Volume 15 , No. 4

Apri l 2017

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Activities Corner 2

Jewelry 2

Birthdays 4

Management Report 4

Springton Lake Village 4

Color Variations 3

The Spr ington Lake Vi l lage

VOICE

LOOKING AHEAD

• Monday, April 10th Juliets Lunch Noon

• Monday, April 10th Movie “Lion” 7PM

• Wednesday, April 12th “Gittin Knittin” 2 PM Staley’s

• Monday, April 17th Movie “Marilyn” 7PM

• Monday, April 24th Romeos Lunch Noon

• Monday, April 24th Lec-ture 4PM “Boys In The Boat” Lyman Perry

• Tuesday, April 25th Book Club 2PM

• Tuesday, May 9th 8AM-Bird Walk with Mike Coll Start at path 100 Lakeside Lane

PENNSYLVANIA - A UNIQUE STATE

You might think you know your home state like the back of your hand, but think again. There are always new and interesting things to learn about the place you call home –from historical facts, to weird laws, to state firsts, here are some quirky and fun things you may not have known about Pennsylvania. 1. The state insect is the firefly. 2. The oldest gas station in the US is located in Altoona. 3. Pennsylvania is one of the few U.S. states that is a commonwealth, which has no legal meaning but emphasizes the role of the people in the state’s government. (The others are Kentucky, Virginia, and Massachusetts.) 4. The third biggest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh is Allen-town 5. The nation’s oldest golf course is located in Clarion. 6. The Monongahela River, located in Western PA, is unique in that it flows north. 7. The first department store in the U.S. was located in Philadelphia. It was called Wanamaker’s "The Grand Court". 8. The only president from Pennsylvania was James Buchanan. 9. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers merged to form the Steagles for one season in 1943. The teams merged because both lost so many players to military service during WWII. 10. One weird Pennsylvania law forbids singing in the bathtub. Another forbids the sweeping of dirt underneath a rug. 11. Pennsylvania has the highest Amish population in the world. 12. Kennett Square, PA is the mushroom capital of the world. It produces one mil-lion pounds of mushrooms per year and has an annual mushroom festival. 13. The most haunted house in the country was once considered to be the Conge-leier House on Ridge St. in Pittsburgh. 14. The first complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton can be found in the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh. 15. The world’s largest furry convention, Anthrocon, occurs in Pittsburgh every year. 16. The first baseball stadium was built in Pittsburgh. 17. In 1946, the world’s first computer was used in Philadelphia. 18. Pennsylvania was the only colony of the original thirteen that did not border the Atlantic Ocean. 19. Benjamin Franklin started the country’s first zoo in Philadelphia. 20. The official state flower is the "Orange Traffic Cone"! (It really is Mountain Lau-rel.) (Other firsts include the Library Company, the Philosophical Society, the Pennsyl-vania Hospital, University of Pennsylvania Medical School, first business school (Wharton), Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, first Pharmacy School, theater, first cable television (Mahanoy City 1948—I had to throw that in!), first turnpike, first commercial radio station (KDKA), oil well, pretzel factory, escalator, roller coaster and many others. (Thanks to Gayla Stewart)

Bridge 2PM Mondays

Pool (Dunwoody)

10AM Wednesdays MOVIES

April 10th 7:00PM “Lion”

April 17th 7PM

“Marilyn”

Page 2

ACTIVITIES CORNER–APRIL

Volume 15 , No. 4

One of the most delightful experiences at Springton is enjoying the excellent food and camaraderie in the dining room. We laugh, learn and relax. We appreciate the other people who live here and the support we give each other. However, some discussions can be upsetting, particularly in these contentious times. Close quarters in the dining room make it cozy, but also means conversations may be provocative or disconcerting to those at an adjoining table. So please, out of respect for others, avoid talk-ing about politics and religion. (And anything else your mother told you to not talk about at the table.) If you must discuss these topics, do it before you go into the dining room or in the privacy of your home. Thanks for your compassion and understand-ing.

Monday, April

24th 4PM Lecture: “The Boys in

the Boat” Lyman Perry

Get fit; feel better! Exercise with Linda

10AM every Tuesday and Thursday

JEWELRY

Book Club (4th) Tuesday

April 25th 2:00PM

Gittin’ Knittin’ 2PM April12th

(Second Wednes-day)

Staley

A typewriter with a carriage that moves back and forth. (I was a private secre-tary at N. W. Ayer’s Ad Agency in Philadelphia). The Christmas tree. The next one is hard to see but is a Beefeater from a trip to London. Profile for my daughter, Susanne. The royal carriage from a trip to England. Another Christ-mas charm. A profile of my son, John. A horn of plenty from a trip to Italy. A megaphone for captain of my high school cheerleaders. The last charm from John was A Happy Anniversary charm. The National Honor Society. Taurus for my birthday Zodiac sign. The bracelet is very precious to me. (Dori Ficca)

Happy Anniversary, Presidential award (Swimming), AOA Medical Honor Society pin, College of Physicians, Jefferson Medical College, Deborah tree of life, Jefferson Nursing pin, Sailboat, my mother’s Pottsville hospital pin, Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society, Tall Ships Scrim-shaw, Temple Owl, Monogram (Thanks from Bryn Mawr Hospital for my residency years), Cam-era (Martina Martin)

Eileen Spinelli got these ear-rings for a dollar at a yard sale in Arizona when she was visiting a friend. Her ears aren't pierced and it's getting harder to find clip-ons.

