Special New Year's Celebration

  Kendal residents are getting out their best clothes and jewelry (in some cases, tuxedos that still fit the men) for our gala New Year’s Eve celebration on Monday evening, December 31. The show will commence at 8 pm in the Gathering Room, followed by a champagne-and-caviar party in the Residents Lounge. Afterwards there will be a Sing-along in the Private Dining Room.

 Muriel Fox and Jo-Ann Rapaport, producers of the event, say the cast has been rehearsing for weeks, and the show will again be opened by the Kendal Singers directed by Bob Singleton. Gemma Maver will m.c. Other performers include Lois Seulowitz, Wally Cooper, Jeff O’Donnell, Adele Trupin, Anne White, Janet Carter, Bill Rakower, Norman Sissman, Don Eder, Doris Eder, Jane Hart,Suzanne Sadler, and Frank Neuwirth.

Once again we will count down with a gleaming globe, Times Square style, at Kendal’s midnight, which is 9 pm. Eugene DuBow will lower the ball.

Sally and Joe Costa chair the committee for our reception after the show. Residents are requested to bring snacks and/or donations to help cover the cost of refreshments and glittering decorations. Checks should be made out to KoH Residents Association and sent to Sally Costa in Cubby 2104; cash may be brought to the party.

At 10 pm the Sing-along of popular songs will be led by Bob Singleton, Deborah Wood and Katherine Sinclair.

Harriet Barnett is stage manager, assisted by Carol Lyons. Art Brady will handle audio for the show and Sheila Darnborough will be videographer. Other members of the Party Committee include Lin and Peter Bermas, Lynn Brady, Mary Lou and John Wells, Jane Kratovil, Betty Morefield, Barbara Rachlin, Jackie Wilke, and Gisa Indenbaum. Sommeliers for champagne and wine will be Gus Tahmin, Jack Miller, and Bill Schreiber.

New Trip

The Trips Committee never seems to take a vacation even at Christmas time.

Working at a non-vacation pace, they announced a new Wednesday, January 23 trip to The Guggenheim, New York for a showing of “Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future,” an unknown Swedish artist and woman (1862-1944), who was the first European to make completely abstract paintings years before male artists normally credited with inventing modernism; her bold and colorful paintings were rarely seen during her lifetime and for 20 years after her death because she thought she was ahead of her time; the catalog of this “extraordinary exhibition” was on the Dec. 14 front page of the New York Times Weekend Arts II as a Times critics’ pick for one of the best art books in 2018.

They also want you to know that there is a short wait list for the January 9 trip to the Frick Museum in NYC and available space on the January 16 trip to the Katonah Museum.

Sign-up for all trips is in the Trips Book located in the Activities Alcove.

2018 Lecture Series Concludes

Our 2018 lecture series concludes with a talk by Ambassador Robert Gosende who will speak Dec. 17 at 7:30 about his Quaker friend Prof. H. W. van der Merwe.

Dr. van der Merwe was the intermediary who brought the all-white South African Afrikaner Nationalist Government and the almost all-black African National Congress into direct contact with one another, first in London and then in Lusaka, Zambia.       

In the foreword to van der Merwe’s auto-biography, Peacemaking in South Africa – a Life in Conflict Resolution, Nelson Mandela wrote: “These memoirs tell the story of the gradual development of a Calvinist dissident to an anti-apartheid activist and a Quaker peacemaker whose religious commitment and academic insights enabled him to reach out to all sides of the conflict in South Africa.”

Ambassador Gosende served for 36 years in the Foreign Service, the U. S. Information Agency and the Department of State before joining the State University of New York in 1998. His overseas experience includes tours of duty as Cultural Affairs Officer in Libya, Somalia and Poland and as Minister- Counselor for Public Affairs in South Africa and in the Russian Federation. He received Presidential awards from George W. Bush and Bill Clinton for his service as USIA’s Director of African Affairs and as the president’s special envoy for Somalia.

