March 2020 Country Manor Memory Care

Name of your community * Address * Phone number * Fax number * Other information

This Month at Country Manor:

Celebrating March St. Patrick’s Day Irish American Heritage Month Celebration Women’s History Month March Birthday Party March 12

Movie & Popcorn March 6th & 20th

St. Patrick’s Day March 17 Support Group March 23rd March 17th at 12pm The Fabulous Ones March 24th Please join us at noon Make Stress Balls for Corned Beef & Cabbage with March 31st a party at 2pm with music!

March 2020

Mirthful Medicine Istanbul Not Constantinople

March was declared International On March 28, 1930, the city of Constantinople, Mirth Month by self-proclaimed Turkey, changed its name to Istanbul, a “jollytologist” Allen Klein. Klein’s change famously celebrated by the Four interest in the healing power of Lads in their 1953 novelty song “Istanbul mirth came in 1974 when his young (Not Constantinople),” a song that enjoyed a wife died of liver disease. Despite resurgence in 1990 thanks to a cover by the her deteriorating health, Klein’s wife band They Might Be Giants. Why did Turkey kept her sense of humor to the end. She inspired change the name of its most important city? Klein to give up his career in the theater and In AD 330, the city, then called Byzantium, was become a crusader for the stress-relieving the world’s hub of culture and trade. Emperor benefits of humor. Constantine declared the city the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and changed its name Whether facing sicknesses or enduring other to Constantinople. When the Ottoman Empire stressful situations at home or in the workplace, collapsed in 1923, the newfound Republic of humor has been proven to be beneficial for both Turkey changed the name from Constantinople the body and the soul. Our human ancestors to Istanbul, a name many had used to describe were aware of the benefits of laughter thousands the city. Istanbul was a Turkish translation of years ago. A proverb from the Old Testament of an old Greek phrase meaning “in the states, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” city.” Despite the official change, travelers, More recently, doctors studying the effects of businesses, and even foreign governments laughter on human physiology have compiled still referred to the city as Constantinople. empirical evidence to support these claims. This all changed in 1930 when the Turkish Laughter releases endorphins, the body’s natural government decreed that all mail addressed pain-relieving hormones; increases the production to Constantinople would not be delivered. of cells responsible for strengthening our immune systems; and lowers cortisol, the hormone responsible for stress. Furthermore, humor The Old New Year has been shown to help us dispel fear and encourage creative thinking. In so many ways, During the Colonial era in America, our ancestors were right! New Year’s Day was celebrated not on January 1, but on March 25, So how do we add more mirth to our daily routines? a date that can be traced to the First and foremost, when you laugh, be sure to do colonies’ roots in England. it loud and proud. Big belly laughs leave muscles As a Protestant nation, England relaxed for 45 minutes. Funny television shows, and its Protestant ruler Queen YouTube clips, or friends are worth their weight Elizabeth I refused to adopt the Gregorian in gold. Perhaps most importantly, learn to laugh calendar proposed by the Catholic Pope at yourself. Don’t be afraid to share your own Gregory XIII. As such, March 25 officially shortcomings or funny mistakes. Anthropologists remained the date of the start of the new believe that sharing our funny moments and year. This date was chosen to coincide with drawing laughter is one of the strongest types of the Feast of the Annunciation, the date when social glue, bringing friends nearer and keeping the archangel Gabriel visited the Virgin Mary them close. to announce that she would be the mother of Jesus, the son of God. For this reason, If you want to learn more about humor theory, the date was also called Lady Day. The new check out The Humor Code: A Global Search year was held on Lady Day from 1155 until for What Makes Things Funny by Peter McGraw 1752, when the Gregorian calendar was and Joel Warner. finally adopted.

