MONTGOMERY MESSENGER The Newsletter of the Residents of Montgomery Place Retirement Community 5550 South Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 60637

June 2016, Vol. 26, No. 6 www.montgomeryplace.org/category/news/messenger/

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF MONTGOMERY PLACE ur first celebration will take place on Tuesday, June 7, at 3 p.m. Our honored guests will be the retired Rt. Rev. James Montgomery, 9th diocesan bishop of Chicago, for whom Montgomery Place is named, and the Rt. Rev. Jeff Lee, the current diocesan bishop. Other guests will be Georgiana Gleason, Executive Director of Episcopal Charities; Maureen Kelly, Executive Director of Cathedral Counseling Center; Michael McGarry, president of the Montgomery Place board of directors; Dr. Constance Bonbrest, president of the Church Home board of directors; William Fairbanks, former president of the Montgomery Place board of directors; and Episcopal clergy. Rev. Dr. Robert Petite, former executive director of the Church Home, chaplain of Montgomery Place, and pastoral education supervisor, will join us. Father Bob served this community in those capacities for 22 years.

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Very few Episcopalians reside at Montgomery Place now. Let me tell you about two who have been here for 15 years: the retired Very Rev. Robert and Vinnie Orpen. Bob attended General Seminary in New York with Bishop Montgomery and was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1949. Bob was treasurer of the Montgomery Place Residents’ Association for five years. He solicited for what was then called the Christmas Fund; now the Holiday Fund. Bob was also the photographer for new residents for six years.

The Rev. Canon D. Maria Neighbors

Photo: Alex Elwyn

Vinnie Orpen cultivated and maintained a beautiful garden plot here. Michael Apa, former executive director of Montgomery Place, gave Vinnie permission to plant her flower bulbs months before she arrived. She was most appreciative. We have Vinnie’s Japanese maple tree in our garden. She originally uprooted the tree from her sister’s residence in Massachusetts and transplanted it to her home on Chicago’s North Side. When the Orpens moved to Montgomery Place, the tree was transplanted to the garden here. Look for it to the right of the door from the Private Dining Room. Happy 25th anniversary! Vinnie Orpen’s Traveling Maple Tree

(Note: This is the second in a series of articles leading up to the September 2016 celebration of the 25th anniversary of Montgomery Place Retirement Community.)

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JUNE 2016

MUSINGS FROM SHEILA

RESIDENTS’ COUNCIL ELECTION

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ominations for the 2016-17 Residents’ Council closed on May 25. Election ballots will be distributed on June 1 to all residents. They must be returned by June 10 to the ballot box across from the Concierge Desk. You may vote for up to nine candidates. The six candidates receiving the most v o t e s w i l l f i l l t h e s i x t w o - ye a r vacancies; the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes will fill the one-year vacancy; the two candidates receiving the next two highest number of votes will serve as first and second alternates. The new terms begin at the close of the annual meeting of the Residents’ Association on June 16, 2016. Neva Hefner, Vice President, Residents’ Association

NEW YORKER READERS

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he New Yorker Readers will meet on Saturday, June 18, at 2 p.m. in the LLLC. Our topic will be “Sex, Censorship and Hollywood,” which appears in the May 2 edition of the magazine. Frieda Stillerman will be the moderator. Please call me at 4647 if you wish a copy of the article, and do come for the discussion. Dorothy Scheff, Chair, New Yorker Readers

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here has been a lot of musing going on since last time we chatted. Let me share some great news. I am thrilled to report that we will process two “resident commissions” in the next few weeks. Two residents have referred new prospects to Montgomery Place, and both will move in shortly. The resident commission for such a referral is one month of free monthly services. I look forward to paying out many more resident commissions, so start talking to your friends and family! Some people have asked for clarification about the use of meal credits at brunches, buffets, and picnics. Here are the details.

♦ Sunday brunches: Meal credits are not accepted. Brunches are held on the first Sunday of the month. The charge per guest is $22. We do not have Sunday brunches during April, May, and June, as these are the months when Easter, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day occur and we have a picnic or buffet. ♦ Holiday buffets and holiday picnics: Meal credits are accepted. These events include Easter Sunday, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day Picnic, 4th of July picnic, Labor Day picnic, Thanksgiving buffet, and Christmas buffet. I have been asked who has the final say regarding artwork in public areas, such as what items are displayed at the elevator lobbies on each floor, and the placement of fresh or artificial plants. My approach is that while input from residents is really important, the final word will come from senior management. Sheila Bogen, Administrator/ Director of Operations

JUNE 2016

OUT AND ABOUT

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ow that spring has sprung, we’ll be out and about on the Raspberry Bus for a variety of trips in June. Times listed are the departure times of the bus from Montgomery Place. “Tickets required” means you are responsible for obtaining your own ticket. See Concierge Dino if you need help getting tickets. Sign up in advance in the Trip Book if you want to go on any of these outings. They are popular, and seating on the bus is limited!

♦ Friday, June 3, at 11:30 a.m. the bus will leave for the Medici Restaurant, a favorite of U of C students as well as of MP residents. ♦ Saturday, June 4, at 1 p.m. the bus will take us to the Hyde Park Art Fair. Free. ♦ Wednesday, June 8, at 11 a.m. the bus will go the Loop, stopping, coming and going, at the Cultural Center and Water Tower Place.

