The Copeland Experience, August 2017
Copeland Oaks Is Going To the Canfield Fair!
Since 1846, the Canfield Fair has grown into a beloved summer tradition that is enjoyed by youngsters and oldsters throughout the Mahoning Valley and northeastern Ohio. This year’s motto of the Canfield Fair is: Something to Crow About! And, Copeland Oaks Retirement Community definitely has a lot to crow about. What better place to greet old friends and neighbors, meet new friends and spread the news about Copeland Oaks’ vibrant campus? The Copeland Oaks exhibit will be located on Bishop Dr. between Smith Dr. and Coitsville Dr.
Staff and residents will be available to answer questions and give details about the unlimited opportunities and lifestyle on the Copeland Oaks Campus.
The display will feature a video of places and faces seen daily within the senior living community located near Sebring. Know someone who would like to receive the monthly Copeland Oaks e-newsletter? They can sign-up at the fair and receive a useful gift.
Besides exhibiting at the event, many Copeland Oaks and Crandall Medical Center residents will enjoy a day visiting at the Canfield Fair. Residents of independent living, catered living, assisted living and the medical center will be boarding the Copeland buses early Friday, Sept. 1, to travel to Canfield to enjoy Senior Day events and entertainment at the fair.
Recent Events
Solar Eclipse Party
Nearly 400 Copeland Oaks residents, family members, and guests gathered Monday afternoon throughout the retirement campus to get a glimpse of a natural phenomenon: The Solar Eclipse.
Party central was the tent and patio outside Lakeview Terrace where music was provided by DJ Bud Householder. Ice cream treats were served from an old-fashioned ice cream bike by Tom Mathers.
A great view of the clear blue sky also afforded about to 200 eclipse watchers from the deck adjacent to Murphy Auditorium and the Aquatic Center. Residents in the Donald R. James Assisted Living Center viewed the eclipse from the balconies on each of the 3 floors of the building that overlooks Copeland Lake. Residents of Crandall Medical Center gathered on the first-floor patio to view the eclipse via NASA television programming on a huge screen.
Protective glasses were provided to residents, staff, and guests viewing the eclipse outside.
The solar eclipse coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Moon Pie. To celebrate both historic events, everyone attending the eclipse parties enjoyed a Moon Pie as well! Residents were challenged by Moon Pie trivia and door prizes were awarded.
Upcoming Events
The Farm at Walnut Creek
Tuesday, August 29
It’s almost harvest time! The perfect season to head to Amish Country and visit The Farm at Walnut Creek is now. But residents won’t need their barn boots when they board the Copeland Oaks bus on Tuesday morning, August 29, to travel to the heart of Holmes County.
A working farm, Copeland residents will have the opportunity to see plowing, thrashing, canning, quilting and other harvest activities. They will also get a glimpse into Amish daily life during a tour of the non-electric farm houses, and take home some of the produce available at the farm stand.
The Farm at Walnut Creek hosts over 500 animals, including species from six of the seven continents. The menagerie includes exotic animals such as giraffes, camels, zebras, and kangaroos along with more common animals like horses, llamas, buffaloes, and deer. The Copeland Oaks visitors will have the opportunity to hand-feed the animals from a horse-drawn carriage. After working up an appetite with all the activities down on the farm, the group will enjoy lunch at Dutch Valley.
Mount Union vs. North Carolina Wesleyan
September, August 21 – 12:30 PM
It has been said that the Copeland Oaks residents who are University of Mount Union alumni “bleed purple.” Ready to re-claim their national title, the Purple Raiders will face off with North Carolina Wesleyan in the season’s home opener scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 2, at 12:30 PM.
You can bet Copeland Oaks residents will be wearing purple in the stands cheering on the Raiders. The bus will leave the main Copeland Oaks entrance at 11:45 AM. Winners of 12 NCAA Division III national championships, the Purple Raiders ended the 2016 season at 12-2.
Chagrin Falls Trip
Thursday, September 7
What do Tim Conway, Sonny Geraci, Doug Kenney and Rick Manning all have in common? They were all natives to Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Copeland Oaks residents will experience the quaint village with a waterfall in the downtown area when they travel on Thursday, Sept. 7, to Chagrin Falls.
Founded in 1844, the village in Cuyahoga County 25 miles east of Cleveland, has maintained much of its early 19th century charm. The Chagrin Valley Little Theater is one of the oldest community theaters in the U.S. The Chagrin Hardware has been in town for the past 160 years, and the Popcorn shop opened in 1949. Appropriately named, the town was founded around waterfalls on the Chagrin River. Copeland Residents will have the day to explore, shop, eat, and enjoy the historic community.
James A. Garfield Historical Site Visit
Tuesday, September 19
Copeland Oaks residents will travel on Tuesday, Sept. 19 to Mentor, Ohio to tour the James A. Garfield Historical Site. Managed by the National Park Service, the Garfield Site includes a visitor center and tour of his family home.
