Carolina Meadows news

Pittsboro – A Certified Retirement Community

By CM Resident, Bill Powers The North Carolina Department of Commerce has named Chatham County’s town of Pittsboro a Certified Retirement Community, meaning that the county seat has been recognized as a popular retirement destination. It is only the fifth place in the state to receive this designation. Pittsboro, about a half hour drive from Carolina Meadows, offers a number of attractions including fine restaurants, a nationally celebrated pottery, and an impressive woodcraft shop. Carolina Meadows was one of the sponsors of the petition to obtain the coveted designation for Pittsboro. Other sponsors include Fearrington Village, UNC Health Care, and Chatham Hospital. In light of the designation, a committee has been formed to market Pittsboro nationally as a desirable place to retire. Fuller information about Pittsboro and the other certified communities in the state can be found at www.visitnc.com/retire. A number of people who retire to the Pittsboro area -- to Fearrington Village, for example -- subsequently move to a Continuing Care Retirement Community. In fact, so many Carolina Meadows residents have come here from Fearrington that Carolina Meadows is sometimes jokingly referred to as “Fearrington North!”

Still-life masterpieces serve visual feast at N.C. Museum of Art

A Visual Feast from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston North Carolina Museum of Art, Fall/Winter 2012/13 Still-life painting – without calling it by that name – has been around a long time. When the ashes from the eruption of the Vesuvius in 79 A.D. were finally cleared away from the homes of Pompeii, wall paintings and mosaics appeared with pictures of bowls of fruit and other foods, often arranged on kitchen-like cupboards. These daily food items were called xenia and represented hospitality gifts the owner of the house offered his guests (incidentally, the Spanish word for still-life ”bodegón” also means pantry). The Greek philosopher Heraclitus made the observation that life is an unrelenting stream of impressions and nothing stays the same. The desire to halt this stream and turn a particular moment into a permanent time fragment is a nostalgic human wish. In modern times there are several ways which come close to catching that time fragment: photographs, video (stills) and holograms are examples of realistic resemblances. But in ancient times, drawings and paintings were the only way to connect a memorable item to a treasured memory. Therefore, paintings needed to be hyper-realistic. Besides requiring great artistic skills, artists would employ devices such as trompe-l’oeil to enhance the “touchability” of the artwork, fooling the eye of the public. It could create an allusion or take on metaphoric significance. This became particularly pronounced in Renaissance still-life painting. During the Middle Ages, religious painting became more dominant. However, in the Renaissance, interest in still-life painting resumed to the point that it acquired an equal place among religious, historical and other categories of painting. Italy and the Netherlands were leading the way in still-life theme expansion. Market scenes with vendors and larger varieties of fruit, vegetables and wildlife items appeared. Musical instruments became a popular subject. A growing interest in science showed up in tableaus with books, pinned notes on boards, and academic paraphernalia. Most pronounced were the skulls, snuffed candles and broken stems of flowers in the Vanitas paintings, representing their Memento Mori message and thus urging the human race to live an honorable life. The present exhibit counts several exquisitely painted still-lives from the 19th and 20th Century of predominantly French and American painters, among others Fantin-Latour (1872), Cezanne (1899), James Peale (1830), MacDonald-Wright (1923). 20th Century artists, experimenting with new styles, dropped the hyper-realistic still-life technique but held on to the term ”still life”. Among others: Braque (1921), Gris (1925), Morris (1941), Kline (1946). For the unsuspecting visitor to this exhibition who anticipates just paintings with beautifully arranged flower bouquets, tastefully built stacks of fruit and dead ducks precariously hanging over the edge of a table, there are surprises in store. The organizers of the show took the concept “still life” a step further by including three-dimensional objects such as a covered porcelain dish in the shape of a sunflower (London, Chelsea Factory, 1750). And a Sevres porcelain ice-cream cooler (c.1750), showing painted magnolias and lilies. From these objects it was just a small step to add jewelry. There is a delicate Dandelion Brooch by Jan Yager, American (2001). The dandelion weed that grows in the cracks of the sidewalk in Philadelphia where she lives is executed in silver and holds in the center a found object piece of autoglass as a gem. This is a still-life. Is perhaps every object on its own a potential still-life? Yager’s accompanying text (metaphor) of the Dandelion Brooch: “Growth and decay are inseparately interwoven. The decay of one thing provides fertile ground for another.” The last room in the exhibition area is a small video cubicle. The creator of the artwork “Still Life” (2001), a 3-minute time-lapse photography piece, is Sam Taylor-Wood, a 60-year-old, British-born woman. The subject: a wicker plate on a table piled high with apples, pears and peaches. A plastic blue pen lies to the right in the foreground. When the video starts the fruit looks juicy and healthy, but soon the pear in the foreground shows brown spots, a mold growth rises up over the peach, while to the right, more in the dark - one can not clearly see what is happening - a greenish mist rises. After a while, the formation begins to sag and the mist concentrates around the molding fruit, until the pile is one rotting mass. The plastic blue pen does not change. To quote the exhibition catalog entry: “Taylor-Wood, a cancer survivor, often uses puns as titles. Like life, this video, by its nature, is anything but still.”

