Community Updates for Week of 6/20/2022

February 3, 2023

Updates to Residents on 6/21/2022

Afternoon Exchange

Thursday, June 23, at 4 pm: in the Heiser Auditorium and on KOTV. Topics include Fourth of July events, safety concerns, a short clip on the development of Kendal affiliate ENSO Village, KORA announcements, Q&A – along with whatever else you want to talk about. Please join us!

Safety, Safety, Safety

Walkways and driveways look unfamiliar as the new garages and carports are under construction for Lot 1 & 2. Things have moved quickly in a week.  Please be extra cautious following new paths in and out of the neighborhood. Respect the fences that advise you to stay back. Debris underfoot can cause a fall easily.

It is not too late to sign up for the World Café Opportunity on “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging”

There is still time to sign up (at the open mailboxes) for this special session that will help Kendal at Oberlin advance “DEIB” efforts here on campus and in the larger community. The World Café session will be held in the Heiser Auditorium on June 28 from 10:30am -12:30pm. We have a GREAT start with our strategic plan goal #4 totally dedicated to DEIB.

Participants are asked to prepare by reviewing materials that will be given to you ahead of time once you sign up at the open mailboxes. Deadline is Thursday, June 23^rd. There will be future opportunities to become involved in this work if you are not able to be with us.  This is an in person meeting only. 

Beware of Continuing Scams

Toni Merleno, Risk Manager

This is a friendly reminder to be wary of any strange email messages and phone calls you receive. Be slow to click on these emails and check the whole email address. If it is not what you usually receive from a familiar sender, delete it without responding to it and do not open any attachments. If you do encounter a problem with your personal computer freezing up and then get a phone call telling you to share your personal financial information and your Social Security number, etc., to get the problem corrected, hang up or end the call and power down your computer. Never ever share information of your personal identity or financial information with an unknown caller or share it via your computer. Scammers are tireless and highly skilled in their pursuit of your hard-earned money. Shut them down and don’t be a victim!

Dining Update

Greg Zehe, Director of Hospitality Services & Assoc. Administrator

Preliminary meal plan signups FYI

Our Finance team shared the initial tier distribution from this latest signup period. Here is the distribution listed by tier selection:

• 30 Tier                30%     85 residents chose this plan
• 20 Tier                33%     95 residents chose this plan
• 10 Tier                25%   71 residents chose this plan
•   0 Tier                12%     35 residents chose this plan

All Stephens Care Center residents are automatically on an all-inclusive plan as detailed in your contract.

Community Solos Table

As a result of our work with the Dining Matters Committee, we are designating Table #2 in the Fox and Fell as our regular Community Solos Table. The table will be marked with signage. The hope is that it will be easier to find and use if it is always the same table and identified as such.

The Langston to Reopen for Lunch starting June 28

Good news! The Langston will reopen for lunch service to residents and staff on Tuesday, June 28. The hours will be the same as pre-pandemic, from 11:30am – 1:30pm. For staff, we are limited to carryout meals only for the present time, but it will be wonderful to once again have 3-meal service available to staff.

We are planning an exciting change to our offerings, moving away from a dinner-type menu to a menu with lunch fare and lots of specials! After we get rolling, your feedback and suggestions will be crucial to this concept.

Here are a couple of important things to keep in mind:

• We will be serving breakfast and lunch in the Langston and dinner in the Fox & Fell.
• Staff will be welcome to purchase carryout at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It will still be some time until staff and residents can dine together.
• The level of equipment noise in the Langston was always a problem, and our goal is to open without the soda fountain or grab-n-go cooler. Drinks and grab-n-go items will still be available but offered differently.

Housekeeping/Laundry Update

Patio Cleaning Update

These past few weeks have been busy for housekeeping with the recent holiday make-up cleans, staff using well deserved benefit time, and the unseasonably very hot weather. As a result, we have not been able to schedule patio cleans as quickly as we would like. I currently have 7 cleans on my to-do list. Thanks for your patience, we still plan to get them scheduled during the month of June. We will pause most of the patio cleans during July and August due to the hot weather.