During the day, residents will see the front porch Garfield used to greet thousands of well-wishers during his presidential campaign, where he and Lucretia Garfield raised their 7 children and a memorial library. The visitor center chronicles Garfield’s political life during 9 terms in the House of Representatives and his short presidency from March 1881, until his assassination on July 2 in a railroad station in Washington, D.C.
A Message from Dave Mannion, CEO
Copeland Oaks is a place for all seasons. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter…the beauty of Copeland Oaks amazes me every day as I travel around the campus.
First, Copeland Oaks is doubly blessed to have 250 acres among rolling farm fields in rural northeast Ohio. It is a daily occurrence to see deer romping on the lawns on their way to steal a snack in a neighboring cornfield, or young goslings learning to swim under a mother goose’s watchful eye in our 5-acre lake.
The centerpiece of the campus, the lake is breathtaking when it reflects the blazing colors of the surrounding Fall foliage. The lake takes on a totally different “personality” when the ice coating gleams and sparkles in front of a white backdrop on a frigid winter afternoon.
This summer the campus has been especially colorful, thanks to Mother Nature who has supplied ample sunshine and rain to nurture the thousands of flowers blooming. But also, in a large part due to the work and expertise of the Copeland Oaks Grounds Crew who maintain dozens of beds with mulch and fertilizer, battle the weeds and continuously keep the lawns “golf course” perfect.
Our residents who enjoy gardening as a hobby are beginning to reap the fruits of their labors as the harvest season gets into full swing. They will be enjoying baskets of ripe tomatoes, beans, squash and corn grown in the two community garden plots on campus.
As the harvest season unfolds, the campus will take on an even more vibrant palette of color. Blessed again by nature with hundreds of oak trees that become deeper shades of russet, red, and yellow-brown. Oaks tend to be the last holdouts in the fall, giving the campus color and interest later in the season. The thick, heavy leaves make a majestic statement.
Residents and guests who want to get closer to nature than the view from their apartment of villa windows, can enjoy the walk which fully encircles Copeland Lake, beginning and ending at the Activity Center boardwalk. For the more adventurous, the 5K nature trail takes hikers through the wooded, naturalized areas of the campus.
Copeland Oaks is not only a place for all seasons of life…it is a beautiful place to enjoy the best that nature has to offer in any season of the year.
Meet the Card Shark
The retired Methodist minister Grace Berlo has called Lakeshore Apartments home since 2005. She is a mother and grandmother whose loving spirit is evident to everyone she meets. What’s not so clear…reading what hand she’s playing!
- Graduate of Otterbein and Methodist Theological Seminary
- Former high school health and physical education teacher
- Often preaches at our chapel vesper services
- Plays bridge and pinochle with other residents
Grace learned about Copeland Oaks when, during her years as pastor, she brought youth groups to the campus for intergenerational experiences. She said, “I knew that I wanted to live there someday.”
Our very own card shark with a heart of gold learned to play euchre and cribbage in college and later, “got hooked” on bridge during her time as a homemaker.
Since moving to Copeland Oaks, Grace frequently plays duplicate bridge with several groups. She also enjoys pinochle.
At age 37, Grace enrolled in the Methodist Theological Seminary in Ohio. She served Akron area churches for nearly 30 years. Although retired, she continues what she calls her On Call Ministry. “I help wherever the Spirit sends me – be it family, friends, neighbors, or people I have never met.”
Meet Sherry Vernon
Sherry Vernon’s mission is to turn an ordinary day for Copeland Oaks Assisted Living residents into something special. Sherry’s colleagues feel she is accomplishing that mission and named her “Copeland Oaks Employee of the Month” for July.
A Copeland Oaks employee for the past 22 years, Sherry is a member of the Assisted Living Activities Staff.
“Sherry will turn any activity into something unexpected. She always puts a little twist into the program that keeps everyone on their toes and laughing.”
A good example is the “Golf Cart Capers,“ Sherry organizes. A group of 6 or 8 residents will board the AL golf cart to tour the Copeland campus…“armed” with squirt guns. Their favorite time to “cruise” is around shift change when they “cool off” as many staff as possible. During the Fall, the capers turn into “Tomato Raids” with the loaded golf cart heading out to one of the community gardens on the Copeland campus. For the garden excursions, residents are “armed” with salt shakers so they can “destroy the evidence on the spot.”
Sherry began her career in life enrichment for seniors at Crandall Medical Center where she worked for 12 years. She was the first activities coordinator assigned to assisted living when the Donald R. James Assisted Living facility was opened on the Copeland Campus. An Alliance resident, Sherry enjoys golfing.
We’ll Help With Moving Costs!
Move into a Lakeshore Apartment by June 30th and we will help with your moving costs!
Experience Copeland Oaks by exploring our website or visiting in person. To schedule a friendly, no-pressure tour, call 330-938-6126 or 800-222-4640.