The Continuing Care Donation Committee is now collecting the following items for Activities in Continuing Care:
* Small American flags (for upcoming holiday celebrations)
* Patriotic pins
* Bingo prizes (powder, perfumes, trinkets)
* Used/Clean Gift bags to recycle to spruce up BINGO prize presentation.
* Red, white, and blue fake flowers (available in dollar stores)
* Pool noodles for crafting purposes (available in dollar stores)
* Trivia, word-search, or picture books
For Upcoming High Tea Event: * Red hats, gloves, jewelry, and purses for women
* Blue, red, or white hats for men
Please bring your donations to Community Resources (Brookside) or the Volunteer Programs Office (near train station on Main Street) Questions: Contact Ellen Macek.
Now that the majority of residents have been fully vaccinated and cases of the COVID -19 virus have started to decline in the Catonsville area, we are pleased to announce that each household is welcomed to invite up to two guests to dine with you on Mother’s Day at the Atrium, Chesapeake, and Fireside. Guests will not be permitted to dine with you at the Shortline or Terrace Cafe. This is a special one-day-only event and we encourage that the guests joining you be vaccinated. Our hope is that this is the first step to welcoming visitors back into our dining rooms, dependent upon continued declining COVID-19 activity trends.
Reservations for Mother’s Day are required, to secure a table, please call the reservation line at 410-737 -8888. The deadline for reservations and deliveries for Mother’s Day is no later than Saturday, May 8th by 2:00 pm. See the chart below for all the other pertinent details.
| Restaurant | Hours of | Operation | Style of | Service | Guests Allowed |
| Atrium | 10:30am-3:00pm | Dine In & Delivery | Yes | ||
| Chesapeake | 10:30am-3:00pm | Dine In & Delivery | Yes | ||
| Fireside | 10:30am-3:00pm | Dine In & Delivery | Yes | ||
| Shortline Cafe | 10:30 am-4:00pm | Dine In & Carryout | No | ||
| Terrace Grill | 10:30am-4:0 0pm | Dine In – Delivery – Carryout | No | ||
WEEKEND MOVIES
| Sat/Sun, May 1 & 2 | Seabiscuit (2003), 2 hr. 21 min. for the Kentucky Derby Day, a really, great racing film |
| Sat/Sun, May 8 & 9 | Lady Bird (2017), 1 hr. 34 min. Mother’s Day about a mom and her rebel daughter |
| Fri, Mary 14 | Coco (2017), 1 hr 45 min. FOREIGN FILM FOR CINCO DE MAYO An animated film celebrating the music and customs of Mexico |
| Sat/Sun, May 15 and 16 | The Good Liar (2019), 1 hr 49 min. Two great stars in a caper film with a surprise flip. |
| Sat/Sun, March 22 and 23 | Breaking Away (1979), 1 hr 40 min. We honor “Bike Safety Month” with a bike race. |
| Sat/Sun, March 29 and 30 | Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), 2 hr 6 min. On Memorial Day a rousing musical oldie |
For the next seven weeks, pianist Lynn Roxy will be rotating through the campus dining areas, playing light and easy listening classics on Tuesdays, Noon – 1 PM and on Thursdays, 5 – 6 PM. Ms. Roxy plays over 250 shows a year and has 14 one-woman shows including a “Tour Up The Mississippi River”, a “Trip To The Beach”, and a USO Salute To Veterans”. She has been a featured performer on the Majestic America Cruise Lines and in five-star hotels throughout the U.S. and Europe. If you see her, pull up a chair and enjoy some wonderful music. She takes requests, too! Ms. Roxy’s schedule for the next few weeks is:
April 20 at 12:00 p.m. – Terrace Café
April 22 at 5:00 p.m. – Atrium Lounge
April 27 at 12:00 p.m. – Shortline Café
April 29 at 5:00 p.m. – Fireside Pub
May 4 at 12:00 p.m. – Terrace Café
May 6 at 5:00 p.m. – Chesapeake Lounge
May 11 at 12:00 p.m. – Shortline Café
May 13 at 5:00 p.m. – Fireside Café
The Little Theatre is back on stage–literally! We will have our first meeting since COVID restrictions sidelined us! It will be “on stage” in the Auditorium on Tuesday, May 4, from 1:30-2:30 p.m. We meet for no more than an hour and sometimes less.
We’re always looking for new members. No experience necessary! Don Schiller, who has been our treasurer for many many years, is resigning that position, so we’ll be looking for at least one office holder. Besides actors, we need workers in many roles, so there is a place for you in the Little Theatre. Mimi O’Donnell, who runs zoom bingo, came to her first meeting and walked out as our secretary!
We’ll need creativity as we transition back to full audience productions eventually. If you are interested or just curious, be on hand on stage on May 4th at 1:30 p.m. We meet every first Tuesday at 1:30 on stage in the Auditorium. Any questions, call John Lorenz.
Cash, check and credit card accepted!
All items with a red dot sticker are 30% off sticker price.
Great selection of items!
Outside Billiards room
Brookside Terrace Level near Treasure Chest
Q: Have security procedures at the front gate changed?
A: No, the front gate procedures have not changed.
Q: How do I get my visitors pre-verified to enter Charlestown?
