Welcome to 
The Golden View
August 2020 Edition

35th Annual Fireworks & Air Show
​ by Perry Mason, General Sales Manager, Radio Dubuque, Inc.

Bell Tower Theater Announces the Rescheduled Performances of
​Exit Laughing
by Miki Robinson, Bell Tower Theater

The Bell Tower Theater, your hometown theater, is pleased to announce that they will be showing live theater again in August. The performance of Exit Laughing, a comedy by Paul Elliott, will be directed by the Bell Tower Theater’s Artistic Director Sue Riedel. 

Due to the current public health crisis, the show will be performed with social distance seating and a variety of other precautions. Some examples include: 1) The capacity of the Bell Tower Theater has been reduced from 174 seats to 63 seats, 2) All patrons will be required to wear a mask to enter and to move around the theater; 3) The show will be performed without an intermission and 4) Strict cleaning protocols have been put into place. Details about these and other changes can be found at www.belltowertheater.net.

Because of the severely limited capacity, current ticket holders are being given an opportunity to claim their seats first: Season ticket holders only from now until July 17 and single ticket buyers from July 17 to August 2. On August 3 any remaining seats will be opened to the public for $22 each.

When the biggest highlight in your life for the past 30 years has been your weekly bridge night out with the “girls,” what do you do when one of your foursome inconveniently dies? You “borrow” the ashes from the funeral home for one last card game, of course. This wildly funny new comedy shows all the fun you can have when you’re truly living.

The cast features Bell Tower veterans Gerarda Lahey-Keppler, Debbie Meyer, Christine Luksetich Sikula and Megan Frankovich along with Jared Rutkowski, a former participant in our Free Summer Musical Program, in his first subscription series show.

The Bell Tower Theater is conveniently located in Fountain Park at 2728 Asbury Road in the city’s vibrant West End just minutes from both Highway 20 and the Northwest Arterial. Performances are every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening at 7:30 pm, and Sunday afternoon at 2 pm from August 14 to 30 plus two added Saturday 2 pm performances on August 22 & 29. Tickets for all performances are $22. For information and to purchase tickets call 563-588-3377. Please note online sales (www.belltowertheater.net) will begin on Monday, August 3 at 11 am when the show is opened to the public.

Free Entertainment

To help us stay away from the mainstream news that has nothing but disturbing commentary and visuals, I’ve compiled a list of more upbeat places to investigate online. Best of all — they’re free!

Games — Do online searches for your favorite games to play on your computer, such as Scrabble, crossword puzzles, mahjong and vintage Pac Man, Myst and Donkey Kong. (Use “classic games” or “retro games” as your search terms for the old ones.)

Language classes — Duolingo (www.duolingo.com) is the best language learning site I’ve found, and you don’t have to pay anything! They keep track of your progress and move you right along once you’ve mastered a section. At this point there are over 30 languages you can study.

E-books — Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org) has over 60,000 books on its site, mostly old classics and all of them free to read. If you have an e-reader, you can download books, or you can read them right on your computer. If you have an editing or education background, Gutenberg is always looking for volunteer proofreaders to help add more books to the catalog.

Classic TV shows — See if you have MeTV (www.metv.com)on your cable TV lineup. It shows all classics. You’ll find “The Andy Griffith Show,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Mannix,” “Barnaby Jones,” “The Flintstones,” “Wagon Train,” “The Waltons,” “The Carol Burnett Show,” “I Love Lucy,” “Perry Mason” and much more. Check the website for the shows and schedule for your area. 

Vintage music — While you’re on the MeTV website, click Music at the top for free vintage tunes. Or you can search in a browser for “free online music” and find dozens of vintage music archives. Even Gutenberg has free music, everything from Bach to Irving Berlin. However, you need to listen to only one at a time on Gutenberg.

Now, isn’t that better than watching the news?

© 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.

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Features This Month!

Read about medical tips on our Health Page: Click Here

Take a look back with our pictures from "Down Memory Lane" on our Culture page: Click here

Read about all the events happening around the Tri-States: Click Here

​Get a Laugh from our Comics and Games on our Activities Page: Click Here

Adapting and Innovating 
During the Pandemic
by Amy Schauer, Stonehill Executive Director of Development

Stonehill nurse Amber Vaske helps resident
​Betty Kenney prepare for a telehealth appointment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light a need for continued innovation in many industries and long term care is no exception. Communities serving the most vulnerable populations have had to find innovative ways to meet the needs of residents including medical needs and social-emotional needs.  

“None of us could have predicted what our world is facing today,” said Gretchen Brown, President and CEO of Stonehill, “The staff at Stonehill has done an incredible job of responding to the COVID-19 crisis. I couldn’t be more proud.” 

The team at Stonehill jumped into action as soon as visitors were restricted on March 13 and as new recommendations regarding limiting the virus were put in place. New screening, protective equipment, and social distancing procedures were enacted for every department. Stonehill moved quickly to embrace a dramatic increase in telehealth visits with medical providers. With the help of the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque and a grant from the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services CMP Reinvestment program, Stonehill was able to purchase iPads that could be used for both telehealth visits and virtual visits with loved ones. 

The Activities department, which previously had organized nearly 100 activities and programs each week, has also had to think outside the box to meet the need for social distancing. Stonehill dedicated an internal television channel to broadcast live daily Mass, virtual announcements to keep residents informed, and even virtual activities like bingo, spiritual sharing, and sing-alongs. Another fun treat was the addition of a chicken coop made possible through a generous community donation. Residents have been loving outdoor visits to see and feed the chickens, Speckles
and Ginger. 

The pandemic also called for new ways to provide dining services to residents. A special fundraiser helped provide new dining tray tables for resident rooms. 

​Stonehill Communities prides itself on innovating and adapting to meet the changing needs of the community, and will continue to do so far beyond the scope of COVID-19.
Stonehill Activities staff Carolyn Timmerman and Morgan Schadel welcome chickens to Stonehill’s backyard coop.
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