colorful costumes, makeup and more: the chinese opera

May 2017Volume 24 Number 4

Residents, Associates, Families & Friends www.asburymethodistvillage.org

A NEWSPAPER FOR ASBURY METHODIST VILLAGE

Courageous Conversations Help Bridge Generations

By Jan Garman, Diamond

In the 1930’s, Lee Harvey’s fam-ily had to leave their native Ger-many as Hitler’s rise to power

put Jewish people in peril. In Hun-gary in the 1940’s, because young

Yuka Fujikura makes a point dur-ing a Courageous Conversation

Colorful Costumes, Makeup and More: The Chinese Opera Society Performs in Parker Hall

By Jeanne North

Ancient Chinese writings have it, that in the year

2697 BCE, then-Emperor Huanqdi sent a scholar named Ling Lun to the far reaches of the king-dom to cut bamboo pipes to be used to match the song of the immortal bird, whose call and appearance would symbolize the harmony of the reign of the new ruler.

From Encyclopedia Britannica we learn that archaeological digs have revealed clay flutes, stone chimes, bronze bells and, notably, turtle shells and ox bones with the word qu for “drum” carved on them — all sturdy materials that can withstand the ravages of time. All suggest the beginnings of music.

The Chinese Opera Society of the greater Washington area exists so members can share their love of music, and some two dozen of them gathered in Parker Hall last month to honor the ancient tradition of their homeland. At the invi-tation of Trott resident Grace Berg, a number of Asbury residents were in the audience as well.

Among the musicians accompanying the sing-ing and dancing of their compatriots were two string players, using instruments akin per-haps to either a zither or a lute; two others wielded brass cymbals and a gong, a third was

using what appeared to be clackers made perhaps

Photo: Hal Gaut

Opera singer, Sharon Che, performs as the elderly matriarch of the Yang family. She sings

of her country’s history and the loss of her hus-band and many of her sons in war.

Continued on page 13

It’s Official: We’re An ArboretumBy Pam Brown

Y ou can add Certified Arbo-retum to the list of super-latives that describe what

makes life so special here at Asbury Methodist Village.

On April 21, AMV received its official accreditation from Arb-Net, just three weeks after submitting our application. The word arboretum means a botanical collec-tion of trees. Sort of a tree museum... And with at least 30 identified spe-cies on our grounds, we have plenty to exhibit.

AMV is now the first and only retirement community in the state of Maryland to be officially certified as an arboretum. The idea to apply for certification came to executive director Rob Liebreich during an

inspirational stroll around our beau-tiful campus. And thanks to mem-bers of the Wildlife Habitat Team and the Buildings and Grounds PAC, who have spent years designating several

tree trails — including signage — for public enjoyment and educa-tion, we were well pre-pared for the certifica-tion process.

So, now that we’re official, why not take a

tour and explore what’s here? Peter Cascio, a member of both the Wild-life Habitat Team and Buildings and Grounds PAC, has mapped out your route. A short version of that tour follows on page 10. A more detailed route, along with a map identifying the trees by number, is available with your building concierge.

Enjoy!

Continued on page 10

The State of Gaithersburg: Diverse, Upbeat and

Forward-LookingBy Jan Garman

Each time I attend Gaith-ersburg’s State of the City and award presentations

in Asbury’s Rosborough Theater, I come away impressed by the city in which Asbury is located and inspired by the stories of the award winners. As AMV’s execu-tive director, Rob Liebreich, has told residents on more than one occasion, this city of 68,000 inhab-itants is one of the most diverse city in the US and deemed one of the best cities in which to live.

In his State of the City Address, Mayor Jud Ashman stressed that

Gaithersburg is a safe and wel-coming community in which various dialects “serenade our ears,” and in which serious crimes decreased 9% last year. He praised the “small town feel” of the city and talked about smart growth and improvements slated for Kent-lands, Crown and Olde Towne Gaithersburg. He cited examples of city employees and volunteers who go out of their way to serve residents’ needs. “No matter what goes on in other branches of gov-ernment,” Ashman stated, “we are

Continued on page 3

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2 May 2017 Village life

Better Balance, Strength and Flexibility: The Benefits of a Wellness Plan

By Cheryl Patterson

Dr. Crawford Brown, an AMV resident since 2013, is already

very active in the community, attending on-- and off-campus lectures. In 2016, he came to the wellness team with a list of goals to achieve for the year. Dr. Brown wanted to improve his confidence in walking around areas without rails and increase his upper body strength and flexibility — specifically his shoulder strength.

So he began twice per week, one-on-one workout regimens

with wellness professional Marcus Barnes. Workouts were focused on balance and upper and lower body strength and flexibility. In just six months, Dr. Brown improved his leg strength by 200%, his balance score by 175%, and doubled his flexibility score.

“I have a better sense of well-being, more endurance and confidence getting around the community, with less fear of falling,” says Dr. Brown. In addi-tion, he reports “a rekindled opportunity” with gardening, his favorite activity.

VILLAGELIFE

Asbury Methodist Village

201 Russell Avenue

Gaithersburg, MD 20877

General information: 301-330-3000

Website: www.asburymethodistvillage.org

Village Life brought to you in part by

Editor-in-Chief

Pam Brown

Neighborhood Coordinating

Editors

Anne Porter, Mund

Marilyn Gaut, Trott

Jan Garman, Diamond

TBD, Wallace

Joan Dunlop, Edwards-Fisher

TBD, Park View

Maria E. Roberts, Courtyard Homes

Marolyn Hatch, Villas

Resident Staff

Courtyard Homes: Peter Cascio

Diamond: Jan Garman,

Barbara and Tony Barnard

Edwards-Fisher: Joan Dunlop,

Dorothy Harris, Luella LeVee, Phil Sze

Mund: Anne Porter

and Bob Tedesco

Park View: Duane McKenna

Trott: Bettie Donley, Copy Editor;

Jeanne North, Hal Gaut, and

Becky Ratliff

Villas: Marolyn Hatch, Jean Hubbell,

Margaret Sugg, and Luann Mostello

Wallace: Patty King, Arthur Forrest,

Kathy Hirata and Phyllis W. Zeno

Design/Layout:

Mina Rempe @ Electronic Ink

Printing:

Chesapeake Publishing Corp..

“The mission of Village Life is to provide timely, interesting and entertaining news about the lives, concerns and activities of the peo-ple who reside, work and volunteer at Asbury Methodist Village.”

Health & WellnessPutting the Swing Back into Susannah’s Step

Asbury Methodist Village resident Susannah New-

man, 73, is no stranger to overcoming debili-tating joint problems. Even after two total hip replacements more than 27 years ago, when she was still in her 40s, she continued to enjoy an intensely physical life-style as a professional dancer, choreographer, university professor of dance and guest artist.

But when both of her old hip replacements were failing, Susannah turned last spring to Douglas Murphy, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Holy Cross Germantown Hospital, for help.

“My hips would make a lot of noise when I walked, like a machine grinding,” Susannah says, recalling years of deterioration she endured before her hip replacement last July.

It turned out that the grinding sound was due to a dangerous breakdown of her old hip replace-ments. According to Dr. Murphy, “Fragments had broken free and were eroding into the pelvic bone, and causing chronic inflammation.”

Although both hips needed to be replaced, Dr. Murphy began with the left, which was more severely damaged. The three-hour procedure required grafting to replace eroded bone, and Susannah had to spend

more than eight weeks in a full leg brace to allow the hip to stabilize so it wouldn’t dislocate.

