Silver Memories Newsletter

June 2017 – Winter

Down Memory Lane You will recall over the past year that Silver Memories has been conducting research in Central Queensland with assistance from the Queensland Government and in collaboration with the University of Queensland. Observations during this research were conducted by Music Therapist Bianca Wilson and supervised by Dr. Libby Flynn from the University of Queensland’s School of Medicine who has also been involved in collation of data. The research project, titled Down Memory Lane, was highly specified and was designed using music therapy theory and research to target specifically, behaviours exhibited during sundowning. (The term sundowning relates to the period of the day which often finds people who are living with dementia in a distressed and sometimes aggressive state.)

The preliminary results from Dr. Flynn, who is also the Chair of Ethics for the Australian Music Therapy Association, are extremely encouraging. She summarised some of the data thus: “Results from the recent University of Queensland’s research on Silver Memories suggest that residents with dementia who listen to the ‘Down Memory Lane’ afternoon

programs, display a reduction in aggressive behaviours, self-harm, aimless wandering and general restlessness. Furthermore, the research is showing trends that suggest the more residents listen to Silver Memories ‘Down Memory Lane’, the better the results.” This is indeed encouraging for us all – residents, aged care staff, families and those preparing and presenting Silver Memories programs. To know that one’s efforts are making people happier and healthier through the use of appropriate music, is very gratifying and gives us all the opportunity to say thanks to the Silver Memories Team and the staff who ensure that our seniors in aged care have the comforting benefit of the music that they became familiar with during their early years.

Welcome to Silver Memories in new locations It is wonderful to welcome residents and staff at various aged care homes around the country which have recently had Silver Memories installed. These include in Victoria: Goodwin Aged Care in Donald and Wimmera Health Care Group in Horsham; in New South Wales: Ark Health Care Rockdale and Sylvania; and in Queensland: Ramsay Health Noosa Hospital and Salvation Army Cairns Aged Care in Chapel Hill, Brisbane. We are delighted you have joined the happy band of listeners and look forward to your participation in our programs.

New colouring section on website It seems that colouring images can be good for us all. It is a great means of relaxation, a good way to restore some inner calm and peace. Millions of stressed adults are indulging in this satisfying activity which has been likened to a form of meditation and which helps give the brain a rest. The Silver Memories website now has several dozens of images for colouring for residents. There’s enough to keep everyone going until Christmas! silvermemories.com.au

Third Thursday musicals coming up in winter

Your featured musicals occur every Third Thursday of the month at 2pm. Here’s the up and coming musicals: Carousel 15 June Brigadoon 20 July Show Boat 17 August

Something beautiful at the Silver Memories studios Growing peacefully along the side fence at the Silver Memories studios currently, is a spectacular Onion Vine. With its cascading bracts of lavender flowers, it really is a breathtaking site. It grows fairly quickly and is doing a brilliant job at hiding the very ordinary fence underneath. For any garden-based activities, there are lots of images on your website as well as a Garden Word Finder (in Quiz section) to keep the mind active.

Quiz answers (the Quiz is on Page 5) 1.Egypt 2.Satchmo 3.Plant 4.Bulgaria 5.Saskatchewan 6.Breeds of pig 7. Tennis player 8. Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev 9. a parliament of owls b) a scourge of mosquitoes c) a troop of monkeys d) a swarm of bees 10.Painter

CDs for you…if you’re quick The first two people to email silvermemories@4mbs.com.au and claim a prize will be sent a copy of either Reminiscence – Songs from the Golden Age featuring Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong and more or Jubilate – 500 years of Cathedral Music with St Paul’s Cathedral Choir and Aled Jones soloist with some beautiful favourites such as The Lord is My Shepherd, The Lord Bless You and Keep You and O for the Wings of a Dove. Be quick – they will go in a flash.

The Year was 1954 and it was long

before decimal currency came in. Audrey Hepburn won the Oscar for Best Actress in Roman Holiday and Roger Bannister ran the four-minute mile. Our No.1 golfer was Kel. Nagle.

The film White Christmas was bringing in the crowds.

If you were wearing these clothes, you were the height of fashion, although this did not apply to the men in the community. These stamps commemorate the

establishing of Mawson Station in the Australian Antarctic Territory. This was the year that ended rationing in the UK, nine years after WWII concluded. Nikita Kruschev was the leader of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union.

Rosemary Clooney was topping the Top 40 charts (she is George Clooney’s aunt) with Mambo Italiano. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip made their first visit to Australia.

The first kidney transplant took place in the USA. Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov and his wife defect to Australia in dramatic circumstances.

“I’ve done nothing that I can call exciting” “I was a barber. Since then I’ve been a singer.” These words of Perry Como give an insight into the quiet, modest man who entertained millions during his life and who started out cutting hair. His relaxed singing style was legendary and songs such as Catch a Falling Star, Because, Temptation, and ‘til the End of Time are perennial favourites of this mellow baritone with the laid-back approach. He was married once and that was for fifty-five years. He and his wife, Roselle Beline who was his childhood sweetheart, had three

children. Of his career he said, “For the amount of talent I had – I couldn’t dance, act or tell a joke – I enjoyed a tremendous career.” A true family man and good in business too – he owned a TV and film production company – he said “I’d perform with the world’s greatest artists on TV and then come home to the world’s greatest family.” A much-loved man renowned for his kindness, he was one of thirteen children and the seventh son of a seventh son which was considered to be good fortune in Italian families. In his career, from the 40s through to the late 70s, he sold well over fifty million records, had his own TV show and also appeared in several films. He won Emmy Awards for ‘the Most Outstanding Television Personality, and was presented with a Kennedy Centre Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Performing Arts. His legacy of good music is something we all have cause to be glad about.

