event in a burst of summer sil-liness meant to amuse and bemuse everyone who spotted them on the prowl for some laughs and some lunch. You can spot them on the first Friday of every month around noon at the café. Put on your own spots and join them!

Guess the Weight While

You Wait

Guess the Weight While

You Wait

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The Leopard Ladies paws-ed for this purr-fect photo op. From left to right they are: Linda Aber, Communications; Leta Loring, Foundation; Shelly Wel-ter and Chris Sutton, Marketing; Alexis McKenzie, Director of Community and Public Relations; Margaret Adjaye, Receptionist; Debbi Peeks, Founda-

tion; Toni Wilson; Executive Secretary; Cassandra Hoye, Foundation.

Spotted At Asbury—the Leopard Ladies!


By George Boddiger, Kindley

Ann Giaquinto, Director of Activities and Celia Nathan, Assistant, Kindley Building Resident Services staff, put together a cel-

ebration to top all celebrations in honor of the National Assisted Living Week, September 13-17, 2004. Every day offered something fun, interesting, and different which is why this reporter would like to change the name from “Assisted Living” to “Active Living!”

Gaithersburg Mayor, Sidney Katz, opened the event on Monday, September 13, presenting the Gaithersburg City Council’s Proclamation, estab-lishing this week for Gaithersburg. His presenta-tion was met with a round of applause by the full house attending the first event of the week-long celebration.

The Mayor’s presentation was followed by Spanish Flamenco Dancers, Micaela Mar and Ceci-lia Terrasa from Danza Marina, in beautifully colored dresses with wide skirts. The dancers involved the enthusiastic audience by show-ing them how to do the clapping, which is a basic part of flamenco dancing.

This stirring presentation was fol-lowed by an “International Taste of the World” beautifully presented by Tim Rinkel from Asbury’s Catering Department. Foods included chick-en tacito’s, sushi, chicken curry, and chocolate fondue over fresh fruit.

On Tuesday, September 14, the pro-gram continued with an elaborate Vin-tage Fashion Show, assembled by Ann Giaquinto and Alexis McKenzie, using

many associates in period costumes, starting with resident Annie Laurie Clark modeling a dress that she owns dating back to the 1800s.

Next was Alexis McKenzie wearing a “Flapper-esque” roaring 20’s outfit and doing the Charles-ton all the way down the aisle. In keeping with the 20’s, Sharon Kruskamp wore a full-length taf-feta gown with a fur wrap. Linda Aber, portraying the 1940’s, was in a stunning silver floor length gown. Joann Sarver modeled a Loretta Young dress. Into the 1950’s, Lynn Bragg, wore a cocktail length dress adorned with perfect accessories.

Sharon Kruskamp returned in a glamorous evening frock. Gloria Nicol wore a native Sierra Leone costume. Rebecca Thompson showed a lovely bridal gown, as if ready for the ceremony. Lynn Bragg returned in a chic green gown with a V front and an inset waist. Ryna Gerber modeled a 1960’s sim-ple dress and a strand of pearls in the Jackie Kennedy style, Patricia Camerun modeled a bejeweled evening dress, and Denise Pray-ther, bringing in the 70’s, wore a very bold and outrageous housecoat. But it was our own Director of Activities, Ann Giaquinto, who brought down the house when she donned a blonde wig, poncho, and tie-dyed shirt to portray a hippie girl from the 70’s.

All of this was livened by a Charlie Chap-

lin outfit, complete with mustache, worn by Celia Nathan, who helped to introduce the other models. Following this extravaganza were ice cream sundaes served by the staff to all present.

Daryl Grant Lindsay later entertained with his piano and singing, often accompanied by the audience in familiar tunes. Quite a day.

On Wednesday, September 15, a Talent Show with residents and associates began before a full house, starting with harmonica playing by Bob Featherstone, poetry by Sally Shear, piano hymns by Grace Kikuchi, story telling about blowing out a candle by Ellen Culp, piano rendition of “Begin the Beguine” by Barbara Snider, joke exchange by John Henry and George Boddiger, Mary Scammon singing “Summertime”, poetry by Helen Hagan.

Reverend Fogle and Celia Nathan played the nose and mouth harps, Kentura Decker and Mona Richards, representing the Nursing Department, led a sing-along of familiar tunes. Richard Beale played the piano, and Laura Eaton told jokes.