“She was the role model of a posi-tive attitude in rehabilitation and recovery,” says Dr. Murphy, who also performed replacement surgery on her right hip in February, with excellent results and no leg brace needed afterward.

Susannah describes her expe-rience through planning, joint replacement and recovery from both operations as seamless. She is particularly grateful for the fact that her primary care physician, Yelena Melyakova, MD, at Holy Cross Health Partners at Asbury Methodist Village, was in communication throughout with Dr. Murphy in an effortless continuum of care.

After both surger-ies, Susannah received post-surgical care in the Wilson Health Care Cen-ter as well as assistance from Asbury Home Health Care. “I’ve also gone to Rehab 1st; and the gym in Rosborough,” she adds.

Susannah is still recov-ering from her second replacement—and says she is taking her rehabil-itation, literally, one step at a time.

“I know my body, and I have complete confi-dence in Dr. Murphy and my physical therapists at

Asbury. This isn’t my first rodeo,” she says. “I am going to keep doing what feels right, and I will get there.”

Attend a free “Joints: Repairs and Replacements” event at Holy Cross Germantown Hospital on Thurs-day, July 13, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Orthopedists Douglas Murphy, MD and Gabriel Petruccelli, MD, will be available to answer your questions. Call Holy Cross Health at 301-754-8800 to sign up for the event and to request transportation, which will be provided by Asbury Methodist Village, departing Rosborough at 5:45 p.m.

To learn more about Holy Cross Health Partners at Asbury Methodist Village, call ext. 5800 (non-residents may dial 301-557-2110) or visit Holy-CrossHealth.org/Asbury.

Susannah Newman displays a photo of herself during her days as a dancer.

Crawford Brown, left, pumps some iron with trainer Marcus Barnes.

Village life May 2017 3

co-authors of an epic story…all in the public good.”

Also impressive is the intercon-nectedness between Asbury and the city. This year’s Distinguished Citizen Award went to Oscar Alva-renga, who has collaborated with the Beloved Community Initiative (BCI) on several projects and spoken at the BCI Council. The Outstanding Organization Award for 2016 went to Asbury Methodist Village. Last year’s winner of the Distinguished Citizen Award was Yvette Monroe, wife of AMV transportation’s Ben Monroe. In 2010, the award went to Asbury resi-dents Marshall and Marilyn Groten-huis. In addition, several past awards have gone to either individuals or organizations that have ties to AMV and/or to the BCI.

Mayor Ashman called attention to Rob Liebreich’s presence at the

meeting and to the presence of AMV resident, Hal Garman, a former City of Gaithersburg Person of Character awardee. He also thanked AMV for once again hosting the State of the City event. In talking with former Mayor, Sidney Katz, it appears that AMV has been hosting the event for almost 15 years!

In closing, Mayor Ashman inserted a commercial for the Gaithersburg Book Festival on Saturday, May 20 on the Gaithersburg City Hall Grounds on Summit Avenue, not far from the AMV campus. Featured on C-SPAN 2 (Comcast channel 104), the festival runs from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Last year’s attendees (including me) can attest to it being a great event even in the pouring rain! There is food and music, and there are work-shops and book talks by nationally-known authors for adults, teens and children. In past years, AMV has run a shuttle bus to the festival. More information can be found at gaith-ersburgbookfestival.org.

GAITHERSBURGContinued from page 1

Asbury in the MixBy Marolyn Hatch

April 9 was a glorious day following a damp and chilly week of occasion-

al rain. The AMV chapter of the Montgomery County Interfaith Refugee Resettlement Neighbors program hosted 80 interfaith sup-port members and resettled indi-viduals mostly from Syria. One exception was a three-generation family of ten from Sudan, via 11 years in a Chad refugee camp.

We were an hour late starting, as “international time” is a float-ing target and half of our guests had not yet arrived at noon. But I knew they would not miss the 1:15 prayer, one of five each day. And, indeed, they arrived in time for it. Following prayer, we shared a buffet lunch donated generous-ly by Dining Services.

Energy levels picked up quickly, particularly among our youngest guests, some as young as 3. Asbury’s outdoor game area was the place that, all game rules aside, guests and hosts held friendly, lively competi-tions of horseshoes, shuffleboard and volleyball. Two thirds of the guests were American or green card holders and spoke English. But for the resettled guests called “new neighbors” (NN), here less than a year, conversations were a combina-tion of pantomime and simple Eng-lish and sometimes comical on all sides. Three translators were there

for the important information such as where the restrooms and water fountains were, but even they were challenged with the number of “home” dialects spoken within the group. I suppose it isn’t that much different than here. I recall once translating between a Bostonian and a Texan.

While the NN have faith-based support and host groups, the cur-rent xenophobic political atmo-sphere has added unexpected stress to their lives. All have family still surviving in Syria or a refugee camp somewhere else. The NN worry

about them. And they worry that their own limited English will pre-vent them from finding jobs that pay enough to support themselves as they transfer from the program assistance. Their flight costs, for example, were loans to be repaid, and they all, regardless of age, must secure a green card that can cost up to $300 a piece.

Fortunately, their host organiza-tions have been able to raise some funds and to find medical personnel who donate their time and resources. But for each step forward there can be one back. One family couldn’t

read the notice that began their family’s flight repayment plan and discarded it. Clearly the biller wasn’t impressed. Another didn’t understand the pay slip that he received after working just a cou-ple of hours at the end of his first month. Promised a sum for the whole month, he was shocked by the small amount that he had earned for his initial few hours…and quit, thinking he had been cheated. They feel there is so much to learn and appreciate any guidance that they receive.

Others, particularly those who served as military translators, are fluent in English and have skills that can be transferred to jobs here. Not jobs like the profession-al jobs that they held in Syria, but their hope is for their children. With strong family and commu-

nity support, these young people bring to America a work ethic, a desire to learn and most important-ly to be safe and free.

Sounds a lot like the characteris-tics that I sense were in my family’s immigrants and undoubtedly yours. I hope, like them, the NN are suc-cessful in continuing the role immi-grants have played in making Amer-ica a beacon in the world. That can start with such simple things as sharing a meal and kicking a ball on a beautiful day.

A woman and child explore Asbury’s shuffleboard courts.

Past City of Gaithersburg award winner Hal Garman takes a moment with AMV’s executive director Rob Liebreich.


By Hal Gaut

This month’s Heritage Bit serves two purposes. First and foremost, it is recog-

nition of what is thought to be Asbury’s longest tenured employee, Mrs. Dorothy Smith. A few weeks ago, during a dental appointment with Dr. Robert Wilson, Jr. (grandson of Dr. Herman Wilson), we got to chatting about the history of Asbury. (Ok, he did most of the “talking.” I just said “ah, oh, uh,” given that he was wandering around my mouth.) At any rate, Dr. Bob remembered a lady who, as he put it, “practically ran the kitchen in the Home.” He wasn’t sure of her name, but he thought she still lived in Gaithersburg and would try to recall before my next visit. A few weeks later, I ran into Wayne Cleaver, a long-time member of our security team, and asked him if he remembered who it might be. He certainly did, but wasn’t posi-tive about her full name. A couple days later, Wayne stopped me as I was walking to Hefner and gave me the rest of the story. She was Doro-thy Smith, but unfortunately she had

passed on. Since I couldn’t inter-view her, I did the next best thing; I searched archives in the Heritage lab and found several references to Mrs. Smith. We’re glad to share a couple of them taken directly from two newsletters of the era.