Did you know? *Australia is the only continent with no active volcanoes. *A koala sleeps around eighteen hours a day. *A golf ball has 336 dimples on its surface. *Ostriches don’t bury their heads in the sand. *The Taj Mahal in India is made entirely of marble. *There are over 600 rooms in Buckingham Palace. *Christmas trees originated in Germany. *More people are killed by bees than snakes. *Earth is the only planet not named after a god. *The tea bag was invented in 1908. *Soccer is the most followed sport in the world. *A flea can jump 350 times its body length. *A human sheds a complete layer of skin every four weeks. *A giraffe can clean its ears with its tongue which is twenty-one inches or (fifty-three centimetres) long.

Australian inventions include…. The rotary clothes Hoist, spray-on skin, the polymer banknote, the stump-jump plough, the heart pacemaker, penicillin in medicine, cochlear implant (Bionic ear), the paper notepad, the electric drill, the motor mower, the baby car capsule, the Splayd, mechanical sheep-shearing shears, the refrigerator and of course…Vegemite

A brand new Silver Memories General Knowledge Quiz 1.In which country will you find the Pyramids of Giza? a) Peru b) Libya c) Sudan d) Egypt 2.What is the nickname of singer and trumpeter Louis Armstrong? a) Duke b) Charlie c) Satchmo 3.What is tansy? a) cat b) plant c) dog d) mosquito 4.Sofia is the capital of a) Bulgaria b) Hungary c) Belarus d) Latvia 5.Regina is the capital of which Canadian province? a) Ontario b) Saskatchewan c) Alberta

6.Gloucestershire Old Spot, Black Iberian and Mulefoot are what? a) Old species of British daisies b) Breeds of pig c) Types of toadstools 7.Margaret Court was a famous Australian a) tennis player b) squash player c) pianist 8.Complete the following dancers’ names. Margot …………… and Rudolph ……………. 9. What are the collective nouns for a) owls b) mosquitoes c) monkeys d) bees

10.Margaret Olley was a famous Australian a) parliamentarian b) painter c) inventor

For a simple and yummy cooking activity – Beryl’s Biscuits

Ingredients: ¼ lb (250 grams) butter ½ cup sugar 2 cups SR flour 1 large egg 1 tsp vanilla 1 tsp cinnamon

Method: Beat butter and sugar until creamy, add egg then vanilla and mix well. Sift in flour with cinnamon and mix well. Roll into balls and flatten slightly onto a greased baking tray. Flatten a little with a fork. Bake in moderate hot oven 170 C for 10 – 15 minutes. Wait until cool and remove from tray. Makes about three dozen biscuits. Enjoy with a nice cuppa. It’s possible to double the recipe – roll out flat and cut with a biscuit cutter or drinking glass or roll into balls as above.

Diane’s a strummer

Silver Memories announcer Diane Wagner has an interesting life. She plays the ukulele, much to her young grandson Wolfgang’s delight. “We are always strumming and singing along together but he insists that I sing loudly!” she said. “In fact, at Christmas time we had a family ‘band’ with ukuleles and guitar and voices. It was pretty ordinary but good fun.” She is often to be found with her kindle on which she reads copious numbers of murder mysteries. “The kindle makes it easier as it takes away the stress of reading a paper book with my arthritic hands.” Diane started out in accounting and completed her degree before deciding it was ”boring” and moved

Diane in the grounds of the Studios into Human Resource management. During this time she completed a post-graduate law degree, specialising in the areas of contract and industrial law and ended up leading HR management for Brisbane’s Anglican Boy’s Grammar School, known as Churchie. “I was even a member of their ukulele band for a while.” Although she has retired from this line of work, she is still attached to Churchie and works two days a week at their Oaklands Child Care Centre. “It’s great,” she said. “I work in reception and have the added bonus of playing with children as well.” A long-time lover of music, she was encouraged by a friend to come along to be trained in broadcasting at our Radio Summer School about eighteen months ago and has been planning and presenting Silver Memories programs ever since. At this stage though, we have not convinced her to do any live ukulele broadcasting! Thanks for your talents Diane.

Thought for the day

Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. Oscar Wilde

Silver Memories is a special nostalgia radio service developed by 4MBS Classic FM radio and is designed specifically to improve the wellbeing of residents in aged care. Silver Memories broadcasts music from the 1920s to the early 60s, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, includes birthday and cheerio calls, comedy spots, special daily features and has welcoming announcers. It assists in relaxation and triggers happy memories. There are no commercials or news bulletins and the service is transmitted across Australia via satellite. If you would like to receive the newsletter or would like further details, please contact Silver Memories by phone on 07 3847 1717, via the website www.silvermemories.com.au, or by email silvermemories@4mbs.com.au