7. October 2010 by Just Friends.

Please enjoy our first promotional video of Just Friends. Sarah Rutan, Columbus East student did this video for her senior project. She spent a lot of time with us and the final product is just great! Thank you, Sarah. We are so glad you took this on!

We have DVDs to share, so please let me know if you want one. Our intent for this video is to be able to give to potential families. It is a wonderful way to see all that we do at Just Friends! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfXCcbq6YCs

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5. October 2010 by Just Friends.

Hello everyone!   I hope everyone is enjoying this autumn weather.  Fall is one of my favorite times of year.  

We have been so busy here at Just Friends.   Our 14th annual East-West Fundraiser Dinner was a great success!  We had about 75 people at Donner Center that evening.   The food was terrific and the highlight of the whole evening was the dancers.   Here is the link to watch the performance:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FASBKk6yWe8e .   Please check it out! 

Every year Just Friends has a team and participates in the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk.   A few months before we raise money for our team.  This year we had a bake sale outside of Sam’s Club and raised almost $300.  Total raised for the Just Friends team was almost $700.   WOW!On the event day, Just Friends team heads out with the others to walk the walk to END ALZHEIMER’S!   The weather held out and didn’t start raining till after the event!   All in all it was a great Memory Walk year!

Things coming up:  The 2nd Time Around Band - Oct. 6th

Frost on the Pumpkin Day - Oct. 7th.   We will be decorating pumpkins for Halloween!

Dr. Mull, our Volunteer Podiatrist - Oct. 8th.   Dr. Mull gives complimentary foot checks to all our participants!

Have a wonderful day!

Chris Forbes, Marketing Coordinator

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8. September 2010 by Just Friends.

I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend!   The weather was perfect!

Today I want to highlight our 3 Activity Directors, Candi Hoffman, Linda Penrice, & Wuanita Pierce.  They are so vital to the Just Friends program!   They plan all the activities every month and during the day we change activities every 30 minutes to an hour - so that is a lot of planning!   In one day we have structured activities that stimulate each participant intellectually, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, & socially.  On the daily calendar a key is used to describe each activity.  For example A= small motor skills, B=Large motor skills, C=creative, D=emotional and so on.  Then next to each activity there will be the letter that indicates what stimulation it provides.

Also, when we have a new participant visit - the activity directors will meet with the family to develop an activitiy plan.  This consists of finding out which activities their loved one needs & their interests.   Our programs & activities honor the uniqueness of each participant.

To become an Activity Director, Candi, Linda & Waunita had to complete the Activitiy Directors Certification Course through Rowlett & Laker, Inc., approved by the Indiana State Department of Health and the National Cerfiication Council of Activity Professionals.  The 90 hour course equipped them with skills in planning, delivering, evaluating, and documenting direct care & services.

So, thank you Just Friends Activity Directors and all other Activity Directors out there who make a difference everyday!  They put a little “sugar & spice & everything nice” into an ordinary day! 

Chris Forbes, Marketing Coordinator

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2. September 2010 by Just Friends.

Just Friends Announces the 2010 East-West Event “Preview”

Today we will be offering a “preview” of our largest fundraiser at Just Friends.  September 17th is our benefit dinner event at Donner Center but we wanted to offer a “preview” of the event to our participants and their families. 

So, at 2:00pm today we will be offering Saree Draping, Mehndi (tatooing with Henna), presentation on India and it’s culture, silent action, and Rangoli demonstration.  Rangoli is a form of sandpainting decoration that uses finely ground white & colored powerders, and is commonly done outside homes in India.

 So, stop in and see what “East-West” is all about! 

Chris Forbes, Marketing Coordinator

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25. August 2010 by Just Friends.

Hello everyone! It’s Trip Day and guess where we are going?? I will give you a clue….”ice cream, ice cream, we all scream for ice cream!” Remember that jingle? Well, today we are heading to Dairy Queen for an afternoon snack! yum!

I want to highlight our nurses at Just Friends today! We are so blessed to have such a great team of nurses. We have our main nurse, Jackie Sterling, and then we have many part-time nurses, Judy Goddard, Pan Vreeland, Donna Lawlor, Rebekah Chastain, Roberta Kirchoff, Betty Hilycord, to fill the 10 hour day. The role of the nurse is to do daily charting, medication support, monthly vitals, & everything else throughout the day that would need medical attention. This team of nurses have another wonderful quality that cannot be learned - compassion! They each truly have a heart for our program and the participants! As Pam Vreeland says, “The interaction with our participants is what I like most about working at Just Friends.”

We also are blessed to have a nurse consultant, Betty Harrison, RN, that oversees all the nursing duties plus trains & educates all the staff. As Betty states, “Each participant has a specific care plan that is reviewed and revised as needed. We have a wellness approach to care, meaning that we try to do things for the participants’ mental wellness, cognitive skills, & physical exercise.”

Having this great nursing team is not only a vital part of Just Friends, it is also a source of comfort and security.