Former Fearrington House chef joins Carolina Meadows

When a helicopter pilot requested permission to land on the lawn of the Fearrington House restaurant one afternoon in the late '90s, the staff took it mostly in stride. Widely regarded as one of the best restaurants in the Southeast throughout the '90s, Fearrington House often hosted dignitaries, celebrities and other luminaries who'd occasionally pop in and out via helicopter. But as chef Cory Mattson tells it, the staff was a little shocked when out stepped Jim Graham, North Carolina's longtime agriculture commissioner known for his affinity for Stetsons and cigars. "We're not open, this is the middle of the afternoon," Mattson recalled. "He walks in the front door and says, 'Is Cory working today?' The hostess and all the servers about had a heart attack, and they came screaming into the kitchen. I go out and it was Jim Graham, and he had stopped to use the bathroom. "We talked about deer, we talked about dogs, and the price of soybeans and corn, and then he left." Mattson, Carolina Meadows' new executive chef, recounted that it was one of many colorful meetings with Graham, and the two developed a close friendship before Graham's death in 2003 at the age of 82. In 1986, Mattson joined Fearrington House, where he remained for 20 years as executive chef. It was under his direction that the restaurant earned its status as a Relais and Chateau Country Inn, a unique designation awarded to those meeting strict standards for excellence. The Inn also received both the AAA Five-Diamond and Mobil Four-Star awards. More recognition came with the invitation from the N.C. Department of Agriculture for a three-week trip to Caracas, Venezuela, under the aegis of the Southern U.S. Trade Association, to promote N.C. food menus and products. It was there that his friendship with Commissioner Graham began. Mattson said the phone rang late one night, and it was Graham. "He said, 'Hey, I checked into my room and I find out there's some kid here from North Carolina,'" Mattson said. "We were laughing all night visiting, and we became friends and stayed in touch." After his long and successful career at the Fearrington Inn, he moved on to new projects, joining the University Club in Durham as executive chef, followed by work with the L/M Restaurant Group as corporate chef and as consultant on restaurant operations for a Hickory organization. Mattson, who received his training with the Culinary Institute of America and has produced more than 50 programs for public television, is enthusiastic about working in a continuing-care retirement community creating dishes for residents’ health and enjoyment. When a friend recommended Carolina Meadows, he said at first he didn't realize how great it was and has continued to be pleasantly surprised even after accepting the job. "I just feel blessed and lucky that I fell into it," he said. He supervises a staff of 21 in the Carolina Meadows' main Club Center kitchen and before long will supervise seven more people in the Assisted Living kitchen; together, those kitchens serve more than 25,500 meals each month. Mattson lives in Sanford with June, his wife of 32 years; the couple have two daughters in their 20s. He was born in New Jersey, but he considers himself a true North Carolinian. "I came to North Carolina in 1986, and I've never wanted to leave," he said. "I was interviewing all over the country and really hoping that it didn't work out. I really wanted to stay here, and it worked out that I could." Resident Public Relations Committee member Dorothy Mahan contributed to this report.

