Beatitudes Blog

Be sure to mark your calendar for Power of the Purse 2013! To learn more about the event, to buy tickets or make a donation, visit: www.BeatitudesPowerofthePurse.org or call 602-995-6124.

Pride, according to Webster means “satisfaction in something well done.” That definition falls quite short of what I feel for the staff of Beatitudes Campus Health Care Center and the remarkable outcome of our annual licensure inspection done by the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Did you know there are several ways to make a difference in the lives of older adults? One way is to support the Beatitudes Campus Resident Assistance Fund. Your gift will help seniors who have outlived their resources stay in their homes surrounded by a safe and caring environment that is the Beatitudes Campus.

I don't know why the Pilgrims couldn’t have found a nice pig for their Thanksgiving celebration instead of a turkey. Give me a lovely stuffed crown roast of pork any day. But, I am outvoted by a family of traditionalists who insist on turkey for Thanksgiving. As far as I am concerned, the only good thing about a turkey is the soup I always make from the carcass. And this brings me to my Thanksgiving story.

Just in time for the Beatitudes Campus Auxiliary’s new signature fund-raiser, the Avenue of the Arts, our soon-to-be renovated Arizona Room dining venue will reopen as Buckwald’s Arizona Grille. This name was chosen from a field of other suggestions for two reasons: First and foremost, it honors our long time executive, my predecessor, the Rev. Dr. Kenneth H. Buckwald.

Beatitudes Campus is now a Hydration Station and Heat Refuge Site. We offer water and a place to cool down until a person’s body temperature reaches a safe level. Beatitudes Campus Heat Relief program will be in effect each year from May 1 through October 1. The campus launched this program in honor individuals in our community who have passed away from heat related causes, including its own employee Refugio Medina, who passed away in August 2011 from heat related complications.

The history of the Buddy Poppy goes all the way back to World War I and a young Canadian named John McCrae. John was a field surgeon in France, serving under the flag of Great Britain. In 1913, his close friend and former student Alexis Helmer was killed on the battle field in nearby Belgiuim. John penned what became then and remains today a poem of great poignancy. The simple words issue forth from the heart of a dead soldier crying out to those that live yet to remember and carry on the good fight.

One spring day, Dad said he had a job for me. “I’d like you to go to Burt Young’s store to ask if he has any fish hooks for jigging. If he doesn’t, go to F. E. Sherman’s store to ask there. If they don’t, go down to West Street and ask at the Ship Chandler store. That place is next to the hotel, as I remember it. If they say ‘No,’ too, come on home, tell me and I’ll melt some lead and make some. I have the old mold that your grandfather used, long ago.”

Did you experience our second Annual Power of the Purse? Well, 350 guests came to our campus to witness one heck of a party!

“Aging and health” was the theme for this year’s World Health Day 2012, an annual invitation for nations around the world to focus on a single health issue that has global impact. Specifically, this year’s focus is the idea that "good health adds life to years" and how health throughout life can help older men and women lead full and productive lives and be a resource for their families and communities.