Hug a nurse today!
Chris Forbes, Marketing Coordinator

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24. August 2010 by Just Friends.

Wow - August is flying by!  I guess time flies when you are having fun, right?   We’ve got a full day today.  Two wonderful volunteers will be joining us today.  Carol will be leading devotions this morning and Mary will come in this afternoon to play the piano.

Here are some interesting tid-bits from ActivityConnection.com - The Daily Chronicles.

Happy Birthday to Hal Smith.  He was best known as the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show.  He also was the voice of the Looney Tunes cartoon character Elmer Fudd and the Disney character Goofy.

 On this date in 1879 - The volcano Mt. Vesuvius erupted for the first recorded time, destroying southern Italy’s cities of Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum.  Vesuvius exploded without warning around noon that day, covering Pompeii in a layer of ash nearly 13 feet deep!   The other two cities were buried under mud and volcanic debris.  Archaeologists have uncovered what life was like in Roman times from the volcanic ash-preserved remains of the cities.  Vesuvius is still active.  

“Why didn’t I think of that!”  Mr. Bernard Sadow invented wheels on luggage in 1972, and this day he still receives licensing fees.  At first the idea was ridiculed by store purchasing agents.  They said, “No one’s going to pull a suitcase on the end of a strap.”

You learn all sorts of things at Just Friends!  Oh, one more thing….as Elmer Fudd, aka Hal Smith, would say, “Shhhhhhhh, be vewy vewy quiet; I’m hunting wabbits, ehehehehehehe”  

Chris Forbes, Marketing Coordinator

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19. August 2010 by Just Friends.

Today is manicure & hand massage day, here at Just Friends!  Woo hoo, sign me up!!!  Every Thursday each participant gets a manicure & hand massage.   Their hands look and feel so nice afterwards!

We also are going to have a ”WILD FRONTIER PARTY!”    We’ve got our boots, cowboy hats, & bandanas on!   We have volunteers from Texas Roadhouse that will join us for the party - yee haw!!!   Our music entertainment for this afternoon will be Charles on the harmonica - just fitting for our western theme today!

So, stop on in partners and sit a spell!  Be sure to hitch your horse up out back and leave the city slicker in ya at the door! 

Chris Forbes, Marketing Coordinator

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18. August 2010 by Just Friends.

Happy Wednesday!  We have an exciting day planned at Just Friends.  Today we will be going to Keepsake Village for Karaoke!!!!    We take many trips during the month and this one is a favorite!   Here are a few quotes about this fun trip from our participants:  “I get up and sing and dance and I just like it all”, says Gayle.   Mildred shares, “I enjoy all the people over there, and getting to sing and dance with them all.”  Then when I ask Vicki what she thinks of the Karaoke trip, she says with a huge smile on her face, “I agree, I just enjoy it all!” 

Going on trips is another very important part of our program.   We get to see all the sites, enjoy eating at different restaurants, and visiting many different places.  One trip this summer was at Judy Goddard’s (nurse at Just Friends) home.  She served a wonderful lunch and then everyone was able to fish in her stocked pond!  What a treat on a nice summer’s day!   We have many wonderful trips coming up so check out our website at www.justfriendscolumbus.com to see the excitement to come!!!!

Chris Forbes, Marketing Coordinator  

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17. August 2010 by Just Friends.

Music, music, and more music!   We love all kinds of music at Just Friends!  We have so many wonderful volunteers that come in and share their musical talents.  

The Second Time Around Band, Charles, our very charming Harmonica player, Garry & Sam both individually come in to play their guitars, Judy & Mary, our beautiful piano players.  We also have the Line Dancers from the Senior Center visit, too!   Today we have Mary on the piano! 

Music is such an important part of our participants lives.  They love to sing along and get up and dance!  This is an activity that stimulates so much of each person as a whole.  It can stimulate them mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally!  You can’t go wrong with music in you life EVERY day! 

SING A SONG today or do a little JIG!!!! 

Chris Forbes, Marketing Coordinator

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11. August 2010 by Just Friends.

Quote of the Day:  “Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do.  Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.”  Alex Haley

Did You Know?  While serving in the Coast Guard during WWII, Alex Haley taught himself the craft of writing stories.  It is said that he was often paid by other sailors to write love letter to their girlfriends.   

Why all this about Alex Haley?  Because on this date back in 1921, Alex was born.  So, happy birthday to Alex Haley (1921-1992).  He was an African American writer and the Chief Journalist for the US Coast Guard before retiring to become a senior editor for Reader’s Digest.  He is best known for his book Roots:  The Saga of an American Family.

 All of this above information is from Activity Connection.com - The Daily Chronicles.    ActivityConnection.com is an online resource for Activity Professionals and everyday we have a short time that we share these facts with all our participants.    This is one of our “mental” stimulation activities.  It sparks conversation and definitely brings up memories from the past.  

Enjoy!

Chris Forbes, Marketing Coordinator  

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