Community Update for Week of 9/19/2022

February 3, 2023

Update to Residents on 9/20/2022

Frontier Update

While Kendal uses Frontier for our business phones it is an entirely different division of business than our residential Frontier landlines. Kendal is meeting with a Frontier representative later this week to discuss the recent issues encountered on the residential phones and emphasize the importance of the landline phone to residents. The problem was only on our campus, not in the larger community. For those residents who were not able to get calls in, it was due to a failed “ring” generator which had to be reset/replaced.  In addition, there was a blown fuse. To our knowledge all phones are now working. While you are welcome to call Frontier yourself as their customer, don’t hesitate to alert Kendal when you encounter a phone problem so we can assist in evaluating the issue.

COVID Booster Clinic Update

Thank you to everyone who responded to the survey about if you would like to get your COVID booster vaccine at Kendal versus going to a provider off-campus. Over 230 responded to the survey! We continue to work with Oberlin CVS to identify the best days and times to offer the booster shot on our campus. The original target dates of Oct. 7 and 11 are still our goal but may have to be adjusted or added to. More info will be forthcoming.

Remember, you can get your booster vaccine elsewhere like at a CVS, Discount Drug Mart, or Walgreens. If you get your booster elsewhere, please be sure to provide a copy of your COVID Booster Vaccine Record to the Health and Wellness Clinic.

Yes, you can get your COVID Booster shot at the Oberlin CVS

(shared by Robert Taylor) Letting all of you know that we recently got our shots at the Oberlin CVS – both the new COVID booster and this fall’s high-dose flu shot. We had been hearing from other residents that they had gone to Walgreen’s up on 58 or to a CVS elsewhere, but we went online and found that the Oberlin CVS was in fact doing this and made our appointments. It was VERY convenient! We took our records for all of these shots to the Kendal Clinic. All is well and done.

Planned Power Outage – Wednesday 9/21 from 8:00-10:00 PM

Friends, tomorrow night, Wednesday, September 21^st at 8:00pm, Oberlin Municipal Light and Power (OMLPS) will be conducting a planned power outage, approximately 2 hours – just on the Kendal campus — to address an issue related to some wiring that had to be patched a while ago when a mink chewed through some important wires – really! While there is never a good time to turn the power off, we appreciate OMLPS being proactive to modify our system before a real problem develops.

To answer your questions and concerns:

• Starts at 8 pm. estimated to last 2 hours.
• Have a flashlight – or battery powered LED light fixture handy.
• Kendal’s back-up generator will provide emergency power to the SCC, the Heiser Community Center, and the Apartment Building Hallway. RED outlets at Kendal means they are on the emergency generator.
• Emergency lights will be on in the Apartment Building hallways.
• Walkway lighting will be on (every 4th light will be on.)
• Other emergency lighting will be operational.
• The red outlets in the SCC will provide power to each room.
• Pull cords and smoke detectors in each cottage will still work.
• Your cell phone should work fine. If you have a “hot spot” on your phone, you may have internet access.
• The Community Center’s main doors are on emergency power; they should work fine.
• The automatic doors in the Apartment Building and SCC will need to be operated manually. They won’t be locked. If you have any trouble opening doors, call FS.
• Any area not on the back-up generator will not have power.
• Kendal’s Wi-Fi will not have power.
• The Swimming Pool and Fitness Center will be closed.
• The City of Oberlin is not affected. It might be a fine night to go into town.
• Facility Services will have staff on site during this outage, including Ken, Jon, Ryan and Rey. (That’s 70+ years of combined experience.) Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Rey at rcarrion@kao.kendal.org, or Ryan rstalz@kao.kendal.org. Or you can call the FS weekend/after hours cell phone.

Thank you for your cooperation.

[Editor’s musings: This story begins with a mink that was otherwise living a full and healthy life in the woods and marshes around Kendal. Why he went into the transformer box, we’ll never know. Curiosity? Chasing a deer mouse for dinner? Unfortunately for the mink, he was – how shall we say this delicately? — transformed himself that night. (Fried, actually.) Turned back to stardust. And now, we’ll have an extra hour of natural darkness on the fall equinox during which Saturn’s rings can be seen (if it is clear, with good binoculars) to contemplate all of this. Perhaps someone will be inspired to write a limerick or haiku to commemorate the occasion?]

Insurance Workshop #2 – How Medicare Advantage Plans Work

Thursday, Sept 22 at 10 AM: Please join us for the second workshop explaining insurance plans. This time, the presentation – led by Ann O’Malley and Donna Weber — will be a virtual meeting via Zoom and KOTV (not in-person.)

Dog Fun Day

Thursday, Sept. 22, 10 am – noon, in front of Patterson Patio. Come and see the dogs play! There will be a fenced off area in front of Patterson with the equipment for dogs to play on. Come enjoy the fun!

“The Emerging Supreme Court”

A fourth session of Jonathan Entin’s course, “The Emerging Supreme Court,” has been added and will be held Monday, September 26, at 10:30 a.m. The class is on Zoom only.  Please contact Kari Inglis to register and receive the Zoom link. (Shared by Sharon Furrow)

Covid News/ Statistics

Governor Mike DeWine’s regular COVID Press Conferences: https://ohiochannel.org

Scientists Discovered an Antibody That Can Take Out All COVID-19 Variants (article shared by Judy Appleton): By Korin Miller.

COVID-19 vaccines have been effective at keeping people from getting severely ill and dying from the virus, but they’ve required different boosters to try to keep on top of all of the coronavirus variants that have popped up. Now, researchers have discovered an antibody that neutralizes all known COVID-19 variants.

The antibody, called SP1-77, is the result of a collaborative effort from researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and Duke University. Results from mouse studies they’ve conducted were recently published in the journal Science Immunology, and they look promising.

SP1-77 is an antibody developed by researchers that so far can neutralize all forms of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It was created after researchers modified a mouse model that was originally made to search for broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV, which also mutates.

The mice used in the study have built-in human immune systems that mimic the way our immune systems develop better antibodies when we’re exposed to a pathogen. The researchers inserted two human gene segments into the mice, which then created a range of antibodies that humans might make.

What does this mean for the future of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments? It’s not clear right now. It’s important to note that this research was done in mice—not humans—although studies on the antibody are ongoing.

“This is very early-stage proof-of-concept work to illustrate that broadly neutralizing antibodies can be generated using a mouse model,” says Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., infectious disease expert and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “Such work, if replicated and expanded, could form the basis of new monoclonal antibody products as well as a vaccine.”

That could potentially mean that you would only need to get a COVID-19 shot or booster once a year or even less frequently, depending on how long protection from the vaccine lasted, Dr. Russo says.

Read the full article here: https://www.prevention.com/health/a41092334/antibody-neutralize-covid-variants/