While working as an assistant chef at an exclusive resort in Palm Beach, Fla., Charles Heinrich never thought he would be using his culinary talents at an area retirement center. Heinrich is the essential ingredient in Laurel View Village’s dining plan, which combines therapeutic diets, instructional food service, nutritional guidelines and culinary delights.....more>>
Jerry Hoover of Ebensburg has noticed a huge improvement in his range of motion. Hoover, 71, credits his limber limbs to the Silver Sneakers exercise classes he attends. “You think it’s a simple process, but when you get into it, it’s not,” Hoover said after his Monday morning class. “It’s fairly tough, intense exercise.”
Bill and Sally Reddecliff enjoy dancing so much that they have joined regulars at Johnstown’s Senior Activity Center at 550 Main St. The center is entering a new era as it introduces its Stardust Ballroom, which will be a reflection of the great ballrooms so prevalent in the 1930s and ’40s.
Mary Govekar enjoys working out on treadmills and exercise bikes, but since she turned 80, she has to curtail other workouts. “I used to love to line dance until my knees gave out on me,” said Govekar, a Jackson Township resident. Govekar is one of more than 350 members of the Jackson Township Senior Center, Vinco. The center boasts it is the only self-reliant senior center in Cambria County.
When Lura Mellot of Everett auditioned for a bit part with the Bedford County Players in 1990, she didn’t expect to land a major role in Neil Simon’s “Come Blow Your Horn.” “I thought it would be fun,” Mellot said. “I hadn’t done it since high school dramatics club. “I wondered if I could learn my lines. It went over well, and I got hooked again.” Mellot, 83, has been with the acting troupe ever since, doing everything from pulling an upside-down cow in a wagon through a town to crawling under a bishop’s robe to tie some extra padding to his fanny.
Richard Gladis may have lost his right leg in September, but he still is standing tall in his community. The 67-year-old resident of Mine 40 is mayor of Scalp Level and has returned to his office on Main Street to pick up where he left off prior to his hospitalization.
The Presents for Patients program seeks to match residents in personal-care and nursing homes with individuals and families in the community who will deliver items from the residents’ wish lists during the holiday season. Arbutus Park Retirement Community, 207 Ottawa St., Richland Township, will be the headquarters for Presents for Patients in Cambria County.
Steve Seman is a well-respected local sports historian who, at 90 years of age, has instant recall of events that happened decades earlier. Seman is one of 80 residents living at The Atrium, a personal-care home at 216 Main St. in downtown Johnstown. The facility will mark its 20th anniversary Tuesday with a party for staff, residents and their families.
Pauline Langerholc felt like a queen as she rode in the conspicuous Wienermobile to her grandson’s wedding. The 83-year-old resident of Arbutus Park Retirement Community was transported from a Williamsburg, Va., hotel to the ceremony in the gigantic hot-dog-in-a-bun vehicle, which has been a symbol of Oscar Mayer frankfurters for 70 years.
Shirley Wilson made a decision recently that few 70-year-old women face. Should she buy a new motorcycle or invest in a new pair of roller skates? The Jackson Township widow opted for the skates. “I don’t smoke or drink, and my only vice is roller skating,” Wilson said prior to going to an Indiana County rink for an evening of music, fellowship and fun. “When I’m on the floor, I’m 15 years old again. I would skate eight nights a week if I could.”
