Saint Joseph’s Institute for Integrative Aging begins tele-social call program for older adults

By Lorraine Glowczak

Studies indicate that strong family and community connections lead to greater levels of health and

Heather DiYenno, Director of
Saint Joseph's College Institute for
Integrative Aging, of
 Add caption believes that
making a simple weekly phone call
to older adults who are homebound
can combat social isolation and
loneliness. The college is seeking
volunteers and recipients who may
be interested on participating in
their new tele-social call program.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

happiness. Social isolation, on the other hand, can produce detrimental effects on one’s mental and physical wellbeing. Depression, anxiety, heart disease, and strokes are a few consequences of loneliness.

What is just as alarming is that the experience of isolation is growing. In fact, social seclusion has become so prevalent on a global scale that many countries are taking an active role in its prevention, including Great Britain’s recently established Minister of Loneliness.

The age group most directly affected by this epidemic is among older adults who are aging in place and/or have physical disabilities that prevent easy social connections with others. This is especially prevalent in remote, rural areas like the greater Sebago Lakes Region area.

But there is good news on the horizon.

It is with this awareness that Saint Joseph’s College of Maine recently took action and officially launched the Institute for Integrative Aging (IIA) in May 2019 to help alleviate loneliness among area residents. Since its inception, IIA has been providing a series of creative, age-friendly, and intergenerational activities that provide opportunities for connection and fulfillment. A tele-social call program is their latest endeavor in these efforts and will be getting underway soon.

“We are in the very beginning stages of this program and are looking for both volunteers and recipients who would like to participate,” Heather DiYenno, IIA Director said. “Volunteers will be trained and paired with a recipient of whose interests and hobbies they have in common. The purpose of the calls is simply to have fun and light-hearted conversations at least once a week, and the amount of time spent on each call is determined by the parties involved.”

The tele-social concept was developed by the Motion Picture and Television Fund (MPTF), based out of Woodland Hills, CA. The idea was created by Dr. Scott Kaiser, MPTF’s Chief Innovation Officer and Director of Geriatric Cognitive Health at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute.

“I was introduced to the MPTF and their tele-social program while attending the Rural Aging Advisory Council in Washington D.C. last fall,” said DiYenno. “They opened my eyes on how effective making a simple weekly phone call was at combating loneliness and I wanted to implement a similar program at IIA.”

DiYenno has researched the platforms and mechanisms that are already in place at MPTF. IIA is collaborating their efforts with Southern Maine Agency on Aging (SMAA) and the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, and volunteers can apply for IIA’s tele-social call program on the SMAA website at www.volunteer.unitedwaygp.org/need/detail/?need_id=535198.

In addition to the application, volunteers will also be asked to fill out background checks and confidentiality forms. For those who may be concerned about the circulation of their personal phone numbers, they have no reason to fear.

“It’s important to let volunteers and recipients know that their personal phone numbers will not be used as part of the tele-social call and conversation,” DiYenno said. “A mechanism is created so that volunteers call a central line which will require a pin number. This will connect the volunteer to the recipient’s own phone. No personal information needs to be exchanged.”

During a time when required social distancing can further intensify social isolation, particularly among
vulnerable homebound individuals, participation in the tele-social call program may be the most important thing one person can do for another.

“A friendly call can brighten someone’s day,” DiYenno said.

One may be surprised at how much a phone conversation with an individual experiencing loneliness might also help the volunteer themselves, brightening their own days from time to time.

For more information on becoming a volunteer or to refer someone experiencing social isolation, contact Heather DiYenno at IIA@SjCME.EDU or at 207-893-7641.<

Raymond Garden Tour: Nestled in the verdant forests off Raymond Hill Road lies a true oasis

By Briana Bizier

           

April Fey’s garden, which has been a labor of love for the past thirty years, is an enchanting space filled with flowers, birds, unique artwork, and the sound of running water. On Saturday, June 22, for the first time ever, Fey will join the biennial Raymond Garden Tour and open her garden to the public to benefit the Raymond Village Library.

Her decision to join the Garden Tour all started with a simple Facebook post. “When we finished the

dry stream bed in my garden, I posted a picture of it on Facebook,” Fey explains. “Sharon Dodson saw it and asked if I’d like to join the Raymond Garden Tour!”

Her garden, Fey told me, is inspired by her family’s globe-spanning travels. Her husband Robert is a pilot, and their family loves to travel. Many features from the sites that they have enjoyed during their many excursions have found their way home to join her beautiful garden.

Fey built her stone stream bed, which leads from a dry well near her porch and is home to three cheerful salmon sculptures, after admiring similar features in gardens during a trip to Japan. The colorful glass balls grouped near her rose bushes were inspired by a Chihuly exhibition, and the tiki statue she decorated herself is an homage to her family’s love of the Hawaiian Islands.

Several other sculptures adorn Fey’s garden, including a cheerful metal silhouette of three children. “That sculpture was a Mother’s Day present,” Fey explains. “Our three children are grown now, but the sculpture is right next to the path they used to walk to school.”

