By Joni Johnson

We have been hearing a lot about contact tracing at the Manor as it relates to Covid. And it has become increasingly important during the most recent outbreak. Rumor has it that this started at a local community event showing a film on the environment. The event occurred on Sunday April 3, 2022. The first person showed symptoms on April 6, but it wasn’t until Friday, April 8, that the Manor was fully informed, and it was at that point that we were told to start wearing masks and just a few hours later, to cut down on group activities.

Unfortunately, Stan’s Friday report did not mention this because it was filmed the day before. I heard from friends early on Friday that some people were reporting symptoms. By mid-morning, I was up at the Manor and saw a friend leaving with a mask on just as I was arriving. UH OH. Yep. Masks were back in.

Since then, there has been a lot of discussion about residents’ safety and our lack of knowledge of who was infected and how we should go about our daily lives. Understanding RVM’s inability to report names, people were nevertheless frustrated that we were being given so little information. We wanted to know where it happened. How it happened. Why it happened. We wanted as much information as possible to protect ourselves!

Luckily, I did hear, again through the grapevine, that RVM had been doing an extraordinary job in contract tracing, and so people who needed to know that they might be infected were being told. However, the contact-tracing program was a mystery for most of us. Luckily, I was able to speak with Melissa Preston about how contact tracing works and how it worked specifically with the latest outbreak here at the Manor. She described the tracing somewhat like a game of Clue. They start with an event and then go from one event to the next to figure out who might have been exposed. They start searching from 48 hours before the first signs of symptoms.

Believe it or not, as of my writing this article, there have been 19 positive cases from that one event. That is the largest outbreak we have had here at the Manor since the Pandemic started in early 2020. The contact tracing has been done primarily by Melissa and Aaron Williams, our Campus Infection Prevention Nurse. Those cases led to 54 calls to let people know that they may have been infected. Of course, before any of our infected residents got sick, most of them had participated in other events. Those events were primarily dinner with friends, Joyful Voices rehearsal, and a private group that had met before symptoms appeared.

One important fact is that most of the people at the initial event were not masked.  Most were vaccinated and boosted and there was an enormous relief that the covid restrictions had been relaxed.  So people had let down their guard.  This is even more proof that wearing a mask in larger groups is extremely beneficial.  If you go to the theatre, wear a mask.  We are not out of the woods yet!

Aaron Williams- Our Heroic Community Infection Preventionist

If you were lucky, you read about him in the December issue of Hill Topics (See link below- p 11).   If you were unlucky, you got a call from him because you had been exposed to Covid.  Is he new?  No!  Aaron Williams has been a nurse in a variety of positions here at the Manor for 19 years.  He worked first at the Clinic, then the Health Center in a variety of positions, and finally as the Community Infection Preventionist. Along with Melissa Preston, he does all the contact tracing here for both residents and staff.  He keeps in touch with the State and the County and keeps everyone apprised of the latest developments.  He provides testing for those who show symptoms.  He keeps us safe!

https://files.mwapp.net/FILES/126032218.pdf

As soon as someone became symptomatic and reported this to RVM, they were contacted by either Melissa or Aaron and asked a variety of questions including where they thought they might have been infected and with whom they had been since that activity. They were asked for permission to use their names in contacting people. Then calls were made to anyone who might have been with the symptomatic person or their spouse. RVM offers antigen testing for anyone who feels they might be infected. If they are showing symptoms, and they live in the cottages, they can drive to the Manor and be tested right in the car, rather than coming in. And, if necessary, someone will go to the house to do the testing.

The CDC guidelines state that if you were in a one of the infected groups, and you were vaccinated and boosted, then wearing a mask should be sufficient. If you have not been vaccinated and boosted, you should quarantine yourself for 5 days. If you show symptoms, regardless of your vaccination status, then you should immediately quarantine, test again on the 5th day, and if you test negative, then stay masked until day 10. We were lucky that although this variant was very contagious, there were no serious cases that required hospitalization.