A: Please call Security Dispatch at 410-737-8806 in advance of your unregistered visitor’s arrival. You will be asked to provide the following information: the name of the visitor; the approximate date/time of arrival, and the location where to direct your visitor.
Q: What happens if Security cannot reach you to verify the visitor?
A: The Officer will inform the person that they will need to get authorization before access can be granted. The visitor will be asked to exit the property.
If there are further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Security Manager, Reyn Giese, at 410-737-8838, extension 601-8607.
Please join us for the virtual 33rd Annual Scholars’ Ceremony on May 19th at 7 PM on Channel 972. This year we will be celebrating our 2021 Scholars Class of 39 students. Each year this event allows us to celebrate the accomplishments of our talented student-employees and their special relationship with our residents.
Our 2021 Scholars’ Fund campaign wrapped up on April 30, but donations can still be accepted through the Philanthropy office. All campaign donors will receive a Program Book for the event in their cubby before the airing. Our program will also include the Book of Letters, which is a wonderful collection of thank you notes from our 2021 Scholars. As you know, our goal this year is $200,000 and our final total will be revealed during the Ceremony by Patti Santoni, our Philanthropy Director. To those of you who have given so generously, we thank you!
We look forward to our 2021 Ceremony, which will once again be virtual. The ceremony will include celebrating our new scholars as well as bringing back a past scholar to share her insights with both the residents and the new Scholar Class. This year’s guest speaker is Alyssa K. Cole, who is a fruit of our Scholars’ Program from the Class of 2011, returning 10 years later to be a part of our ceremony. Alyssa attended CCBC, UMES (B.S.), then Morgan State University, and LSU for her Master of Arts degree. Alyssa serves the DC/Baltimore areas through her own firm, AKC Career Consulting, and is a published Author and Poet. Her website and blog is www.alyssakcole.com.
In addition, we will also be announcing the recipients of our special Named and Partnership Scholarships during our virtual ceremony. These awards are sponsored by residents, groups, and area institutions. These monies are in addition to our Charlestown Scholarship to give these high-performing students an additional boost as they pursue their higher education. The winners were chosen by the Charlestown Scholar Committee after interviewing each of the 18 applicants individually.
A special note of appreciation to our Scholar Committee members: Norma Goldberg, Roland Gray, Mel Milio, Marie Skane, Ed DeLong, Jackie Graham, Eugenia High, Mimi O’Donnell, and to the Philanthropy Department team of Patti Santoni, Emily Fowler, and Lisa Zehring for all of their efforts with our Scholar Program.
We will miss celebrating with you in person, but please know that your generous and ongoing support for our students and our Scholars Program is greatly appreciated!
Charlie Eichenlaub
Scholars’ Fund Committee (Chair)
Rehearsals are planned to begin Tuesdays and Thursdays for a December concert. Rehearsals will begin 7 September. Tuesday rehearsals will be sectionals, men from 1 to 1:45 PM, women from 2 to 3 PM in the Maple Terrace Music Room. Thursday rehearsals for full chorus will be in the Auditorium. Performances are planned in the Auditorium on 2 and 3 December. Visit the Harmonizers web site for more information.
Resident Ellyn Loy’s review of Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell [New York: Knopf, 2020] is scheduled for Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at 7 PM in the Auditorium.
When I first heard about this book, I thought, “You mean Hamlet, don’t you?” Well, no. Hamnet is a historical fictional account of Shakespeare’s family at the time of his son Hamnet’s death in1596, and the writing of the play Hamlet in 1600. The social and living conditions in Elizabethan England are the setting for the story.
The book begins with a young boy, Hamnet, searching for an adult. His father is off in another town and his mother is off tending her bees. His twin sister Judith is near death from the plague. It is during this crisis that we are introduced to many of the characters. Hamnet’s mother Agnes, the core character, is carefree and spiritual. She mixes potions and heals the sick. His grandfather is an angry, mean man who makes gloves. And Hamnet’s father, who is never named in the book, is known to be William Shakespeare.
The following two narratives evolve: The events leading up to Hamnet’s death and the relationship between Hamnet’s parents. Duality is a core theme – the duality of Hamnet and Judith, twins. The duality between intense grief and intense passion. The constant pull between certainty and doubt. The toil of life on the homestead, and the creative life of the emerging genius in the city.
Judith, the weaker, sick twin, recovers. She and Hamnet switch clothing like they did as children to fool people. Hamnet offers to give his life instead of his sister’s. And so he dies, leaving a family in grief.
Halfway through the book, the author takes a detour to tell the history of the plague. Again, two narratives. One about a bead maker in England who burns his hand, and the other about a cabin boy on a ship with a flea-ridden African monkey. I read this book during the worst of Covid-19. The tale of how the germ spreads is fascinating.
The author builds interesting characters and tells beautiful stories. One memorable passage is when she writes of Hamnet’s death, “There will be no going back. No undoing what was laid out for them. The boy has gone and the husband will leave and she will stay and the pigs will need to be fed every day and time runs only one way.” Themes of loss and grief and yearning for success and family are perceptively interwoven.
Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet won the 2021 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.
Ellyn Loy, a Charlestown resident, is a clinical social worker and former Clinical Director of The House of Ruth.
Janet Neer and Ellyn Loy, Book Review Coordinators
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