“Sonny and Cher” led the final act going back to the 1960’s with their number one hit “I Got You Babe”. Ann Giaquinto and Alexis McKenzie played their parts superbly. Steve Little later entertained the crowd with guitar and piano playing. Thurs-day, the 16th, was a lovely afternoon, just perfect for an outdoor barbeque, in front of the building, of chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, corn on the cob, watermelon, and ice cream novelties. Excellent entertainment was provided by The Smart Alex Quartet from Annandale, Virginia, singing barber-shop melodies during the meal.

We wrapped up the week with an Olympic Theme Day held on Friday, September 17th. Residents com-peted in a Spelling Event and a Volleyball tournament in which 4 teams competed for the Gold! The Olym-pic events were followed by an awards presentation in which all members of the 1st and 2nd place teams were awarded gold and silver medals. And finally, on Saturday residents were treated to a special Bingo Extravaganza complete with grand prizes and refresh-ments to conclude this incredibly entertaining week long celebration!

A special thanks to Alexis Mckenzie, Linda Aber, Chip Hickey and Joon Kim, Cassandra Hoye, Debbi Peeks and the Williamsburg Clothes closet for all of your help and support in our Assisted Living Week Celebration Events.

That Was the Week That WasPhotos: Celia Nathan

Oh what a spin Annie Laurie Clark is in modeling for the Vintage Fashion Show at Kindley.

Above, Ellen Culp tells a story that had residents laughing in the aisles!

Below, Bob Featherstone had feet tapping when he played the harmonica.

Poetry with Helen Hagan was enjoyed by all.

Mayor Sidney Katz opened National Assisted Living Week at Kindley.


VOLUNTEERS

By Reg Westlake, Villas

How do they find time for it all? It’s a question that applies to so many of

Asbury’s volunteers. One of them is Annabel Liebelt, of the Villas. She came to Asbury after retiring from a distinguished career in Medi-cal Research in the field of can-cer, including a professorship and faculty positions at several medi-cal schools and positions at the National Cancer Institute. She has served on cancer and other health and civic related boards in Georgia and Ohio.

Annabel came to the Villas in June 1997. Before coming here she was used to volunteering – Girl Scout Leader, joining in with the school marching bands and other activities and always being active in church choirs and senior groups, doing publicity and helping with programs. Once at Asbury she soon started to participate in volunteer tasks for the benefit of her fellow Villa residents and has been on the Villa Landscaping and Library Com-mittees and served as co-chair of the Social Committees. Nowadays she has taken on, with Dan Muller, the Florida citrus program for the Villas.

It was also soon after she came to Asbury that she was recruited by Earl Kragnes for the Keese School of Continuing Education to become, and which she continues to be, the Chair of their Public-ity Committee, which puts out the word about the School’s programs, including posters, dining room announcements and TV presenta-tions on Asbury View.

Annabel loves handbell ringing and encouraged a start-up of a senior group at her church, Gaith-ersburg Presbyterian, which then became the Asbury Ringers. Unfor-tunately she has had to give up playing due to arthritis and related

problems. To continue her love of church music she now sings at Gaithersburg Presbyterian with the Praise Team.

Competing for her time are her volunteer activities outside Asbury. For two years she was President of Chapter 581 of NARFE ( National Active and Retired Federal Employ-ees Association), which has about 100 Asbury members, and she has continued her several years of work-ing in membership and participates in the monthly chapter Newsletter assembly. For her college, Western Maryland (now McDaniel College), she has been the representative for its alumni in Montgomery County.

Annabel is the author of over 70 scientific papers and chapters in the field of cancer research and transplantation and at the request of the college has given them, and her collection of books, to the col-lege. She was a contributor to writ-ing the history of the National Can-cer Institute. She is also a member of the Gaithersburg chapter of the Association of American Universi-ty Women and helps out with their book sale.

Two of her children are physi-cians. Her son is an orthopaedic surgeon in Durham NC and her daughter is following a very distin-guished career in medical research and in teaching Podiatrics in Bir-mingham, Alabama.

Annabel is very fond of music and has an easy play organ in her villa. Somehow she finds time for lessons each week and when at home, playing for herself, the organ’s soothing notes are wel-come in her busy day.

Her summing up: “Some of my philosophy about living includes: be an active, not passive, member in interest groups, and try to leave things better than you found them.”

By Alice Furlong

Act 1It was very early Saturday morning. I

had been discharged from WHCC the day before after a fourth hospital stay. Happy to be home, nonetheless I was concerned that a fifth hospital admission might occur. Sitting at my dining room table with breakfast before me, I was aware that my appetite had diminished. Suddenly the doorbell rang, interrupting my musings. Who could it be so early? In walked a resident-friend unexpectedly.

