623 Hamacher Street, Waterloo, IL 62298 (618) 939-3488 • www.oakhillmonroecounty.com www.facebook.com/oakhillmonroecounty

www.magnoliaterraceseniorliving.com www.facebook.com/magnoliaterraceseniorlivingapartments

Arbor Court Skilled Nursing

Evergreen Pointe Transitional Care

Magnolia Terrace Supportive Living

Whispering Pines Memory Care

pg.8

pg.12

pg.14

Insider - News and events at Oak Hill -

●

UPCOMING EVENTS

01/01 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

01/15 National Hat Day

01/20-26 National Activity Professionals Week

01/28 Kloepper Tournament at Magnolia Terrace* 6:30 P.M. (Costs $5.00)

02/01 Oak Hill 68 Year Anniversary

Check out next month’s newsletter for a list of 2019 dates!

pg.7

Wear a hat on January 15th!

Happy New Year!

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

And surely you'll buy your pint cup! And surely I'll buy mine! And we'll take a cup o' kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

We two have run about the slopes, and picked the daisies fine; But we've wandered many a weary foot, since auld lang syne.

We two have paddled in the stream, from morning sun till dine†; But seas between us broad have roared since auld lang syne.

And there's a hand my trusty friend! And give me a hand o' thine! And we'll take a right good-will draught, for auld lang syne.

2

Another year has come to a close and

this is a time we often reminisce about

the previous year. Each year seems

to pass a little faster as we grow older.

It has been a good year at Oak Hill. A

year of saying goodbye to some and

hello to others. This is the first full year

of services provided by Evergreen

Pointe, our short term rehabilitation

unit. We have served 189 guests in

this first year at Evergreen Pointe.

It has been a year of parties and enter-

tainment. The activity departments

have exceeded expectations with all of

the programs and events throughout

the year. Things such as Block Party,

Octoberfest, Fair Week , Nursing Home

Week activities, SLF week activities

and many others. We recognized our

veterans with a Flight of Honor pro-

gram in June and again in November

with a special Veteran’s Day program.

In July we were named as the Best

Senior Living in Southwest Illinois by

the St Louis Post Dispatch. We also

were rated as a five star facility by the

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid

Services.

We started work on the Maple Hall

sunroom addition that will include a

new living room space. This work was

A Letter From the Administrator

put on hold, but now that we are finish-

ing up the work on our sprinkler sys-

tem, we will once again work to finish

up this new living space in 2019.

We also started remodeling Magnolia

Terrace apartments. We were able to

finish eight apartments in 2018 and

plan to finish another twelve in 2019.

Most recently, we celebrated Christmas

in style with our many Christmas

events including our annual Christmas

dinner parties. This is always a favor-

ite event as residents can invite family

into their home for a Christmas dinner

party. We can’t forget the Twelve Days

of Christmas and a different flavor of

ice cream each day.

As we start a new year in 2019, I pray

for blessings on all that work and live

at Oak Hill. May we have a blessed

year.

Kim Keckritz Administrator

Rachel Giffhorn

Corporate Compliance Officer

618-939-3488 x1147

3

Congratulations to Megan Weber, winner of

the 2019 Wessel-Pistor Excellence Award!

A ceremony was held on November 30th in

the activity center. We had 19 nominations!

Criteria for this award is that the employee

must demonstrate a caring, respectful atti-

tude toward residents, family members, and

fellow staff. Here are all the nominees:

Glenda Schreder

Rita Biffar

Barb Brooks

Joann Phillips

Kaitlin Shackelford

Angie Staub

Kathy Goodman

Faith Bertram

Marilyn Brinkmann

Tammy Moll

Frances Studt

Dawn Shields

Wendy Slater-Wall

Savanna Zeiger

Melissa Todd

Dominique Mackin

Belinda Carter

Mary Watkins

Thank you all for your hard work and dedica-

tion to Oak Hill!

Pictured: Winner of the Wessel-Pistor Excel-

lence Award, Megan Weber (right) with Oak

Hill administrator, Kim Keckritz.

