By Joni Johnson

Our clock in the Manor dining room is working again thanks to Don Blue.  This is his story.  The clock stopped working and was shunted to a side room and replaced with a little clock that was difficult to see.  Luckily, instead of throwing it out, Don was called in.  He replaced the battery and purchased a new movement from L.C. Antiques and had it working again.  Until it stopped a few days later.  With Don’s expertise, it was discovered that the little hand was touching the big hand on occasion and stopping the clock from functioning.  So Don made a few adjustments and the clock is back in its spot, telling us when we have to stop eating.

       The Manor Clock

How did Don become our Clock Repair Person?  These stories often start with some serendipitous event and this was no exception.  Don’s career was as a geologist in the petroleum business.  So his work had nothing to do with clocks.  However, in 1973, he bought a clock in Kenneybunk, Maine, that wasn’t working.  When he returned to Tustin, California, where he lived at the time, he started going to clock repair classes at the local adult school so that he could repair this clock.

    Don’s first clock

              He continued his clock repair education for five years, which included moving to Eagle Rock, California.  Then he started buying and trading clocks and at one point had over 30 clocks.  Some of these beauties still grace his house.  I counted 11, and I think there were a few more.  Many of them were brought back to life by Don’s expertise.  Luckily, with the exception of two clocks, none of them chime, so sanity is still intact in the Blue household.

When he came to RVM about twelve years ago, he teamed up with George Christiansen who had a beautiful little clock repair room on the fifth floor of the Manor.  Both he and George would even make house calls around campus to repair some of the clocks here at the Manor.  After George passed away, Don gave up his fifth floor spot to the computer people because it was almost as easy to work on clocks at his home.  And luckily for us, he still loves doing this. Now Don confines his horological work by replacing watch batteries for residents and making occasional house calls for bulky clocks.

This clock was originally made for the International Time Recording Company, which later became IBM.

This clock originally tolled class starts at the University of Utah Geology Department

She’s back — Sarah the K,  lightly edited by Bob Buddemeier

 Oct 10 – Spotlight on Who’s Who from the 60’s photos in the Manor lobby! Answer sheets will be available at the display. If you don’t recognize them now, see if you were any better in the past.  Then on Oct 14^th the display comes down and photos will be returned to inhouse mailboxes.

Oct 13, 20, 27 AND Nov 3, 10, 17 Thursty Thursday is happening! Assorted beverages, snacks and conversations will be available in the Manor lobby and Umpqua room from 4p – 6p! 2 great Locations to pick from 😊

Oct 19 – Come vote for the new cover of the resident directory! Residents have submitted their favorite campus photos, and the top 3, selected by the secret Karnatz Kommittee, will be on display on the lobby.

Oct 20  Campus wide opportunity Faire! This is going to be awesome! Promise! To quote the creators:

“From play reading to poker; from board and court games to painting, quilting and tango. It’s happening across campus – at the Manor, the Plaza, the Lake, Resident Gardens, and down on Quail point and the Annex. 80 groups are participating,

WIN gift certificates, flowers, and even a water filtration system. Learn how to write a condolence note at the YANA table, or talk to our newly formed Green Team, or visit

Roberta, who will be happy to show you the Manor’s Art collection on the 10th floor. Listen to a play reading or come dancing. We have fabulous grand prizes for people who visit the most locations and display tables.

We’ll have vehicles circling the campus – on a hop-on and hop-off arrangement. We’ll have snacks and even Champagne. Something new: The Deschutes room will be home to 12 nonprofits where our residents volunteer.

Come one, Come all and ENJOY our RESIDENT LED ACTIVITIES!! Opportunity Fair Passports coming soon!

Oct 25 – Oktoberfest! 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Live band (Rogue Suspects) in the Manor auditorium to boogie down to*. Summit and HRL Brewery will be in the lobby with plenty of assorted beers to try. Bring a friend, grab a snack, and have a dance before dinner.   [*boogie down to:  Compound intransitive verb form used in retirement communities, meaning “lock one wheel of your walker and shuffle in circles to the accompaniment of some specified music.”]

November 7 – 11 The Super famous RVM Annual Resident Scarecrow Contest will be happening! Last year was pretty amazing, let’s see what will show up this year! It’s not really a contest – although participants do get a Karnatz Prize! So start planning your creation to go on display in the Manor Lobby!  Remember to keep the boutique and haberdashery in mind for those special pieces!

November 11, Veterans Day ceremony begins at 1:00 pm in the Auditorium with Reverend Scott. Followed by a Meet the Veterans, to hear their stories sign ups required. More information to follow on this program!

November 15, RVM Craft Fair, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Manor Auditorium.  See the notice in the Arts and Info section of this issue, then come, look, admire, and buy!

by Bob Buddemeier

On the left of the figure below is the total take for the Employee Thank You fund at the end of the donation period –just shy of $570K.

That’s pretty good — but I had hoped it might be even better.  Any employee who makes it through 2022 will have survived Covid precautions (for self, colleagues, and residents), supply chain disruptions, and major staffing shortages that demanded more work and more flexibility.  I kind of figured that we might be more generous.  Part of that is altruistic, but part of it is enlightened self-interest.  We residents will be happier and better served the more good employees we can attract and retain.  And it is no secret that money plays an important role in both attraction and retention.