“Thought you might like these,” she said, holding forward two warm, large, luscious muffins. “Would I like them? Do you mean ‘love them’?”

I took them delightedly and planned to enjoy one momentarily. That loving gift was followed by baked custard topped with cinnamon, just out of the oven, from the same friend. Other kind resi-

dents brought homemade cookies, veg-etable soup, applesauce with raisins and garden-fresh preserves. Comfort foods from caring friends. Let me add, I was home to stay. I was spared, fortunately, a fifth hospital stay!!

Act 2Walking home from the dining room

on a Sunday after Christmas, I sat at the piano in the E-F lounge and touched the keys. (How I missed my piano. Didn’t bring it to Asbury.) I played a couple of tunes. Some residents joined us and, before long, happy Nadine danced around the room along with some oth-ers. When I finally stopped, we all talked a bit about the recent holidays. Half jok-ingly, I said, “Well, I didn’t receive exactly what I wanted from Santa.”

“What did you want?”, asked Nadine. “A keyboard,” I replied. “A keyboard,” said

Nadine. “I think I have one in my storage unit; and if I have one, it’s yours,” she said.

Well the drums went bang as the cym-bals clanged and the clouds just rolled away!! Nadine went of in one direction and I headed for my apartment. A short time later, Nadine arrived at my door with a large box on a cart. She opened the box, lifted out a keyboard, set it on my desk, plugged it in, and, voila, we were “in business.” Suddenly, an old movie came to mind in which a small Quaker boy called out in church, “God is good! God is love!” Might I add, God’s spirit is alive and well at Asbury!!!

What about you? Have you been the happy recipient of an act of Kindness at Asbury? Spread the Asbury Spirit by sending your report of an Act of Kind-ness to Village Life. Sharing your experi-ence IS an act of kindness!

Asbury Acts of Kindness

Annabel Liebelt Fits It All In

Photo: Tom Wilkinson


WELCOME NEW RESIDENTS

Janis and Donald Rex Edwards-Fisher 312, x5413

Renovation noises were coming from apart-ment 312 in Edwards-Fisher and who should arrive on August 11th, but Jan and Don Rex. Both are familiar faces at Asbury since Don drove a campus bus for 15 years and Jan directs the bell choir known as the Asbury Ringers.

Don was born in Saegertown, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of Robert Morris Business School. He worked at Sears, Roebuck and Company for 35 years before starting his Asbury career.

Jan’s birthplace is McKees Rocks, Pennsylva-nia and she graduated from Westminster Col-lege with a bachelor of Music Education degree. She went on to do graduate study at Carnegie Mellon and Washington and Jefferson College. Jan has taught in one room country schools, grades 1-6 in each school. She still works two part-time jobs.

Don likes to play games on the computer, while Jan enjoys working crossword puzzles and making jewelry. They have a son, Scott, who lives in Virginia with his wife Tracey and daughter Kellie. The Rexes are members of the Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church.

(Joan Dunlop, E-F)

Carol and Jerome Dennis Villas 438, x5057

Carol and Jerry moved to the Villas in July 2004 from Montgomery Village. Raised in Brooklyn, New York in the same neighborhood, but attending different schools, their friendship blossomed into romance in the 1950s and mar-riage in 1957.

In 1961, they moved to Dix Hills, Huntington,

Long Island, New York, with their two sons. A third son was born on Long Island. They moved to Montgomery County in 1975.

Carol received her degree in 1987 in music performance from The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music., The Catholic University of America. Jerry earned a degree in physics from Fordham University in New York City.

Carol has been teaching piano, organ and voice privately. She spent many years in music ministry as organist, choir director, and director of music liturgy. She retired from active minis-try in 1996. She is past-Dean of the Potomac Chapter, American Guild of Organists and a member of the Montgomery County Music Teachers Association.

Jerry’s specialty is in optical physics, pri-marily in laser technology. After careers in the Defense Department and industry, he joined the Center for Devices and Radiological Health of the Food and Drug Administration in 1975 to become resource expert in safety standards for optical radiation. On arriving at AMV, he was chair of the International Electrotechnical Commission’s technical committee on optical radiation safety and laser equipment, as well as vice-chair of the American National Standards Institute’s technical committee on the safe use of lasers and a member of the Board of Direc-tors of the Laser Institute of America.