This is what others had to say about Megan:

•Brings in special items for residents and

uses her own money for these items

•Helps serve food at supper when help is

needed

•Works extra shifts with no complaints

•Dedicated & compassionate employee

•Makes extra special health shakes for res-

idents-adding ice cream, syrup, &

whipped topping

•Treats each resident lovingly and is al-

ways ready with a hug for the residents

•Last year at Christmas bought all of the

residents warm socks

•Limitless level of positive energy

4

Employees

Residents

Faith Bertram

Annette DeBourge

Debra Carrico

Cherie Horschman

Donna Kujawa

Jennifer Forshee

Nicole Reinhold

Tracy Scheibe

14 years

12 years

6 years

5 years

4 years 2 years 1 year

1 year

2 Jennifer Morgan

2 Joy Thomas

8 Jamie Whaley

13 Rachel Adams

15 Alexandra Kueker

19 Olivia Johnson

19 Mikayla VanVeghel

21 Barbara Brooks

21 Christina Swistak

27 Deborah Smith

29 Cassandra Mackin

30 Judy Lancaster

30 Jessica Lutker

2 Novella Arms

3 Norman Rehmer

4 Eugene Williams

9 Virginia Malott

11 Edna Poenitske

13 Lucille Kistner

15 Rita Walsh

17 Helen Werling

19 Helen Graham

21 Betty Congleton

26 Edna Probst

28 Gerda Gleich

30 Gladys Bequette

30 Audrey Stiffler

31 Mary Clark

Birthday Parties

Employee Anniversaries

Welcome to Oak Hill (New Employees)

Ivy Anderson, Dietary Aide

Diana File, R.N.

Angel Jenkins, Care Assistant

Olivia Johnson, C.N.A. Pending

Laura Luehmann, SCU Activity

Daniel Pauline, Dietary Aide

Nicole Strong, Dietary Aide

Kyle Wachtel, Maintenance Assistant

Michelle Wisely, Care Assistant

Anneco Gladney, C.N.A.

Shereen Hicks, L.P.N.

Joiwanda Rowe-Brown, C.N.A.

Mackenzie Brown, Dietary Aide

Miranda Brown, C.N.A. Pending

Julie Carrigan, C.N.A.

Courtney Courtois, Dietary Aide

Danielle LePes, Care Assistant

5

Employee of the Month

C.N.A.

Angel is a hard worker, a very thorough nurse, and great with documentation. She offers great support and is very dedicated to our residents. A team player. Shows great leadership, especially the night we had flooding. Also, on night shift on Sycamore. Angel goes above and beyond with resident care.

Other Nominations:

Rita Biffar, Dietary, Dedicated, relia-

ble, always willing to help when need-

ed, comes in early, picks up on her

days off, takes pride in her work, con-

cerned about residents

Crystal Weber, Office, Always willing

to help pick up in different areas of

the facility when needed. Always up-

beat. Thorough with her work. Very

positive attitude. Great team player

no matter what is going on. We are

lucky to have her.

Carol Marquart, C.N.A., Goes above

and beyond to care for the residents.

Glenda Schreder, C.N.A., She is an in-

credible trainer and leader of the

mentor group. She supports, coach-

es, follows up, and encourages. She

has developed additional tools to help

the mentors be successful.

Wayne Moallankamp, Maintenance,

Comes in when problems arise, like

the sprinkler system and other issues

Joann Phillips, C.N.A., She is caring,

sweet, and positive—always smiling.

Has worked over many times.

6

Staff News

Angel Hill

Employee of the Year

2018

National Activity Professionals Week is

January 20-26.

Thank you to all our activity

professionals who truly make a

difference to those at Oak Hill.

Stephanie Bastien

Becky Heusohn

Judy Kohler

Donna Kujawa

Laura Luehmann

Brook Matthews

Wendy Meister-Juenger

Janis Reitz

Wendy Slater-Wall

Congratulations to Anna Marie

Jenkins on her recent marriage!

Spirit Committee 2019

What a fun year 2018 was! Thank you to all

of the 2018 Spirit Committee members who

planned and implemented all the great em-

ployee events. A new committee is forming

for 2019 and the first meeting will be held on

the 22nd of January at 2:30pm in the confer-

ence room. If you are interested or would

like to find out more information about volun-

teering on the Spirit Committee, stop by and

talk to Rachel Giffhorn, the new leader over

the group.

7

1/28, 2/25, 3/25, 4/29,

5/20*, 6/24, 7/29, 8/26,

9/30, 10/28, 11/25, 12/30

Kloepper Tournaments

Held at Magnolia Terrace

623 Hamacher Street, Waterloo

$5.00 per person/6 games

1st, 2nd, & 3rd place cash winners Last place gets their admission fee back!

Complimentary Refreshments

Tournaments are held on the last Monday of

the month except the months with an asterisk.

R.S.V.P. to 939-0500 x1459

We entered the month of December with

“Where in the Living Room is the Ever-

green Pointe Christmas Tree”. (Similar to

the Elf on the Shelf). The guests, visitors,

and even Dr Rohlfing joined in with the

fun!

The look on everyone’s face when the tree

“magically” moved around the living

room. It made for a great topic of conver-

sation.

