Nature Coordinating - NCC to index

The Nature Coordinating Committee (NCC) provides a means by which the various nature-related activities provide a summary report to the quarterly meeting of the Arboretum Oversight Committee. Also, annually the NCC submits a budget request to the MlRA, which is a consolidation of the requests from the various nature-related activities. Some of the activities under the NCC “umbrella” are carried out by individuals, others by groups. Currently there are nine nature-related activities: Apiary, Courtyard Mapping Farm, Lumberton Trails & Site, Medford Leas Birders, Nature Library, Nature Bulletin Boards, Nature Walks, and Woodland/Trails.

Go to the NCC Committee's webpage which provides a description of each of these activities and has links to other pages which illustrate Arboretum-related activities with photoessays, slideshows, and a video. 2014

Nature Walks to index

Trail walks for outside groups (Pathways, etc) are provided by the Woodlands/Trails Group on the Medford Campus and the Lumberton Trails/Site Committee on the Lumberton Campus.

Additionally walks are offered to residents once or twice a month from March through October by the designated leader of the “Nature Walks” activity. Depending on what’s in bloom or interesting a nature walk will be identified as either a “Wildflower Walk” or a “Trail Walk.” 2014

Nominating to index

The Nominating Committee is defined in Section 3.03 the MLRA bylaws
The MLRA Council consists of 11 residents, each of whose term is for 2 years. Either 5 or 6 residents are elected each year, the purpose of which is to provide continuity. According to the MLRA Constitution, a Nominating Committee is designated to select resident nominees to serve as members of the MLRA Council for the following two years. The nominee names are submitted to the residents for approval. 2013

Opera to index

The Opera Committee manages the transportation to and from Philadelphia with the 20 passenger bus. Residents should contact the chairperson before buying their season tickets to make sure there is a seat available on the bus. 2013

Philadelphia Orchestra to index

The Philadelphia Orchestra Committee arranges for the transportation only to the Kimmel Center for residents who are interested in attending orchestra concerts.

Residents are responsible for ordering and paying for tickets on their own. Before ordering tickets, however, the chairperson should be contacted to make sure there is an available seat on the bus. Bus fees payable to MLRA are due at the beginning of the season.

When there are enough interested residents we may run a second bus to orchestra series B. Times of departure have varied because of the request of many riders that they would like to arrive in time for lunch in town. 2013

Plant Sale to index

The Plant Sale takes place each year in May on the Wednesday and Thursday before Mother’s Day. Wednesday evening is for those needing walkers, wheelchairs,or scooters, as well as for the night staff. On Thursday, the main sale day,the sale is open to all. The sale affords our residents the opportunity to purchase a variety of plants right on campus which is especially convenient for those with mobility or trnsportation issues.

We purchase most of our plants wholesale from Russo's in Tabernacle. We also offer a selection of home-grown herms. Debbie Lux puts together some beautiful hanging baskets as well as providing a selection of pottedplants, all grown from cuttings, plugs, and divisions.

Proceeds from the sale allow us to make a generous contribution to the Employee Appreciation Fund. 2013

Quilt Interest Group to index

The Mission of the quilters is to provide fellowship for quilters while preparing items for the Residents’ Assistance Fund. 2013

Recovery Assistance Program to index

The Recovery Assistance Program (RAP) was started after Hurricaine Sandy and will become active again in the event of future needs. There are many in the Medford Leas Ccommunity who want to give aid to those who suffer losses during natural catastrophes that occur in our area. Therefore RAP was created by the MLRA Council to facilitatate giving assistance. The RAP is a combined effort involving the MRA and the Medford Leas administration and staff.

Recreation to index

Link to the Recreation Committee Page

The Recreation and Fitness Committee sponsoras and coordinates recreational and fitness-related activity for Medford and Lumberton residentsincluding the provision and maintenance of needed supplies and equipment. 2013

Resource Conservation to index

for suggestions on how to save energy and for links to Internet Resources, visit the Resource Conservation "Committee Room"

HISTORY:
The Resource Conservation Committee began its work in 2005 committed to work with both residents and management to reduce energy costs and do our part to stem Global Warming. In 2007/2008 three showings of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth, one at Lumberton Leas, gave residents an overview of the situation world wide. In January, a Forum lecture featured the environmental status of New Jersey with tips on how private citizens might help.