Carol and Jerry share a love of music and are regulars at concerts in the DC area. Carol is a graphic artist, who enjoys both drawing and watercolor. Jerry loves sailing, and is delighted to crew whenever the occasion arises. They both enjoy traveling, especially visiting their widely scattered children and grandchildren.

Carol and Jerry are both Roman Catholics, and have spent many years in music ministry and in teaching religious education classes.

(Mary Anstead, Villas)

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KEESE SCHOOL

By Marj McGuire, Villas

For this month the Keese School presents its usual mix of the serious and the

amusing: spies and art and war and policy and several tempting trips.

“Spies and Spymasters of the Civil War” will be presented on slides by Donald Markle, based on his book of the same name.

Then, Asbury resident Judge Gerald Harwood, 419, will be dis-cussing the relationship between economic and public policy on October 18th. Judge Harwood’s interest in this topic derives from

his years in the Gen-eral Counsel’s Office of the Federal Trade Commission. He became an Admin-istrative Law Judge for the EPA in 1976 and retired as Chief Administrative Law Judge in 1990.

On October 28th Robert Torgler, now a senior docent at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, will be dis-cussing “Saratoga 1777: The Criti-

cal Battle and the Generals.”

Next, an art pro-gram by Dr. Chris-topher With on November first. He will be discussing, from a personal point of view, “The National Gallery of Art: An Employee’s Favorites.”

On November 4th, Anthony Pitch, author, editor and historian, will present the 19th cen-tury “Curse of Lafayette Square.”

Meanwhile, artist David Daniels continues his 8-week class, “Explor-ing Watercolor” and Diamond res-ident, Erwin Vogel’s class on the “Origin of Weird Words and Phras-es,” continues through October. Mr. Vogel, an engineer by profes-sion, had had a lifelong interest in words and languages. Well-known Edwards-Fisher’s resident, Betty Goen, will hold her second Play Reading class on November 3rd.

Watch Village Life and AVTV for more goodies ahead in November and December!

Keese Keeps Getting Better



Eleanor and Neil Munch Villas 402, x6742

Eleanor and Neil moved to Asbury in June from Montgomery Village, their residence for the past 32 years. They have many friends at Asbury, and were also attracted by Asbury’s ser-vices and space for both storage and office.

Eleanor was born in Syracuse, NY, and attend-ed Cornell University. She worked as a home demonstration agent in Albany County, NY, and was a substitute teacher in Ormond Beach, FL and in Gaithersburg for 18 years.

Neil was born in Riverdale, MD, and also grad-uated from Cornell University, where he met Eleanor. After graduate work at Stevens Institute of Technology, Neil worked on the development of early liquid propellant rocket engines and the earliest manned space flights through Apol-lo. He worked on early computer technology at G.E. In 1985, he founded the Munch Engineer-ing Corporation. He is also one of the founding directors in 1994 of the Natural Philosophy Alliance, which is a worldwide organization searching for basic truth in advanced physics and cosmology.

Both Eleanor and Neil enjoy bicycling. They plan to bike the entire C and O Canal in small increments and you may see them riding togeth-er at the Villas and around the campus ponds and gardens. Hobbies also include genealogy and church activities.

Neil has long been an Elder in the Gaithers-burg Presbyterian Church, and is in the choir. Eleanor has been in the Hand Bell Choir, and for 25 years has worked with Christian Inter-national House to place foreign students with local families over the holidays—as she says, “a most rewarding experience.”

There are four children (two girls, two boys) and seven grandchildren (four now in college).

(Marj McGuire, Villas)

Robert and Mary Anstead Villas 508, X 4832

The Ansteads moved to Asbury from Potomac in spring of 2004. Robert J. Anstead (Bob) was born in Pennsylvania and came to Washington, DC as an infant. He grew up in the Georgetown/Glover Park area of Washington, and attended Gonzaga High School. After two years in the Navy Seabees, he entered George Washington University, and graduated with a degree in phys-ics. He received a graduate degree in physics from Catholic University. Additional graduate work followed at University of Maryland. He worked for ten years in an Army Research Labo-ratory, where he did research on semiconductor devices, 20 years at the Goddard Space Flight Center, working in reliability physics and scan-ning electron microscopy, and eight years in the Department of Commerce, working on export control. He retired from the government in 1994, and went to work at the Institute of Defense Analysis, where he is still employed.

He married Mary Kurz in 1958. They have three children and five grandchildren.