Obviously, the most important thing for any resident to do is to contact RVM immediately after you are symptomatic. The Flu Hotline is #7665. Either Melissa or Aaron will call you back to get more information and help you decide on your next step.

I was very impressed with RVM’s contact tracing. Everyone I know who was in a group that had been potentially infected was, in fact, called. Which meant that if no one called you, you were relatively safe. RVM’s strength lies in the their knowledge of who is infected. They can’t help us if they don’t know. So as a community, the most important thing is to let RVM know your situation if you feel you might be sick. That is how we can protect each other. The more information Aaron and Melissa have, the safer we will be.

by Bob Buddemeier

Of what, by whom, why —???  If you have been watching Channel 900, you have probably seen the creative work of RVM’s *ALL**STAR* theatrical team of Eric Poppick and Jane Harris, produced by impresario Sarah Karnatz.  And if you haven’t, here is your Big Chance: CLICK HERE.  And if you recalcitrantly refuse to avail yourself of this highly informative and entertaining opportunity – here’s the spoiler.

Jane and Eric celebrate the salvation of RVM

It’s about Emergency Preparedness, which is something you need to do to save your posterior and other valued anatomical parts from the next wildfire, storm, pandemic, or (gasp, shudder) subduction zone earthquake.  It’s also about the Residents Preparedness Group, an intrepid band of dedicated volunteers who have accepted the very considerable challenge of convincing—and helping – you to GET PREPARED.

And the reason is that, over time, people become forgetful, complacent, and disorganized.  Don’t deny it.  So the RPG, in collusion with RVM, has instituted a semiannual cycle of reminder events, Spring and Fall.  The recently Spring event (to view the tasteful and stimulating miniposters, CLICK HERE), included an outreach effort in which our RPG Neighborhood and Floor Coordinators sought out every locatable resident.  Objective:  to distribute a handout explaining the RVM emergency communication channels, and the roles of RPG.  If you have already misplaced your locally personalized copy you can still obtain the generic version (CLICK HERE).

Another limited but more intensive activity involved selected Cottage Area and Tower Floor Coordinators fanning out in a simulated power outage exercise to practice assessment and radio communication skills.

In addition to these efforts that put volunteers in yellow-green vests onto the streets and hallways, two semi-coincidental developments have greatly expanded the Preparedness information available to residents. Under the direction of Dan Curtis (RPG Communication Lead), the RPG entry on the Resident Groups and Activities page of MyRVM has had a major expansion.  You can use it to identify your RPG Coordinator, or find contact information for any of the RPG volunteers.  There is also basic information about RPG, and about the training programs.  Dan says that the site is usable now, but that development and refinement are still in progress.

Finally, Preparedness continues to get easier.  The first installment of the in-development RPG Manual has been posted (CLICK HERE), with instruction sheets for Food, Water, Medical and Sanitation, as well as supporting and background information.  Check it out – more is coming soon.

We hope you’re impressed, and not just by the classy vests.  RPG always needs volunteers, both coordinators and organizational support volunteers. Contact your Area or Building Coordinator, or Bob Berger, RPG Chair.

By Joni Johnson with help from Pat Robins and Cameron Patterson

     Laurie Patterson

We are currently under threat of a nuclear war.  Medford is planning to remove lead from contaminated buildings. Other than interest and fear, how do these two things weave themselves into the history of the Rogue Valley Manor? Through the charm of one of our past residents, Laurie Patterson and her fascinating husband Clair. I am sure that many of our residents from Sea Ranch and from Cal Tech either knew of them or knew them directly.

In college, Clair (usually called Pat), was very tall and thin, with a great sense of humor and known to be extremely honest.  He met his wife, Lorna “Laurie” McCleary, at Grinnell, and together they raised four children, two boys and two girls.  Laurie’s degree was in chemistry, and according to several sources, she did better than he did at academics.  He said he wasn’t as good at finishing the homework.  They attended the University of Iowa and the University of Chicago, and then both worked on the Manhattan Project in Chicago and then again in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, helping to develop the atomic bomb.