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♦ Friday, June 10, at 12:30 p.m. the bus will go to Orchestra Hall for the CSO Series A concert. Christoph von Dohnányi conducts stirring works from the classical and early romantic era. Mozart’s mighty and joyous final symphony, the Jupiter, crowns a program that opens with his Symphony No. 25, composed when he was just 17. Rising star Martin Helmchen tames the furies in Beethoven’s poetic Second Piano Concerto. Tickets required. ♦ Wednesday, June 15, at 1 p.m. the bus will travel to Lansing, Illinois, for a tour of Archangel Michael Serbian Orthodox Church. Free. ♦ Wednesday, June 15, at 5:30 p.m. the bus will go to Buntrock Hall at Symphony Center for the CSO All-Access chamber music concert by Color Field. Free, but tickets required. See Concierge Dino for your ticket. ♦ Thursday, June 16, at 11 a.m. the bus will go to the Holocaust Museum in Skokie “Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936” and “What We Carried: Stories by Iraqi Refugees.” Fee: $12.

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Editor: Barbara Wilson Contributors: Everett Bernstein, Laurieann Chutis, Carma Forgie, Paula Givan, Neva Hefner, Phil Hefner, Kyoko Inoue, Leah Kadden, Evi Levin, Gerry Martin, D. Maria Neighbors, Muriel Rogers, Dorothy Scheff, Marilyn Weigensberg, Chuck West, Anne Zeidman Staff Contributors: Sheila Bogen, Chaplain Julianne Buenting Artwork: Nate Kalichman Layout: Carolyn Allen Production: Dino Celik Proofreader: Phil Hefner Calendars: Carma Forgie, Barbara Wilson Editor Next Month: Carma Forgie

♦ Friday June 17, at noon the bus will go to Jazz in the Courtyard at Harper Court. Free. ♦ Friday, June 17, at 12:30 p.m. the bus will go to Orchestra Hall for the CSO Series B concert with celebrated violinist Julia Fischer joining conductor Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to perform Beethoven’s serenely beautiful Violin Concerto. Brahms’s richly lyrical Serenade No. 1 concludes a program of Romantic masterpieces. Tickets required. ♦ Friday, June 24, at 5 p.m. the bus will go to Grant Park for Carlos Kalmar conducting Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 in A minor, the Tragic. Free. Carma Forgie

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JUNE 2016

SAFETY PLANS FOR OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

FROM THE CHAPLAIN

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ow that the warm-weather season has arrived, procedures are once again in place to keep the area around Montgomery Place peaceful during summer evenings, especially on weekends. The potential for trouble always exists when large groups of young adults gather with their friends to party and enjoy the balmy breezes. So the Chicago and University Police Departments will repeat the successful program they instituted last year.

The nightly 11 p.m. closing hour for lakeside parks, including Promontory Point, the 57th Street Beach, and the Iowa Building park directly across the street from us, will be strictly enforced by highly visible bike patrols and a beat car at the lakefront. The Iowa Building will be checked frequently. The U of C police will perform vehicle safety checks and monitor any activity in the parking lot at the corner of 55th Street and South Shore Drive. The Park District also reimburses the Chicago Police Department for lakefront police patrols every night from 8 p.m. until midnight. And yes, we will certainly hear some loud conversations and the sound of motorcycles near our building late on weekend nights. As long as the area remains peaceful, I think we can tolerate these disturbances. After all, we were young once too, weren’t we? Chuck West

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s I wrote this in mid-May, the weather forecast mentioned 70-plus degree days and sunshine, so I am feeling hopeful that a warm summer will follow our cool and foggy spring. As one Montgomery Place resident commented recently, “this year, June flowers are following May showers.” Very aptly said. The Coffee, Tea, and Death with the Vicar series will resume this month on Wednesday, June 22, at 3 p.m. in the Lounge. We will be discussing a rather controversial article from The Atlantic, “Why I Hope to Die at 75.” The arti cl e was wri tten b y Ez eki el Emanuel, the Diane and Robert Levy University Professor and Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, who holds joint appointments at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Wharton School. He earned his MSc from Oxford University in biochemistry, and both the MD and PhD in p o l i t i c a l p h i l o s o p h y f r o m H ar v a r d University. And, yes, he is a native Chicagoan and brother of our Mayor Rahm Emanuel. I will put photocopies of the article in the Library in early June so that you may read and consider it before our discussion. The new Bible study examining “Use of t h e H eb r e w S cri p t u res i n t h e N ew Testament,” led by resident the Rev. Dr. Ed Krentz, will continue in June. The dates are still to be determined, and information will be shared as soon as they are confirmed. Grace and peace to all! Chaplain Julianne Buenting

JUNE 2016

NEW ARRIVALS Sylvia Steen moved into apartment 1305 (phone 4133) on April 15, 2016. After a couple of months of a sample stay in a guest apartment, she decided Montgomery Place was for her. Sylvia grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when the city was much smaller than it is today. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma, where she majored in statistics, and then worked for a few years for a subsidiary of Standard Oil of Indiana. She had friends in San Francisco who enticed her with their stories of how wonderful San Francisco was. She lived there for almost 50 years, until very recently. She worked in administrative positions for Rheem Manufacturing, a maker of home appliances. Next, she spent 20 years at Crown Zellerbach paper company, until a hostile takeover of the company’s timberlands and manufacturing plants by Sir James Goldsmith, a British financier. Sylvia finished her career at Bank of California. Sylvia volunteered for the San Francisco Symphony, serving coffee and doughnuts at the open rehearsals. She remembers the kerfuffle in 2013 when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra “stole” timpanist David Herbert from San Francisco. Sylvia also volunteered at a food bank. She would recruit six to eight friends and spend a day packaging food for people in need. In San Francisco, she was a great walker. She bought a new car, and 13 years later it had 1 3, 00 0 mile s on it beca u se s he walk ed everywhere! In December of 2015, Sylvia came to Chicago to visit her brother, Jim Steen. Jim is the former rector of the Church of St. Paul and the Redeemer in Hyde Park and recently retired from the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, where he was Director of Ministries. They went out to dinner

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and Sylvia missed a step on a stairway coming out of Jim’s condo and fell. After a hospital stay and a stint at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, she came to Montgomery Place for further rehab. From there she began her sample stay, and the rest is history. Sylvia looks forward to walking, going to the symphony, and getting involved at Montgomery Place when her recovery is complete. Welcome, Sylvia! Paula Givan