Asbury Village Apartments News-letter, v3-4, May 1982, PAGE 7

HOME HIGHLIGHTS. The April Tea was held on the 2nd. The tea was to honor Dorothy Smith for her 55 years of service at the Home. She

came to work at the newly opened Home on April 4, 1927 as a waitress. She became a cook, head cook, and finally became director of house-keeping in 1976.

She is now becoming a part-time worker at her request. She was given a ring as a token of appreciation for her years of service.

Chit-Chat September 1, 1989 34th Year, Vol.1, page 6

RESIDENTS OF ORIGINAL HOME. On July 29, 53 Home residents who

lived in the original Home, celebrat-ed five years of living in this build-ing [211] with a delicious dinner in the Social Hall. Irene Warthen gave the welcome. Maude Perry intro-duced Jennifer Murray, Matt Shoe-maker and Bill Bannon from dietary. Chaplain Tavenner led us in the Asbury blessing. Maude Perry read a history of Asbury Home. Dorothy Smith told of how she began work-ing at twelve years of age in the old Home, and then became a cook and later a housekeeper. She worked at Asbury 57 years.

Now having shared these interest-ing references, it should be enlight-ening to know how we found them. As you know from last month’s Her-itage Bits, we have an extensive col-lection of newsletters. Since the col-lection has been digitized, we just entered a simple search parameter of “Dorothy Smith.” In less than 5 minutes, over 850 newsletters had been searched and a long list of cita-tions, in context, appeared. Pretty much like Google. This is the easy way to dig into Asbury’s History.

BTW the magic number is 108.

Keese School

Lending Achievers a Hand

By Jeanne North

What resident doesn’t admire the way din-ing room servers carry

those trays loaded with 4 or 5, or 6 or more covered plates to tables of ravenous diners eager for their meals?

How many times has some-one expressed wonder about how that guy or that slim young woman (can’t call her a “girl” any more, though she looks like one) can hoist that weight with such apparent ease?

Carrying around heavy trays, keeping track of orders, placating customers upset when there’s no more peach cobbler, are just a few challenges facing servers, yet they do their jobs with a smile, before, in many cases, going home to do their school homework.

It is in appreciation of that ser-vice and to encourage continuing study, that the Keese School of Continuing Education offers edu-cation awards to selected servers.

Award money comes from funds donated by appreciative residents.

To qualify, servers must have worked six months before being nominated by their manager, sub-mit an application and an essay outlining their goals, have a face-to-face interview with committee members and must also be enrolled in a college or educational institu-tion (the award goes directly to

the school). On May 18,

at a ceremony at 3:00 pm in

Hefner Auditorium, Keese School Chair of the Education

Awards Committee, Bruce Kuehnle, will give out $1,500 awards to each of the 23 winning candidates: in so doing they will be lending a hand to these hard-working young people, helping them on their way toward further academic achievement.

All AMV residents are welcome to what is always an exuberant ceremony where they can join family and friends help cheer on the winners.

In the Gallery

The Rosborough Cultural Arts and Wellness Center is home to

an ever-changing gallery of arts and handiwork created by our residents. Stop

by and see what’s new. With 12 display cases to look at, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Here’s a sampling....

Natalie O’Reilly, Wallace, watercolor

Harold Garman, Diamond, photograph

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Asbury Campus Happenings

The month of May kicks off with Trekkie’s cel-ebrating Stars Wars Day

on the 4th (“May the Fourth Be with you...”) and closes with the unofficial start to summer on Memorial Day. In between, are a bevy of activities here on the AMV campus. A sampling is below and most are free. Check your bulletin boards and AVTV for more.

May 9Game Night, Rosborough The-ater, 7:30 p.m. Residents vs asso-ciates in trivia, Match Game and Neighborhood Feud.

May 12Celebration of Cultures, 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Rosborough Community Rooms. Here at Asbury, more than 70 cultures are represented by associates and residents. This is your chance to learn more about each country and sample food, music, dance and more.

May 18Strathmore Society at Asbury presents The Bumper Jacksons at 10:30 a.m. in the Rosborough Theater. Topic: The Rise of Tech-nology in Early American Coun-try Music.

May 18Village Jazz Band, Parker Hall, 7:30 p.m.

May 19Strathmore Society at Asbury presents singer-songwriter, Chris Urquiaga, Rosborough Theater, 7:30 p.m.

May 20Pritchard Music, Hefner Audi-torium, 7:30 p.m. Students per-form an after-dinner concert. The shuttle will be in operation for transportation that evening.

May 23Asian Heritage Night, sponsored by the Wilson Health Care Cen-

ter, Rosborough, 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

May 24Resnick Elementary Chorus, Rosborough, 10:30 a.m. More than 130 fourth and fifth grad-ers perform a spring concert.

Highlight for next month: Six Tibetan monks arrive on

campus on June 20. During their 5-day stay, they will be demon-strating the ritualistic creation — and destruction — of man-dalas made from colored sand.

News You Can Use

DON’T MISS THE

ICE CREAM SOCIALBy Jean Hubbell, Villas

Mark your calendar. The Asbury Guild’s annual Ice Cream

Social is right around the cor-ner on May 24. Enjoy an ice cream sundae and listen to the Asbury Diamonds in the Rough perform show tunes. Treats will be served from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm in the Hefner Auditorium.

While you’re there, the Guild invites you to visit the table displays showing all the ways the Guild is working here at Asbury. Even longtime resi-dents may not be aware of how many activities and opportuni-ties the Guild provides: The Bargain Mart, Gift Shop, Kind-ley Kart and Elves Day, to name a few.

Just Ask!By Hal Gaut

Food for thought: Did you know there is a waiters’ table at Crawford and Heffner once a month at 4:30? You need to sign up to reserve a spot — just ask where and when. The table

holds 8 to 10. You’ll meet and share a meal with associates, one or two servers and sometimes a staff person. You may order whatever is on the menu at no cost to you. But the interaction of the participants is the best part.

Act Your Age? Never!

In celebration of Older Americans Month, Asbury is spotlighting the contributions, energy and vibrancy of older adults in our society. Though our physical abilities may change, aging doesn’t

mean we stop being ourselves. We continue as before, enriched by our experiences. Because, really, what’s age got to do with it?

We invite you to enjoy – and share – some evidence of this we have compiled from the communities across our system.

Visit Asbury.org/ActYourAge or Facebook.com/AsburyMethodist-Village


Garfield Clarke, Crawford’s Executive ChefBy Marilyn Gaut

Garfield Clarke learned to cook at an early age from a mother who recognized the culinary talents of her son. Born in

Jamaica, Garfield came to the United States in 1990. He graduated from high school and hoped to pursue a career in accounting and was accept-ed at NYU. At the time, two of his sisters were in college and he didn’t want to incur an additional financial burden on his parents, so he joined the Navy. He signed up for two years, but ended up staying for eight. He liked working in the kitchen and seeing the world — all while serving his country.

Cooking at home and now attempting to bake were like comparing apples to oranges. He had not baked before and his first attempt was a disaster: flour was everywhere, cakes came out hard. But he studied and practiced and eventually won a Navy achievement medal for baking. There were other problems with baking on a flagship. How do you bake cakes when the waves make the ship’s ovens list up and down, up and down. You can’t serve lopsided cakes when hosting dinners. Garfield figured out a way to keep the ovens level. He received another medal.