Thoughtful People: Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”

The most popular "road trip" story was not written by Jack Kerouac or Paul Theroux, but by the 14th-century poet Geoffrey Chaucer. A full attendance in the Fairways Auditorium recently attested to the poet’s enduring appeal over the centuries. Carolina Meadows resident Judith Ferster added to the pleasure with her scholarly explication of Chaucer’s familiar Prologue to "The Canterbury Tales," arguably among the most read, memorized, and recited work in literature. Ferster, schooled in Medieval English literature, comes well-prepared for her subject with an undergraduate degree from Smith College and a Ph.D. from Brown University. She taught medieval English lit and writing at Colby College, Brandeis University, and N.C. State University before coming to Carolina Meadows in 2003. She is known for her literary “chops” as well as for her lively participation in local and world politics and environmental issues. Among her surprising remarks, Ferster observed that while Chaucer held numerous jobs as soldier, king’s valet, diplomat, member of Parliament, Justice of Peace and Controller of Customs supervising the lucrative wool trade, he is never listed as a professional writer nor was he ever rewarded for his writing. While Ferster read aloud passages from the Prologue in the thick, sweet tones of Anglo-Saxon English, the audience followed along with the English translation. The plot-line follows the gathering of 29 diverse pilgrims and their host at the Tabard Inn in Southwark. Before leaving for their journey to Canterbury, to visit the shrine of St. Thomas, the host takes charge and announces that to amuse and pass the time each pilgrim will tell two tales both going to and returning from the shrine. He also sets the rules that “Whoever rebels at my decision” will pay everyone’s expenses. Ferster points out the beginnings of government in this scheme and the challenge to authority when the drunken miller character refuses to agree to the story-telling sequence. The parallel to actual history, the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381, is never specified but is understood in the language. From the Magna Carta to the Parliament, the expansion of the franchise, the deposition of kings (Edward II and Richard II), a "power to the people" movement defied authoritarian rule. A "guild" in the 14th century was a voluntary association of people with the same goals, bound by oath. Such groups included crafts, hobbies, and even pilgrimages. The 1388 Parliament required information of all guilds regarding their membership, goals, and organization. Ferster sees the same issues emerging today, in a national security state, "protecting" our privacy (HIPAA rules), using surveillance, reading our emails (alas, Petraeus).The dynamics between the rulers and the ruled are familiar, she says. We create hierarchies today just as in Chaucer’s time, and that’s why we can understand Chaucer today.

2012 Carolina Meadows United Way campaign breaks record

The three co-chairs of the 2012 United Way campaign at Carolina Meadows — Jim Borden, George Evans and Lynn Ogden — have announced with great enthusiasm the results of the recently completed 2012 CM annual United Way fund drive. Ogden said the 2012 campaign generated contributions of $56,499 from 299 households, compared to the previous Carolina Meadows record of $51,200 from 278 households in 2011. The county-wide United Way of Chatham County provides funding support for 19 nonprofit agencies and helps meet critical needs of this carefully selected group of organizations. Groups receiving funding run the gamut of services: The youth-oriented Chatham County Together! provides young people with positive adult role models and activities that teach academics and social skills and encourage confidence; while the senior-focused Chatham County Council on Aging is designated by the Chatham County Commissioners as the single portal of entry for services to older adults. Co-chair Borden said he has served for several years on United Way panels evaluating requests from county agencies. "I have been impressed with the many needs and the thoroughness with which the United Way evaluates these requests to ensure real benefit from the money we have generously given," he said. Co-chair Evans added: "Living as we do in the northeast corner of Chatham County, we do not often see the needs of so many people who live in the greater community. The United Way agencies do recognize these needs and do a very good job of delivering help. It is very gratifying that the Carolina Meadows community has been so generous in its support of this year’s campaign.” Dina Reynolds, executive director of the United Way of Chatham County, called the record-breaking gift "a remarkable accomplishment." "Carolina Meadows certainly demonstrated that where there’s a will there’s a way by increasing their campaign results by 10 percent over a year ago," she said. The United Way of Chatham County is one of four annual fund-raising efforts at Carolina Meadows. The others are: Chatham Outreach Alliances (CORA), which provides and distributes food to local families in temporary need; CM Employee Appreciation; and UNC-TV.

