seniors’ chat · in memory of ken shaffer 1927-2016 kenneth vernon shaffer (age 88) of sterling,...
TRANSCRIPT
2016
SeniorS’ Chat
Bill’s Column
On May 4th @ 11:00AM, there will be an election for 7 members to serve on the Happy
Hands committee. There are some who would like to be re-elected. There are a few who feel
they have served long enough. Please come to vote. Then you can have fun socializing.
After lunch, Nancy Rarus will give a brief demonstration to iPhone or
iPad users on how to send a video in a text message. I will provide training on Sudoku
puzzle techniques that are suitable for beginners to experts! Like crossword, Sudoku is
a great way to stimulate your brain, sharpen your logic skills, increase mental dexterity
and heighten concentration.
An upcoming event for June 1st will be the annual picnic at Bull Run Regional Park off
I-66 in Centreville, VA. There will be two choices of main dishes: Choice #1
Hamburgers and Hot Dogs, and Choice #2 BBQ Beef, Chicken, and Pork. Side dishes
and desserts, and fun games will be provided. Let’s hope for good weather at our
picnic.
DC Ducks Tour
Janet Blakely is planning a DC Ducks tour this summer. She is
aiming for August 2. The land and water tour lasts about 90 minutes.
It operates from 10:00AM to 4:00PM, every hour on the hour. The
schedule is subject to change due to weather and low tide conditions.
The regular price is $42.00 per adult, and the online price is $37.80.
If we get at least 25 people, we can get 10% off. For more
information about the DC Ducks tour, see: http://www.dcducks.com.
For the route map, see: http://www.dcducks.com/washington-dc-map.
Janet needs an idea of how many of you are interested in taking a DC
Ducks tour. If yes, please let her know by June 7 at:
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Happy Hands Luncheon
May 4, 2016 at 10:00 AM
Luncheon Menu:
Meatloaf — Cheryl & Rocky Rockburn
Chicken — Nancy Rarus
Green Beans — Norma Thompson
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy— Bill Center
Pasta Salad / Vegetable Salad — Janet Blakely
Tossed Salad — Peggy & Paul Daniels
Hawaiian Corn Pudding — Elaine Shaffer
Fruit Salad — Ann Marie Swiatkowski
Rolls and Butter — Pete Brawley
Cookies — Jill Moebus
Cobbler— Peter Brawley
We need volunteers for Carrots. For more information re: the menu, please contact Cheryl Rockburn at
[email protected]. We will have an election of officers for 2016-2017. The Nominations Committee
chair is Nancy Rarus ([email protected]). If you are interested in running for one of the officer positions,
please contact Nancy. We will also have training on Sudoku by Bill Center and Video/Texting for iPhones by
Nancy Rarus. For more information, contact Bill Center at [email protected].
Project Lifesaver
Fairfax County and Loudoun County offer a program called “Project Lifesaver” which assists families and
caregivers of individuals with autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, and related
conditions and disabilities. The Project Lifesaver clients wear a wrist or ankle band that emits a silent
tracking signal. When caregivers notify the Sheriff’s Office that a loved one is missing, a search and rescue
team responds to the area with state-of-the-art tracking equipment.
For Fairfax County, see:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/sheriff/lifesaver.htm
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/sheriff/lifesaverfaqs.htm
For Loudoun County, see:
https://sheriff.loudoun.gov/?nid=260
https://sheriff.loudoun.gov/DocumentCenter/View/328
Photos from Happy Hands Luncheon On April 6, 2016
Pictures taken by Janet Blakely [http://www.beechasl.net/happyhands/04-06-2016/Photos.html]
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George Herberger and Jill Moebus
Nancy Rarus Sharon Svenningsen and Joe Cohen
Peter Brawley, Norma Thompson, and
Cheryl Rockburn
Linda Whitworth, Gary Viall,
and JoAnn Pelarski
Phuong Duong and Jill Moebus
Paul Daniels
and Don Ames
George Herberger and Bill Center
PAGE 4
Photos from Happy Hands Luncheon On April 6, 2016 (continued)
Cheryl Rockburn, Janet Blakely, and
Ann Marie Swiatkowski
Presentation
on Australia Trip
50/50 Raffle Winner
Nancy Rarus - 2nd Prize ($7)
50/50 Raffle Winner
Linda Whitworth - 1st Prize ($20) Paul Daniels
Robert Whitworth and Jerry Pelarski
Joe Cohen, Rocky Rockburn, and Peter Brawley
PAGE 5
In Memory of Jim Beech
1949-2016
James Loranza Beech (Age 66) of Ashburn, VA passed away on
Monday, April 11, 2016. Born in Washington, DC in 1949, his family
lived in various places such as Japan and Germany, before settling in
Falls Church, VA. He graduated from Falls Church High School in 1967,
and University of Jamestown (Jamestown, ND) with a degree in
Philosophy/Religion and Sociology in 1971. He coached girls basketball
and softball. He was employed by the Environmental Protection Agency
as a computer programmer for 20 years.
He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Patricia Gaither Beech, and his
brothers, Len William Beech (Tanya) and Robert Litton Beech
(Barbara), his sister, Peggy Lee Manduke (Mark), and brother-in-law Michael Gaither. He was a
proud uncle of Dale (Nicole), Stephen, and Dayna Beech; Matthew, Scott, and Noelle Gaither;
Jennifer and Michael Manduke. He also was a proud great-uncle of Austin and Nash Beech. He
was predeceased by his parents, Anna Lee Witt and James Harold Beech, his nephew Christopher
Beech, and his nephew, Kevin Manduke.