Garfield was able to attend culinary school while still in the Navy. When he was stationed in Indianhead, MD, he drove every day to Stratford U. in Falls Church, VA, and then back at 10:00 p.m. He did his internship at the Hyatt Regency. His career has taken him to several places, including Indian Spring Country Club, Sodexo and Geico Insurance, where he cooked for several digni-taries including Warren Buffet. Next it was the Country Club at Woodmore in Mitchellville, MD. The hours were crazy with all the banquets and weddings and there wasn’t enough time with his family. He saw something about a position at Asbury and came for an interview. Looking around, he felt Asbury was the place for him. And as executive chef, Garfield’s accounting skills have now come full circle.

Garfield says his wife is his biggest critic and supporter. They are the proud parents of two girls (ages 12 and 9). “My family is everything and they motivate me to be better,” he says. Garfield’s favorite foods reflect his international experi-ence: Jamaican, Indonesian and Thai, to name a few. And, he’s been known to tweak a recipe to incorporate the best of many cuisines. “Dare to be different, instead of doing what everyone else is doing,” says Garfield. “This is the only way to stand out.”

Chef Garfield Clarke's Stew Fish

Ingredients

2 Lbs. of large fish (Snapper, Tilapia)

flour

salt & pepper

1 medium onion

1 each green, red, and yellow pepper (sliced )

2 tablespoon soy sauce

2 blades of scallion (sliced)

sprigs of thyme

1 tablespoon of butter

water or fish stock

oil for frying

2 tablespoons ketchup

Directions

1. Pat fish dry. Dredge in flour with salt and pepper.

2. In a deep pan, fry the fish lightly in oil.

3. Remove fish and in same pan, sauté seasoning and peppers in oil or but-ter, add soy sauce.

4. Slowly add flour to mixture and cook until brown.

5. Add water or fish stock to desired consistency, ketchup and salt and pepper to taste.

6. Return fish to pan and simmer for 15 minutes.

Chef Garfield Brown

Vivian’s Tour of Historic GaithersburgBy Rhoda MacKenzie

When Diamond building resident Vivian Otto, a member of the Travel Commit-tee, learned that our new executive

director Rob Liebreich wanted to foster more connections between Asbury Methodist Village and the community around us, she had an idea. She went to the mayor’s office and asked to talk to a tour guide. She was told they don’t have tour guides. Then Chris Berger appeared. He is the staff assistant to the Historical District Com-mission. He’s lead tours for school groups, but not for adults. He was willing to plan a tour for Asbury residents. Vivian set a date (April 24) and reserved an Asbury bus that would take 29 people. Soon, enough people signed up for a sec-ond tour (May 12). More people have expressed interest and a third tour will be scheduled.

Vivian was given a City of Gaithersburg docu-ment on historic preservation. She selected sev-

eral places she thought Asbury residents would like to see, and Chris Berger tailored the tour plan to fit the interests. She got copies of the historic preservation document for everyone on the tour. Chris rode with us on the bus to give background information. He arranged for others to speak at the Kentlands Arts Barn and the rail-road station’s Gaithersburg Community Museum. One of the stops was Bohrer Park at Summit Hall Farm, where we saw the oldest house in Gaith-ersburg with its log smokehouse.

One of the most interesting stops was at the Observatory, which is listed on the National Reg-istry of Historic Places and Gaithersburg’s sole National Landmark, designated in 1989. The inter-national Geodetic Association, based in Germany, did a 10-year study and in 1898 selected sites along the 38th North latitude to build observato-ries to study the movement (wobble) of the earth Vivian Otto poses next to The Gaithersburg

Latitude Observatory.Continued on page 11


By Dan Muller

Through the years, most recently spent here at Asbury, I have casually

observed women’s handbags. To be honest, I’ve never given them much thought, generally thinking of them as just an article of apparel much like shoes, dresses, slacks, jewelry, etc. Lately, however, I have noticed that most handbags have become rather large and bulky. They fre-quently require shoulder straps to accommodate their size and weight. Not only are they commodious on the inside, but they have several pockets and zippered compart-ments on the out-side. This leads to the question, what on earth are women car-rying around in those things?!

Now my analytical mind comes to play. Let’s see, we guys carry important things in our pants pockets – typically, some loose change, a few keys, a tissue or handkerchief and a wallet contain-ing essentials like currency, driver’s license, credit, insurance and bank

cards, and of course, the Asbury POS card. Some of us may carry a cell phone, and a pen, or a comb in a shirt pocket. That’s about it. Every-thing fits nicely in our various pock-ets with just a bulge or two here or

there.I understand that women typically do not have as many pockets in their clothing as we guys. But they, too, need to carry

the same essential items that we guys

carry in their vari-ous pockets.

Now the mys-tery comes into play. What else could women

possibly need to have with them that

require such large handbags?During the time that I have been

pondering this mystery, I have been too polite, too prudent, and to be perfectly honest, too scared to ask my women friends the question,

“What do you carry around in your handbag?” (I’d prefer not to be hit with one of those things.)

I finally worked up the cour-age to ask Ruth to share with me what she needs to have in her handbag. She gave me an extensive list of many items

she needs to carry on an almost daily basis, most of which are rather small. Then she added something I hadn’t thought of. She mentioned that in addition to her “stuff,” she also needed to save room for my “stuff”—things like sunglasses, a camera, extra tissues, my Kindle and other miscellaneous things which don’t fit into my pockets, but that I may need when we leave the house.

Have I solved the mystery?

It’s A Guy Thing

Are we related? The World of Coincidence

By Jean Hubbell

Irecently had a phone call from one of my neighbors, who began the conversation

with “I think we have a connec-tion,” and of course I wondered what it was. She had had a recent call from a neph-ew in Massachusetts, and as it turns out, that nephew is mar-ried to my niece. The niece is also a cousin from many generations back but her parents are my step-brother and -sister due to my mother-in-law’s second marriage to a gentleman whose first wife was a Hubbell. Now if you are really into genealogy — figure that one out.

Another coincidence was find-ing out our former head of main-tenance, Lenny Hines, is also a cousin via marriage. Soon after moving to Asbury I had occasion to see Lenny at his office and at

the conclusion of our meeting he mentioned that his wife is a Hubbell. That took me back, so I started doing research. The Hubbells have a family society

with published geneal-ogy books, and it turned out Lenny’s wife’s father was Law-rence Talbot Hubbell, a commercial artist

in Chicago. He also did the inside cover

designs for the first of the genealogy books

for the society.Just recently, I had a doctor’s

appointment and the nurse on duty casually commented, “I am a Hubbell too.” Unfortunately we did not have a chance to discuss the genealogy, but since all Hub-bells (by any of five spellings) are related, I guess the nurse is a cousin too. Truly it is a small world.

If you or your family members are on Facebook, we encourage you to ‘like’ our page and comment on our posts.

Why?

Keep up on community news and events!

The more Facebook fans we have, the more exposure Asbury will gain with people who are searching for a retirement community.

If you have questions or an idea for a post, please

contact Pam Brown at ext. 4009.