Carolina Meadows announces 2012-2013 Community Grant Awards

Carolina Meadows is proud to be a part of Chatham County and has a history of partnering with the community through outreach and volunteer efforts. In 2007, the Carolina Meadows Community Grants Program was launched to support local not-for-profit agencies that serve Chatham County residents. Since that time, Carolina Meadows has awarded more than $700,000 to local agencies. The focus of the funding has been to provide basic necessities, such as food and prescription drugs, to Chatham County residents. There was great need this year in Chatham County due to the current economic situation, and 33 charities applied for funding. The Carolina Meadows Board of Directors recently awarded $116,000 to 15 charities that deliver care for the county’s citizens in a variety of ways: • Chatham Cares Community Pharmacy: To increase access to pharmacy services to those in need.   Chatham Council on Aging: To provide nutritious, hot meals for older adults at local Senior Centers. • Chatham County Schools: To enable students in Siler City Title I Schools to attend a four-week summer enrichment camp, CAUSE (Chatham Activities Unlimited Summer Enrichment). • Chatham Family Resource Center: To increase transportation services to medical appointments for low income pregnant women and others in need. • Chatham Outreach Alliance (CORA): To purchase food for distribution to needy families through the CORA pantry or through the summer SNACK program. • El Futuro: To help provide accessible, affordable and appropriate mental healthcare for Latino youth in Chatham County. • Family Violence & Rape Crisis Services: To help victims through crises and build a community that works to end domestic violence and sexual assault. • Farmer Foodshare: To provide seasonal weekly boxes of fresh food from Chatham County farms to families in need of food. • Fuel Up at Perry Harrison School: To support the Fuel Up program to provide nutritious meals and snacks for eligible children to enjoy on weekends and breaks from school. • Hispanic Liaison: To help provide basic needs and hunger relief to Hispanic families in need. • Pittsboro Elementary School PTA: To purchase shelf-stable food for the supplemental food program Panda Packs for school children whose families are experiencing economic hardship. • Project Compassion: To create, train and sustain a new volunteer Support Team to provide volunteer caregiving support to Chatham County residents living with serious illness. • St. Julia Catholic Church: To provide food and grocery gift cards through their food pantry. • Take and Eat Food Pantry (Evergreen United Methodist Church): To help provide supplemental, nourishing food at no cost to economically disadvantaged citizens of eastern Chatham County. • West Chatham Food Pantry: To provide weekend food for the backpacks of as many hungry children as possible at Siler City and Virginia Cross Elementary Schools. Carolina Meadows, Inc., a continuing care retirement community, is located in Chatham County, N.C. Carolina Meadows’ mission is to provide housing, health and wellness services, and social opportunities for older adults in a financially secure community that respects individual dignity, encourages independence, and promotes life-long learning.

Former Yankees VP reminisces with Men's Breakfast attendees

Jack Lawn, former vice president and chief of operations for the New York Yankees, who had earlier served the United States as special agent of the FBI and administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), spoke to the Men’s Breakfast recently. Introduced by his friend, Carolina Meadows resident Fred Bowman, the speaker compressed expertly into his allotted time one fascinating story after another relating to his uniquely interesting and wide-ranging careers, especially his four years with the Yankees. George Steinbrenner, late president of the Yankees, famously liked having his own way. He relentlessly recruited Jack Lawn from DEA to become his second in command, obviously liked him, and relied on him to carry out the boss’s orders. We got the impression that the boss, known to be a bully, respected Lawn and gave him requisite leeway to run the operations, while honoring the boss’s whims. This partnership flourished from March 1990 to March 1994. Jack enjoyed telling us how he helped persuade Steinbrenner to write a huge check to help pay for UNC-Chapel Hill’s beautiful baseball stadium, featuring the George Steinbrenner Plaza. George’s family still supports UNC. Jack’s talk included affectionate references to his family and an emotional reference to the death of his son, Kevin. Those of us who love major league baseball reveled in his references to Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto, Dave Winfield, and Joe DiMaggio. Jack told the story of introducing his daughter to Joe DiMaggio, asking her if she knew who Joe was, and receiving her answer, “Marilyn Monroe’s husband.” Jack brought with him and passed around the room two of his four World Series rings, and exhibited a shiny, silver shovel commemorating construction a few years ago of the New Yankee Stadium. The handle of the shovel was a Louisville Slugger baseball bat. Fred Bowman and this writer are already scheming to “get Jack back.” We want to hear him tell us more about his pre-Yankee adventures in the FBI and DEA.