Richard Miller and his wife Mary moved into apartment 1215 (phone 4035) on February 24, 2016. Two months later, Mary died after a serious stroke. Richard is a professor emeritus at the University of Chicago where he taught in the Department of Astronomy until 1996. Richard was born in Plano, Illinois, and had an unusual education in Chicago where the Hutchins College of the U of C offered a program for young people who wanted an accelerated start to their college education. Richard was accepted and studied under this program for one year. Then World War II in the Pacific started and Richard joined the Navy, which had a so-called V-12 program providing a college education at Iowa State, from which Richard graduated after continued on p. 6

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JUNE 2016

New Arrivals from p. 5

two years, at age 19, with a BS in electrical engineering. Out of gratitude, Richard decided to spend a year at sea completing his Navy duties with the rank of ensign. Richard wished to enroll in physics at the U of C. It was so oversubscribed that the university authorities suggested he join the cyclotron program for nuclear studies. After it was complete and running in 1952, Richard was hired as an engineer to go to Brazil to build a cyclotron there. However, it was never completed. Before going to Rio de Janeiro, Richard married Mary, who went to Brazil with him. When he completed his work in Brazil, Richard and Mary went on a month’s trip, exploring Peru, Chile, and Argentina. After returning to Chicago in the fall of 1954, Richard completed his PhD in physics at the U of C. Then a position opened up in the astronomy department. Richard accepted a teaching appointment in that department and it lasted until he retired at age 70. To this day, Richard keeps his office there, which he frequents from Montgomery Place. Richard also keeps up his avocation of playing the cello, having been accepted in one of the neighborhood orchestras. He can be seen here attending some of our musical activities. Welcome to our interesting, varied community, Richard!

June is bustin’ out all over!

JUNE BIRTHDAYS 6/1

Corazon Woodruff

6/20

Isaac Abella

6/20

Gene Gressley

6/21

Emery Percell

6/22

Rebecca Jarabak

6/26

Geraldine Trammell

6/27

Bob Uretz

6/27

Margy Hamilton

6/28

Zelda Star

Evi Levin

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Photo: Muriel Rogers

JUNE 2016

The grand finale: After singing the Beatles’ “When I’m Sixty-four,” chorale members hold up signs showing their current age or the age to which they aspire.

HYDE PARK ENCORE CHORALE

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ith the sounds of the inaugural performances of the Encore Chorale still in our memories, I’m happy to inform you that Jonathan Miller, artistic director and conductor, shown above, will be doing a summer series of the Hyde Park Encore Chorale. Six weekly rehearsals in the East Room will start Wednesday, June 22, 9:30 to 11 a.m. The concert performance will be Sunday, July 31 at Congregation Rodfei Zedek. Buses will be provided for both the performers and audience members who wish to hear this great group.

If you like to sing, think about becoming a member. The Encore Chorale is a not-for-profit organization that fosters artistic participation by elders. Jonathan started our group in Hyde Park and one in Evanston. There is a $50 fee for the use of sheet music and supplies. You can purchase a CD of all the vocal parts of the songs. This summer Jonathan will also have groups in Evanston, Hinsdale, and at The Clare. If you have questions, give me a call at 4638. I will put an application for the Hyde Park Encore Chorale in your in-house mailbox. Laurieann Chutis, Chorusmaster, Encore Chorale

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JUNE 2016

HEWSON SWIFT

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very Wednesday of every month throughout the year, we present a concert on CD (or once in a while on DVD) to a Montgomery Place audience of about 35 residents interested in classical music. For the past several years, one Wednesday a month has been assigned to a program of folk songs or Broadway hits in addition to strictly classical music.

supervised of a stereo system in the Lounge. He also donated his 20 volume set of Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians to the Montgomery Place Library. Before the advent of the Internet, this was the definitive source of information about music.

All Wednesday evening programs are presented by residents who want to share a music selection with the audience. See the column on page 10 for the listing of concerts being presented during June.

We are grateful to Hewson Swift for the wonderful legacy of classical music evenings that he bequeathed to us.

Hewson Swift also was a prolific contributor to t h e M e s s e n g e r d u r i n g h i s t e n ye a r s a t Montgomery Place. He wrote on most diverse subjects, such as one article on spiders, and another on genetically modified foods. In 1999, he was voted Montgomery Place Volunteer of the Year.

Evi Levin

Who was the person behind the name that enhances our life with these weekly CD/DVD concerts? Hewson Swift was an internationally recognized expert on electron microscopy, chromosome structure and function, and the use of DNA to study evolutionary relationships. He was the George Wells Beadle Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago departments of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and Pathology. He lived at Montgomery Place with his wife Joan from 1994 until his death in 2004. His contributions to life at our retirement community were maximal. Above all, he was in charge of the complete renovation of the magnificent Steinway grand piano that stands in the East Room to the great enjoyment of our music audience and of the many professional pianists and young musicians who play on it during our weekend concerts in the East Room. He was a passionate music lover who initiated the weekly Wednesday evening concerts that now carry his name. These recorded concerts were made possible with the installation that he

JUNE MUSIC AND DANCE IN THE EAST ROOM ♦ Saturday, June 4, 2 p.m. Piano students of Donna Lee Fackenthal in recital. ♦ Sunday, June 5, 1 to 5 p.m. The Music Teachers of Hyde Park present their annual Performathon, featuring their students in recital. ♦ Sunday, June 12, 2 p.m. Jenny Hennek, director of Namaste Roses and Troupe Namaste, presents a world dance performance of authentic dances from the Middle East, Turkey, India, and Greece. Muriel Rogers, Chair, Music Committee