From the *book, The Toxic Truth, the story about Clair Patterson and his efforts to remove unnecessary lead from our every day life, Laurie Patterson comments that “Oak Ridge was silent when they dropped the bomb.  When we left, they gave us lapel buttons that said, Oak Ridge.  We threw them away”.  Later in life, Clair Patterson called the atomic bomb, “a hideous crime that we were committing”.

After the University of Chicago, Clair and Laurie moved to California and he spent his working life at Cal Tech, where much of his effort had to do with the contamination of lead in our systems.  He noted that the levels of lead in our atmosphere had begun to increase steadily after Tetra-ethyl lead was used in fuel to reduce engine knock.  In 1965, he published an article, Contaminated and Natural Lead environments of Man, which tried to draw public attention to the problem of increased levels of lead in the environment.  Until the work of Patterson and his colleague, Herbert Needleman, a pediatrician dealing with inner-city children, people in charge chose to call the amount of lead in the environment “normal”.  What they really meant by “normal” was that the amount of lead found in the environment was acceptable.  Unfortunately, that view was typical, but this amount was not acceptable.  It was in fact, toxic.  And it took Patterson and Needleman to bravely stand up to the men in power with their facts and figures.  After their explanations to Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency and various other places, lead was finally removed from gasoline, food cans and paint.

Of course, Patterson’s opposition to the enormous tetra-ethyl lead industry made him extremely unpopular, and there were many times that his family was in fear of being hurt or even assassinated.  His son Cameron remembered that this conversation took place often at the dinner table during those times.  Clair was, as his son says, “naturally courageous and pigheaded”. These are two necessary traits to have in order to take on this kind of powerful enemy. But he did it with grace and guts and achieved his goals.  However, it wasn’t until he won the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement that he felt that he had really succeeded.  The Tyler Prize is the industry’s version of the Nobel Prize, and Tyler Laureates receive a $200,000 cash prize and a medallion.

There was an article in the Mail Tribune on Friday, March 18, that Medford is working with Habitat for Humanity to remove lead from contaminated buildings.  The wheels of progress sometimes turn slowly, but they do move. There is hope.

While Patterson worked on his project with lead at Cal Tech, Laurie raised their four children.  She was able to help him in the clean lab at times, but also worked for her secondary teaching credential, and when her oldest son, Cameron, left for college, she was able to finish the credential and start teaching chemistry at La Canada High School in La Canada, California.  She became head of the science department, and according to her son Cameron, even had a chance to teach several of her own children.

                     Patterson Family

After Patterson’s retirement from Cal Tech, he stayed on as an emeritus.  He and Laurie built a home at Sea Ranch, where she lived permanently after her retirement and he would come up periodically to be with her.  Unfortunately, Patterson became more frail with time.  During one of his projects retrieving gas samples at a volcano, there was an accident where his lungs were badly damaged.  This led to asthma and finally to a severe asthma attack and death at the age of 73 at Sea Ranch in 1995.

 Laurie continued living at Sea Ranch until 2002 when she, along with many others from the area, were wined and dined by RVM and came to live at the Manor. Laurie was further supported in her move to southern Oregon by the fact that her oldest son, Cameron, had moved to the Ashland area three years earlier.

According to those who remember her here at the Manor, she was charming, friendly, brilliant, a wonderful pianist, and interested in needlework, among other endeavors.  She was a member of a book club and on the board of the symphony.  And, of course, the Sea Ranchers would periodically get together for a meal.

Cameron remembers her as the social one and his father as the ultimate nerd.  As we say, the perfect couple.  How lucky we were to have her here at the Manor and to have him here at all.

*(The book, Toxic Truth by Lydia Denworth, will soon be available in our library)

 To go to the issue contents page (“What’s New”)  CLICK HERE

by Connie Kent

About forty residents recently completed a First Aid/CPR training course organized by RPG (Residents Preparedness Group) Medical Team Leader Linda Spence, and funded jointly by RPG and the Residents Council. The goal is to prepare us for an emergency. It may be an individual crisis, or something big that affects us all, like the expected Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. When The Big One happens, there will be far too much for the RVM staff to handle alone, so residents can expect to need to help each other.