Mary has the distinction of having been born in the middle of Independence Avenue in Wash-ington, DC. (Ask her about it!) She grew up in the Mt. Pleasant region of DC, and attended Sacred Heart School and Academy. She continued her education at Barry College in Florida, majoring in chemistry. She worked in food chemistry for the U.S. government, until she “retired” to raise a family. During her “retirement,” she had several “at home” jobs, in particular writing teacher’s manuals for a religious education series for chil-dren. She established and directed her church’s religious education program for about five years. Returning to work, she worked for Montgomery County Public Schools, and pursued her teaching certificate in secondary education at the Univer-sity of Maryland. Both Ansteads enjoyed three years living in Paris when Bob was assigned to an overseas position with the Department of Commerce. Their hobbies include traveling, bridge, reading, and their grandchildren.

(Mary Anstead, Villas)

Eileen and Robert Rabson Diamond 309, x 6844

e-mail: [email protected] Eileen and Robert Rabson moved to Asbury in

May. Several months later, Dr. Ray Weiss interviewed them on two different occasions on AVTV.

Eileen was born in Binghamton, NY. She received a B.A. in Early Childhood Education from Syracuse University, and an M.A. from the University of Maryland. She took language courses while living in Vienna, Austria.

Robert was born in Brooklyn, NY. He attended Stuyvesant Science High School, spent one year at Brooklyn College, two years at Syracuse Uni-versity and received a Ph.D in six years at Cor-nell University.

In the meantime, Eileen was teaching Kinder-garten, first and second grades for three years. She belonged to a women’s club P.H.T., meaning “Putting Husband Through,” while Robert was getting his doctorate at Cornell. After moving to the Washington area, she was a substitute teacher in the Montgomery County school system. She was an Instruction Assistant in special education at Beall Elementary School for seven years.

After Robert got his doctorate, he worked at Oak Ridge, Tennessee for two years. After that he was on the faculty of the University of Houston. For five years he worked for the Atomic Energy Commission in biology in 1963. After ten years, he signed up to work for the United Nations in Vienna. He was sent all over the world—to Asia, Africa, Latin America, and various foreign countries. He also signed up for an advisory committee of the Department of Energy, which met in Australia every five years, also visiting New Zealand.

Both Eileen and Robert have been very inter-ested in hiking. They walked the entire C & O Canal’s 184.5 miles in 1989 in a 10-month peri-od. Eileen also enjoys piano, swimming, reading and learned weaving while living in Vienna. Robert has done some water color painting, and enjoys doing jigsaw puzzles. Both Rabsons have


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been volunteers in Seneca and Black Hills Parks. Robert was Treasurer of the American Society of Plant Physiologists for three years. Eileen was Board Director of the National Chamber Orchestra.

The Rabsons have three children: Michael, Barbara and Laurel, and have six grandchildren. The Rabsons are members of Kehilat Shalom Temple in Montgomery Village.

(Marjorie McFarland, Diamond)

Victor LehtorantoMund 310, x6809

Mund residents welcomed Victor on August 9th. Born of Finnish immigrant parents in New York City, Victor, by the time he was seven years old, had lived briefly in Siberia and Finland and returned to New York. He spoke Finnish in the home and was tutored in English at school.

By 1941, Victor had earned a degree in Eco-nomics at St. John’s University just in time to be drafted into the Army, where he was assigned to the Signal Corps, first at Fort Jackson, SC, then to Officer’s Candidate School in Fort Mon-mouth, NJ; Warrenton, VA, the Pentagon and eventually as Message Center Officer at Lawson Field, GA. His final assignment was to Message Center, Love Field, Dallas. He was discharged in January 1946.

His first job as a civilian was in Public Rela-tions for the bituminous coal industry, which had him traveling the countryside. During those travels he met his future wife, Jane, who is still with him after 54 years. Later, Victor worked for the Interstate Commerce Commission, J C Penney Company in Denver and where he later established a tax-preparation and financial plan-ning business.

Jane and Victor raised two boys and two girls, but one of the girls died at age 11 of equine encephalitis. One son lives in Severn and a daughter in Gaithersburg. He has two grand-

children and 5 great-grandchildren.The family began traveling when the young-

est son was eleven and have visited Europe, the Orient, Australia/New Zealand, Hawaii, Fiji, China, Russia, Morocco and Brazil.

Look for opportunities to chat with Vic; he has some wonderful stories to tell!

Unfortunately, Jane is unable to live with Vic-tor, but entered the Wilson Health Care Center on August 3rd, where she will be living. Vic vis-its every day.