JUNE 2016

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS

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he League of Women Voters will meet on Thursday, June 23, at 1:30 p.m. in the East Room. State Representative Barbara Flynn Currie will join us to explain the chaos in Springfield. Will the governor and the legislature come together to pass a budget? How long can Illinois function without a budget? Efforts have been made to send legislation to the governor with some compromises. These have been vetoed. Rep. Currie should give us some insight into what’s going on. Do come and bring your questions and comments. Everyone is welcome! Dorothy Scheff, Chair, League of Women Voters

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FUTURE CANTERBURY TALES When that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tender croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne, And smale foweles makwen melodye…….. When April with his showers sweet The drought of March has pierced to the root And bathed every vein in such liquor, Of whose virtue engendered is the flower; When Zephirus too with his sweet breath Has quickened, in every grove and heath, The tender sproutings; and the young sun Has in the Ram his half-course run, And small fowls make melody………. We’n Apri’l wi’} hi’s {owers swet / drout o’f Ma’r[ ha’s percd too / root & ba}d e’vre van I’n su’[ likor O’f wooz ve’rtu nge’nde’rd i’z / flowe’r; We’n Ze’fe’ru’s a’lso wi’} hi’z swet bre’} / te’ndr sprout]s; & / yung su’n Ha’z kwi’knd, I’n e’vre grov @ he} Ha’z i’n / Ra’m hi’z ha’f-cors ru’n @ sma’l fo’wls mak me’lode ………….

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atch for a biweekly balance class with Jiggar in the East Room, beginning Wednesday, June 8, at 1:30 p.m.

Note: “Speedwriting” (one of a galaxy of shorthand systems) was proposed by Emma Dearborn at the University of Chicago in 1924. It did not survive. My amateur invention, used for the above “future” poetry, gives the sounds and meanings of present English words, but makes reading and writing easy to teach. For instance, most sounds recited in the alphabet are written as the single letters. All characters of standard keyboards can be utilized. Speed is secondary, while international communication wins. Not only airline pilots need a common language. Ev Bernstein

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JUNE 2016

DONALD DUCK DAY

HEWSON SWIFT CONCERTS

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lease join us each Wednesday this month at 7 p.m. in the Lounge to enjoy a variety of classical and modern music on CD and DVD, presented by our residents.

une 9 is Donald Duck Day, which commemorates The Other Donald’s screen debut in 1934. He appeared in a Sill y Symphony cartoon called The Wise Hen. Since then, he has appeared in 225 films, the most of any Disney character. Donald met Mickey Mouse in his second film, Orphan’s Benefit. Donald’s girlfriend Daisy, nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and Uncle Scrooge followed shortly thereafter. Donald’s full name, revealed in Donald Gets Drafted, is Donald Fauntleroy Duck! (That other Donald’s middle name is John.) His parents are Hortense McDuck and Quackmore Duck. (The other Donald is the son of Fred and Mary Ann.) He hails from the town of Duckburg. (Donald T? Born in Jamaica, Queens.) Donald Duck cohosted the Oscars in 1958 and has his own star and prints of his webbed feet on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has an asteroid named after him, and he is the official mascot of the University of Oregon. My brother once signed a credit card receipt Donald Duck and it went through fine. I guess 82 is too old to be elected President… but if it were somehow a race between Trump and Duck, well, Duck’s my man! Paula Givan

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♦ June 1, Mariel Stitziel will present Brahms’s double concerto for violin, cello, and orchestra, plus Mendelssohn’s violin concerto with Itzhak Perlman, violin, and Yo-Yo Ma, cello, as soloists with the Chicago Symphony conducted by Daniel Barenboim. ♦ June 8, we will hear the Verdi Requiem as performed by Arturo Toscanini conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Choral Society with prominent soloists in a concert on May 27, 1938. It will be introduced by Evi Levin. ♦ June 15, Don Reynolds presents Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in C Major K.525 played by the Slovenian chamber musicians group Camerata Labacensis conducted by Alexander Pitamic. The concert continues with the group playing Mozart’s Symphony No. 29. ♦ June 22, Nina Dicken, who acquainted us in May with the singing society Sloboda, to the delight of our audience, will present a DVD showing how that concert of Serbian music came about. ♦ June 29, Alex Elwyn has again collected popular music and folk songs for a Midnight Special he calls “Folk Songs, Satire, and This and That.” Evi Levin, Chair, Hewson Swift Music Series

JUNE 2016

THE WORLD’S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION AND JAPAN PART 1

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he World’s Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th a nni ver sa r y o f C h ri st op her Col umb u s’ s discovery of the New World. It occupied more than 600 acres of Jackson Park, located just south of our building site. Two hundred organizations, including 46 foreign countries, provided exhibits, and more than 27 million people visited.

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modern Japan in the main exhibit halls to show the fruits of the nation’s modernization over the past 40 years. When the Exposition closed at the end of October 1893, most of the buildings, which were temporary structures, were dismantled. But the Phoenix Pavilion was intended to be permanent, and the Japanese government gave it to the city of Chicago. It remained on Wooded Island until it was destroyed by arson in 1946. Kyoko Inoue

The government built an exceptionally grand building, the Phoenix Pavilion, modeled after Byodo-in, a famous Buddhist temple located in the city of Uji near Kyoto. The only remaining building of the temple, the Phoenix Hall, has a main building and two smaller ones on each side, symbolically representing a phoenix, an imaginary bird that dies and then is reborn. Japan was closed to the world for more than two h u n d r e d ye a r s , a n d a f t e r 1 8 6 8 , i t w a s experiencing a rebirth during the reign of the Meiji Emperor. Similarly, in 1871, a great fire had ruined much of Chicago. Thus, the name “Phoenix Pavilion” could symbolize the restoration of both Japan and Chicago. The Phoenix Pavilion, prefabricated in Japan, crossed the Pacific Ocean from Japan to San Francisco by ship, and then came to Chicago by train. The building, constructed on Wooded Island in a lagoon in Jackson Park, was the largest and the most elaborate building in the Exposition. The Japanese also displayed large numbers of objects introducing arts and crafts of

GARDEN NEWS

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he merry month of May started out with chilly, awful weather. Our pots were full of last summer’s leftover dead foliage, and our plots full of weeds. But amidst the weeds were a few lovely perennials. Preparation had to be done. Pots and boxes n e e d e d cleaning, and the plots needed delineation and rototilling. Everything needed to be refreshed with new soil and fertilizer. Bill Jansma ordered the necessities, and Jesus Tapia and his coworkers put the pots, boxes, and plots into planting condition. The six plots will soon be delineated with concrete bricks so that gardeners will know exactly where their plots begin and end.

