Wesley Glen walked away with a blue ribbon at the state AOPHA Art Exhibit. Wesely Glen's entry was the Columbus Skyline painting.  Teresa Maxwell, Health Center Activities Director tells the creation story:

"The idea to do it came from Phil VanWalsen who works in the Maintenance Department.  He was the idea person and overseer of the project. I down loaded some photos from the internet and he did the original drawing and mixed the colors each time the residents painted.  Phil would designate areas of the picture for the residents to paint during each session.  Each time we painted we only used one or two colors.  When those colors dried the painting would be touched up, but only if there were any mistakes to fix.  Then we would meet again and add the next color or two.  We worked on it for months like this.  Once the painting portion of the project was done the windows on the buildings were outlined in black ink.  After that the residents constructed the bridge out of painted popsicle sticks and created bushes out of tissue paper.  At first our bushes were too bushy and we had to trim them down.  Phil then got the idea to make "trees" out of branches.  Yvonne Singleton (a resident) had the meticulous task of glueing all of the leaves to the the brances (With some help from staff).  The trees really made the painting come alive and gave it a neat 3D effect.  Next, we had to frame it. There was alot of discussion about building a cardboard frame, but one of my assistants, Bea Edwards said that it was too pretty to frame in cardboard.  We bought some decorative wood from the hardware store and a frame was built (by Phil)."

Ray Belfrage 1st Place in Woodworking
Tea Spilker 1st Place in Needle Art
Carl Russell 3rd Place in Prose Non-Fiction
Carol Barbee Honorable Mention in Small Quilted Work
Carol Barbee Honorable Mention in Large Quilted Work

All of the pieces were featured at the AOPHA Annual Conference September 25-27, 2007. Congratulations Winners!!!!

Parkside at Wesley Ridge holds Flag Day Ceremony

On Thursday, June 14 at 2:00 pm the residents and guests of Wesley Ridge celebrated Flag Day around the Flag Pole in front of Parkside at Wesley Ridge.  The flag pole exists because the Parkside/Ridge Residents’ Association took action last year to provide one for the community. Working with the Fund Development staff, a request for donations was circulated among the residents. The goal was to raise a minimum of $3,000 and the response was tremendous! Within two weeks of the kick-off of the appeal the fund raising goal was surpassed.  

Those donors meeting a specified giving level were given the opportunity to honor a veteran on a plaque which will be placed at the base of the flag pole. That plaque has been ordered and will be unveiled later in the summer.

The program on Thursday included a flag tribute, Amazing Grace played on the bagpipe and readings from memoirs written by residents of their experiences in combat in the 2^nd World War. Portions of “Civilian to Soldier – World War 2” and “Eighty Days – 500 Miles, an Airman /POW’s story of 54 years ago” were read and the tribute will closed with special prayers for our country, roll call of the veterans and the release of a white dove.

Thank you to all those residents and staff that helped plan such a meaningful tribute to our flag, our country and to all those who served to protect the freedoms we hold dear.

Chef wins Taste of Gahanna Chef’s Challenge

There was plenty of excitement in the air at the 9^th Annual Taste of Gahanna sponsored by the Gahanna Area Chamber of Commerce. There may have been a few ghosts in the air too, and lots of “goblin” with the Halloween theme “BooBerries and Scream!”  The evening included: signature samples from some of the best restaurants in Gahanna, celebrity emcee, Andrea Cambern, 10 TV News, door prizes, contests, entertainment, and the favorite “Chef’s Challenge,” judged by a panel of culinary experts.

Wesley Ridge Retirement Community is proud to announce that Kevin Struhldreher, Executive Chef for all of  Wesley Ridge was the “Chef’s Challenge” winner.   The chefs are given a wide range of approximately 50 ingredients, one burner and thirty-minutes to create a culinary menu that will be judged on presentation, flavor and how well one uses the ingredients. They don’t know ahead of time what will be available, so it is quite a challenge to the chefs.  Kevin was excited about the event and commented, “I had such fun. It is a challenge to my creativity and presentation ability. What a great event.”

Kevin had a large cheering section from Wesley Ridge giving him encouragement from the sidelines, and resident Mary Russell commented, ‘I knew Kevin would win, he put out the most effort. He didn’t see or hear anyone around him; he was so intent on his creation.”  Nancy Warren, also a resident from Parkside said, “We are so proud of Kevin, we knew all along he was number 1!”

Kevin’s menu included: a seared rib eye with thyme, sautéed Mahi Mahi with ginger, red skin potato hash using smoked ham and pablano pepper,  a lime beurre blanc sauce with a sliced pear poached with white wine, bleu cheese and nutmeg.  Sounds like an award-winning menu, can’t wait to see what he comes up with next year!