The First Step
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
A single step is what the nerds call a necessary but not sufficient condition for a thousand-mile journey. A first step may not lead to a thousand miles, but you definitely won’t go a thousand miles without taking one. It’s great to applaud our RVM volunteers as they cross the finish line, but this article is meant to show encouragement and appreciation for those willing to take that first step — new volunteers, or volunteers in a new position.
Janet McGary, Chair of the Tutorial Committee
Jan has taken a big first step into the position long held by Bob Saunders, where she will be working with the tutorial committee to bring us enjoyable and educational presentation series on Friday mornings. She brings to the job a master’s degree in Art History, as well as teaching and travel experience. She looks forward to ideas and suggestions from interested residents.
Vicky Gorrell, secretary of the Dining Services Advisory Committee
Vicki stepped into a low-profile but critically important position. Advisory committee secretaries create the posted minutes that not only keep committee operations on track, but also provide residents with an opportunity to stay informed about issues within the committee’s area of responsibility. Vicki also provides, on her own initiative, weekly reformatted (8.5×11″. larger print) versions of the menus
Patty Robb, member, Birthday Lunch Committee
Patty steps into the position held by Carolyn Schenler for 15 years(!). Patty and her husband arrived at the beginning of the lockdown, so has never seen RVM in action. This is her very first first step into the RVM volunteer world, and she’s looking forward to learning what she and the committee will be doing. We think she deserves extra points for taking her first step in the dark.
Annabel Ross, Resident Business Office Monitor
Do you photocopy, cut, staple, browse? If so, Annabel is the one who keeps you going by stocking and organizing the Resident Business Office. Although this is a relatively new job for her, it is far from her first first step — She is an Annex Sale functionary, a Neighborhood Coordinator for RPG, and someone who can be counted on to show up when a call goes out for volunteers. Her inventory of first steps puts her in the running for the prestigious Millipede Award.
Michael Rugg, Resident Gardens Chair
Mike Rugg has taken over the garden plots management from Damon and Judy Simpson. He and his wife are both gardeners, and he brings his experience and enthusiasm to his new volunteer job. Mike and the gardens were featured in an article in the April issue of hillTOPICS (p 10).
Jordan Mo, Historian
Jordan stepped into the Resident Council Historian job to replace Daphne Fautin. Her self-introduction was published earlier in The Complement.
Worker Bees keep things buzzing with sweet results
The Wellness Advisory Committee (WAC), currently co-chaired by Saul Krimsly and Dolores Fisette, has been the source of many new volunteer projects, staffed by many new volunteers (the worker bees). Jane and Steve Harris, the former WAC co-chairs, have been instrumental in many of those. Jane and Steve took their first first steps long ago, but every time you think your journey has ended, there is the opportunity for a new first step. Theirs came when they re-enlisted at the behest of Dan Wagner after RVM went into lockdown and there was great need on campus for resident support. I can’t do any better than quote Jane’s description.
“* In response to the isolation of the pandemic lockdown, we organized and I continue to manage the 2020 Card Writing project, where 28 volunteers have been paired with residents. They communicate with their recipients through written cards, emails, phone calls, and walks.
* For the 2020 Holidays, at the suggestion of new resident Asifa Kanji, Saul and Dolores organized a Secret Santa activity where participants received the name of a resident and secretly provided him/her with a gift on Christmas Eve. The Secret Santa received a gift from his/her own Secret Santa. This livened up our Holiday Season.
* A team of four of us – Barbara Moore, Dolores Fisette, Saul Krimsly, and I – created and managed the Valentine’s Day card making project for the children of Willow Wind Community School in Ashland in response to the beautiful Holiday cards they sent to us in December. Over 60 residents created beautiful hand-made valentines, over 180 in all, that were delivered to the school. This has created an intergenerational relationship with children outside of our RVM community.
* Currently, a WAC member, Judy Blue, is organizing a Pen Pal Project with Willow Wind to be started in the Fall.”
Staff member Sarah Karnatz has joined the WAC and the worker bees and played a major role in developing and carrying out the programs — a great example of resident-staff cooperation.
So we had 28 card writers, 60 valentine makers, and significant numbers of Secret Santas and pen-pals stepping up. It would be great to acknowledge the worker bees individually, but we have to do it on a whole-hive basis. With all of those legs they should be able to keep up a whole lot of stepping, as long as they heed the COVID warning: keep six feet apart.
Counselors invite the most qualified girls to apply. They must have financial need, have remarkable grades, take advanced classes, participate in extracurricular activities and volunteer work, and some also work many hours for wages. Here are the 2020 scholarship winners. During high school, the girls all demonstrated strong motivation and determination to pursue their goals and improve their lives and their communities, sometimes while overcoming difficult conditions at home. 
Mentors are recruited, encouraged and supported by experienced Committee members, all remotely. Mentors maintain contact with their fairy goddaughters by text, email, snail mail, and/or video conferencing. Here is a picture of mentors of the 2020-21 academic year.
Thank you Joanne. It certainly could be better than sliced bread!
Caring for others lowers the rates of anxiety and depression and provide an improved outlook on life because it helps us focus on something other than ourselves. Just the act of stroking a pet has benefits. And, oddly and luckily enough, there is also quite an amazing benefit to having a plant to care for. While not everyone has, wants or can keep an animal, almost everyone can care for plants. And there is evidence that plants not only improve the environment in a room by increasing the quality of air in a room over a twenty-four hour period, but that caring for plants also increases mood levels and lowers rates of anxiety and depression. The key is caring for someone or something else.
The Wellness committee has a group that is sending cards to residents here at the Manor. But why not do the same with your friends and neighbors. There is evidence that shows that getting cards from others, even complete strangers, helps people feel connected. And those who write the cards feel good by doing something for others. It isn’t simple. It requires thought, time and energy. But little acts of kindness go a long way!
Jane and Steve Harris, with the support of the Wellness Advisory Committee and along with a core of writers (many of them from the same committee), created a card writing project here at the Manor soon after the Covid crisis began. The purpose was to alleviate people’s sense of isolation by letting our residents know that they were being thought about and supported. As Jane said, cards can be a healing gift to people. Cards can be held, displayed and re-read, a reminder of the warm and caring feelings of the sender. It certainly helps people deal with the depression that can come with this long period of isolation.