8 May 2017 Village life Village life May 2017 9

W hen fairy godmother Mary Waldron offers a group of campus kiddies a choice of bedtime stories, the girls are quick to choose the fairy tale about the princess kissing a frog and turning him into a prince, but the boy in the group votes for Tarzan. Mary meets the challenge in Once

Upon a Village by combining the two tales to the satisfaction of all. Con man Frank Molony and his pal, Frank Tietze, seize the opportunity to form

an Internet University to sell frog kisses to Asbury women with the prospect of turning the frogs into princes. But where can they find a group of frogs? In Asbury’s pond, of course. Frank Tietze is assigned the task of persuading the frogs to partici-pate while Molony rounds up the women.

While Tietze is recruiting, the frogs sell him the advantages of living in a free house, which is a tree house built by Jim Allison. Frank easily falls into the role of Tarzan, who moves into the tree house with his 102-year-old mother, Agatha Sigmond. All is well until Tarzan finds Jane, Luann Mostello, who is looking for her “inner princess” and a prince of her own. But her dreams don’t include living with Tarzan’s mother.

At the same time, Frank Molony is arrested by campus cops for perpetrating a “fraud,” not a “frog.” With his incredible charm, he opens a Kiss-a-Cop University and is back in business again, while Frank Tietze sends his mother to another tree house and moves into an Asbury villa with Jane.

Before the fairy tale ends happily, there is much merriment with 48 cast members singing 17 original songs written by Phyllis Zeno and directed by Bill Brown with piano accompaniment by Sylva McCulloh. More than 70 Asbury residents partici-

pated in this year’s show, which was produced in Rosbor-ough Theatre May 5, 6 and 7.

“Once Upon a Village” Delights an Audience of 900 During a Three-Day, Sell-Out Run


A Short Tour Of The Asbury Methodist Village Arboretum

By Peter Cascio

Start at the top of the path across the street from the Ros-

borough Cultural Arts & Wellness Center. See (1) Red Maple (Acer rubrum) and follow the path to a right turn and see a (2) Sweetbay Magnolia (Mag-nolia virginiana) on the right and (3) London Planetree (Platanus aceri-folia) on the left. At the next adjoining path see a (4) Willow Oak (Quer-cus phellos) on the right and (5) Yoshino Cherry (Prunus yedoensis) on the left.

The next labeled tree on the left is (6) Star Magnolia (Magnolia stellata). Left of the boardwalk to the gazebo is an (7) Ironwood (Carpinus caroliniana). Then, just prior to the fenced-in Pollination Plot, is a (8) River Birch (Betula nigra).

Inside the fence are three trees. First is a (9) Green Ash (Fraxi-nus pennsylvanica) way in the back. Following is an (10) Eastern

Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) and (11) Allegheny Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis). Past the plot, look to the right to spot two (12) Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda), while closer is (13) American Holly (Ilex opaca).

Around the corner will be three (14) Black Walnuts (Juglans nigra) on the left and (15) Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) on the right.

The final tree on the upper pond before turning toward the lower pond is (16) Pin Oak (Quercus palustris).

Make a U-turn around the Ser-viceberry and head toward the bridge. Look to the right for a (17) Silver Maple (Acer sacchari-num), and to the left for a (18) Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speci-osa) down along the creek.

Ahead is a (19) Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) on the right,

(20) Sweetgum (Liquidam-bar styraciflua) and (21) Redbud (Cercis canaden-sis) on the left. Next, you’ll pass two (22) Purpleleaf Plums (Prunus cerasifera) on the left. Around the corner and along the stretch north of the lower pond are two small (23) White Oaks (Quercus alba), one on each side of the path.

Next is (24) Common Hackberry (Celtis occi-dentalis) which is set back in the sand filter up the lit-tle path by the last house. Following the main path are a group of (25) Sugar Maples (Acer saccharum)

and on the left a group of (26) Black Locusts (Robinia pseudo-acacia). Next is a not native (27) Silktree (Albizia julibrissin), fol-lowed by an (28) American Syc-amore (Platanus occidentalis). From here we head back to the entrance path past (29) Pink Dog-wood (Cornus florida rubra) and (30) White Dogwood (Cornus florida).

Maria Roberts’ Presbyterian family had Jewish ancestors, the farm that had provided their livelihood was seized and they, too, had to leave their native country. Here in the U.S., Yuka Fujikura’s Japanese-American family was relocated to an intern-ment camp in the 1940’s as a result of President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. In the 1960’s, Annie Rhoades found herself caught in the desegregation of Montgomery County Public Schools when she was placed in a new school where the principal made it very clear that she did not want a “colored teacher.” And in the early 1980’s, Alice Wong’s teenaged daughter came out as a lesbian and Alice, fearing for her daughter’s safety, became involved in LGBT advocacy.

Lee, Maria, Yuka and Alice are AMV residents. Annie lives in nearby Derwood. All five women were the victims of prejudices that uproot-ed their lives and the lives of their families. Several suffered fractured friendships and endured having nasty epitaphs hurled at them.

What do these five women, who are now in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, have in common with today’s teen-agers who were not even alive in these bygone eras? Unfortunately, prejudices are still alive and well in today’s world, particularly if you are Muslim or Latino. The teen years are traumatic enough but more so if you live with the possibility of being forced to leave the U.S. or have to endure bullying and preju-dice.

Among the Beloved Community Initiative’s partners is the Interna-tional Cultural Council, located in Montgomery Village. Nouf Bazaz, who counsels Muslim teenagers as a part of ICC’s Crossroads Program, spoke to the BCI Council a couple of years ago about the spike in bul-lying that has occurred in the cur-rent political climate. She pointed out that about one in five of their Muslim students has been harassed or bullied for being a Muslim and about one in ten reports receiving unfair treatment from a teacher or school administrator.

“Students feel very alone, and they feel targeted,” says Nouf. From this and continuing conversations, the idea began to have seniors who had survived trying times talking with

teenagers who were living through similar experiences today.

Six such conversations, mostly at area high schools, have already occurred. Each time three or four of the seniors present their story and usually a Latino or Muslim from outside AMV is added. Then discus-sion questions are presented and the circle methodology is employed as the students grapple with their own experiences.

One Muslim student, who had been part of a Courageous Conver-sation last year, said she felt isolated and that “this is just happening to me, this is just happening to Mus-lims. All those other people are lucky. But when I heard those other people’s stories I thought to myself that it’s not just Muslims, it’s other cultures, too, that have been dis-criminated against.”

She recalled Yuka’s advice: “Don’t be bitter in life. You’ll go through a lot of things. People will try to break you. But you have to be posi-tive and you have to move on with a smile on your face.” Yuka was also featured in a piece which appeared on the PBS News Hour last year. The reporter was not allowed to record during the conversations to protect the participants’ privacy, but Yuka was interviewed later and other shots were taken that were used in a larger piece by PBS about the efforts of the Obama Adminis-tration to combat anti-Muslim senti-ment in the US.

In June, Courageous Conversa-tions will receive the 2017 Inter-generational Innovation Award from Generations United at their national meeting in Milwaukee. The local chapter of Generations United will be having a panel in which Nouf and BCI founder, Hal Garman, will participate at the National Press Club on May 16.

Thanks to a grant from Montgom-ery County, the BCI is producing a DVD about Courageous Conversa-tions. The purpose of the DVD is threefold. The BCI wants to pre-serve the participants’ stories. It will also provide a vehicle for hold-ing conversations when speakers are unavailable, and it can be used in advance by groups so they have an idea of what to expect. If there are other AMV residents interested in participating in Courageous Con-versations, get in touch with Hal Garman at x6436.