Photo: Marilyn Weigensberg

One of these foreign countries was Japan. For 25 years after the Meiji Restoration (1868), the Japanese government had engaged in a crash program to modernize and westernize the country. It hoped to be accepted as an equal by the Western nations. The Meiji leaders thus looked upon the Exposition as an ideal opportunity to introduce Japan and its people’s life, culture, and architecture to the Americans and the world.

The May weather slowed down preparations for planting, but by the next issue of the Messenger the garden should be beautiful! Marilyn Weigensberg, Chair, Garden Committee

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JUNE 2016

BOOKLOVERS GROUP

T JUNE FRIDAY NIGHT SPEAKERS

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he Friday Night Speakers programs start at 7 p.m. in the East Room and usually run for one hour. Everyone is invited to attend the programs. The schedule for June features some very interesting speakers.

♦ June 3, Dave Grossnickle, TBD— paleontology. ♦ June 10, Ed Krentz, “Eleusis, City of Demeter’s Mystery Religion.” ♦ June 17, Gordon Straw, “Federal Indian Law 101: The Legal Morass that Faces American Indians and Alaska Natives.” ♦ June 24, Geoffrey Stone, “Antonin Scalia and the Next Justice.” Audience questions and discussion follow each presentation. Do join us. Phil Hefner, for the Friday Night Speakers Committee

JUNE PLAYREADERS

he book for June, A Tale for The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki is constructed around the interlocking narratives of Nao, a 16-year-old Japanese-American girl in Tokyo, who keeps a diary, and Ruth, a JapaneseAmerican writer living on an island off British Columbia, who finds the diary washed up on shore sometime after the 2011 tsunami that devastated Japan. It’s no coincidence that the life of the character Ruth closely mirrors that of her creator, for Ozeki wants us to think about the boundary between fact and fiction, between what we know and what we project. This book was the winner of the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. Our selection is available on audio. If you have a visual or physical handicap (too difficult to hold a book), the Chicago Public Library Talking Book Center will provide an audio machine, books, and magazines by mail. It is federally funded through the National Library Service. Call me at 4638 if you are interested in applying for this service or want to get our featured book.

layreaders will take place on June 14 at 7 p.m. in the East Room. A few good plays are under consideration. Come and see what we choose.

Our next meeting, to discuss this book and to get the next book, will be on Monday, June 20 at 3:30 p.m. in the LLLC. I will be the discussion leader. All are welcome!

Anne Zeidman, Chair, Playreaders

Laurieann Chutis, Chair, Booklovers Group

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University of Chicago Photographic Archive

JUNE 2016

UNIVERSITY MEMORIES: SWIFT HALL LIBRARY This building stands in the central quad, at the southwest corner of the circle. My carrel was in the space between the 2nd and 3rd floor windows at left end of building.

The painted angels above perched at each end of the elegant beams— ponderous volumes in their arms— inspire those below reading at the long tables, embraced by books on every wall. I spent my best days—it’s difficult to explain— in a lower level of the bookish warren. You take the stairs behind the circulation desk, down one flight and turn left into shadowy unadorned rows of stacks— musty-looking and musty-smelling. A right turn— you see light at the end of the walkway. As you approach the window, a small mezzanine comes into view, hanging from the floor above.

Space enough for a grimy nineteenth century-looking desk, on which there rests a small book shelf, and an even grimier matching chair. This is my carrel, the prize I waited for. Windows below are reminders of a world outside. Unventilated and sticky, a towel at my back, wet in summer heat, I shed my shirt, headband in place, take out the thermos smuggled past security— companion for the hours ahead as I absorb the wisdom of sages great and small. What better place for the young scholar To learn the rigor of his craft? The angels remain with me— I retrieve the deepest thoughts I will ever know. Phil Hefner

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JUNE 21, 2016: GI BILL 72ND ANNIVERSARY

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ith the end of World War II in sight, the Roosevelt administration became concerned with the potential for damage to the economy when 15.7 million veterans came home, looking for scarce jobs and even scarcer housing. The American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, made up of veterans of WWI who had received no help with jobs or money, arranged for former Illinois Governor John Steele to write a first draft of the bill they wanted that would address these issues. Governor Steele agreed to usher the bill through Congress. Legion members met with all members of Congress, and almost daily sent telegrams to local Legion members, telling them which members of Congress were uncertain or wavering in support of the bill. The effort paid off, and the bill passed unanimously in both houses. Through the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, an estimated 9 million veterans received close to $4 billion in benefits. The bill did not discriminate, but historian Ira Katznelson argues that “the law was deliberately designed to accommodate ‘Jim Crow.’” The GI Bill: ♦ Gave regular readjustment payments until a job was found. (Anti-New Deal Congressman John Rankin worried that this would create a freeloader mentality for veterans, but only about half of the returning veterans received even one payment.) ♦ Gave financial assistance in education and vocational training, by far the most popular benefit. Fifty-one percent of GIs took advantage of this provision. Despite serious overcrowding of college facilities and housing, schools expanded to meet the demand and were forever changed. ♦ Provided a stipend for the veterans and dependents while the veteran was in school or training. ♦ Made loans and gave mortgages backed by the federal government so home ownership went from