Twice the Committee has sold long lasting CFL Bulbs to replace incandescent ones and each spring and fall provided written information on how to use cooling and heating systems most effiently. Posters, tips in Medford Leas Life as well as articles in the Lumberton Leas Chronicle provide hints on recycling, water usage, and use of canvas rather than plastic bags etc.

PRESENT:
The Committee takes a strong position towards implementing Burlington County’s mission to reduce, reuse and recycle by:

1. Monitoring all recycling being done–both residential and administrative–on both campuses.
2. Encouraging the reuse of paper when email is not appropriate.
3. Encouraging the turning off of lights and other electric and electronic equipment when not in use.
4. Encouraging administration towards being ‘green’ on updating existing or new projects.

The Committee’s members include technically trained persons and other interested residents who wish to do their part. Visitors are welcome to come to the monthly meetings. 2013

Short Trips to index

The Short Trips Committee provides residents with the opportunity of taking day trips. The Committee provides transportation to points of interest, arranges for tickets, docents, restaurants and identifies any problems for those with physical constraints. Example trips include: Ben Franklin Museum, Camden Aquarium, Walking Tour of Haddonfield, Tour of Burlington City, Philadelphia Murals, etc. 2013

Specticast to index

The current schedule of programs (.pdf file) The SpectiCast Committee arranges for the showing of simulcast broadcasts by the SpectiCast company to the residents of Medford Leas. Broadcasts of the Philadelphia Orchestra are shown if available. Otherwise the committee chooses among other programs provided by Specticast.

The Committee accetst as members any interested residents who are willing to serve. It is desirable to have at least one member from the assisted living area in order to make sure the interests of that group are represented, since their relative lack of mobility makes them the least able to travel to actual concerts in Philadelphia. The Committee choses a chairperson who will be responsible for calling meetings. Other responsibilities such as interfacing with SpectiCast, Dining Services and the Theater Committee may be handled by the chairperson or shared by committee members. 2013

Symphony in C to index

Residents who wish to attend the 5 concert series, buy tickets directly from the Symphony in C Box Office Telephone:856- 963- 6683 symphonyinc.org/ The price is determined by the location of the seat (ranging from $110, $165, to $245, for the 5 concerts).

A seat for the bus which takes the residents to the door of Rutgers’ Auditorium , which is located in Camden. It also picks up residents at the end of the performances. The bus holds 22 seats and the cost of the transportation is determined by how many residents sign up. In 2013 the price was $ 45.00 for the 5 concerts. 2013

Tennis to index

The Tennis Committee is responsible for organizing play in the colder months for residents of both campuses, and assists the Lumberton Campus Tennis Committee Chair regarding organized outdoor play on the Lumberton courts.

Indoor Season: Residents from both campuses play indoors at the Arrowhead Tennis Club in Medford from November through March. Doubles play is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. at a reasonable cost per person (negotiated with Arrowhead’s management.) For details, please contact the Tennis Committee Chair, who will direct you to the resident who handles scheduling and assigning partners and courts.

Outdoor Season: The Lumberton campus tennis courts are available to Medford Leas residents and their invited guests. Guests must be accompanied by a member of the host family. The host is responsible for all actions of their guests. The last player to leave should lock the gate. Organized tennis time for the residents’ group on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday varies throughout April through October. Check with the Tennis Committee Chair for specific times. 2013

The Thrift Shop is open to receive donations on Monday mornings between 8:00 am and 11:00 am. At other times, contributions may be left in or near the Contributions Box located next to the Shop door (located across from the greenhouse). On Mondays volunteers sort, price and arrange items for sale.

Items of special value are sold at bid. The Bid Box is on the wall at the end of the hall (outside of the housewares shop) where one may place bids during the week. The box is opened at 12:30 pm on Tuesdays and the winners are notified to pick up their items. Household goods and furniture which have not been sold are given to Goodwill Industries.

Items of exceptional value (i.e. furniture and jewelry) may be sent to Freeman’s Auction House in Philadelphia.

Special events (sale, closings, etc) should be announced by flyers posted on bulletin boards at both campuses, the nurses stations at Woolman, Haddon and Estaugh and forwarded to the Voice and to the ML TV information channel. 2013

Transportation to index

The primary goal of the Transportation Committee is to provide optimum transportation opportunities to all residents of Medford Leas and satellite campuses.

1. As Medford Leas vehicles are replaced, efforts are made to insure that vehicles are accessible to physically challenged residents.
2. The committee provides current public and Medford Leas transportation options and schedules.
3. The committee keeps abreast of transportation issues to adapt our resources to meet changing needs of residents.

