2016

Safe Toys and Gifts Month

Cookie Cutter Week December 1–7

Miners’ Day December 6

Nobel Prize Day December 10

Underdog Day December 16

Hanukkah Begins Happy Holidays to all, December 24 is just around the corner! It’s a wonderful time of year. From the Christmas beautiful decorations to the simple acts of giving and shared time with loved December 25 ones, the cold weather can’t stop this season of joy! Carolers and music filling the halls, decorations, the smell of hot cocoa, and other wonderful Begins memories make the season even brighter. Take a look at just some of the ways we are planning to celebrate the season. (See calendar insert for details.)

 1st- Christmas Decorating No Interruptions Day  7th –Rock & Roll Christmas with Elvis December 30  13th – Donnie Haiber Entertainer  14th- Decorating  15th – Riverbend High School Bell Choir  16th – Faith Baptist School Carolers  17th – Locust Grove Middle School Carolers  20th – Resident’s Christmas Celebration with Santa  25th – Christmas Reminiscing with Hot Chocolate

Ruth Boyd, Director of Activities

2 International Christmas Facts

 “Silent Night” was first sung as part of a church service in December Austria. A was used because the church organ was so badly rusted it couldn’t be played.  In there are many different characters for Flower: Christmas. Nikolaus comes on December 5th and on Narcissus December 24th when the actual opening of the gifts is happening, they have been brought either by , Weihnachtsmann, or the Christkindl, (Christ child) which is an angelic child dressed in a white and or Birthstones: golden dress much like a long nightgown. It has wings, and has usually a small horse or a donkey as a Turquoise companion. Tanzanite  In Germany and some other western European countries, St. Nicholas, or Nikolaus comes on the night Blue Zircon from the 5th to the 6th of December, where children have their boots all shined and clean in front of a door or Famous Birthdays window. He will leave toys, nuts oranges, apples and chocolate for the good children. The bad child gets a Bette Midler – Dec. 1, 1945 Katerina Witt – Dec. 3, 1965 branch to be used by the parents to punish the child. Walt Disney – Dec. 5, 1901  Guatemalan adults do not exchange Christmas gifts until Beau Bridges – Dec. 9, 1941 New Year’s Day. Children get theirs (from the Christ Brenda Lee – Dec. 11, 1944 Child) on Christmas morning. Frank Sinatra – Dec. 12, 1915  In North America, children put stockings out at Margaret Mead – Dec.16, 1901 Christmas time. Their Dutch counterparts use shoes. William Parry – Dec. 19, 1790  The , a traditional Christmas flower, originally Barbara Billingsley – Dec. 22, 1922 grew in Mexico, where it is also known as the ‘Flower of Ava Gardner – Dec. 24, 1922 the Holy Night’. Joel Poinsett first brought it to America Susan Butcher – Dec. 26, 1954 in 1829. Mary Tyler Moore – Dec. 29, 1936 John Denver – Dec. 31, 1943

Residents Staff 5th Geraldine Beam 4th Charlotte Carter 6th Irene Coleman 5th Joy Hayden 7th Joann Brusso 6th Rhonda Fleming 10th Virginia Ashbaugh 9th Wanda Jenkins 16th Mary Hughes 10th Sheri Watts 29th Walter Roles 12th Marian Smith 30th Anthony Delvicario 16th Janelle Rice 30th Earline Jenkins 19th Marla Douglas 31st Agnes Maynard 19th Holly Rodgers 21st Shirley McCain nd 22 Candice Collins 22nd Elizabeth Washington 25th Joy Barrett 28th Sherrie Burrell 31st Shawn Turner