JUNE 2016

44% to 60%. Here, too, discrimination was present. “A black veteran came up against individual racism if a white banker or VA loan officer refused a loan to the applicant because of race.” ♦ Built hospitals to care for the returning veterans. Veterans wanted education to help get better jobs, like engineering and health sciences. Altschuler and Blumin, in The GI Bill: A New Deal for Veterans, estimate that 2.2 million veterans attended college under the bill (and got higher grades than their civilian classmates), and 5.6 million veterans opted for vocational training. The authors also credit the GI Bill with making “possible the education of fourteen future Nobel laureates, two dozen Pulitzer Prize winners, three Supreme Court justices, and three presidents of the United States.” It also greatly increased access to higher education for ethnic and religious minorities, although discrimination remained. “White” colleges, not accustomed to enrolling black students, probably took fewer blacks than they should have. “Black” colleges had even more applicants percentage-wise than the white colleges, and even more problems expanding. Women veterans took a backseat to men. The education and training provisions lasted until 1956, and the VA offered insured loans until 1962. The Readjustment Benefits Act of 1966 extended benefits to veterans of the Korean War, and also to peacetime veterans. According to the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, those educated through the GI Bill included 238,000 teachers, 91,000 scientists, 67,000 doctors, and 22,000 dentists. For every one dollar the government invested in these benefits, the estimate is that it received seven dollars return. That is a tremendous return! Carma Forgie

JUNE 2016

page 15

COMEDY IN THE WILD

T

o those of us who have or have had animal pets, it is not news that they can often be very funny, entertaining and intriguing. What we may not realize is the wild animals are often just as comical and playful, but we don’t often see them at it. It’s not for nothing that Pooh Bear is a comic creation of the human imagination. When we were in the Arctic in Northern Manitoba to see polar bears roaming, we met a man who raised Malamute Huskies for sled travel. He kept his dogs on long chains around a pool so they could reach the water for drinking, but could not get into fights. One day while he was looking, a polar bear came approaching his dogs. As you may know, polar bears are not only extremely unpredictable, they are also quite fie rc e a nd a ggr e s s i ve . H i s first thought was “There goes one of my dogs.” What happened next was q u i t e d i f fe r e n t . The bear looked the dogs over, picked one, and went over to play with the dog. The dog responded, and as the man watched, they rolled around, crouched, and generally had great fun for a long time. Whew! That was over. But it wasn’t.

their antics, as did many others in the village, and they were waiting to see if that bear would return next year to play with his buddy. Black bears are not as aggressive as polar bears or grizzlies. In fact, they’re a bit ’fraidy. Boundary waters travelers will tell you that bears are afraid of dogs. If a camper took his dog into the boundary waters, especially a dog with a big bark, he or she did not have to hoist it 10 feet high and 6 feet away from the tree trunk to protect it from marauding bears. However, who knew? My friend Rachel, who lived in the woods with her forest ranger husband, looked out her kitchen window one day to see a big black bear racing across their clearing—chased by her black cat who was hissing furiously. The bear was seriously skedaddling, and they can run up to 40 mph. So now we know that black bears can be afraid of hissing cats too. It’s a source of great amusement if you ever see it. Gerry Martin

IN MEMORIAM Every day while the bears were hanging around waiting for the ice to freeze, that bear came to play with that dog. He paid no attention to the others, but had a wonderful time playing with that dog—as did the dog. They cuddled, slept, rolled over, everything in the playbook, every day. The dog’s owner had numerous pictures of

Barbara Greenberg Mary Miller

page 16

JUNE 2016

FLAG DAY, JUNE 14

B

reaking news, folks, our American flag, also known as Old Glory, The Stars and Stripes, Red, White and Blue, and, the Star Spangled Banner, was not designed by Betsy Ross! The flag of our land was not, was not, I say, designed by Betsy Ross. The story we have been told credits her with sewing the first flag from a pencil sketch by G e o r g e Washington. There is no record of this in George Washington’s diaries or in the records of the Continental Congress. By her family’s own account, she had never made the flag as of the supposed visit of Washington in June 1776. Her grandson admitted that his search through the Journals of Congress and other official records failed to find corroboration of his grandmother’s story. The designer of the first stars and stripes in 1777 was Francis Hopkinson of New Jersey, a naval flag designer, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, while he was chairman of the Continental Navy Board’s middle department. On June 14, 1777. The Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution that the flag of the United States be 13 stripes, alternating red and white, and the union be 13 white stars on a blue field. This flag was first raised in June 1777 by the Continental Army at the Middlebrook encampment. In 1795, the number of stars and stripes was increased from 13 to 15, to include the new states of Vermont and Kentucky. When more states

joined the union, they were not immediately added to the flag. It was the 15-star, 15-stripe flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. On April 14, 1818, US Naval Captain Samuel C. Reid suggested that a star be added when each new state was admitted to the union and that the number of stripes should be reduced to 13 to honor the original colonies. T h e ac t pa s s e d b y Congress specified that new flag designs should become official on July 4 following admission of one or more new states. The most recent change, from 49 to 50 stars, occurred in 1960 when Hawaii gained statehood. On July 4, 2007, the 50-star flag became the version that has been in longest use. The previous flag that had the greatest longevity was the 48-star flag that flew from 1912 to 1959. May our great nation continue to be the home of the brave and the land of the free, a home that Old Glory will be proud to represent. Marilyn Weigensberg

WEAR ORANGE

J

une 2 is National Gun Violence Awareness Day. People around the country will be wearing orange to show their support of gun control legislation. Orange is the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others. The Wear Orange campaign was started in 2015 by Chicago youth.