A long range goal is to have public transportation providers make regularly scheduled trips to the Medford and Lumberton campuses. 2013

Vid-U to index

Vid-U was started by the late Elsie Lisovitch, who bought educational video-tapes from The Teaching Company for her own enjoyment and then shared them with the residents. The materials are now on DVDs rather than video-tapes, but they are still acquired from The Teaching Company.

Vid-U is held every Thursday morning at 11:00 am in the Linden Room, except during the eight weeks each spring when Great Decisions meetings are being held at that time.

During the period from August 1, 2013 to March 6, 2014, The 30 Greatest Orchestral Works are being presented. There is no charge for admission. Each program in the current series usually takes 45 minutes. Some programs take a full hour; others are only a half hour, in which case two programs are shown at a session. 2013

Voice to index

There are two recorded message tapes that are available to residents 24 hours a day. Residents can listen to the tapes by dialing 2 (for activities) and 7 (for menus) on their resident phones.

A Chair and committee of nine volunteers record these messages every day. The activity messages included items from the monthly and weekly calendars with any changes that have occurred, special event not on the calendar, alerts for special events, and other items of interest to the community for that day.

Residents can leave messages for the VOICE in a box at the right of the mailboxes in the Atrium. to index 2013

Walnut Theater to index

The Walnut Theater Committee makes arrangements for residents to attend theater productions on a subscription basis at the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia. Because the Medford Leas bus accomodates only about 20 passenters a charter bus company is engaged.and paid with a MLRA check at the end of each trip and a gratuity is given to the driver. Current subscribers are first given an opportunity to subscrite too the next season. Then, pending the availability of bus seats, subscription is opened to other residents, with priority to those whose names are on a wait-list. 2013

Website(s) to index

In 2007 the MLRA Website Committee, under Helen's leadership, decided on the name "Window on our World" and adopted policies which provide guidelines for the webmaster, Maggie, to follow in managing this website (mlra.org), which she'd established for MLRA in 2004.

With policies and guidelines in place, the committee no longer meets, however Helen continues to take care of the administrative work -- submitting the annual budget request (about $100 year) and the annual report to the MLRA.

The next paragraph isn't about an MLRA Activity, but it is about websites. The last paragraph is about the future of this site.

In April 2013 Ann moved to Medford Leas and, wonder of wonders, into a home on the Lumberton Campus just across the street from Maggie. In the spring of 2013, with the approval of the Estaugh's Arborertum Oversight Committee, they built a site for the Barton Arboretum and Nature Preserve (bartonarboretum.org) with Maggie providing content and Ann doing the coding. In 2014 Ann and Maggie began assisting management with the development of "Around the Leas" a blog for Medford Leas (medfordleas.org/blog/) and with the redesign of the Administration site (medfordleas.org) which will become available in March.

When she has time, Ann will take over the coding of this site and, like the blog and the reworked administration site, mlra.org will have "responsive design" which means that the site knows what kind of a device (computer, tablet, or smartphone) is accessing it and it does the right thing depending upon the device. 2013

Worship - Friends Worship to index

The Friends Worship Group Activity has oversight of the Friends Meeting for Worship which convenes every Sunday morning in the Holly Room. The Committee consists of five or more residents who regularly attend meeting of worship; the Clerk, who is chosen from this group, should be a Friend.

At the Committee meetings, any concerns with the Meeting of Worship are discussed, and any matters needing attention, are assigned or otherwise taken care of by the Clerk. Whsen requested by the family of a deceased resident, the Committee will help or take charge of a Quaker memorial service. An outline of the procedure is filed with the Director of Resident Services. 2013

Worship - Vespers to index

The Sunday afternoon Vespers Service at Medford Leas was instituted around 1976, although evening worship services and events featuring speakers on religious subjects had been held before that. The goal of the Vespers Committee is to provide an opportunity for regular worship for residents who are no longer able to leave the campus or do not have a local house of worship. Services are non-denominational and all residents are invited to participate.

A Vespers Service is held every Sunday afternoon in the Activities Room at 3pm. The services are routinely listed on the Medford Leas monthly and weekly calendars and on the Medford Leas TV channel. From time to time notices appear in Medford Leas Life and every few years individual notices are distributed to all residents.

It has been customary for the Vespers Committee to arrange for an annual service of carols and scripture readings on Christmas Eve.2013

Writers Group to index

The Writers Group is dormant, pending resident interest.

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