CONVERSATIONSContinued from page 1

Red Maple

Pink Dogwood


Mac and Zil

Activity at AsburyIt was raining buckets when I

left my apartment but, never fear. I had only to go through covered corridors to reach Trott and my ren-dezvous with Cecile Pease. (This unknown lady had advertised on AVTV that she would provide free instruction for anyone who need-ed help in learning how to use an iPhone. I had owned mine since Christmas and had badgered friends and family for help but still was in dire need of further instruction.)

I sat on the side of the Trott parlor near the piano to wait for Cecile and only then realized that Rob Lie-breich, Asbury’s executive director, and Debbi Short, his assistant, were in conversation nearby. When they greeted me, we got into a discus-sion about how things were going at Asbury, particularly the sugges-tion boxes that have been placed around the campus.

“We’re very pleased,” Rob shared, “with seven to ten suggestions each week.” I added my suggestion ver-

bally, calling for renovation of an overcrowded dining room in the Wilson Health Care Center. He said that, actually, planning for this is underway now.

Soon, Rob and Debbi left for an appointment in connection with the Open House events being held that day (despite the rain) for about 250 folk interested in living at Asbury. (Always with an eye on the weather, Rob had provided an umbrella for each person as he or she arrived.)

I turned my attention to Cecile who, as promised, taught me some of the basics of using my iPhone, focusing on Siri, the do-all assistant I needed so badly.

We had just about concluded our lesson, when P. J. Petkovic of Mar-keting came through, shepherding a group on campus for the Open House. It was good to see so much activity directed at Rob’s stated goal of 100 percent occupancy.

Edwin Nation AMV Maintenance DepartmentBy Maria Roberts

Edwin Nation, a mainstay of Asbury’s maintenance department, is responsible

for Park View, Courtyard Homes and the Administration Building. He is a mainstay in every sense of the word, having worked for Asbury since 1985. When he started, AMV con-sisted of the Administration Build-ing, Wilson Health Care Center, Trott, Edwards-Fisher and Mund, so he has witnessed a lot of new construc-tion. Initially, he mowed the grass, then moved to the painting depart-ment for 11 years, and has been in the maintenance area since 1998. Edwin’s brother Ronel also works in AMV’s maintenance department while another brother, Reden, works in the 405 kitchen. Two of his sisters worked here as nurses and nurse’s aides earlier in their careers.

Edwin comes from the Bicol region of the Philippines, a district consisting of the southeast peninsu-la of the main Luzon Island plus two island provinces. His family mem-bers were rice farmers, planting rotating varieties of the crop to pre-serve soil fertility. Edwin, the sixth of nine children, came to the United States in 1983 with four other family members. His siblings now include a variety of professions – lawyers, teachers and nurses.

Edwin’s first U.S. stop was Daven-port, Iowa, where his brother-in-law was serving in the military. There he was introduced to the enormous change in climate from his tropical island home. For a couple of years thereafter he worked at a nursing home in suburban Chicago, a city he

still calls his second home because of friendships formed there.

Edwin met his wife, Louisa, while she was working for the Montgom-ery Gazette. She went back to school and now serves as a Licensed Practi-cal Nurse at the National Lutheran Nursing Home. They have two boys: Noel Nicholas, born on Christmas Day, is a software engineer at the University of Maryland, and Edsel, who is in his third year at Virginia Tech. The family used to travel to the Philippines but now travels mostly around the U.S. Edwin likes music, “anything with a beat,” he says. He used to play a little basketball and now watches the Wizards faithfully. He also enjoys visits to his sister’s Thurmont, Maryland farm which features alpacas, llamas, goats and swans.

Thank you, Edwin, for maintaining our homes and doing so with such good humor!

Photo: Maria Roberts

Edwin Nation

along its axis. Gaithersburg was one of six sites chosen. A small wooden structure was built to house a tele-scope. The observatory was used until 1982, when satellites and sci-entific advances made it obsolete.

Near City Hall is the Wells/Robert-son House, built in 1885 for the co-founder of the Gaithersburg Milling and Manufacturing Company. Mary Wells Robertson, who owned the house for 62 years, sold it to the city. It now provides transitional housing for homeless men and women who

have undergone alcohol/drug treat-ment or received other professional counseling and want to break the cycle of homelessness. Nearby is the Gaithersburg Community Museum in the restored 1884 B&O Railroad Station complex.

After the first tour, several improvements were suggested for the future, such as a microphone on the bus and stops at some of the historic houses described in the document. But the consensus was that the tour was a success. Vivian’s idea was so well received that his-toric tours of our city may become a frequent and popular attraction!

TOURContinued from page 6


Welcome New Residents

Shirley Van Buren Edwards-Fisher 308, X5161Born in Punxsutawney, PA, Shirley Van

Buren may not be able to predict the end of winter, but she could celebrate on June 20, the one-year anniversary of making Edwards-Fisher her home. Her BS from Slippery Rock College (now uni-versity) and her MS in library science from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh prepared her for a bookkeeping post at Western Auto Supply, where she ultimate-ly headed the department. She went on as an Elementary Librarian in the Butler area school district for nearly 25 years.

In between she found time to create a happy marriage resulting in a son and two daughters. The family flourished, grow-ing to seven grandsons and two great

grandsons, which are Shirley’s pride and joy. She became active in teaching orga-nizations and devoted countless hours to her Methodist church. Shirley volun-teered with the swim team and was a regular attendee at the Penn State swim meets. She finds water walking a sooth-ing pastime – great for relaxation and exercise. Books are another source of enjoyment.

After becoming a widow, Shirley decided that her retirement living should be close to family and in a set-ting that would meet her needs and satisfy her variety of interests. Now her Edwards-Fisher family, friends and neighbors are happy she is a part of our congenial crowd.

— Joan Dunlop, Edwards-Fisher

Georgene Dunn and Melvin (Mel) Ketchel

Diamond 1015, x4962Georgene Dunn and Mel Ketchel were both

familiar with Asbury when they moved here last March from Montgomery Village. Both had participated in senior fitness classes at AMV, and Mel had played with Asbury’s table tennis team in the Maryland Senior Olympics during the summer of 2016. They bring a wealth of experiences to Asbury.

Georgene was born in Trenton, NJ, and lived in the Philadelphia area and Fair Lawn, NJ before moving to the DC area in 1960. She earned an undergraduate degree in English and history at Bucknell University, and did graduate work in secondary education at the University of Maryland. She taught both world history and English in Fair Lawn and in Baltimore, and did substitute teaching in Montgomery County. She is the mother of a son and two daughters, all of whom live in the DC area. She also has nine grandchildren and a great-granddaughter and a great-grandson.

Georgene has been an activist in establishing shelters for women who have suffered abuse

and played a key role in establishing the first such shelter in this area. She loves politics and history. Mel says that she has “extremely strong political views,” serving at one time as a precinct chair. She and Mel both describe themselves as “newsaholics” and avid Wash-ington Post readers. Georgene has enjoyed watercolor painting and is looking forward to resuming painting here at Asbury.

A native of Pontiac, MI, Mel served in Ger-many and Europe during World War II. He graduated from Olivet College in MI, earned a master’s degree from Case Western Reserve University and a doctorate in physiology from Harvard. He worked with Dr. Gregory Pinkus, the developer of oral contraceptives, at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biol-ogy in Shrewsbury, MA before becoming a professor at Tufts Medical School in Boston. There he conducted research in reproductive physiology and tissue transplantation. He then became the first director of the new Popula-tion Research Institute in Oak Ridge, TN. From there, he traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, work-ing in the human reproductive unit of the World Health Organization. In 1981 he joined the National Institutes of Health, retiring in 1995, but continuing to work part-time.