(Anne Porter, Mund)

Anne and Ellen MehuMund G-4, x6420

Anne and Ellen have lived lives worthy of envy. They were born in Paris, France. All dur-

ing WW II they lived in Marseille, while their father was actively engaged with General de Gaulle’s Free French forces. After the War their father was given a diplomatic assignment in Peru, South America, where they spent the next three years. They then returned to Paris to fin-ish their studies.

Their next move was to San Francisco, where they lived until they were recruited by USAID (United States Agency for International Devel-opment, providing technical, economic and humanitarian assistance). They spent 32 years working as administrative assistants in develop-ing countries.

Their assignments were changed every four years so that they served in several countries-- Anne in Mali, Nepal, Bolivia, El Salvador, Cam-bodia, Tunisia, and Pakistan. Ellen served in Mali, Nepal, Bolivia, at the same time as her sister, but also in Somalia, Sri Lanka, and back to Nepal in 1990. Being posted in a country meant they were able to mix with the inhabitants outside the American community, “a very rewarding experience.” They were able to visit one anoth-er once a year and used their visits to travel to countries nearby and thus they have seen a lot of the world.

The sisters retired in 1996 and have spent the last eight years in Washington, DC, working part-time for EPA. They are no longer interested in travel, but do get back to Paris once or twice a year. They have given their collection of African art to a gallery in Alexandria and their collection from Tibet to a Tibetan monastery in upper New York state.

The Mehus are Roman Catholic and volun-teered for their church during their years in Washington. They learned about Asbury through a friend.

(Judy Weaver, Mund)


Citrus Fruit Program Begins in November

Fruit Coordinators in the Asbury Apartments and Villas are getting ready for the Citrus Fruit Program that begins in November and continues through April. Each month you can have delicious fresh fruit from Florida---grapefruit, oranges and tangerines---deliv-

ered right to your door. An extra benefit of the program is that the Asbury Benevolent Fund earns at least 50 cents

on every box ordered. Last season the Fund received $288.00 from the Citrus Fruit Program.All you need to do to order your fruit is to contact your building or villa coordinator by

the announced dates that appear on your bulletin board, in Village Life and on AVTV Chan-nel 99, and, of course, pay for your order! Delivery is about 10 days later. Some folks split a box of fruit with a neighbor or friend, or order boxes of fruit as gifts to their children and grandchildren.

Although Joan and Dan Muller (5271) are the overall coordinators, the real work is done by your building coordinators. For information on how and when to place your order, please contact the coordinator for your residence:

Diamond Marion Kawata D717Edwards-Fisher Virginia Offutt EF413Mund Bob Bergman M513Trott Virginia Odor T813Villas Annabel Liebelt V404419 Tom Lowery 419/503

Details about prices, ordering and delivery dates for November will be announced.Many thanks to the Coordinators for all their hard work.

Photo: Jim Porter


been an inn known as “The Gallop-ing Goose.”

After the first flurry of settling in we noticed an emanation or aura in the kitchen. It was a typical 40’s “modernized” Maine kitchen with a huge cast iron wood stove convert-ed to kerosene, a water heater, and a white porcelain sink with drain board. As days went by the aura became an offensive odor which seemed to rise from the floor.

We called the local handyman

who agreed with us that all was not right below. There was no cellar beneath the ell, and the huge gran-ite blocks of the foundation pre-vented crawl-thru access. So Alton carefully pried up several of the wide pine kitchen floor boards.

And what we found was an old well. When the sink was installed the plumber had simply piped the drain into the well and never capped it.

For a week John rose at dawn to dig a hole for a septic tank, and that was the first of our adventures in “The Galloping Goose.”

KITCHENContinued from page 1

as the home of composer Benjamin Britten.

The experience befell the lady editor of the local newspaper. Aldeburgh has a sea wall protect-ing its marshland on one side from the sea on the other. The top of the wall is a favorite walk for the resi-dents. This lady was walking her dog along it at 7:30 one morning when suddenly the dog stopped, its fur rose and it refused to take another step. When she looked ahead she saw the figure of a man,

dressed in fisherman’s clothing. It remained stationary before shortly disappearing into space and her dog went forward again.

She described her experience in her paper. A little later a letter appeared in the paper from a rela-tive of the drowned man who rec-ognized him from the description of his clothes. The relative said that it was at 7:30 in the morning that the drowning occurred, precisely the time at which she had seen the apparition! The lady editor had not known beforehand about that fatal-ity so there is no question of any predisposition on her part to see what she saw. And what about the dog’s reaction?

