COVID remains the lead story throughout the nation, although the infection rates in Litchfield County continue to fall as does the snow! It’s hard to believe that in just one month we will be welcoming spring-and closing out a full year in COVID’s grip. Bill Pond spoke about that year in a recent interview with our local NPR station which you may listen to here.
Campus-wide vaccinations are now complete and resident activities, programs, and special events are resuming. We’ve celebrated National Pizza Day, Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, and Mardi Gras; favorite games like trivia and bingo are back, and residents are enjoying baking and cooking activities again.
Millerton’s Northeast Community Center Teens surprised residents with homemade valentine decorations which now hang on doors throughout Noble; the Salisbury Central Pre-K and 5th-grade students sent love notes and drawings, and a sensationally talented baker in Sharon delivered freshly made Valentine cookies that disappeared within moments! Friends and family members are visiting and plans to welcome back volunteers are in the works. Of course, everything we do is in masks and socially distanced but the vaccinations have brought the Noble community together again…and in time, will bring us all together again. Please be well and stay healthy!
Royalty at Noble
When Medicare awarded Noble Horizons its highest 5-star rating, we were especially proud to be recognized for our “much above average” nurse to resident ratio which exceeds the industry standard. Providing extra hands to deliver exceptional care is The Noble Way. Maintaining a high nurse to resident ratio, however, can be challenging in our rural, sparsely populated area, so we occasionally partner with a nurse recruiting agency who helped us find Royalty, a nurse who quickly found a home among the residents and staff at Noble Horizons.
Meet the People Behind the Programs
Even in pre-COVID days, when person-to-person gatherings were the norm, getting together with Hotchkiss School instructor Carita Gardiner was very special. Always eager to share her love of literature, Carita earned a B.A. from Amherst College, an M.Ed. from Harvard University, an M.A. from Middlebury College, and is currently at work on an M.F.A in creative writing. Carita accepted an invitation to teach a 2019 summer class at Noble Horizons and 18 months later is about to launch her fifth course. She has offered classes on the Noble campus, through Zoom and has welcomed Noble residents to her junior lit class on the Hotchkiss campus. “I thought that it would be great for my “under 21s” to hear the ideas, insights, and enthusiasm of my “over 21s”.” Carita will read Long Bright River in her upcoming book club beginning March 3 for which you may register here. Learn more about Carita or read about her on-campus class with Noble residents.
Stay Strong and Healthy with Noble’s Free Weekly Programs…
Please register for Zoom links. Ask a friend or family member to join you!
Noble Horizons weekly balance class, Wednesdays, 10:30-11:30 am
Therapeutic Movement Classes, Suzanne Mazzarelli, Thursdays, 10:30-11:30 am
Chair Yoga, Eleanor Miller of Yoga at Space, Fridays, 11 am-noon
Upcoming Programs
Read Reaganland with Hotchkiss Instructor Keith Moon, Begins March 19, 1-2 pm
The Life and Times of James Mars: A Journey into What it Means to Be Black in America with Salisbury School’s Rhonan Mokriski and students, April 1, 7:15 pm