International Christmas Facts- continued

 When visiting Finland, Santa leaves his sleigh behind and rides on a goat named Ukko. Finnish folklore has it that Ukko is made of straw, but is strong enough to carry anyway.  When distributing gifts in Holland, St. Nicholas is accompanied his assistant, Peit, who is responsible for actually dropping the presents down their recipients’ chimneys. He also punishes bad children by putting them in a bag and

carrying them away to Spain.  The day after Christmas, December 26, is known as . It is also the holy day of St. Stephen.  In Syria, Christmas gifts are distributed by one of the Wise Men’s camels. The gift-giving camel is said to have been the smallest one in the Wise Men’s caravan.  One town in Indiana is called Santa Claus. There is also a Santa, Idaho.  The popular Christmas song “” was actually written for . The song was composed in 1857 by James Pierpont, and was originally called “One Horse Open Sleigh”.  There are 364 gifts mentioned in “The ”.  The Puritans forbade the singing of Christmas carols.  George Frederick Handel’s great Christmas oratorio, “The Messiah”, was first performed in 1742, in Dublin.  America’s official national is located in King’s Canyon National Park in California. The tree, a giant sequoia called the “General Grant Tree”, is over 90 meters (300 feet) high, and was made the official Christmas tree in 1925.  The first Christmas was celebrated on December 25, AD 336 in Rome.  Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real ones since 1991.  St. Nicholas was bishop of the Turkish town of in the early 4th century. The Dutch first made him into a -giver, and Dutch settlers brought him to America where his name eventually became the familiar Santa Claus.  In Armenia, the traditional meal consists of fried fish, lettuce and spinach.  Christmas has different meanings around the world; Christmas Eve in Japan is a good day to eat fried chicken and strawberry shortcake.  Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday, and the tradition began in 1836.  Many of the traditions associated with Christmas (giving gifts, lighting a log, singing carols, decorating an evergreen) date back to older religions.  In 1647, the English parliament passed a law made Christmas illegal. The Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry on what was supposed to be a holy day to be immoral, banned the Christmas festivities. The ban was lifted only when Cromwell lost power in 1660.  Michigan has no official state song, but one, ‘Michigan, My Michigan,’ is frequently used. The words were written in 1863, and the melody used is that of the Christmas song “O Tannenbaum”.  Franklin Pierce was the first president to decorate an official White House Christmas tree.  Christmas Crackers were invented around 1846 by Tom Smith who developed them for Christmas from the French habit of wrapping sugared almonds in twists of paper as gifts.  J.S. Bach inscribed most of his musical scores with the note ‘In dem Namen ’, or in English ‘In the name of Jesus’.  The Canadian province of Nova Scotia leads the world in exporting lobster, wild blueberries, and Christmas trees.  Roast turkey did not appear consistently on royal Christmas Day menus until 1851 when it replaced roast swan. The medieval dish of Boar’s head remained popular with Royals for much longer.  Electric were first used in 1854.  The holiday Boxing Day was originally celebrated in , for the servants to the rich people. After Christmas, the servants “boxed up” all the left-overs from the rich people and bring them home.

Star of the Month’s Name

Four Legged Friends Outings

If you wish to bring your dog to If you are interested in visit your loved one, please give a copy of the dog’s current shot attending a scheduled records, with your loved one’s outing please see or notify name and room number on it, to Activities staff to have your Activity staff. Also, please keep name put on the list as soon the dog out of dining areas during as possible. Spots fill up meals and keep the dog on a leash quickly and space is limited. at all times. Thank you!

Get Well Go Home

Carriage Hill staff celebrates a few of many successful discharges home.

Administration Admissions Administrator, John Sevier Director of Admissions & Marketing, Colleen Steffey Human Resources Manager, Tami Betts Rehab Business Office Rehab Coordinator, Amanda George Business Office Manager, Wanda Jenkins Dining Services Facilities Dietitian, Linda Timm Environmental Services Director, Robert Saar Director of Dietary Services, Deborah Freeman Maintenance Manager, Jim Montgomery Medical Services Nursing Medical Director, Dr. Chris Harrington Director of Nursing, Jewel Myers, RN Physician, Dr. Joseph Assistant Director of Nursing, Evanthe Rockwood, RN Unit Manager Old Dominion/Centennial Way, Social Services Monika Trapp, LPN Director of Social Services, Rachel Leonard Unit Manager Commonwealth Lane/Victory Court, Social Services Assistant, Trish Stenger Rachel Ambrose, RN Unit Manager Memory Lane, Christina Bates, LPN Activities Director of Activities, Ruth Boyd Activities Assistants, Alice Boston & Alyssa Spencer

6106 Health Center Lane Fredericksburg, VA 22407