ENGLISHContinued from page 1 Asbury Health Services Important Numbers

Physician Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216-4157WHCC Clinic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987-6282Rehabilitation Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987-6282Personal Care Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216-4276Home Health Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216-4276NeighborCare Pharmacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216-4372Adult Day Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987-6001Area code for all numbers: 301

Physician Services At AsburyAsbury Physician Services (APS) has several practitioners avail-able to residents, associates and members of the community to take care of your medical needs. Call x4157 to schedule an appointment.Primary Care ProvidersCharles M. Benner, MD - Internal Medicine and GeriatricsH. Robert Birschbach, MD - Internal MedicineJonathan Musher, MD - Family Practice and GeriatricsPhyllis Jones, NP - Family Nurse Practitioner

Warren Bevard, DPM PodiatryJohn Casey, MD - Rehabilitation MedicineLarry Green, MD DermatologyNina Vann Jeanes, MD - GynecologyEliezer Trybuch, DPM Podiatry

James Yan NeurologyDavid Barwell, MA, CCC-A AudiologySameer Sofat, MDShubir Sofat, MD CardiologyB.J. Czarapata, NP Nurse Practitioner - Urology

PHYSICIAN SERVICES

the living or get the living to help them.

Or so research in the limited his-tory of ghosts recorded west of the Great Falls of the Potomac, the falls and rapids of the Patapsco and Patuxent Rivers and Gunpowder Falls would indicate since records of Mountain Maryland began to be kept in the 1730s. The stories of a few Western Maryland ghosts will illustrate their willingness to help, although I cannot now read my notes to give you the personal and place names that should be in the tales.

The ghosts of Indian braves guarding the fords in the Potomac and other Western Maryland rivers in the late 18th century are the ear-liest regional ghosts. The white set-tlers, ignorant of Indian language and customs, and remembering the bloody years of the French and Indian wars, considered them fero-cious and dangerous. Today, know-ing the ghosts had disappeared as

trails became roads and bridges were built, one wonders if the ghosts were not merely warning the traveler of dangerous changes in the ford occasioned by changing water levels and currents since the last traveler passed.

The 19th century reported more ghosts than the 18th or 20th. Most of them were pleasant and nameless ones like the young man who was killed in the war with Mexico in the 1840s and whose body was shipped home for burial in a cask of rum. For half a century, until the war with Spain over Cuba and the Philippines, he often greeted guests in the halls of his family mansion, sometimes offering them coffee or rye whiskey from the services on the side-board.

There were also many Civil War ghosts. I recall especially the story of Fox’s Gap ghosts. A number of soldiers killed in that battle were

dumped in the old well for quick burial. After the farmer came back to his farm, he kept seeing the shad-owy specter of a Union sergeant. Eventually, the farmer got around to removing the bodies from the well for reburial. That night, the

specter spoke to him. “Thanks. I was damned uncomfortable

there. Now I will sleep better,” the specter said, and faded away forever.

In Carroll County, a plantation owner

who had been a harsh master to his

slaves, died just before the Emancipation

P ro c l a m a t i o n . In the years to come, the freed slaves reported, with

unconcealed glee, having seen on my

nights the old master riding around the property surrounded by devils and imps taunting him.

The ghosts of the 20th centu-

ry are fewer, but far more helpful. There was in the 1950-60s a cot-tage whose windows never had to be closed by the residents against a storm. Almost every time a storm came, windows that had been open half an hour earlier were found closed by people going to do so. The residents never knew who closed the windows.

And there was the ghost who baby-sat in a Western Maryland town. One young couple reported leaving their baby with a teenage neighbor, while they went out to dinner. As they pulled into their driveway on their return, the head-lights showed a woman patting the baby on her chest at a second-story window. When the couple entered, they found the teenager sound asleep on the sofa and the baby just going to sleep in its crib, well tucked in.

Although Gaithersburg is well within the Mountain Maryland region, I found no tales of local ghosts. Asbury Methodist Village has been here long enough to have had one or two tales. Are all our ghosts happy now?

LOCALContinued from page 1

more ghosts than the 18th or 20th. Most of them were pleasant and

war with Mexico in the 1840s and whose body was shipped home for burial in a cask of rum. For half a century, until the war with Spain over Cuba and the Philippines, he often greeted guests in the halls of his family mansion, sometimes offering them coffee or rye whiskey from the services on the side-

specter spoke to him. “Thanks. I was damned uncomfortable

In Carroll County, a plantation owner

who had been a harsh master to his

slaves, died just before the Emancipation

P ro c l a m a t i o n . In the years

freed slaves reported, with

unconcealed glee,

Asbury Methodist VillageCommunications Department201 Russell AvenueGaithersburg, MD 20877-2801

Non-ProfitOrganizationU. S. Postage

PAIDRockville, MD

Permit No. 4297A NEWSPAPER FOR ASBURY METHODIST VILLAGE

N o tricks from us, but here are some laughter treats to share with your guy and

ghoul friends over dinner! Happy Halloween!

