Since its founding in 1980, the Oak Crest Retirement Center strives for superior service and care, according to Resident Services Administrator Liz Hoppenworth who was this week’s speaker.  Hoppenworth explained that their 31-acre campus offers a full range of living options for those at least 62 years old.  For independent living there are several styles of duplex units as well as apartments ranging from 600 to 2,200 square feet.  Once accepted into an independent living program, lifetime plans open the way for assisted living and licensed nursing home care if needed.  Hoppenworth noted the various amenities offered at Oak Crest like their fitness and aquatics center, recreational and educational programs, and community interaction including their satellite Rotary club.  Oak Crest has 265 residents and a staff of more than 240 full and part-time employees.

 

Hoppenworth made a special effort to actively engage Rotarians in a couple of exercises designed to show how the Oak Crest staff becomes patient-focused.  The first was called “the shared vision exercise.”  It involved closing one’s eyes and then following several verbal instructions to fold and tear a piece of paper.  Of course, there were wildly differing versions from what was actually described because you did everything without seeing what others were doing.  The second was an awareness test involving misdirection for what to observe.  Hoppenworth had everyone number a piece of paper 1 to 20; then invited a person into the room carrying a tray she said had 20 items; the person with the tray then left; and Hoppenworth asked everyone to list features of the person carrying the tray (when everyone thought they would be listing the items on the tray).  Hoppenworth explained how Oak Crest wants its employees to avoid assumptions and be alert for unexpected patient needs by stressing relationship building as part of their staff training.

 

Hoppenworth gave an open invitation for Rotary to meet at the Oak Crest to see first-hand what they have to offer.  Details are also on their web site at www.oakcrestdekalb.org.

January 21, 1940 – Golf legend Jack Nicklaus (the Golden Bear) is born in Columbus, Ohio.  He holds a record 18 major titles and 73 PGA Tour titles.

 

January 25, 1783 – William Colgate, founder of the present-day Colgate-Palmolive Company, is born in Hollingbourne, Kent, England.  His family emigrates to the U.S when he is 15 and he becomes an apprentice learning the soap trade.

 

January 26, 1880 - General Douglas MacArthur is born on a military base in Little Rock, Arkansas.  He commanded Allied forces in the Pacific during World War II.  He commanded U.N. forces after war broke out in Korea in 1950 until dismissed in 1951 by President Harry S. Truman in a disagreement over war policy.

 

January 27, 1932 – British novelist Lewis Carroll (author of “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass”) is born in Daresbury, Cheshire, England.

January 24, 1848 – The California gold rush begins in the Sierra Nevada foothills with the accidental discovery of the precious metal during construction of a sawmill near the town of Coloma.

 

January 25, 1959 – An American Airlines Boeing 707 made the first scheduled transcontinental flight from California to New York.

 

January 27, 1967 – Astronauts “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed as fire erupted inside their Apollo 1 spacecraft during a launch simulation test at Cape Kennedy, Florida.

 

January 28, 1986 – The U. S. Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 74 seconds into its flight killing the seven-member crew including teacher Christa McAuliffe, who was to be the first ordinary citizen in space.