August is Heating Up on the Peabody Campus!

Summer activities are in full swing at Brudnick Center and Kaplan Estates. Pizza parties, kindergarten visits, animal shows, international festivals and live concerts are on the agenda for the month of August.

Over 65 people attended our “Guys Day Pizza Party” soiree. Residents and guests sampled a variety of pizzas while Jimmy Honohan performed a medley of popular songs. Everyone was singing and dancing!

Campus residents, adult day health clients and the preschoolers at North Suburban JCC enjoyed our recent “Animal World.” The group had a ball holding and touching such animals as chinchillas, alligators, boa constrictors, geckos, among others. Dog visits were also a highlight of the month. Bentley, a beautiful English Cream Golden Retriever, made the rounds to all residents who requested a visit. Bently is part of Jeff Cohen’s “Golden Moments” team and brings golden retrievers to the campus once a month. The dogs offer tactile and cognitively stimulating engagement, conversation, and socialization. It was clear from the smiles and laughter that Bentley is a very welcome visitor!

Kaplan residents were overjoyed by a visit from teens at Camp Yavneh. They sang, chatted and shared a continental breakfast. Some resident comments included, “The teens were fully invested with their conversations with us, asking about our lives and activities here” and “The parents of the teens should be so proud of these mature young adults.”  One group leader shared that she was on our campus a number of years ago as one of the teen campers. She vividly remembers singing and talking to our residents. “Those memories are very much a part of who I am today,” she said with a smile.

Esther Silberberg, a resident at Kaplan Estates, celebrated her 97th birthday on August 3. Esther, who was born in Winthrop and grew up in Lynn, graduated from Massachusetts College of Arts and Design. As a young artist she supported herself by selling silhouette portraits along the beaches in Swampscott and Lynn. Throughout her life, Esther won many awards for her amazing watercolor paintings. Esther has been an active member of the Swampscott Art Association for over 30 years. In honor of her birthday, Kaplan Estates hosted a showing of her paintings for residents, families, staff, and members of the Art Association. Amidst wine, cheese, hors d’oeuvres and live background music by Steve Belgiorno, guests had the opportunity to view Esther’s beautiful works of art. Happy Birthday Esther!