Q: What do you get when you divide the circumference of a jack-o-lantern by its diameter?A: Pumpkin Pi.

Q: How do you make a witch stew?A: Keep her waiting for hours.

Q: How do ghosts begin their letters?A: “Tomb it may concern...”

Q: What hap- pened to the guy who

couldn’t keep uppayments to his exorcist?A: He was repossessed. Q: How do you mend a broken Jack-o-lantern?A: With a pumpkin patch.

Q: What is a ghost’s favorite ride?A: A roller ghoster.

Q: What do you get when you cross Drac-ula with Sleeping Beauty?A: Tired blood.

Q: What kind of street does a ghost like best?A: A dead end.

Q: How do you know if a ghost is lying?A: You can see right through him.

Q: How is a werewolf like a computer?A: They both have megabytes.

Q: Why don’t witches like to ride their brooms when they’re angry?A: They’re afraid of flying off the handle.

Q: Where do ghosts go on vacation?A: Lake Erie.

Q: How can you tell when a window is scared?

A: They get shudders.

Q: Why didn’t the skeleton dance at the Halloween party?A: It had no body to dance with.

Q: What do you say to a ghost with three heads?A: Hello, hello, hello.

Q: What is a witch’s favorite subject in school?

A: Spelling!

Q: When does a skeleton laugh?A: When something tickles his funny bone.

Q: What tops off a ghost’s sundae?A: Whipped Scream

Q: What has a black hat, flies on a broom-stick, and can’t see anything?A: A witch with her eyes closed.

Q: Why is a ghost such a messy eater?A: Because he’s always a goblin.

Q: What happens when a ghost gets lost in a fog?A: He’s mist.

Q: What sailors like to be chilled to the bone?A: A skeleton crew.

Q: Where does Count Dracula usually eat his lunch?A: In the casketeria.

Q: Where did the goblin throw the foot-ball?A: Over the ghoul line.

Q: What do you call a goblin who gets too close to a bonfire?A: Toasty ghosty.

Q: What do you call a ghost with a broken leg?A: Hoblin Goblin.

Q: What do you call a wicked witch who lives by the sea?A: A Sand-witch

Q: What do you get when you cross a were-wolf with a drip-dry suit?A: A wash-and-werewolf.

Q: What did the papa ghost say to the baby ghost?A: Fasten your sheet belt.

Q: Who does a ghoul fall in love with?A: His ghoul friend.

Q: What is a vampire’s favorite mode of transportation?A: A blood vessel.

Q: What do you call a dog owned by Dracula?A: A blood hound.

Q: What kind of hot dogs do werewolves like best?A: Hallowieners.

Q: What do you call serious rocks?A: Grave stones.

Q: How do you picture yourself flying on a broom?A: By witchful thinking.

Q: Why did the witch’s mail rattle?A: It was a chain letter.

Q: Why did the vampire’s lunch give him heartburn?A: It was a stake sandwich.

Q: What do you call a skeleton who refus-es to help around the house?A: Lazybones

Q: Why did Dracula take cold medicine?A: To stop his coffin

Q: What do you call a ghost’s local news-paper?A: Village Lifeless!

Q: What hap- pened to the guy who Q: How do you know if a ghost is lying?A: You can see right through him.

Q: How is a werewolf like a computer?A: They both have megabytes.

Q: Why don’t witches like to ride their brooms when they’re angry?A: They’re afraid of flying off the handle.

Q: Where do ghosts go on vacation?A: Lake Erie.

Q: How can you tell when a window is scared?

A: They get shudders.

Q: Why didn’t the skeleton dance at the Halloween party?A: It had no body to dance with.

Q: What do you say to a ghost with three heads?A: Hello, hello, hello.

Q: What is a witch’s favorite subject in school?

A: Spelling!

Last Laughs for Halloween

Ghostly Tales From a Spirited Fea Spirited Few Oh What A BOO-tiful Mourning: An English Ghost Story...

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Transcript of Ghostly Tales From a Spirited Fea Spirited Few Oh What A BOO-tiful Mourning: An English Ghost Story...