Happy Thanksgiving

Giving Thanks with a cup of cheer

Oak Crest Halloween Party

Oak Crest Staff aka Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs celebrate Halloween with the "creepy trudge" to the "horrible haunted attic" and a wild costume contest! 

Additional contest winners : Ike and Tina Turner and a Jesterina, Cave Lady and the Devil!

 

Dedication Celebration 

October 23rd 5-7pm

honoring 

Tom and Sue Rakow

with the Oak Crest Founders Award

 Once in the lifetime of an organization an individual gives of themselves and their resources and it changes everything. That person for Oak Crest has been Tom Rakow.

the community is invited

please call 847 742 2255 to rsvp

Learning can be fun especially when lunch comes with it. Watch for our new 

Lunch and Learn Program, where we will explore the topic of AGING!

Dedication Celebration October 23rd 5 to 7pm

Dedication Celebration

Honoring all who have served .....

The world will little note,
nor long remember what we say here,
but it can never forget what they did here....
Abraham Lincoln, "Gettysburg Address", November 19th,1863

It takes many dedicated people to maintain an organization for 110 years and Oak Crest has been blessed with outstanding volunteers and donors.The selfless caring of all those individuals will be celebrated in Sept.and Oct. Thank you to all who give the gift of caring.

You are invited to the Community Dinner the third Monday of every month at 6pm

What is more fun than eating out with friends? 

Join Chef JP at the Oak Crest Community dinner every third Monday of the month at 6pm.

Reservations Required

Bring your own friends or make some new ones.....

What we learn and how we learn it.
A knock at my office door and an unprovoked attack.

When we are faced with abrupt, overly aggressive people we have choices, unfortunately it is like the old adage when you are up to your neck in alligators, it is hard to remember your goal was to drain the swamp. Back to my first contact of the day and why the rude intruder felt the obligation, the right to attack using repeated phrases that were at best cliche for e.g. "  I know what "everybody" thinks .As I reflect  now I want to respond that there is no one who can know what everybody thinks.  There is only doing the best you can and respecting others. My visitor didn't do either of these things. But I can be thankful that I was reminded to. 

Last week I made a mistake. I sent a check made out to the wrong company for payment. I called and was assured that it would be returned to me and not to worry, they would not cash it actually they couldn't cash it if it wasn't made out to them...or so they promised. Yup you guessed it they cashed it. 

Wow stuff like that makes me mad. 

I was thinking about it and I realized that is exactly why promises are important...most people expect them to be kept. So when someone breaks a promise it is a big deal. 

I then thought about our slogan: 

We Promise: Caring,Keeping,Trusting. 

The whole mess seemed worth it as I realized that our slogan is more important than anything and the pride we  feel in saying it and living ti  is a really big deal for us at Oak Crest. 

Sometimes it doesn't matter how fancy a website is or a brochure or a sign if the promises being made are not kept. Wow another benefit: I can stop fretting about redoing our website and work on keeping our promises.

WELCOME SUMMER AND DON'T FORGET THESE SIMPLE RULES TO ENJOY EVERY MINUTE

Welcome Summer

ENJOY EVERY MINUTE
AND
DON'T FORGET THESE SIMPLE RULES:

• don't complain about the heat
• 
  
• don't miss a chance to go outside
• 
  
• don't pass a flower without smelling it 
• 
  
• don't turn down any invitations for a walk
• 
  
• don't stop admiring the sky
• 
  
• don't forget your sunglasses 
• 
  
• and don't forget to SMILE because summer is finally here !!!!

Benefactors Sandy and Marion Campbell

at the dedication of the Campbell Center

the Oak Crest Keeping Program is a copyrighted 

approach to help those suffering from diseases associated with memory loss is practiced everyday in the Campbell Center. 

Beginning May 1st,2014 Marlene Pokorny will taking the reigns of the Keeping Program. 

Marlene has served for decades as the Alzheimer Support Group Leader and in that capacity is

 certified by the Alzheimer's Assoc.

Marlene will bring a new depth of caring to the Keeping Program with the addition of exciting new experiences such as the tactile sensory stimulation exercises she has planned.

Please come and ask for a tour of the Campbell Center and visit with Marlene to learn more about the Keeping Program.

Keeping the spirit alive

Remembering how nice it is to feel loved....

It is never easy to get through the winter, but this month it has been very challenging. As we persevere the extreme temperatures maybe the way to stay warm is to remember how warm the feeling of a hug can make us. Why not remember to give a hug whenever possible and perhaps that nice feeling will last forever.

Merry Christmas from Oak Crest 

join us for a tour of our amazing decorations!

Happy Thanksgiving and bah humbug to Black Friday!

Happy Thanksgiving from our table to yours!

Thinking about eating? 

We do allot. At this special time of year who can help but conjure up memories of Thanksgiving dinners from the past. For good or bad, this celebration becomes about the food. And now that seems almost quaint as we are bombarded with "Black Friday" ads. A brief survey here at our table nets this comment: "Enough already" we have heard all we can stand about the sales and the store openings on this time honored traditional holiday. 

So for now just let us eat and be thankful for all the blessings we share and have been given. And as if that isn't enough, we are thankful not to go shopping on Thanksgiving!

November is Staff Appreciation month at Elgin Oak Crest Residence & Atrium Apartments

November is 

Staff Appreciation Month .......

what is there to say but "thank you" for

• working to improve the lives of older adults
• smiling when it is not easy to 
• looking for the better way 
• knowing how to love
• overlooking your own needs 
• being kind and gentle to someone who is not
• never forgetting to respect those you care for
• supporting your coworkers
• offering to help

Dear Friends,
Last month I marked my 40th year at Oak Crest. To celebrate the occasion a small reception was held in our delightful Cellar Pub. (one of my favorite places) 
At the end of a Wednesday I really didn't expect much of a turnout, to my surprise there was!
New faces and old friends greeted me warmly and asked questions like "does it seem like 40 years?" and "are you retiring?", "How did you start" and that is a "lifetime" and how did you do it. 
Well it was fun having two solid hours of "me" time and it certainly sparked some reflection on my part.  So here it is I started early in my life and loved it. Yes, I stayed and I loved it and no I am not retiring and I still love it. And I did it one day at a time, with no grand plan for tenure or milestones, just doing a job and loving it.
Finally to all the wonderful calls form old friends who couldn't make it and the beautiful flowers and cards, your well wishes have been a cherry on top of a wonderful life here at Oak Crest. And maybe that is just how I did it with thoughtful people supporting me in my work for 40 years. 
Thank you
Susan Cincinelli
Executive Director