JUNE 2016

JUNE FILMS

J

oin us in the Lounge at 7 p.m. for popcorn and lemonade while we watch Monday Films, which are also shown on Channel 4.

Monday Films: ♦ June 6, The Other Sister, 1999. Drama/ romance. Director: Gary Marshall. Starring Juliette Lewis, Diane Keaton, Giovanni Rabisi. A mentally challenged girl returns home after graduating from a special school and wants to prove herself by moving into her own apartment and going to college. 2 hours 9 minutes. Presenter: Sheila Elwyn.

♦ June 13, Hotel Rwanda, 2004. Director: Terry George. Starring Don Cheadle, Sophie Okineda. The true story of Paul Rusespagina, a hotel manager, who housed over 1000 Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia. Presenter: Evi Levin ♦ June 20, The Constant Gardener, 2005. Political thriller. Director: Fernand Mereilles. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz. A widower is determined to get to the bottom of a potential secret involving his wife’s murder by business and corporate corruption. 2 hours 8 minutes. Presenter: Leah Kadden. ♦ June 27, The Paper Chase, 1973. Drama. Director: James Bridges. Starring Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, John Houseman. An aggressive, very bright law student at Harvard Law School, James T. Hart, is a member of a study group, all under extreme pressure to succeed. Hart has a problem with the subject of contract law and with his professor, Charles W. Kingsfield. 1 hour 53 minutes. Presenter: Alex Elwyn. Thursday Documentary: ♦ June 2, The Art of the Steal, 2003. Director: Don Argott. This film follows the controversy of relocating the art collection of American drug

page 17

developer and millionaire Albert C. Barnes. He connected with many of the modern and postmodern French painters, supporting them by acquiring their art. His will stipulates that after his death the “collection” can never be moved from his home. 1 hour 40 minutes. Presenter: Phil Hefner Thursday Foreign Language Film: ♦ June 23, Gloomy Sunday, 1999. German with English subtitles. Romance/drama. Director: Rolf Schuebel. Starring Joachim Krol, Stefano Dionisi. The setting is Budapest, just before WWII. Laszlo Szabo, owner of a stylish restaurant, and Ilona, his lover and partner, decide to hire a professional pianist to enhance the restaurant. He composes a song that becomes a national hit but mysteriously drives people to suicide. 1 hour 52 minutes. Presenter: Phil Hefner Leah Kadden for the Film Discussion Committee

RUMMAGE SALE

W

e are collecting items as you do your spring cleaning. Our next sale will be held in the summer. Bring your treasures to apartment 802 or call the Concierge Desk for help in moving them. Thanks. Laurieann Chutis, Chair Rummage Sale

page 18

JUNE 2016

SPECIAL EVENTS IN

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

3

4

11:30 AM

BUS TRIP

MEDICI LUNCH (P. 3)

7:00 PM

EAST ROOM

FRIDAY NIGHT SPEAKER~ DAVE GROSSNICKLE (P. 12)

1:00 PM

BUS TRIP

HYDE PARK ART FAIR (P. 3)

2:00 PM

EAST ROOM

DONNA LEE FACKENTHAL PIANO STUDENT RECITAL (P. 8)

SUNDAY

5

1:00 PM

EAST ROOM

MTHP PERFORMATHON (P. 8)

TUESDAY

7

3:00 PM

FIRST FLOOR

25TH ANNIVERSARY WITH BISHOP MONTGOMERY (P. 1)

WEDNESDAY 8

11:00 AM

BUS TRIP

LOOP TRIP (P. 3)

FRIDAY

12:30 PM

BUS TRIP

CSO SERIES A CONCERT ORCHESTRA HALL (P. 3)

7:00 PM

EAST ROOM

FRIDAY NIGHT SPEAKER ~ ED KRENTZ (P. 12)

12

2:00 PM

EAST ROOM

JENNY HENNECK DANCE PROGRAM (P. 8)

WEDNESDAY 15

1:00 PM

BUS TRIP

ARCHANGEL MICHAEL SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (P. 3)

5:30 PM

BUS TRIP

COLOR FIELD AT SYMPHONY CENTER, (P. 3)

SUNDAY

10

THURSDAY

16

11:00 PM

BUS TRIP

HOLOCAUST MUSEUM, SKOKIE (P. 3)

FRIDAY

17

12 NOON

BUS TRIP

JAZZ IN THE COURTYARD AT HARPER COURT (P. 3)

12:30 PM

BUS TRIP

CSO SERIES B CONCERT ORCHESTRA HALL (P. 3)

7:00 PM

EAST ROOM

FRIDAY NIGHT SPEAKER ~ GORDON STRAW (P. 12)

12 NOON

DINING ROOM

FATHER’S DAY BUFFET

WEDNESDAY 22

3:00 PM

LOUNGE

COFFEE, TEA, AND DEATH WITH THE VICAR (P. 4)

FRIDAY

5:00 PM

BUS TRIP

GRANT PARK, MAHLER CONCERT (P. 3)

7:00 PM

EAST ROOM

FRIDAY NIGHT SPEAKER ~ GEOFFREY STONE (P. 12)

SUNDAY

19

24

JUNE 2016

page 19

REGULAR EVENTS IN JUNE MONDAY

8:00-9:00 AM

BUS TRIP

FITNESS WALK, MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY

9:30-10:30 AM

THERAPY RM

WELLNESS CLINIC WITH WELLNESS STAFF

13

9:30 AM

BUS TRIP

ROOSEVELT ROAD SHOPPING

20

9:30 AM

BUS TRIP

HYDE PARK PRODUCE

10:15-11:15 AM

LLLC

POETRY GROUP

11:30 AM-NOON

EAST ROOM

PHYSICAL FITNESS

1:00 & 1:30 PM

BUS TRIP

LIBRARY & ERRANDS

6, 20

2:15-3:15 PM

LLLC

DINING COMMITTEE

13, 27

3:00 PM

EAST ROOM

TOWN MEETING

20

3:30-4:30 PM

LLLC

BOOKLOVERS GROUP (P. 12)

