North Shore Living
February 2025 Newsletter
Jean Marie Modl
Today is Team Day – I am going to introduce you to some of my favorite teams, past and present.
I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, during the Vince Lombardi glory years (1959-1967); the Green Bay Packers won five championships over seven years. When our family drove past Bart Starr’s house, a solemn silence would fall over all seven of us riding in the 1953 Dodge. I played clarinet in the UW-Green Bay marching band and we would perform a half-time show during one game each fall. It was fun to watch a football game down on the field.
Today, I have favorite teams here at the care center: the Activities Staff Team and the new hockey teams.
There are four members of the Activities Team: Myself (Captain), Erik Pignolet (Rock Star), Nassima Lahoual (Resource Manager), and Katelyn Johanneck (Creative Director). Erik has worked here for years so we depend on him for historical perspective. He has known the residents a long time and can help us understand what might be important to someone who can’t just tell us anymore. Nassima has a gift for spatial organization which benefits all of us. Activity programs collect lots of stuff and being organized is essential to program success. Katelyn Johanneck is full of creative energy and ideas.
Erik had grown fond of the residents long before I showed up. I had the pleasure of getting to know the residents when I was a housekeeper. We could visit while I cleaned their rooms. Nassima and Katelyn have worked hard over the last six months to get to know the residents. It takes time to earn someone’s trust, but they have smiled, danced, sung, read stories and poetry, and listened carefully to win them over.
Six months ago our Activities Team was given the challenge of increasing the variety and number of activities available to residents and patients. We structure the monthly Activities Calendar for morning and afternoon activities seven days a week, and also include some evening activities each month. We try new things and have discovered meaningful ways to connect with individual residents. As we understand what is interesting and important to each resident and to groups of residents, this knowledge facilitates growth in the Activities program.
NSH Hockey 2025
Over the past few weeks, we have been able to play some version of hockey here at the care center. We use hockey sticks, light weight pucks, and goal nets. We practice our shots, still figuring out how to hit a puck a good distance with proper aim. The current version of our hockey game has two players, eight pucks, and two goal nets. Each player guards one net and shoots toward the other net at the same time, shoot, guard, shoot, guard, shoot, shoot, guard. Players are shooting and blocking at the same time. The game ends when all eight pucks are in the nets. Tom is Captain of the Wolves, Linda is Captain of the Bears. RC is our VIP and Shelley is our number one fan. Eight residents have participated in the hockey program so far and it has been fun.
Valentine’s Day 2025
We had three special Valentine Day events at the care center in February. Tom Novotny provided a special musical Happy Hour for us on Valentine’s Day. The next day, 15 volunteers from the Bethlehem Lutheran Church joined us for Valentine BINGO fun and games. The next week we celebrated one more time with a special Valentine Tea Party.
And let’s finish with some quotes from Vince Lombardi:
“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
“Winners never quit and quitters never win.”
“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.”