December 2016

Safe Toys and Gifts

Month

Cookie Cutter Week

December 1–7

Miners’ Day

December 6

Nobel Prize Day

December 10

Underdog Day

December 16

Hanukkah Begins

December 24

Christmas December 25

Kwanzaa Begins

December 26

No Interruptions Day

December 30

Happy Holidays to all,

Christmas is just around the corner! It’s a wonderful time of year. From the beautiful decorations to the simple acts of giving and shared time with loved ones, the cold weather can’t stop this season of joy! Carolers and holiday music filling the halls, decorations, the smell of hot cocoa, and other wonderful memories make the season even brighter. Take a look at just some of the ways we are planning to celebrate the season. (See calendar insert for details.)

1st- Christmas Decorating

7th –Rock & Roll Christmas with Elvis

13th – Donnie Haiber Entertainer

14th- Christmas Cookie Decorating

15th – Riverbend High School Bell Choir

16th – Faith Baptist School Carolers

17th – Locust Grove Middle School Carolers

20th – Resident’s Christmas Celebration with Santa

25th – Christmas Reminiscing with Hot Chocolate

Ruth Boyd, Director of Activities

2

“Silent Night” was first sung as part of a church service in

Austria. A guitar was used because the church organ was

so badly rusted it couldn’t be played.

In Germany there are many different characters for

Christmas. Nikolaus comes on December 5th and on

December 24th when the actual opening of the gifts is

happening, they have been brought either by Knecht

Ruprecht, Weihnachtsmann, or the Christkindl, (Christ

child) which is an angelic child dressed in a white and or

golden dress much like a long nightgown. It has wings,

and has usually a small horse or a donkey as a

companion.

In Germany and some other western European

countries, St. Nicholas, or Nikolaus comes on the night

from the 5th to the 6th of December, where children

have their boots all shined and clean in front of a door or

window. He will leave toys, nuts oranges, apples and

chocolate for the good children. The bad child gets a

branch to be used by the parents to punish the child.

Guatemalan adults do not exchange Christmas gifts until

New Year’s Day. Children get theirs (from the Christ

Child) on Christmas morning.

In North America, children put stockings out at

Christmas time. Their Dutch counterparts use shoes.

The poinsettia, a traditional Christmas flower, originally

grew in Mexico, where it is also known as the ‘Flower of

the Holy Night’. Joel Poinsett first brought it to America

in 1829.

4th Charlotte Carter 5th Joy Hayden 6th Rhonda Fleming 9th Wanda Jenkins 10th Sheri Watts 12th Marian Smith 16th Janelle Rice 19th Marla Douglas 19th Holly Rodgers 21st Shirley McCain 22nd Candice Collins 22nd Elizabeth Washington 25th Joy Barrett 28th Sherrie Burrell 31st Shawn Turner

December

Flower: Narcissus

Bette Midler – Dec. 1, 1945 Katerina Witt – Dec. 3, 1965 Walt Disney – Dec. 5, 1901 Beau Bridges – Dec. 9, 1941 Brenda Lee – Dec. 11, 1944 Frank Sinatra – Dec. 12, 1915 Margaret Mead – Dec.16, 1901 William Parry – Dec. 19, 1790 Barbara Billingsley – Dec. 22, 1922 Ava Gardner – Dec. 24, 1922 Susan Butcher – Dec. 26, 1954 Mary Tyler Moore – Dec. 29, 1936 John Denver – Dec. 31, 1943

Birthstones: Turquoise

Tanzanite Blue Zircon

Famous Birthdays

5th Geraldine Beam 6th Irene Coleman 7th Joann Brusso 10th Virginia Ashbaugh 16th Mary Hughes 29th Walter Roles 30th Anthony Delvicario 30th Earline Jenkins 31st Agnes Maynard

Residents

International Christmas Facts

Staff

When visiting Finland, Santa leaves his sleigh behind and rides on a goat named Ukko. Finnish folklore has it that

Ukko is made of straw, but is strong enough to carry Santa Claus anyway.

When distributing gifts in Holland, St. Nicholas is accompanied his assistant, Peit, who is responsible for actually

dropping the presents down their recipients’ chimneys. He also punishes bad children by putting them in a bag and

carrying them away to Spain.

The day after Christmas, December 26, is known as Boxing Day. It is also the holy day of St. Stephen.