EMT professional Lorri Lowe provided four three-hour instructional sessions for ten students each, including video and lecture as well as hands-on components. In any emergency, the first thing we learned to do is ensure the safety of the environment, ourselves, and the patient.

If you’re choking, we learned how to correctly perform the Heimlich Maneuver. If you have a sudden injury, we learned an acronym to determine what kind of response is appropriate. Quickly using DOTS, we assess your injuries. We look for:

          D – deformities  

          O – open wounds

          T – tenderness

          S – swelling

If there’s life-threatening bleeding and you’re in shock, we learned how to deal with it.

In the case of a sudden illness, and if you are conscious, we take an oral history, using SAMPLE:

          S for signs and symptoms (Where does it hurt?)

          A for allergies (Do you have any allergies?)

          M for medications (Are you on any medications?)

          P for past medical history (Has this happened to you before?)

          L for last oral intake (What have you had to eat or drink?)

          E for event (What were you doing?)

If appropriate, we call or ask someone nearby to call 9-1-1.

We learned how to treat closed wounds and burns. We learned the signs of stroke and what to do if you have a heart attack or are suffering from low blood sugar. If you are not in your normal mental state, we assume “implied consent” and provide whatever assistance might be appropriate.

If resuscitation is necessary, we learned how perform CPR.

Bob Spence practicing CPR

Mouth-to-mouth is no longer required. Some participants practiced giving chest compressions to dummies on the floor, but most practiced on the tables. The patient needs to be on a firm surface. If you need CPR and you’re in bed, we’ll grab your sheet to  help move you quickly onto the floor. 

The dummies were equipped with a yellow light to indicate whether we were pressing down hard enough. We learned that we had to put our full weight behind the compressions. Here is Bob Spence demonstrating the correct position.

We learned how to use the AED (Automatic External Defibrillation) kits to provide electrical stimulation if your heart stops.

AED Kit

These kits are located in the Manor outside the dining rooms and gym, in the RVM Security Vehicle, and at the Asante Clinic, the Health Center, Memory Care, the golf course and the Annex. If you’re planning a cardiac arrest, those would be a good places to be. If you’re someplace else, we will send someone running for one.

We learned that we need an Emergency Action Plan, and Lorri recommended some things that should be included in our first aid kits. I’m hoping you don’t have an individual emergency and that Oregon doesn’t suffer a major catastrophe at all. Ever. But if an emergency does arise, maybe it should happen soon, while all this is still fresh in our minds.

We expect to have more classes offered in the Fall, and and resource materials will be included in the RPG Manual that is in development.

 To go to the issue contents page (“What’s New”)  CLICK HERE

Doyne Mraz’ Adventures in the World of Theatre

by Joni Johnson

  Doyne Mraz

You never know whom you are with until you get a chance to really talk with him.  Doyne’s life is extraordinary.

He says he is a practicing Existentialist, which he learned from Irving Yalom, a psychiatrist at Stanford.  Basically, one of the ideas is to not look back.  “If I make a mistake, then I learn from it and move on.  If I want to tackle something, I do it. Always going forward. This way, you can live your life with few regrets.”

Doyne-Mraz-   First-Audition

Doyne was an equity actor from the age of 6, working in Chicago,.  He did voice-overs for Disney, radio stories, and, in a USO routine, he worked with a young girl named Judy Gumm.  You might know her as Judy Garland. He said that his voice was high enough to keep him in childhood roles for a long time. Even when he was 16 years old, he could

Judy Gumm aka Judy Garland

still play little kids on radio shows. In fact, the money that he earned during his childhood adventures managed to keep his family from  suffering during the depression.