VOICE Page 3

COLOR VARIATIONS IN ANIMAL LIFE There are many color variations that happen in nature. For instance, the Gray squirrel can be many colors –Gray, black, white, cream colored, pie-bald and albino. These are called color morphs but they are all gray squir-rels. Raccoons are a brown, black and white mixture normally but there are also blond raccoons. White tigers are big attractions in zoos. There are also white alligators and white boa constrictors. Also white moose, white deer, white hippos and

elephants (not just at sales). I didn’t think were any real pink ele-phants except for those some people saw, but there are! Terms include albino. Albinism is a condition in which there is an absence of melanin, which gives color to the skin, feathers, hair and eyes. Vertebrates with albinism are not only white (or some-times pale yellowish) in color but they also have very pale eyes, often pink or red in color as the blood vessels show through.

Another is leucism (from the Greek word leukos, meaning white) which is a partial loss of pigmentation, which can make the animal have white or patchily colored skin, hair, feathers and so on, but the pigment cells in the eyes are not affected by the condition. Leucism is often mistaken for albinism, but they are two very different conditions. So next time you see an animal you think is albino, look to see if it is only mostly white and, importantly, take a look at the eyes. Partial leucism results in

piebald animals. A fascinating one is isabellinism . Archduchess Isabella of Austria made a bizarre pledge at the start of the 17th century. Until her husband conquered the city of Ostend and united the prov-inces of their country, she would not remove or wash her underwear. “Isabella” is the name of a color, a sort of grayish-yellow.

Erythrism: reddish color of an animal’s fur, hair, skin, feathers or eggshells. This may be ge-netic as in Katydids. It is a dominant trait in Katydids but pink katydids are so noticeable they get eaten which is why they are so rare. Diet is another factor. Bees that feed on col-ored corn syrup (think Maraschino cherry) become red. Flamingos and others also get their color from their food. Chimeras: Chimeric animals have a mixture of genetically distinct tis-sues that arise from two or more fertilized eggs that fused together in

the womb – which means they are essentially two twins that fused together into a single creature. Vitiligo: skin loses patches of color because pigment cells (melanocytes) are destroyed for unknown reasons. Mi-chael Jackson had vitiligo.

Albino squirrel—pink eyes

Black squirrel White alligator—note eyes

Leucistic cardinal

Chimera

Isabellinism

Pink elephant calf

Rottweiler with vitiligo

Erythristic Katydid

Piebald deer

Tigers genetic variations - stripeless, normal, golden with darker orange stripes, white with black stripes

101 Longview Circle Media, PA 19063-2075

The Spr ington Lake Vi l lage Voice

Mart ina Mart in, Editor

We’re on the Web! springtonlakevillage.com

SPRINGTON LAKE VILLAGE

Luxury living at its finest abounds at Springton Lake Village. This “just right” commu-nity of 40 single homes is nestled on the Springton Lake Reservoir. Each home offers 2000 square feet of living space on one floor with an additional floor to use as needed. Also an attached two car garage. The spectacular location has breathtaking sunsets complete with birds and wildlife to be enjoyed from your deck or on the walk-ing path by the Lake. Gourmet dinners challenge the best restaurants in the area. Activities include lectures. bridge, poker, movies and many more including holiday celebrations, gourmet wine tasting dinners and many field trips. Cherished friend-ships are formed with delightful and interesting neighbors. All this and much more are here at Springton Lake Village. This is worry-free living. The monthly bill includes: Taxes, Gas, Electric, Water and Sewer Gourmet meals Weekly house cleaning Heavy house cleaning, including windows inside and out, twice a year Landscaping, lawn care, snow removal, salting Outside maintenance such as gutter and dryer vent cleaning Maintenance staff on site for your daily needs Exercise room, personal trainer Health care manager Capital programs such as roof replacement, water heaters, driveway, paving, etc. The only additional check you write is for TV, internet and phone. We look forward to welcoming you for a visit soon. Call us at 610-356-7297

On Tuesday, April 18th, We will have Family style dining at the clubhouse. Menu to be determined. On a Monday in May lunch will be served in the club-house at noon. Menu to be determined. Sign up sheet will be on the Bulletin Board closer to the event. Don’t forget to stop into the Clubhouse Library to view the “goings on” of the live feed bird nest video. It’s nest-ing season and I’m sure we will have live baby birds soon enough! The Facility guys will be going through the community power washing decks, putting the deck furniture out and turning on the outside faucets. If you need to get on the schedule earlier please call the office. Lawn mowing will resume this month – Spring is here!

MANAGEMENT REPORT

Thanks to Jackie

Simms for this cartoon.

4/2 Don Walsh

4/3 Joanne Dalton

4/21 Norma Mather

4/27 Evelyn Wagner

4/29 Joyce Walsh