Village of Buckingham Springs Newsletter COVID 19 Edition
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Village of Buckingham Springs Newsletter COVID 19 Edition June - July 2020 Volume 31 Number 4 community and tells him about a free senior activity center that changes his life. ! Service to others abounds. We would not have social activities if it weren’t for the ideas and hard work of people in our community. At a time when ! individualism is rampant, it’s awesome to live in This issue of the newsletter is devoted to Covid such a caring neighborhood. 19. Not the fear, or the boredom, the anxiety or horror. It’s an issue of hope, stories of a legion of I believe I’ve listed everyone who participated in women – and some men – who responded to a the making of masks on page 19. If I missed quiet call for help with a torrent of activity. anyone, please let me know. I also couldn’t focus on all the volunteers. I chose six women to It started in March when Betts Slim learned a highlight in this issue and will continue to tell the nearby window-treatment company was making stories of others. masks with drapery material. It occurred to her that the people in Buckingham Springs could This issue also contains some social events on make masks too. She expected a few would pages 20 and 21. Watermelon Wednesdays respond to her call. More than 50 people did. began last week, thanks to its underwriter, The McKee Group. The pot party is underway, the In a socially-distanced assembly-line style they HOA is sponsoring a food truck and the pool is churned out nearly 1,000 masks. Uniformly open! individuals protested theirs was not a monumental effort. And perhaps it wasn’t. But altogether it A final note: This newsletter was prepared while was magnificent. social distancing. There may be fewer pictures, or some have appeared in past newsletters. At This is a community filled with people who believe times, we have pictures of pictures, which means in service to others. We see it all around us: The the images might be somewhat fuzzy. woman who cooks extra meals for her neighbor undergoing cancer treatments. Another woman Despite that, I hope you enjoy reading this special who happens to meet someone walking in the edition just as I enjoyed creating it. Gail Purpura ! ! In Memoriam Joann Hutchison ! Joann Hutchison was once the face of Buckingham Springs, the model sitting poolside in an advertisement for the new 55+ community. Vivacious and exuberant, she was the first social director, setting the standard for the job, planning trips nearby and around the world for 17 years. She brought in seminars, a senior expo and town hall meetings. She conceived of social events like the annual Christmas party, barbecues, dances and the many clubs that have become such an integral part of life in Buckingham Springs. She was the first editor of the village newsletter. She introduced the ‘Buckingham Wave’ to the brand-new community. “There weren’t that many people then, so I thought one way we could get to know each other, and like each other, was to wave to each other,” she said in an interview in December, 2019. It soon caught on and people still today offer the Buckingham Wave to express their friendship. Joann died on May 14 when she was just 76, leaving a life rich with enthusiasm and vitality although it ended with her being house bound, her mobility compromised by osteoarthritis and degenerative spinal disks that had to be removed. She endured a knee replacement, three meniscus operations and the loss of a vocal cord, the pain often so intense that she had a medical pump implanted to send medication directly to her spine. Despite that, Joann remained positive. “If you don’t laugh,” she said in an interview nearly a year ago, “you’ll make your life miserable. We’ve had a good life. Things balance out. We can’t complain.” The other part of “we” was her husband, Randy, unshakeable in his support and encouragement. They met at a New Hope country music event on Valentine’s Day in 1982, a love-at-first-sight moment that lasted a lifetime. Joann had an active life even before she met Randy. She and her first husband traveled the world and had apartments in Paris and Geneva. She started her own business, a job-placement service for the computer industry. She was president of St. Mary Medical Center’s first designer home project, lending her boldly unique style and passion to make the venture successful. In addition to Randy, Joann leaves behind three daughters, six grandchildren, five step grandchildren and one step great grandchild. Her family requests instead of flowers, donations be made to the SPCA. 2 ! ! ! From The Management Office Pool opening, No Date Yet for Clubhouse I hope this edition of our pool water at one time. The other 12 people can community newsletter finds be seated around the pool 6 feet apart from everyone well and staying others not living in your household. Please be safe! There have been so cognizant of the amount of time you are in the many acts of kindness, pool water, so everyone has a chance to cool off. stories of sharing, helping one •! There will be a daily sign-up sheet in the pool another, donating food, masks and materials, and breezeway where residents can register to use the many other kind gestures seen and heard throughout pool in 2-hour increments. Please be considerate our community. It makes me smile to hear all that you to your neighbors so everyone has a chance to are doing for one another. This issue of the use the pool. newsletter highlights many of these kind gestures. It •! All furniture must be disinfected before and after shows our strong sense of community and that we will each use. We will provide disinfecting spray and get through this together. paper towels, but residents are responsible for wiping down the furniture. I’d like to give a special thank you all the volunteers •! We highly recommend that you wear a mask, but who have contributed to the newsletter, providing it is not mandatory. Please bring one with you in information and distributing it in a safe manner. Your case you find it necessary to put one on. Masks hard work is greatly appreciated not only be me, but may not be worn in the water as this is a also by our entire community who can’t wait to get swimming hazard. their hands on the new edition! •! Pool use is for residents only. No guests will be permitted until we can increase the number of As you may or may not know, Bucks County moved people in the pool area. last Friday to the “yellow phase” of re-opening. We •! Noodles and other floats are not permitted. are working hard to get our pool open during this •! You may be required to sign a waiver. phase. Fox Pool Management has been working with the Governor’s office, the CDC, and local officials such As of now, we do not have a re-opening date for the as the Bucks County Department of Health, to help us management office or the clubhouse. Our procedures plan for opening. Things won’t look the same and will be different once we do open, but those changes we’ll have new procedures in place. Please keep in have not been determined. Please continue to mind that things are changing daily so what is posted contact us by phone and email and we will get back to below may change by the time you receive this you. The office will be closed on July 3rd. newsletter. We will continue to communicate any updates and/or changes. Thank you for being kind and patient with us and your neighbors as we are all managing to get through this •! Pool hours will remain the same: Monday, together. Wednesday, and Friday 12:00 – 8:00 pm; Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday 11:00am – 7:00 Be well and stay safe, pm. •! We are allowed a maximum of 25 people in the Amy Grzywinski pool area at one time. 13 people may be in the Community Manager 3 Make It Happen: A Community Movement Betts Slim was once described as a natural community leader, a catalyst who makes positive things happen for others. Someone who enhances others’ quality of life through her support. “There is something about her that is totally good,” a friend said at the time. So it was not surprising that when the well-being and even lives of health-care and front-line workers were being threatened by an another unnamed, and virulent virus, Betts found a way to help. She learned employees of a window treatment company were making masks from drapery material and they agreed to provide masks to Betts so she could share them with others. She made three trips to pick up the face coverings. One day it occurred to her she could make something similar happen in Buckingham Springs, taking a positive step to combat the COVID-19 virus. Betts turned to friends and former bridge students Kathi Sadowski and Pat Salmon to help organize the effort and find volunteers. Kathi was a master seamstress whose expertise was critical to the developing plan. Pat, whose public relations skills were honed over years as a marketing communication specialist, also saw an opportunity to tap the interests of neighbors isolated in a community that had been designed with socialization at its core.