Although Fey’s children are now adults, her yard is still home to a young gardener. Fey’s two-year-
old grandson visits frequently to play with the miniature barn and farm animals in her flower bed or to move Fey’s collection of ceramic mushrooms. During my visit, the mushrooms were clustered artistically behind an enormous fern in what must have been the perfect place for a two-year-old to practice his own garden design.

Fey’s magnificent garden, which now wraps around her house and contains hundreds of flowers, all began with a muddy bank. “The slope in front of our house was a mess,” Fey explains. “My husband and I took apart an old rock wall to build a terrace, and that was our first garden bed.”

That first terrace is now home to poppies, daylilies, columbines, and a hops vine inspired by an urban garden in Portland that Fey visited for her daughter’s wedding. It’s also home to a few surprise volunteers.

“I didn’t even plant these,” Fey tells me, gesturing to a thriving clump of purple columbine flowers. “That’s another gift from Mother Nature.”

Fey’s original terrace garden has now been joined by many more flowerbeds. In addition to her roses and a garden by the shed filled entirely with divides from her many perennials, Fey has a bed devoted
entirely to lavender, another bed for cutting flowers, and several high bush blueberries.

“We come out in the morning with a bowl of cereal and pick blueberries for it,” Fey told me.

Even the old swing set in Fey’s backyard is host to an unusual variety of forsythia with red flowers that came from the Botanical Gardens in Boothbay as well as a container overflowing with purple blossoms. “This spot just needed a bit of color,” Fey explained.

Fey’s garden also includes a whimsical bottle tree, which Fey calls, “the easiest plant I grow.” From what this journalist can tell, Fey’s entire garden looks like it grows beautifully, although she laughed at the compliment.

“I’m a big believer in mulch,” Fey tells me, with a smile. “I just plant what I like, and I don’t worry too much about it.”

If you’d like to see Fey’s garden as well as the other featured gardens, the Raymond Garden Tour will take place this Saturday, June 22, with a rain date of Sunday, June 23. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 on the day of the tour, and they can be purchased at Raymond Village Library. All proceeds will benefit the library.

Schoolhouse Arts Center kicks off 30th season with hilarious farce

By Elizabeth Richards

Schoolhouse Arts Center opened the first show of its 30^th season last weekend with an uproarious rendition of “Noises Off!”, a farcical look at the world of theatre. I had the pleasure of attending the dress rehearsal, which unfolded far more smoothly than the dress rehearsal portrayed on stage.

If you’ve ever participated in a theater production, you’re sure to appreciate the familiar (but greatly

exaggerated) glitches that arise. And if you haven’t, your perception of live theater may be forever changed once you’ve seen this show.

The audience received a glimpse of how each character would evolve from the moment each made their initial appearance on stage. The talented cast built upon these initial impressions throughout the show, creating characters that worked in perfect sync with one another. Through facial expressions, body movements, and flawless timing of remarks and gestures, the distinct personality of each character emerged. By the end of the show I felt as though I knew each character personally and could anticipate what might come next, though there were plenty of twists throughout.

The first act details the final dress rehearsal of a touring show about to open. Although it soon becomes clear that things aren’t running quite the way they should, there’s a hopeful air that it will all come together in the end. But by the end of the act, with personal lives revealed bit by bit and a love triangle emerging, it’s clear that the run may not be so smooth after all.

The second act, set a month later, gives a backstage glimpse of how poorly things have gone. It was this act that highlighted just how talented this group of actors (the Schoolhouse cast, not the fictional cast) is. The pace is quick and frenzied, but the show moved smoothly along, with so many side stories overlapping all at once that it was difficult to keep track of all the action.  Everywhere I looked there was a hilarious moment unfolding; I hate to think of how many I missed.

In the third act, back on the set of the fictitious show two months later, it’s clear that the entire production has devolved into total chaos. And yet, the (fictional) cast embraces the idea that “the show must go on,” moving through every missed entrance, unexpected arrival, and set failure as though nothing unusual has happened at all.

The physical comedy alone makes this show worth seeing. Comedic timing was right on, and there was often no way to determine if what had just happened was part of the script, or an actual glitch in the rehearsal. Everything worked so well that it simply didn’t matter.

As impressive as the acting and flow of the show was, the set showcased the backstage talent at Schoolhouse Arts Center.  Two stories high, with detachable stairs and ladders, the entire thing had to rotate between each act. The show has two 15-minute intermissions to accommodate this rotation. I recommend staying in your seat for one of them, just to see the feat accomplished.  It’s a real life look behind the scenes that added another level of interest to the production.

“Noises Off!” is a production that shouldn’t be missed. In fact, with all the action happening simultaneously, you might want to see it more than once to catch anything you may miss. There are four shows remaining in the run, on Friday, April 12^th at 7 pm; Saturday April 13^th at 2 pm and 7 pm; and Sunday, April 14^th at 2 pm. The show is rated PG-13 for language and innuendo.  Tickets can be purchased online at www.schoolhousearts.org.