We have had a lot of guests come and go.

We were even blessed to have some famil-

iar faces return to stay with us for a while.

We are always happy to have guests stop

by just to say “hi”!

Officer Spencer visited us and spoke about

Fraud in the Community.

We had a wonderful visit with Staci

Bechtel. She spoke about Home Safety.

We have enjoyed decorating the unit for

Christmas.

We most of all enjoyed the Christmas Car-

olers who have come through our unit.

We had our Christmas Party on Dec. 20.

We enjoyed appetizers and listened to

Christmas/Gospel music by Jessica.

All Oak Hill staff and residents are encour-

aged to wear a hat of any kind on Tuesday,

January 15 in honor of National Hat

Day. Who doesn’t feel more stylish when wear-

ing a hat?

We encourage a variety of hats: baseball caps,

cowboy hats, bonnets, fancy Sunday “goin’ to

church” hats, fedoras, bowlers, golf hats, straw

hats and stocking hats. All staff wearing a

hat may wear jeans on January 15.

National Hat Day

January 15, 2019

8

Arbor Court News & Activities

December Holiday Recap December brought many days and nights filled with Christmas spirit! Each week in-volved a party of some kind filled with Christmas cheer, yummy food, and beautiful decor. We held a family Christmas party for all of Oak Hill’s residents, family, guests, and team! Everyone within the community en-joyed 12 days of Holiday Ice cream served by the friendliest elves! Thank you to those vol-unteers who dished out that special ice cream flavor each day! During the weekends, our residents were entertained all day long as jolly carolers sang throughout the building. This is always an act of kindness from the community we en-joy receiving! We appreciate our service men and women for all they have done! This year, we held two additional holiday socials for our Veter-ans to take part in thanks to our local V.F.W. posts, Gift to Yanks Program, and American Legion. The residents continue to build and create fun decorations through our arts & crafts program. For the month of December, a beautiful Christmas tree display, located in the activity room, was decorated by resi-dents & volunteers.

Christmas Eve breakfast included a waffle bar! Residents were able to enjoy a big waffle with their favorite toppings! Later that afternoon residents were able to par-ticipate in a fun holiday gift exchange game thanks to the generous donations to the ac-tivity department! Volunteer spotlight Students from the Waterloo High School Boys basketball team and S.H.O.W organiza-tion (Students helping out Waterloo) teamed up to host a special holiday bingo for our residents in December. At the end of the month we were able to meet a few new students as they complet-ed community service hours while on school break. It is always nice to have young adults full of energy to engage with resi-dents through fun leisure activities! Please continue to recommend Oak Hill to those who are looking to give back to their community! Our volunteer program is growing thanks to your continue support! Starting January 2nd, we will have a student volunteer from Althoff Catholic High School fulfilling her community service hours. Wel-come, Kyra! We will enjoy having you for a full two weeks! New Year means… New Fresh Calendar!

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Continued on next page...

January Activities:

A Bible study group meets every Tuesday

from 10:15-11:15 a.m. The current location

for this group program is the large confer-

ence room. However, it may soon change to

be in the Chapel. This group is generously

facilitated by our volunteer Pastor Ron. It is

open to all residents and guests of our Oak

Hill Community.

Interested in facilitating your own activity

program? Contact Brook to find out how!

939-3488 ext. 1130 or email

bmatthews@oakhillmonroecounty.com

January brings sensory activities focused

around winter, reindeer, igloos, and Martin

Lutheran King Jr. Day.

Pencil in these reoccurring monthly dates you won’t want to miss! Church Services Location: Activity Room of Arbor Court (Oak Hill) Catholic Communion: Every 1st Friday of the month at 11:00 a.m.

Catholic Mass: Every 2nd & 3rd Wednesday of the month at 10:30 a.m.

Catholic Rosary: Every Friday at 11:15 a.m. hosted by activity staff.

SPPS Catholic Church- Every Sunday at 11:15 a.m. unless noted otherwise.

U.C.C. – 1st Thursday, 3rd Thursday, and 5Th Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Lutheran- 2nd Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

New Life Church – alternates 4th Thursday of the month. Held on the 4th Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. in November due to the Thanks-giving holiday.

Baptist – Every Sunday at 10:15 a.m. and al-ternates 4th Thursday of the month with New Life Church at 10:30 a.m.