March 2020

The Great Escape Sock Monkey Day

On March 24, 1944, the British The fabulous folk-art-toy-turned-kitschy-gift bomber pilot Leslie “Johnny” known as the sock monkey enjoys its own Bull poked his head out of the holiday on March 7. (Some sources say ground and took his first breath March 1.) The sock monkey can trace its of freedom after suffering as origins back to England’s Victorian era and a prisoner of war in the Nazi-controlled Stalag the exploration of the continent of Africa. Tales Luft III camp. The so-called “Great Escape” had of exotic new animals were recounted in news begun, one of the most daring mass breakouts reports and fictional tales such as Rudyard ever attempted during wartime. Kipling’s The Jungle Book. It became fashionable to decorate children’s rooms with all manner In 1944, the camp housed over 10,000 Allied of stuffed animals such as lions and monkeys. service members. The location of the camp It did not take long before the trend reached was chosen in part due to its sandy soil, which America. Swedish immigrant to America John made any attempts to tunnel out extremely Nelson patented a sock-knitting machine in difficult. This did not deter Royal Air Force Rockford, Illinois, in 1868. His socks became Squadron Leader Roger Bushell from devising so popular that they became known as “Rockford a grand tunneling scheme. His plan consisted Red-Heels.” During the Great Depression in of “three bloody deep, bloody long tunnels,” America, economical families created their code-named Tom, Dick, and Harry. Previous own stuffed animals, notably monkeys, using escapes had been attempted, but none on these trademark red-heeled socks. The red the scale Bushell proposed. Not only did he heels gave the “sock monkeys” their distinctive oversee the excavation of three tunnels but he red mouths. In 1953, a woman named Helen also devised a system of signals that allowed Cooke patented the “sock monkey” and POWs to track prison guards and communicate eventually sold her idea back to the Nelson their whereabouts. He also procured civilian Knitting Company, still located in Rockford. clothes for escapees, forged travel documents, and equipment for the 600 digging inmates. As Fit to the Finish? the plan’s mastermind, Bushell was given the code name “Big X.” The first Sunday in March is known as Finisher’s Medal His plan proved ingenious. Powdered milk cans Day, honoring all those who distributed by the Red Cross were fashioned into don’t win the race but just shovels, picks, and lanterns. Excavated dirt was cross the finish line. The day was designed smuggled to the surface inside inmates’ trouser to encourage everyone to participate in races, legs and then scattered while the prisoners not just those with a real shot at winning. But walked around. The tunnels were 30-feet deep this begs the question, does awarding a medal and just 2-feet square, the walls shored up with or trophy just for participation send a good pieces of wood scavenged from all over the message? Some argue that such participation camp, most notably the prisoners’ bunk beds. medals diminish excellence. They become Many of the guards, who were openly anti-Nazi, worthless mementos of participation rather assisted in the procuring of forged documents than true tokens of achievement. They send and materials. By the moonless night of March 24, the message that everyone is a winner, when 1944, the tunnel “Harry” was complete, and 76 in real life there are winners and losers. In some men tunneled to freedom. Of the 76 escapees, ways, these medals rob kids of the important 73 were captured, but the dramatic “Great lessons of losing, like how to cope with Escape” became the stuff of legend and a disappointment and how to remain resilient Hollywood blockbuster. in the face of defeat.

March 2020

Women of the World Unite March Birthdays

Women around the world will take to the streets promoting women’s rights to celebrate International Wayne T------3/2 Women’s Day on March 8. The first National Women’s Day occurred over 100 years ago on Jan Z ------3/3 February 28, 1909, in New York. Theresa Malkiel, a factory worker who rose to the top of the leadership of the Women’s National Jim B------3/6 Committee of the Socialist Party, proposed the first celebration. Malkiel believed that socialism Donna H------3/6 was the path toward the liberation and equality of women. When the men of the party showed no true interest in equal rights for women members, Walt B------3/20 Malkiel took it upon herself to organize her fellow women and strengthen their place in the party. The first Women’s Day celebration was a show Nancy M------3/27 of strength for the women she organized. Eileen L------3/28 The struggle for women’s rights was not unique to America. Across Europe, women were organizing for workers’ rights and the right to vote. In 1910, at the International Socialist Women’s Conference in Denmark, European activists decided to establish an international holiday modeled on the one organized by Malkiel. The following year, on Won’t You Be My Neighbor? March 11, 1911, International Women’s Day was celebrated for the first time by over a million people Each year, March 20 is in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland. celebrated as Won’t You Women took to the streets, marching for the right Be My Neighbor Day in to vote, to hold public office, and to enjoy equal honor of the birthday of Fred opportunities for employment. Six years later, Rogers, everybody’s favorite on March 8, 1917, International Women’s Day television neighbor. Rogers marchers across Russia marched for “Bread suffered a lonely childhood and was often and Peace,” demanding an end to World War I, taunted about being overweight. He overcame tsarism, and government-imposed food shortages. his shyness to become a Presbyterian minister This marked the beginning of Russia’s February but left the seminary to go into television. He Revolution (according to their old calendar). hated TV and wanted to transform it into a Seven days later, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the means of nurturing those who would watch throne, and women were granted the right to vote. and listen. Rogers was a natural when it came Over the decades, the holiday has transformed to children’s broadcasting, using his talents to from a socialist holiday to a mainstream celebration develop puppets, music, and characters that of political activism by women. While the day is appealed to kids’ better natures. By the time an official holiday in many countries, the fact the show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood aired that it is not observed in many places speaks in 1968, he had mastered his use of imaginative to the pressing need to continue the fight for elements and the kind, quiet manner that women’s rights. became his trademark.