At the age of 10, his father brought home a copy of Tennessee Williams’ the Glass Menagerie.  And then, later that year, Doyne was able to see the same play in Chicago before it opened in New York. “The following summer, I went with my father to Key West, Florida.  My father drove past Tennessee Williams’ house and pointed it out.  I was brought up in a very strict way.  My family was from the “old country”- Czechoslovakia. I was taught never to speak to an adult unless they spoke to me.  But I wanted to tell Mr. Williams how much I loved his play.  My father said No or I would get whipped.  But I went anyway.  No regrets. I knocked on the door, and miraculously Williams came to the door.  ‘Wadya want, lil boy?’ When I told him how much I loved the play and how the quality of the writing was the finest I had seen, he welcomed me in and introduced me to his two guests. One of them was a woman sitting at a typewriter.  She was Carson McCullers.

Tennessee Williams

“Williams brought me a martini – I was just 11. But that was when I became an Existentialist.  If I was going to get beaten, I didn’t care.  It was at that point that I started to collect Tennessee Williams first editions. And I had a signed first edition of every one of his plays until his death.  Tennessee continued to play a role in my life for a long time.”

The day after the rationing of gasoline was lifted because of WWII, Doyne’s father took the whole family from Chicago to Sacramento, where Doyne’s mother’s sister lived.  Doyne graduated from high school early and left home at 16 to escape his strict upbringing.  He went to New York and began studying acting at  the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Acting run by Sanford Meisner.  “He changed my life.  He helped me move from ‘loving theatre’ to ‘becoming theatre.’”

During that time, while in a play on Broadway, Doyne also worked for a costumer in another production.  He was offered a chance to costume Charles Laughton in a play called Galileo. Doyne was a fitter and a cutter for Laughton, whom he describes as sweet, kind and lovely.

He eventually found his way back to Sacramento where, while going to Sac City College, he  directed several productions including some operas.  This was at the early age of 18. During one of these opera productions, he met the love of his life, Corinne.  He said that when he heard her sing, he was caught.  Doyne and Corinne have been married for 67 years and have 2 children.  Then he was off to UOP in Stockton.  While at UOP, besides getting a masters in Theatre, he got a masters in Speech Therapy to satisfy his parents. Many of us can relate to that!

Finally, he went to Stanford for a Ph.D. in Theatre. Having kept in touch with Tennessee Williams, his dissertation was on Williams. And then during this period, he also went to USC for a Masters in Film. While at USC, he directed Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. Williams came to see it.

During his time at Stanford, he was asked to become the Dean of Performing Arts by Foothill College.  He started his summer theatre program – The “SummerReperatory”.  A few years later, Doyne was called by Tennessee Williams to be the dramaturge for Streetcar Named Desire in Los Angeles. It turned out that Doyne had the only original script of the play. The actors included Jon Voight and Faye Dunaway.

Jon Voight and Faye Dunaway in Streetcar

So, after going back to Stanford, getting his degree, creating the Theatre Program at Foothill, he still felt that there was more to do.  He was with Foothill for 30 years. And during that time is when he began the theatre company in Los Altos called the Los Altos Conservatory Theatre (L’ACT).  It began in a bus barn, but the barn needed tremendous repair.  So he got all the actors from Foothill and other people in Los Altos to help rebuild and refit it as a theatre.  Seats were donated.  Carpenters donated their time.  It was a makeshift affair at the beginning. In 1970 they offered 14 shows (10 in the barn). They’d rehearse for 5 weeks and show for 5 weeks. He also directed operas for West Bay Opera.

Doyne Celebrating opening of L’ACT

Doyne in rehersal at L’ACT

While he was at L’ACT, he was asked again by Tennessee Williams to direct The Two Character Play in San Francisco before it went to Broadway with a different director. “Throughout our long relationship, he always called me, ‘lil boy’ just like he addressed me the first time we met at his front door in Key West. So we had our last drink together – this time, Southern Comfort out of a flask from his back pocket.”

Often during the 20 years at L’ACT, Doyne came up to Ashland once a month to design the costumes and sets for his Los Altos shows. Finally, in 1992, after  he left L’ACT, he retired and moved to Ashland, directing locally.  He and Corinne moved to RVM in 1998. Their house was the first house built on Quail Point Circle. Gini Armstrong lives there now. And after 20 years they moved to the Plaza. Now he is thinking of getting into painting.  I told him he should write a book!