In Syria, Christmas gifts are distributed by one of the Wise Men’s camels. The gift-giving camel is said to have been

the smallest one in the Wise Men’s caravan.

One town in Indiana is called Santa Claus. There is also a Santa, Idaho.

The popular Christmas song “Jingle Bells” was actually written for Thanksgiving. The song was composed in 1857 by

James Pierpont, and was originally called “One Horse Open Sleigh”.

There are 364 gifts mentioned in “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.

The Puritans forbade the singing of Christmas carols.

George Frederick Handel’s great Christmas oratorio, “The Messiah”, was first performed in 1742, in Dublin.

America’s official national Christmas tree is located in King’s Canyon National Park in California. The tree, a giant

sequoia called the “General Grant Tree”, is over 90 meters (300 feet) high, and was made the official Christmas tree in

1925.

The first Christmas was celebrated on December 25, AD 336 in Rome.

Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real ones since 1991.

St. Nicholas was bishop of the Turkish town of Myra in the early 4th century. The Dutch first made him into a

Christmas gift-giver, and Dutch settlers brought him to America where his name eventually became the familiar Santa

Claus.

In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of fried fish, lettuce and spinach.

Christmas has different meanings around the world; Christmas Eve in Japan is a good day to eat fried chicken and

strawberry shortcake.

Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday, and the tradition began in 1836.

Many of the traditions associated with Christmas (giving gifts, lighting a Yule log, singing carols, decorating an

evergreen) date back to older religions.

In 1647, the English parliament passed a law made Christmas illegal. The Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, who

considered feasting and revelry on what was supposed to be a holy day to be immoral, banned the Christmas

festivities. The ban was lifted only when Cromwell lost power in 1660.

Michigan has no official state song, but one, ‘Michigan, My Michigan,’ is frequently used. The words were written in

1863, and the melody used is that of the Christmas song “O Tannenbaum”.

Franklin Pierce was the first president to decorate an official White House Christmas tree.

Christmas Crackers were invented around 1846 by Tom Smith who developed them for Christmas from the French

habit of wrapping sugared almonds in twists of paper as gifts.

J.S. Bach inscribed most of his musical scores with the note ‘In dem Namen Jesus’, or in English ‘In the name of

Jesus’.

The Canadian province of Nova Scotia leads the world in exporting lobster, wild blueberries, and Christmas trees.

Roast turkey did not appear consistently on royal Christmas Day menus until 1851 when it replaced roast swan. The

medieval dish of Boar’s head remained popular with Royals for much longer.

Electric Christmas lights were first used in 1854.

The holiday Boxing Day was originally celebrated in England, for the servants to the rich people. After Christmas, the

servants “boxed up” all the left-overs from the rich people and bring them home.

International Christmas Facts- continued

Star of the Month’s Name

Outings

If you are interested in

attending a scheduled

outing please see or notify

Activities staff to have your

name put on the list as soon

as possible. Spots fill up

quickly and space is limited.

Four Legged Friends

If you wish to bring your dog to visit your loved one, please give a

copy of the dog’s current shot records, with your loved one’s

name and room number on it, to Activity staff. Also, please keep

the dog out of dining areas during meals and keep the dog on a leash

at all times. Thank you!

Get Well Go Home

Carriage Hill staff celebrates a few of many successful discharges home.

Administration Administrator, John Sevier Human Resources Manager, Tami Betts

Business Office Business Office Manager, Wanda Jenkins

Facilities Environmental Services Director, Robert Saar

Maintenance Manager, Jim Montgomery

Nursing Director of Nursing, Jewel Myers, RN

Assistant Director of Nursing, Evanthe Rockwood, RN Unit Manager Old Dominion/Centennial Way, Monika Trapp, LPN Unit Manager Commonwealth Lane/Victory Court, Rachel Ambrose, RN Unit Manager Memory Lane, Christina Bates, LPN

Admissions Director of Admissions & Marketing, Colleen Steffey

Rehab Rehab Coordinator, Amanda George

Dining Services Dietitian, Linda Timm

Director of Dietary Services, Deborah Freeman

Medical Services Medical Director, Dr. Chris Harrington

Physician, Dr. Joseph

Social Services Director of Social Services, Rachel Leonard

Social Services Assistant, Trish Stenger

Activities Director of Activities, Ruth Boyd

Activities Assistants, Alice Boston & Alyssa Spencer

6106 Health Center Lane Fredericksburg, VA 22407