Mel walks and swims. He has won 15 State Senior Olympic gold medals in table tennis and has qualified to go to the National Senior Olym-pics in Birmingham, AL. He is the father of two sons who live in Florida, and a daughter who lives in Montana. Asbury is happy to welcome this active couple to its community.

— Jan Garman, Diamond

“Do All The Good You Can. And They Did.”

On a recent Sunday after-noon I pressed my SARA button. The team and I

decided I needed to go to Shady Grove Hospital’s emergency room. All I took with me in the ambu-lance were my insurance cards and ID. Seven hours later, a nurse said: “Your paperwork is in order and you are free to go. Do you

want me to call someone?” It was 11 p.m., dark and windy. I had no one to call, no money for taxi fare, no door key, no walker, so I told the nurse to call Asbury.

She returned and said: “They have called a Barwood cab for you. Be sure to stop at the gate.” When we reached the gate house, we were told security would meet

us at my building entrance. They pulled up behind us at the door. Security officer Michael English got out of the car, greeted me by name and told me he would get a wheelchair for me. I signed a cabbie’s trip sheet for $20. We thanked him and came up to my apartment. Mike let us in and rolled me into the living room

right next to my walker. He asked if he could hang up my jacket before he left.

Asbury has a contract with Bar-wood taxi company. The cost will be on my monthly bill.

I love it when a plan comes together.

— Mary Lou Luff, Diamond


Resident Residence(s) Date of Death

Mrs. Arlean Campbell Villas 3-31-17Mrs. Can Le WHCC 4-2-17Mr. John Gill CYH, WHCC 4-7-17Mr. Robert Scheno Mund 4-10-17Mr. David Duncan Wallace 4-10-17Mrs. Dean Lake WHCC 4-13-17Mrs. Mary Jane VonMoss Mund 4/17/17Mrs. Elizabeth D. McCrackin E-F, KAL, WHCC 4/18/17Mrs. Phyllis Cleveland Diamond, Kindley 4/19/17Mrs. Elizabeth Yeide Edwards-Fisher, Kindley 4/19/17Mrs. Gladys H. Sillcox E-F, KAL 4/20/17

In Memoriamof wood, and a sixth adeptly kept time with drumsticks. Clearly, the ancient tradition of using instru-ments made of natural materials continues abroad.

While the orchestra was warming up, announcer Leepo Yu, welcomed guests and Opera Society members greeted each other. Grace circulated in the hall, informally making every-one comfortable. Guests had been reassured they could come and go as they pleased. Meanwhile, behind a screen a performer applied make-up and adjusted her costume. Pro-grams were distributed, telling the story of the events to be performed.

Yes, like Western musical theater, Chinese opera tells a story. One epi-sode, “Revenge of a Fisherman,” sung by Rong Zhang Kie (who in real life is 86 years old) tells of a fisherman victimized by a gangster, whom the fisherman then overcomes. In another episode, Salmon Lit por-trays “Long Song Boo on Patrol,” in

which a young warrior gives a pep talk to his soldiers. Sharon Che sings the role of an elderly matriarch still defending her country in “Lady War-riors of the Yang Family, Matriarch on Patrol.” She refuses to follow the command of the Emperor to take command of the army, citing unfair treatment.

Listening to Chinese opera pres-ents a challenge on many fronts. For one thing, I don’t understand the language. Obviously, from the cries of approval from the audience dur-ing the show, some understood the story better than I did. For another, the music is different from what I’m used to. Without getting into the details of variable pitches within the basic pentatonic scale (Gong, Shang, Jue, Zhi, and Yu, in Chinese), the chords just don’t sound like our Western ones.

But differences aside, there’s untold gold to be mined in Chinese opera: Look at the colors and watch the story and hear the rhythm and depths of history. You can mine a treasury of understanding and appreciation of the world’s people.

OPERAContinued from page 1


Nancy Salamandra Diamond 1001, x5596

Nancy Salamandra, who moved to Asbury in March 2017, characterizes herself as a person “who likes to keep busy.” Born in Philadel-phia, she lived in Annville, PA, and attended Lebanon Valley College until she left to marry her husband. This was during the Korean War and having completed college and ROTC, he was drafted and stationed at Fort Benning, GA. After he left the service, they moved back to Annville, where her husband worked on a graduate degree. He went on to a career in the health division of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, which took the family to homes in Overland Park, KS, Schenectady, NY and finally to Potomac, MD.

During these years, Nancy was raising two sons, who now live in Texas and Oklahoma, and a daughter, who lives in Potomac. Her family now includes five grandsons and two granddaughters and three great-grandchildren.

In addition to raising her family, Nancy volun-teered in her churches, sang in the choir, did hospital work and volunteered in libraries. For twenty years, she was the secretary to the Director of Heart, Lungs and Blood at the National Institutes of Health.

Nancy loves to cook, bake, play cards, sing and play the piano. She also loves being out-doors, especially spending time at the beach. She and her husband enjoyed visiting his aunt and uncle who lived in Rome and traveling with them throughout all of Italy and Swit-zerland. She also enjoys visiting her sons in their western homes, and it was during her last visit, that her daughter, Karen, sold Nancy’s Potomac home and furnished her beautiful Asbury apartment. At the end of her western sojourn, Nancy came directly from the airport to her new home. Nancy was familiar with Asbury because of friends from Faith Church who live here. Welcome!

— Jan Garman, Diamond

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Greta Dahlman Mund 808 , X4795

Greta moved to Asbury from Fairfax, VA, wanting to be a little closer to two of her sons, who live on this side of the river. She and her husband had lived in Fairfax since they were mar-ried in 1962, so it was a big move.

Greta was born in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada, which is situated on the Pacific coast, so after Pearl Harbor the family moved inland to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan for three years and then to Saskatoon.

Greta attended the University of Saskatchewan, graduating in 1952, and took one year of training in psychiatric nursing. After working as a psychiatric nurse for one year, she went to Robert-son Secretarial School in Saskatoon. Having completed that course, she applied and was accepted to the Cana-dian Dept. of External Affairs (Similar to the U.S. Foreign Service) in Decem-ber 1954. Her first posting was to the Cana-dian Embassy in Oslo, Norway, where she served for three and a half years. Because her

family had come from Norway, she was able to locate all of her relatives and learn more about her heritage, using the dialect she was raised with and the Norwegian she learned at

the University of Saskatchewan.Her second assignment was to the

Canadian Embassy in the United States in 1960, and it was here that she met her future husband at a Lutheran church in D.C. When they were mar-ried, in October, 1962, she was obliged to resign from external affairs, but her security clearance allowed her to continue to work with the Canadian Military.

The couple settled in Fairfax and Greta became a homemaker and mother. She has a working knowledge of five languages: English, French, Nor-wegian, German and Latin and when her children were young she taught French in the FLES program. In later years, Greta volunteered at her Luther-an church and served as President of the Church Women for two years.

Greta enjoys counted cross-stitch, knitting, and sewing. She has three sons: John, Mark and Carl. Two of them live in Maryland and one in Ohio, where

he is a professor at M≠University in Oxford.