Vision Help Program

The VISION HELP GROUP will hold a Program, “The Art of Not Seeing,” on Friday Dec. 28 at 3:00 pm in the Administrative Conference Room on the C Level.

 Open Forum – Everyone is welcome

Join us for a discussion about the new challenges that emerge when people discover their vision is diminishing without any future hope for improvement. Most important, hear their suggestions, methods, and strategies to help reduce the situations and things producing anxiety.

Questions? Contact Amelia Augustus

New Trip Scheduled

The ever hard-working Trips Committee announced a new excursion for Wednesday, January 16.

It will be to the Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah and will feature a Docent tour of “Outrageous Ornament: Extreme Jewelry in the 21st Century,” 50 bold and innovative works by internationally renowned artists that reimagine the traditional boundaries of body adornment. Curated by Jane Adlin, former curator of modern and contemporary design at the Met, the objects were created by both traditional jewelers and individuals in art, architecture, fashion and design in a variety of materials.

They also wish you to know that there is a short wait list for the January 9 trip to the Frick.

Sign-up for all trips is in the Trips Book in the Activities Alcove.

Fiber Arts Demonstration

How many of you know that Kendal has a vibrant and very productive Fiber Arts Group and program?

To educate residents on the subject and, perhaps, sign up some new weavers and rug hookers, the Group would like to invite you to a Tapestry Weaving demonstration by our own Barbara Bettigole.

This event will take place in the Crafts Room on the C-Level

Mark your calendars for Friday, Dec. 14, 2-4 pm.

Transportation Information

Ed Hanin, Chair of Kendal’s Resident Transportation Advisory Committee, announced that a new version of the Resident Transportation Information document is available now on the Residents Website by clicking on: https://www.kohresweb.org/transportation/ You can also find it in the wall rack in the wall rack in the Activities Alcove after Dec. 10.

It contains important scheduling information about transportation for doctor’s appointments, local shopping and other outings.

Questions? Speak to Ed directly.

Christmas Carol Sing-Along

Now that you’ve had time to get your vocal chords in shape it’s time to show fellow residents how good you are.

On Friday, Dec 14 at 5:00 pm in the Residents Lounge, Deb Wood will lead a Christmas Carol Sing-Along. Word sheets will be available.

As it happens, Friday is also wine and cheese night in the Lounge so you’ll be able to sip and chew while exhibiting your vocal ability. Join in and be part of the fun.

A Potpourri of Poets

In his third seminar, retired English teacher and poetry lover Jerry Tanklow will discuss poets representative of the epoch in which they wrote: Shakespeare, Donne, Marvel, Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, Dickinson, MacKay, and Oliver.

Sessions will be held on four Tuesdays: January 8, 15, 22 and 29, from 1:30-3:00 pm in the Residents Association Office.

Class is limited to 15, so sign-up ASAP is suggested. Sign-up will be in the white notebook in the Activities Alcove (opposite the Computer Room).

Upcoming Concerts

Never let it be said that Kendal residents are not entertained sufficiently. As it turns out, the resident community will be able to sample great music in the next two weeks.

On Monday, December 10 at 7:30 pm Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin return to Kendal. This married pair of composer/ lyricist/book writers are the brains and heart behind musical hits like “Mean Girls,” “Heathers,” “Legally Blonde,” “Bat Boy,” and “Cam Jansen”.

Nell and Larry have each won the Jonathan Larson Award and the Ed Kieban Award for music and lyrics. They have been nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards, and won London's Olivier Award for Best Musical for writing Legally Blonde. Her Mean Girls has been a smash hit on Broadway at the same time that his Heathers has been a smash hit on London's West End.

At 3 pm on Sun. Dec. 16 we will welcome once again, husband and wife contemporary folk music stars Pete and Maura Kennedy. Now in their 22nd year as recording artists, the Kennedys have traversed the highways and byways of the US and the UK as a pop/folk duo. Their original music is uplifting, encouraging, and empowering with an always positive message. Original folk songs as well as fun holiday songs are included.

Could you ask for anything more? Both concerts will be held in the Gathering Room