6

5:20 PM

PRIVATE DR

FRENCH SPEAKERS’ DINNER TABLE

13

5:20 PM

PRIVATE DR

GERMAN SPEAKERS’ DINNER TABLE

7:00 PM

LOUNGE/CH 4

FILM DISCUSSION GROUP MOVIE (P. 17)

TUESDAY

9:30-11:00 AM

STUDIO

PAINTING & DRAWING CLASS

7

10:00 AM 10:00-NOON

LLLC GAME ROOM

ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE HYDE PARK BANK

11:00 AM-NOON

EAST ROOM

MEDITATION

12:15-1:15 PM

EAST ROOM

CARPET BOWLING

7, 21 21

1:00-3:00 PM 1:00 PM

THERAPY RM BUS TRIP

AUDIOLOGIST KATE HOPKINS TRADER JOE’S

28

1:00-3:00 PM

THERAPY RM

AUDIOLOGIST DR. LATA JAIN

1:30-2:00 PM

POOL

WATER FITNESS

2:00-3:00 PM

EAST ROOM

CURRENT EVENTS

7

3:30-5:00 PM 7:00-8:00 PM

CAFÉ & LOUNGE WINE & CHEESE SOCIAL EAST ROOM MONTGOMERY SINGERS SINGALONG

14

7:00 PM

EAST ROOM

PLAYREADERS (P. 12)

28

7:00-8:00 PM

LLLC

SHORT STORY DISCUSSION GROUP

WEDNESDAY

8:00-9:00 AM

BUS TRIP

FITNESS WALK, MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY

9:30-10:00 AM

LOUNGE

TAI CHI

22, 29

9:30-11:00 AM

EAST ROOM

ENCORE CHORALE REHEARSAL (P. 7)

1, 15, 29

10:15 AM

GAME ROOM

FRIDAY NIGHT SPEAKERS COMMITTEE

1

10:30 AM

LLLC

MONTGOMERY MESSENGER MEETING

8

10:30 AM

LIBRARY

LIBRARY COMMITTEE

PLEASE NOTE: Any event listed without a specific date or dates occurs on that day of the week every week. Events listed with specific dates occur on those dates only.

WEDNESDAY CONTINUED 11:00-11:45 AM

CHAPEL

MIDWEEK EUCHARIST

11:00 AM-1:30 PM CAFÉ/LIBRARY

MONTGOMERY MARKET

11:30 AM-NOON

EAST ROOM

PHYSICAL FITNESS

1:30-2:30 PM

THERAPY RM

WELLNESS CLINIC WITH WELLNESS STAFF

7:00 PM

LOUNGE

HEWSON SWIFT MUSIC SERIES (P. 10)

THURSDAY 9:30 & 10:00 AM

BUS TRIP

TREASURE ISLAND

9

9:30 AM

STUDIO

ART COMMITTEE

10:00-11:00 AM

GAME ROOM

RESIDENTS’ SUPPORT GROUP

10:00 AM-5:00 PM LL ADMIN AREA

PING PONG

NOON

DINING ROOM

JUNE RESIDENTS’ BIRTHDAY LUNCH

1:30-2:00 PM

POOL

WATER FITNESS

1:30 PM

CAFÉ/LIBRARY

COOKIES & CONVERSATION

1:30-2:30 PM

EAST ROOM

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS (P. 9)

1:30-2:30 PM

STUDIO

KNITTING & CROCHETING GROUP

2:00-3:00 PM

CHAPEL

ROMAN CATHOLIC COMMUNION

9

2:30 PM

LLLC

MAINTENANCE/HOUSEKEEPING COMMITTEE

2

2:30 PM

EAST ROOM

FILM DISCUSSION COMMITTEE

9

3:30-5:00 PM

EAST ROOM

HAPPY HOUR

2

7:00 PM

LOUNGE/CH 4

DOCUMENTARY FILM (P. 17)

9, 16, 30

7:00 PM

LOUNGE/CH 4

EVENING MOVIE

16

7:00 PM

EAST ROOM

RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

23

7:00 PM

LOUNGE/CH 4

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM (P. 17)

FRIDAY

8:00-9:00 AM

BUS TRIP

FITNESS WALK, MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY

9:30-10:30 AM

THERAPY RM

WELLNESS CLINIC WITH WELLNESS STAFF

10:00-11:00 AM

LOUNGE/CH 4

DVD SERIES: HISTORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT

11 AM-3:45 PM

THERAPY RM

PODIATRIST DR. JOANNE DAVIS

11:30-NOON

EAST ROOM

PHYSICAL FITNESS

1:00-4:00 PM

STUDIO

OPEN STUDIO

4:45 PM

CHAPEL

SHABBAT SERVICE

7:00 PM

EAST ROOM

FRIDAY NIGHT SPEAKERS (P. 12)

8:45-NOON

BUS TRIP

KAM-II/RODFEI ZEDEK TRANSPORTATION

10:00-11:00 AM

LOUNGE

SATURDAY MORNING ROUNDTABLE

2:00-3:00 PM

LLLC

NEW YORKER READERS (P. 2)

7:00 PM

LOUNGE/CH 4

WEEKEND MOVIE

8:00 AM-NOON

BUS TRIP

CHURCH/SYNAGOGUE TRANSPORTATION

10:45 AM-NOON

BUS TRIP

ROCKEFELLER CHAPEL

11:00 AM- NOON

CHAPEL

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION

7:00 PM

LOUNGE/CH 4

WEEKEND MOVIE/ENCORE PRESENTATION

23

23

3

SATURDAY 18

SUNDAY