The Geiger Collection: 30 Years of Outrageous Dressing

Carolina Meadows resident Bert Geiger has assembled over 260 fashion sketches from the 1970s to the 1990s. The drawings are by his late wife, Lorraine Dossett Geiger. Bert recently published the illustrations, with Lorraine’s commentary, in a book titled Fashions, Fads and Fantasies: Three decades of outrageous dressing. That’s a modest hint of what’s inside the covers. Bert and Lorraine, just out of high school, met in Long Island where they discovered a mutual love of fashion design. Lorraine had attended the New York School of Design and Parsons School of Design, and Bert attended fashion trade schools. After a nine year friendship they married in 1948. Bert formed his own custom millinery business that in time took him to Los Angeles and into ladies’ couturier fashions. In 1971 they moved to New York with their first of four children and Lorraine began her illustrations. The “outrageous dressing” takes its cue from 1920s Paris where individual expression permeated the arts, including fashion. The flapper style became the symbol of the new woman, la garconne, free-thinking and rebellious. The cropped-hair, flat androgynous look said: Anything goes! Over the years, new rebels, free from fashion dictates, aimed a playful poke in the eye at both haute couture and mac-and-cheese traditionalists. Lorraine captured them all in her deft sketches from wherever the Geigers lived, worked, or traveled. All the social issues of the time were expressed in the 1970s fashions. The Women’s Movement emphasized a more masculine look with pants suits and wide shoulders. Bras came off for a free unstructured look, then the Vietnam War called for a military style. Black politics influenced hairstyles with natural Afro and corn cob braids. Recession and unemployment led to street-urchin/bag-lady styles, shaggy torn clothes, clunky boots, battered hats and a tea kettle in hand. The New York disco scene pounced on daring for its conceit, with “look-at-me” clothes. A svelte transvestite wears a faded thrift store hat, pearls, harem pants under billowing skirt, high heels, and a Marabou boa. She’s upstaged by a dancer waving a fairy wand. She is totally nude, except for neck-to-toe transparent fabric, garter belt, boots, and ladylike white gloves. Conservatism in the 1980s created anti-fashion mischief with Punk-Grunge styles showing spiky dyed hair, deliberately ripped clothes, and leather-studded jackets. Freaked-out hair styles dominated, with heads shaved decoratively to allow braids or swathes of hair to stand straight up or poke to one side out of open-top hats. It was American DaDa. In the early ‘90s Bert and Lorraine returned to Chapel Hill, where she captured both home-grown fashions and big-city styles, but with recycled ideas from the ‘20s,‘60s or ‘70s. Amusing scenes from Carrboro and Chapel Hill repeat Flower Children prettiness and Grunge returned with towering “fantasy” hats, all-black oversized tops and pants, klutzy boots, and more “scalpscaping.” Tattoos, face and body piercings, and fierce hair colors completed the look of creative chaos. The “outrageous dressing” underground never saw that mocking the idea of “fashion style” is still just another style. Bert has given a copy of the book to both the Fairways and Club Center libraries. It was Lorraine’s joy to create it and Bert’s joy to share it.