His friends and relatives all know Jim for his intense love of Macintosh computers; traveling to
places such as Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, National Parks; University of Jamestown (Class of 1971
and Sigma Gamma Chi Fraternity); and Witt Family reunions (website and newsletters). Jim also
assisted his wife in her volunteer work for Happy Hands, Northern Virginia Resource Center for
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons, etc.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Floris United Methodist Church on May 5th at 1PM.
Donations can be made in his memory to the Anna Lee Witt Beech Endowed Scholarship Fund at
University of Jamestown, 6082 College Lane, Jamestown ND 58405. The scholarship will be
awarded to a junior or senior nursing student who has demonstrated a financial need.
Thanks to:
All who helped with the set-up and clean-up at the
April Luncheon
Those who brought goodies to the April Luncheon
Paul & Peggy Daniels for giving a presentation on Australia trip
Janet Blakely for taking pictures at the April Luncheon
Bruce Greenfield for taking pictures of the Happy Hands booth at
Celebrate Communication on April 16
PAGE 6
In Memory of Ken Shaffer
1927-2016
Kenneth Vernon Shaffer (Age 88) of Sterling, VA, passed away
Friday, March 25, 2016. Born in California in 1927, he attended
the California School for the Deaf in Berkeley and graduated
from Gallaudet University with the Class of '51, and was
employed by the U.S. Geological Survey as Cartographer for 30
years.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Elaine Liner Shaffer,
daughter Karen Fletcher (Donald), son Lance Shaffer; proud
grandpa to grandchildren Jenny Seaton (Jesse), Carrie Sowdon
(Carl), Brian Fletcher; great-grandsons Tanner Seaton and Ryan
Sowdon, and numerous nieces and nephews. He is also survived
by sisters-in-law Faye Melancon (Lolan) of Louisiana, and Jo Corrick (George) of Florida. He was
predeceased by his parents Vernon Shaffer and Gladys Dodson Shaffer, brother Donald and sister
Judy Shaffer Vigil.
His friends all know him for his intense love of trains and by his many write-ups in publications
for the Deaf. A Celebration of Life event will be held on April 30 at NVRC during 2PM-4PM.
Photos from Celebrate Communication
On April 16, 2016
Happy Hands Booth
Eve Christian and Elaine Shaffer
Happy Hands Booth
Elaine Shaffer and Jill Moebus
Happy Hands
Luncheon
Events for May 2016
FYI: If Fairfax County Government is closed due to weather (i.e., tornado),
NVRC will be closed, too.
For more information about Maryland Deaf Senior Citizens, Inc., contact Willis Mann at [email protected] or see:
http://www.mddeafseniors.org/.
Frederick Deaf Seniors will have its monthly luncheon on May 12. The location is Frederick County Department of Aging, Senior Center,
1440 Taney Avenue, Frederick MD. For more information, contact Mary Sue Boxer at [email protected].
For information about Northern Virginia Association of the Deaf, contact Donna Graff-Viall at [email protected].
Fredericksburg Deaf Seniors meet on May 10 at noon. The location is Salem Baptist Church at 4044 Plank Road, Fredericksburg VA 22407
(http://www.salembc.com/#/welcome/directions). For more information, contact Arva Priola at [email protected].
For more information about the Cascades Coffee Chat group, contact Bev Young at [email protected]. This group meets @ 10:00AM at
Starbucks Marketplace, 210-21 Southbank Street, Sterling VA 20165.
For more information about ASL Dinners, contact Robert Goodwin at [email protected].
For more information about Deaf Coffee Chat events in Northern Virginia, see: http://happy.deafcoffee.com/category/virginia/
A. Leesburg — Josephine Bergner at [email protected]
2nd Friday every month at 6PM-10PM at Panera Bread, 215 Fort Evans Road NE, Leesburg VA
B. Martinsburg — Donna Day at [email protected]
4th Thursday every month at 6PM at Starbucks inside Target Store off I-81, Exit #12
C. Winchester — Donna Day at [email protected]
3rd Thursday every month at 6PM-8PM at Starbucks, 191 Market Street, Winchester VA (inside Target off I-81, Exit #317)
D. Fredericksburg— Timothy Willard at [email protected]
2nd Thursday every month at 7PM-10PM at Starbucks Coffee, 3500 Plank Road #A, Fredericksburg
4th Thursday every month at 7PM-10PM at Starbucks Coffee, 9907 Southpoint Parkway, Fredericksburg
PAGE 7
Fredericksburg
Deaf Seniors
Happy Hands
Fine Tuners
Frederick Deaf
Seniors
PAGE 8
Bill Center, Chair
Pat Beech, Editor
www.nvrc.org
VP 571-350-8656
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
...to the folks with
birthdays in May
Dean Keefe [12th]
Laurence Doan [14th]
George Herberger [16th]
Rose Otterman [17th]
Eve Christian [25th]
Sunshine
News
Greetings from Colorado! Wow, how the time flies. It’s
already a year since I sold my house. For those of you
who did not know I had moved to Colorado and bought
a house in Durango. My son and his daughter live with
me. In case you are wondering, yes, my beloved dog,
16-years-old, is still with me and has adapted to living
in the rugged Colorado. We had a lot of snow last
winter including a beautiful white Christmas. I’m now
looking forward to planting the flowers. Have a safe
and an enjoyable summer. I miss you all, Carolyn
Carolyn with
granddaughter Emmylou Son Randy
Blackie on top of boxes during
move to Durango Christmas Day 2015