Presbyterian Church – 4th Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

10

Sponsored Bingo Programs 3rd Monday of the month at 2:00 p.m.: Maeystown Church 4th Tuesday of the month at 2:00 p.m.: U.C.C. Church (unless noted otherwise) S.H.O.W. (Students Helping Out Waterloo) sponsors a bingo 1x a month throughout the school year. If you would like to sponsor a bingo program please reach out to Brook, activity director for all schedule coordination. Card Lotto Sponsors Every 3rd Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Volunteers from St. Mary’s church in Valmeyer play a fun card game called Card Lotto (similar to bingo) with our residents! Come join in the fun if card playing interests you! Bowling Game Sponsors Members from St. Peter and Paul Catholic church join us in a fun game of adaptive bowling 1x a month. During the school year, students from Gibault and SPPS middle school join in the fun! Resident Council

Residents gather together to discuss the cur-

rent news happening within their communi-

ty. An open discussion room allows for any

concerns, suggestions, and recommenda-

tions to be discussed with staff members.

Resident Council is held on the 4th Wednes-

day of the month at 2:00p.m. in the activity

room (unless noted otherwise). Open to all

residents!

Monthly Birthday Party

ATTENTION VOLUNTER ORGANIZATIONS: Please take a look at the coming 2019 birth-day months’ host/hostess. Please confirm with the activity director, Brook Matthews, that your organization will be hosting desig-nated birthday party held 2nd Friday of every month at 2:00 p.m. in activity room.

January – Monroe County Home Extension

February- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

March- Monroe County Home Extension

April- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

May- New Hanover Home Ext.

June- Columbia Women’s Club

July- Columbia Midday

August- Columbia Women’s Club

September- Columbia Midday

October- V.F.W Auxiliary

November- HCE Waterloo Homemakers

December - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

11

January LIVE Music Entertainment

Thursday, January 3rd- Forrest

Tuesday, January 8th – Dave Sheppard

Thursday, January 10th- Lynn on the piano

Sunday, January 13th – Alan & R.J.

Monday, January 14th – Tommy Tunes

Friday, January 17th- Lucy on the piano

Tuesday, January 22nd- Deutchmeisters *

6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.*

Wednesday, January 23rd- Joe Powell *

10:00 a.m.*

Thursday, January 24th- Elizabeth LaKamp

January Birthdays

January 3rd- Norman Rehmen

January 4th- Eugene Williams

January 11th- Edna Poenitske

January 13th- Lucille Kistner

January 19th- Helen Graham

January 26th- Edna Probst

January 30th- Audrey Stiffler

January 31st- Mary Clark

12

Magnolia Moments

January 2019

Welcome Betty Congleton

Last Month’s Recap in a Snap…

We started off the Christmas season with our annual Trim-A-Tree where we decorated the tree, warmed

up with hot cocoa, sang carols together and took pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus. Our family night

brought friends together for a great meal and music by Monty and Patti Jackson. We experienced some

great Christmas concerts and even tried our hands on the Christmas bells.

GAME WINNERS

Washers

Maude 16

Arline 14

Rhenelda 12

Marie M. 12

Wii High Scores

Maude 223

Butch 194

Don 189

Rhenelda 189

Ruby 182

Joseph 180

Arline 168

MarieW 161

Where’s Maggie? Winners

Mary Mueller

Jean Brown

Mary Lou

Arline, Lucille,

and

Maudie

play the bells

Santa puts

Gladys

on the NICE list

Friends and

family gather for

Magnolia Terrace

Family Night

Residents check

out artifacts from

the Hencke-Buck

Homestead

13

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wed. 1/2 10:am Music with Alan Brandt

Thu. 1/3 1:30pm Bowling. Come out and bowl in the dining room with real pins and a five pound

rubber ball.

Mon. 1/7 2:00pm Music with Forrest

Thu. 1/10 1:30pm 5-Hole Washers A twist on the washer game

Sat 1/12 9:15am Paraffin Wax Come dip your hands and elbows in hot wax. You’ll feel smooth all

day!

Mon. 1/14 10:15am Brain Games Come stretch your mind with fun group games.

Mon. 1/14 2:00pm Music with Ron Schewe and Tom Jones

Thu. 1/17 1:30pm Snowman Races Come bet on which snowman glides across the finish line first.

Sun. 1/20 1:30pm The Landolfi String Quartet concert at St Paul UCC in Waterloo. . 2pm-4pm

Mon. 1/21 2:00pm Music with Tom Myrda

Wed. 1/23 10:15am Bean Bags Come join friends in the dining room for a friendly competition

Thu. 1/24 9:15am Resident Council Meeting Let your ideas be heard. We will get a look at

February’s activities. Bring your ideas. The meeting will be attended by

representatives from Maintenance, Dietary and Housekeeping.

Thu. 1/24 1:30pm. Birthday Party Come out and celebrate with residents who have January Birthdays. Happy birthday

to Novella, Virginia, Helen W, Betty C and Gladys B.