Pittsboro seeks certification from Retire NC program

Town officials, area businesses, non-profits and residents are teaming up to earn Pittsboro certification by the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Retire NC program. The community development initiative was designed to boost local economies by attracting retirees to towns that meet the quality of living standards sought by the mature community. The Retire NC Pittsboro committee is currently working to complete the application and raise the needed funds before the Jan. 15 deadline. Once certified, Pittsboro will be highlighted and promoted by the N.C. Department of Commerce as a desirable place to retire. Fitch Creations Inc., Galloway Ridge at Fearrington and Carolina Meadows have already donated a total of $4,500 toward the project. Why retirees? Born between 1946 and 1964, the Baby Boom generation is creating a surge of retirees. The Pew Research Center reports that beginning in 2006, about 4 million people will retire each year. They project that at least 400,000 will move to another state each year, bringing on average $320,000 to purchase a retirement home. More than half of all U.S. consumption can be attributed to this diverse group of highly educated individuals, who spend about $2.3 trillion annually. Why Pittsboro? Pittsboro’s assets and amenities line up well with what Baby Boomers desire. The list of what retirees want in a retirement location most often includes: • Climate – 4 mild seasons • Recreation, shopping, restaurants • Low cost of living • Scenic beauty • Good medical services • Quality and available housing at reasonable prices • Cultural, social, spiritual opportunities • Continuing education and jobs • Senior-friendly communities, safe quiet neighborhoods Why are retirees important to economic development? When retirees move, they bring money and assets from other places. This money is available to spend locally, similar to salaries paid by manufacturing employers. The money retirees bring with them costs the new community very little to generate and, just like manufacturing salaries, the money creates new jobs. The primary economic benefits of in-migrating retirees include: • Assets – Retirees bring with them bank accounts, cars, boats, and recreational vehicles. • Incomes – Social Security, Medicare payments, pensions and dividends infuse money into the local economy. • Spending – Economic expansion is stimulated as retirees purchase real estate, construct new homes, make retail purchases and use healthcare services. • Taxes – Relatively wealthy, amenity-seeking in-migrants expand the tax base. • Employment – Retirees increase employment as businesses expand and form to provide services. • Visitors – Retirees generate visitors to their new community. • Economic Stability – Retirees bring economic stability by diversifying the economy and bringing a secure payment stream. Why should Pittsboro become a certified retirement community through the Retire NC program? North Carolina is poised for a boom of in-migration retirees, and the Pittsboro area boasts many amenities sought by retirees including proximity to state-of-the-art medical facilities and three major universities. The Certified Retirement Community program takes local tourism efforts to a new level by actively encouraging people to move here. Retire NC provides tools to enhance current economic development efforts. Retire NC’s marketing benefits include promotion, e-marketing, social media, public relations and visitor services. The Retire NC Pittsboro committee is made up of Judge Wade Barber; Dianne Reid, President of the EDC; Robert Enders, CEO of Chatham Hospital; Dr. Bud Merchant, President of CCCC; Pat Richardson, Director of Community Relations at Galloway Ridge at Fearrington; Deepa Sanyal, planner and member of the Chatham County Planning Board; Bett Wilson Foley, member of the Pittsboro Town Board; Joni Williams of Straight Up Realty; Amy Gorely, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach at Carolina Meadows; Karen Wolfe of Twin Rivers; Beth Turner, member of the Pittsboro Town Board; Megan Coggins of the Council on Aging; and Penny Stallings of BB&T. To learn more, contact Bett Wilson Foley at ekwfoley@gmail.com or Pat Richardson at prichardson@gallowayridge.com. You can also visit nccommerce.com/cd/certified-retirement.

Residents hear timely primer on the presidency

Just prior to the Nov. 6 election, presidential authority Anthony Clay presented a two-part program at Carolina Meadows on the history, powers, and challenges of the United States presidency. In an entertaining and non-partisan fashion, Clay traveled back and forth over more than two centuries of American history. Clay, currently teaching at the Carolina Friends School, opened the program with a PowerPoint slide that simply said: POTUS. He asked the audience of 40 residents what the word meant. Immediately, voices from all over the Fairways Gallery called out “President of the United States.” Having gained his audience’s attention, Clay then asked, “OK, that’s right. Now, what’s the Secret Service call name for the First Lady?” After some hesitancy, someone said, FLOTUS. “Right you are!” Much of the first session was spent explaining the 25th amendment to the Constitution, which provides clarity and safeguards for presidential succession. Prior to the 1967 ratification of the amendment, if a president died in office, the vice president assumed the office but there was no vice president until the next presidential election. So, when Harry Truman assumed the office after the death of Franklin Roosevelt, there was no vice president for several years. The 25th amendment allows the president, with the approval of a majority of the House of Representatives, to appoint a vice president when a vacancy occurs. This provision has been employed twice. In 1973, when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned, President Nixon appointed Gerald Ford to the position. The following year, when Nixon resigned and Ford assumed the presidency, he appointed Nelson Rockefeller as vice president. Thus, for the only time in history, neither the president nor the vice president had been elected to their offices. Much information such as this refreshed the memories and provided new knowledge to the grateful Carolina Meadows audience.