— Anne Porter, Mund

Photo: Bob Tedesco

O. Thomas (Tom) Miles Wallace 318, X6921

Tom Miles, a Baltimorean who gradu-ated from Baltimore City College (high school), ventured to New Concord, OH, to attend Muskingum University. In addi-tion to Tom, another of Muskingum’s dis-tinguished students was astronaut John Glenn.

Tom was drafted into the U.S. army in February 1943 at the end of his first college semester during World War II. He served in the Medical Administrative Corps (now known as the Medical Ser-vice Corps) in Britain and Europe for three and a half years. He served as a con-voy commander in Normandy and north-ern France on the “Red Ball Express.” He also served as the administrative officer of the 16th Station Hospital at Du Marier cha-teau near Ste. Cheron outside Paris and had assignments in Wiesbaden, Hamburg, and several other locations in Germany. His major assignment was medical administrative officer at the U.S. prisoner-of-war camp near Remagen and the famous Ludendorff bridge across the Rhine River. Over 100,000 male and female prisoners—including members of the infamous SS corps-- occupied the camp.

Tom’s education continued at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he earned a Mas-ter of Divinity degree in 1951 and at San Fran-cisco Theological Seminary, where he received

a Doctor of Ministry degree. He has lived a full, successful and rewarding life.

He was a full-time pastor at the First Presby-terian Church in Levittown, NY; Takoma Park Presbyterian Church in Maryland; and Central Presbyterian Church in Buffalo, NY. He then worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Washington, D.C., where he directed HUD’s housing coun-seling program aimed at assisting low-income homeowners avoid foreclosure of their FHA/HUD mortgages. He ended his career as pro-

gram advisor. For 38 years he lived in Silver Spring, MD. He enjoyed playing tennis, golf, bowling, reading and writ-ing. Three of his books were published: Dialogues with God, Crisis and Creed, and To Live and Die by Faith in the 21st Century.

Tom was also interim pastor for 15 Presbyterian churches in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia over a 15-year period. He has traveled in Great Britain, most of Europe, Egypt, Mexico, Ecuador, Canada and Israel. He has been associated with the Potomac Presbyterian Church for over 25 years where he served as interim pastor on two occasions.

Tom has two daughters: Sally, an artist and speech pathologist in private prac-tice in Madison, WI, and Kathleen, an artist and legal-publications specialist in New York City.

Tom moved to Asbury on November 2, 2016. He chose Asbury for several reasons:

location, recommendations of friends who reside at Asbury, accommodations, acceptance of his German Shephard (recently deceased), programs and financial arrangements. On the day of this interview, Tom celebrated his 94th birthday.

Tom’s loving friend and companion of over 25 years, Grace Sheppard of Poolesville, MD, is a recently-retired elementary school teacher.

— Kathy Hirata, Wallace

Photo: Arthur Forrest



Liz and Ralph Hofmeister

Courtyard 302, X 6313In the proper Quaker tradition,

Liz and Ralph Hofmeister had the simplest wedding ceremony you can imagine. At the Sandy Spring Quaker Meeting House in the midst of friends and family, they rose to simply state their intent to take each other as husband and wife — no minister presiding. In great contrast, their marriage certificate is the fanciest you can imagine. It is detailed in calligra-phy and was signed by everyone in attendance at the ceremony. The road each took to that occasion was quite circuitous.

Liz was born in Oneonta, NY, and spent much of her childhood in northeastern Pennsylvania. She earned her undergraduate degree in international relations from American University and masters in journalism from Ohio State. Returning to DC, she became an editor/reporter for several special-ty newsletters published by the Bureau of National Affairs (later a subsidiary of Bloomberg News), focusing on labor and employee relations. Retiring after 23 years, she then edited the newsletter of

the Friends Committee on Nation-al Legislation, the oldest religious lobby group on Capitol Hill.

Liz and Ralph met at a Quaker Friends Meeting. Liz served on the board of CASA, a Silver Spring immigrant advocacy organization. She is now involved with Action in Montgomery, focusing on afford-able housing and after-school pro-grams for children of low-income families. A Master Gardener, she has an Asbury garden plot where she has transplanted rhubarb from her and Ralph’s former home in

Bethesda. She enjoys her morning walks around the ponds and looks forward to participating in AMV’s many activities.

Ralph was born in Quincy, IL, to a farming family and until eighth grade his education took place in the same one-room schoolhouse his father had attended. After begin-ning at a technical college, Ralph graduated from Northwestern University with a science degree despite a philosophy major. Ini-tially inclined towards the minis-try, he entered Princeton Seminary

but discovered it was not for him. Graduate studies at MIT followed, interrupted by a year helping his father and brothers on their Illi-nois farm. He completed his Ph.D. in economics with the help of a job in the Department of Mechani-cal Engineering and a fellowship in the Department of Economics.

Ralph taught economics at the University of Minnesota and was an exchange professor in Bogotá, Colombia. A job with the World Bank followed which included extensive trips to Pakistan. After retiring from the Bank, he became a private investor.

In recent years, the Hofmeisters enjoyed overseas travel, visiting Antarctica, China, Russia, South and Central America, Easter Island and the Galapagos. Ralph has four grown children with his first wife. Before moving to AMV he enjoyed working in his extensive wood and metal workshop and keeping the couple’s old cars in good repair. He recently retired from the board of Friendly Gardens, a Quaker-spon-sored affordable housing project in Silver Spring. Now he is working diligently on water and land-based exercise with AMV’s caring fitness staff.

— Maria Roberts, Courtyard Homes

Photo: Maria Roberts

Jane and Leon Satkowski

Wallace 410, x6699 You have to admit that we welcome

some of the finest people to Asbury. Jane and Leon Satkowski are a delightful addi-tion. With their daughter’s encouragement and research, they left the bitter cold of Minneapolis and came to Asbury sight unseen. Here they enjoy the warmth and friendliness of everyone, the company of friends and colleagues in the area and the nearness of their daughter.

Their journey began in Florence, Italy where they lived for 15 years. They met at Villa I Tatti, Harvard’s Center for Ital-ian Renaissance studies where Jane was a member of the staff. Educated at Cor-nell and Harvard, Leon was a professor in the schools of architecture at Syracuse and the University of Minnesota, where he taught for nearly 30 years. Jane’s field of study was early medieval Sienese art, and she obtained her doctoral degree at the University of Siena. Her earlier degree was obtained at C.W. Post College in NY. Over the years, numerous research trips to Florence

and Venice allowed them to further explore Renaissance art and urbanism, and to appreci-ate its culture, food, and wine. They are conver-

sant in Italian, French, and German, which they used for their work and on many Christmas trips to Europe.

Jane is an art historian, specializing in late Gothic and early Renaissance paint-ing in Italy. She worked at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in the department of paint-ings, and most recently as research cura-tor. It would seem that their careers dove-tailed nicely. Jane has published exten-sively in scholarly journals and exhibition catalogs and was curator of several large exhibitions.

At the end of this interview Jane went back to reading The Iliad. In Greek. In Ancient Greek. Don’t we all? Leon is com-pleting his portion of a new guide and history of Minnesota architecture, which might be “Greek “ to some of us. For this project they have traveled extensively throughout the state of Minnesota. Jane has taught a four-session course in the Keese School dealing with Renaissance painting in Florence.

We look forward to having them as part of Asbury, and perhaps Leon will honor us

with a presentation in the Keese school.— Arthur Forrest, Wallace

Photo: Arthur Forrest

Leon Satkowski. Jane Satkowski not pictured.


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