Mon. 1/28 10:15am Flower Arranging with Debbie Largent. Come see what beautiful craft Debbie

has this month.

Mon. 1/28 2:00pm Music with Tommy Tunes

Thu. 1/31 1:30pm Oral History. This is a new monthly feature. Come out and share your

memories. We are hoping to record and preserve them for future generations

with help from Annie from The Hencke-Buck Homestead. This month’s discussion will start with

the local floods but who knows where we’ll end up.

14

HELD IN CEDAR DINING ROOM

Monday, January 4th 2:30 pm

Forrest Bevineau, “The Singing

Retired Sheriff”

Thursday, January 10th 2:00 pm

Alan and RJ/Singing

Saturday, January 19th 2:30 pm

Lynn “The Piano Man” and Nancy

Wellman-Keyboard

Monday, January 21st 2:30 pm

Pearl Hirsch-Accordion/Keyboard

Monday, January 28th 2:30 pm

Terry Roberson, The Singing Cowboy

M

U

S

I

C

Alzheimer’s Association

“In the Moment” Support Group

Meeting on January 31st

The next meeting will be held on

Thursday, January 31st, 2019, in

the classroom at Oak Hill. The

first part of the meeting will be ed-

ucational and the second part will

be for sharing.

Alzheimer’s literature is available

on the rack outside of the class-

room and is free for everyone.

Anyone who cares for or has a

loved one or friend with dementia

or Alzheimer’s is welcome to at-

tend. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, please call

Julia at 618-939-3488 ext. 1248.

Dear Staff of Whispering Pines:

I’m so very thankful, along with my siblings,

Barb Schrieber, Paul Kronst, Natalie Smith

and Cathy Burgard, for all of you for taking

care of our beloved mom, Nancy.

God’s blessings and care to you, too!

Sincerely,

Ann Roos

15

Ten Absolutes of Alzheimer’s Caregiving

By Ava M. Stinnett

Whether it happens gradually or overnight,

there’s a distinct possibility that one day you

will become a caregiver for a loved one. It may

be for a parent, a spouse, or even one of your

children. According to the National Alliance

for Caregiving, there are more than 65 million

unpaid caregivers of adults aged 65 or older in

the United States. Often, there’s very little

preparation for the daily challenges that care-

givers face, particularly if your loved one has

Alzheimer’s disease or another form of demen-

tia.

There are numerous city and state education

programs and services to address the needs of

those who provide long-term care for loved

ones at home. You’ll also find many excellent

books that address the topic of caregiving.

The Alzheimer’s Association, the Family

Caregiver Alliance, A Place for Mom, and

Eldercare Locator are just a few of many

online organizations that provide information

and links to support groups. Talking with

medical professionals about changes in diet,

exercise, medication, and ways to stay men-

tally active can also be of benefit. There are

practical questions, such as how to manage

doctor’s appointments, insurance paperwork,

and how to take time off of work. But there

are also poignant, soul-searching questions.

In this age of information overload, of having

too much information leading to what psycholo-

gist David Lewis refers to as “information fa-

tigue syndrome,” here’s a list of 10 absolutes

in dementia care. These helpful suggestions

written by Jo Huey, an Alzheimer’s care-

giver for over 30 years, are culled from

both clinical and practical research and

provide a straightforward way of managing

care.

-Never argue, instead agree.

-Never reason, instead divert.

-Never shame, instead distract.

-Never say “you can’t,” instead say, “do

what you can.”

-Never command or demand, instead ask

or model.

-Never condescend, instead encourage and

praise.

-Never say “remember,” instead reminisce.

-Never say “I told you,” instead repeat.

-Never lecture, instead reassure.

-Never force, instead reinforce.

If you provide care to someone who has

dementia, you may already know of the

emotional, mental, and physical challenges

that lie ahead. Remembering these abso-

lutes can be more difficult in practice than

in theory. However, remaining under-

standing, patient, and attuned to your

loved one’s condition are key to providing

the best care possible. As Maya Angelou

said, “They may forget your name, but

they will never forget how you made them

feel.”

Sources

Huey, J. (2008). Alzheimer’s disease: Help

and hope (2nd ed.). Alzheimer’s Institute.

Mace, N.L. & Rabins, P.V. (2012). The 36-

hour day: A family guide to caring for peo-

ple who have Alzheimer’s disease, related

dementias, and memory loss. New York:

Grand Central Publishing.

Scot, P.S. (2014). Surviving Alzheimer’s:

Practical tips and soul-saving wisdom for

caregivers. San Francisco: Eva-Birch Me-

dia.