How generous are we and might we be?   Let’s assume that RVM has 900 residents.  I figure that 200 are in a physical or mental state that precludes them from worrying about things like this.  I suspect there might be another 100 who are on a tight budget and/or worried about their financial future.  Finally, let’s allow for another hundred that are just basic skinflints with a strong sense of entitlement.

That leaves 500 people who are solvent, somewhat aware, and fairly decent.  If each of them chipped in $100/month, we’d edge up to $600K. How could we boost that further?

Well, having asked the question, I do have a few suggestions to offer.

RVM offers a convenient option for contributing to the Thank-You fund by way of a monthly charge on your RVM statement– see Sheila Johnson in the business office to sign up (x7672),  Quite a few people use that, some write individual checks, and some use a combination.

For individual residents:

• If you use monthly payments, go see Sheila and sign up for 10% more.
• If you don’t, sign up for a monthly amount equal to at least 10% of your greatest past total donation.
• Paying this way makes the amount feel smaller, and insures against missing the payment for some reason.

For the Residents Council and RVM:

• We put a lot of begs in a very brief askit.  Instead of compressing the process into a couple of months of bad poetry, perhaps we could spend more effort in gradually building a foundation of ongoing giving by recruiting more people into the monthly donation via the service bill.
• A longer season would provide more time to make personal contacts with new residents, and to solicit larger donations.
• Inform the residents — what are the salary levels in the area that we are competing with, and what will it take to be and stay competitive?  I’m sure that a lot of us would rather voluntarily support leadership in staff recruiting than chasing wages from behind with mandatory fee increases.

So, how do we do that?  Surprise, surprise, I have some answers here, too.

• Stop pretending you can get it done in a couple of months, and make it an ongoing committee of two people with staggered 2-year terms. They can have a big push, but in the off-season they can concentrate on education and recruitment.
• More publicity for the program as a whole and especially for the monthly donation option. Include it in new resident orientation.  Occasional ads or notices in Bits & Pieces, hillTopics, and on Channel 900.  Talk to neighborhood meetings or resident groups and organizations.
• Set up a thermometer with a “number of sign-ups” goal. The total number of people (and total dollars) signed up for monthly payments should be compared year to year, since the total will drift downward if there is not continuous recruiting.
• On the MyRVM Meritgram page, post a notice that the user can also offer more tangible rewards to all of the employees – with directions on how to give, or to sign up.  AND, include the where and how-to information with all of the mentions.

Moral of the story:  figure out how to give so it doesn’t hurt – and then do it, and enlist others.

An info-editorial by Bob Buddemeier, based on input from Gini Armstrong

In the immortal words of Kermit the Frog, “It isn’t easy being green.”  Well, it just got easier at RVM –Gini Armstrong is organizing a Green Team.  According to Gini, the Team will have a two-pronged approach to making RVM a more environmentally friendly community.  One prong will be providing information and encouragement to support individual action and more constructive lifestyles; the other will be providing RVM and PRS management with encouragement, support and information to take appropriate action in day-to-day operations.

Gini points out that there are many opportunities for conservation in the areas of chemical, plastic, and water use.  With respect to energy, she uses the solar energy applications currently advocated by Jim Ellis as the kind of initiative that can be undertaken.  For more information or to participate, contact Gini in person or visit the Green Team table at the upcoming Opportunity Fair.

For those interested in living in ways that are (more) compatible with Nature, formation of a Green Team is a Big Deal.  Why?  Why does Kermit think it’s not easy?  Because it’s complicated.  The thing we call Nature is VERY complicated.  Plants and animals (all the way down to the insects and even further – fungi and bacteria), water, air, soil, all interact in many ways invisible to ordinary people.  And if we’re talking about complexity, people – individually or collectively – add another very knotty layer to the interaction.

The thing about having a positive effect on the natural processes of the environment we live in is that a series of steps is required.

• You have to decide what you want to affect – if you try to do everything, you are likely to accomplish nothing.
• You need to decide what you can affect – dedicating yourself to the impossible, or even the extremely difficult, is another good way to accomplish nothing of significance.
• You need to decide how to create the effect you aim for – system complexity means that there’s a lot to know and understand to avoid wasted or even counterproductive effort.

That’s a lot of decision making.  Realistically, it’s likely to be out of reach for any individual.  Enter the Team (Green, in this case).  More people, if they organize and cooperate, can collect more information, evaluate more opportunities, make better decisions (we hope), and by combined effort have more effect.

An example – the US Geological Survey estimated that in 2015, the United States used 322,000,000,000 gallons of water per day.  If you save a gallon per day (average household use is measured in hundreds of gallons), good for you, but it’s kind of a small dent in a large amount.  Persuade every resident to save a gallon, and that’s 1.000 gallons not used, which is beginning to look a little bit more like the great big number (which is now 322,999,999,000).  Persuade PRS and RVM to save some comparable fraction of the water consumed by Dining Services, Wellness, and Facilities, and you dial down the total some more.  Those accomplishments, or some fraction, become more achievable as you combine the efforts and influence of more people.  But you need to add one more bullet to the list above.

• You need to decide how you are going to measure your effect. No matter how well-considered you think your actions are, without knowing the before and after, you are flying blind in terms of maximizing the benefits to Nature (and the people who are part of Nature).

So Go, Team, Go!  Green, Green, Green!