Window Cleaning Details Again

Cottage window cleaning has been scheduled for June 22 – June 25. We have distributed memos to affected residents with all the pertinent information for their cottage window service. If you have any other questions at this time, please contact Crystal Hall at cyhall@kao.kendal.org or by phone: 440-775-9199. Remember that Housekeeping will get the remaining windows during your scheduled deep clean, so please reach out to Crystal Hall to get that scheduled as well.

Laundry News

The next tour is this Thursday, June 23. There are still openings if you wish to participate. A sign-up sheet has been placed by the mailboxes at the Front Desk.

Other Announcements

Match-the-Owner-to-their-Pet contest, sponsored by the Pet Matters Committee

Attention all residents and staff who are pet owners! Send two photos, a face shot of yourself and a photo of your pet, to Kathy Caldwell, before July 1 to be included in this fun contest. People will be asked to match the owner to their pet. A prize will be given to the person who guesses the most correct!!

Trip to Marblehead Lighthouse and the Wolcott Keeper’s House

Shared by Kathy Hazelton & Gerry Findlan. There is still space on the bus for our August 9 trip to visit Marblehead Lighthouse and the Wolcott Keeper’s House. We will also go to Lakeside Chautauqua. Reservations (and checks) must be received by July 9.

The bus will depart from Heiser on Aug. 9 at 1:30 pm and return around 11 pm. Cost is $45 which covers the bus, admission, and concert. To participate, please (1) place your name on the sign-up sheet by the open mailboxes; and (2) make a check out to KORA and put it in open mailbox #93. Again, Checks must be received by July 9 and will be returned if the trip is over subscribed. If you have questions, please email Gerry Findlan.

The Wall Street Journal will be delivered via US Mail

We received notice that the WSJ will no longer be delivered first thing in the morning, but instead will come with the US Mail which typically arrives mid-day. We have no control over this, so just have to go with the flow.

Volunteers are needed

Volunteers are needed to help check the Bluebird nesting boxes on Kendal’s campus. If interested, please contact Nina Love.

Covid News/ Statistics

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

COVID Reinfections to Grow with New Omicron Subvariants

From WebMD, shared by Don Parker. Coronavirus reinfections will likely increase throughout the summer as two Omicron subvariants — BA.4 and BA.5 — become dominant in the U.S. The subvariants appear to be escaping immunity from vaccines and previous infections — even other Omicron infections — and have been causing hundreds of thousands of new COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, according to Yahoo News.

“The BA.4/5 variants, the next chapter of the pandemic in the US and Europe, is a story of immune escape,” Eric Topol, MD, founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.

BA.4 and BA.5 now account for nearly 22% of new COVID-19 cases nationwide, according to the latest CDC data, with BA.5 making up 13.3% of cases and BA.4 making up 8.3% of cases. The previous week, the two variants accounted for 13% of cases.

During the last month, the proportion of BA.4 and BA.5 cases in the U.S. has been doubling about every 7 days, which signals exponential growth, the news outlet reported. By July, the two subvariants will likely become dominant nationwide.

So far, the subvariants appear to cause less severe disease and death. Despite higher case levels, there are fewer COVID-19 patients in intensive care units than at other times during the pandemic, and the daily death rate continues to hover around 300.

At the same time, recent studies have pointed to potential concerns for serious illness due to mutations in the spike proteins of BA.4 and BA.5. The two subvariants are about four times more resistant to antibodies, compared to BA.2, which means that breakthrough cases will likely become more common.

BA.4 and BA.5 also appear to be better at replicating in lung cells than the original Omicron variants. The subvariants also seem to be mutating in a way that makes them more resistant to monoclonal antibody treatments such as Evusheld and antiviral treatments such as Paxlovid.

The outlook in different countries has provided conflicting forecasts for what could happen in the U.S.  Portugal is having a BA.5 wave and a high number of deaths despite high vaccination rates, yet South Africa’s death rate remained fairly flat during a recent BA.4 spike. That said, the U.S. population more closely aligns with Portugal’s demographics in terms of an older population.

As the pandemic moves forward, public health experts have suggested next-generation vaccines, better ventilation, and masks to reduce transmission in upcoming waves. “If we are going to have waves every few months, we need to do something ‘sustainable’ to reduce transmission,” Christina Pagel, PhD, a COVID-19 expert and director of the Clinical Operational Research Unit at University College London. “It’s an airborne virus and spreads far more easily indoors, and we need to address that,” she wrote.