Articles & News

Honoring our veterans is a privilege, and one we take very much to heart on Veteran’s Day and throughout the year. Each year on November 11, our country pauses to celebrate and honor our veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. The day was chosen because it marks the cessation of hostilities between the Allied nations and Germany; it went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

“With over 80 veterans living and working at Pine Run, Veteran’s Day is celebrated throughout our continuum each November 11 to honor our veterans and thank these men and women for their service to our country. Pine Run veterans have served in conflicts including World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan as well as in a wide variety of peacetime roles. With representation from every branch of service, they have contributed so much to our country. We are so grateful to them and proud that they call Pine Run home,” said Maria Santangelo, Pine Run’s Executive Director.

The leaves are changing colors, the days are crisp and cool, and sweaters start to make an appearance. These are sure signs that Fall is upon us and for many in the Pine Run Community, it is a favorite season because our campus is alive with festivals and fun.

One of the first things that visitors and Villagers alike see as they enter the Pine Run Community Center is a selection of creative scarecrows decked out in costumes that delight. The scarecrow contest has become an annual tradition open to Villagers and Associates and each is a treat to see. One features the sparkles of a mummers costume, there’s a mermaid, several witches, Fall goddesses, and “The Saturday Knight,” sporting a bathrobe, a shower curtain cape, and cucumbers over the ”eyes.”

Witty, whimsical, wise, or weighty — the topics are diverse, the styles distinct, and each shows off the personality, creativity, and life experiences of the writer. Pine Run Villagers participated in the third annual poetry writing contest earlier this summer. Designed to focus on the creativity and fun of self-expression, Villagers were invited to submit poems on any topic. Some Villagers submitted new poems and some turned in works penned in earlier years. All were reviewed by select members of the Delaware Valley University English Department in a new and exciting partnership: Dr. Brian Lutz, Chair of the English Department; Dr. Wilbert Turner, Associate Professor of English; and Katie Carnevale, Instructor. The winners and the categories are:

For more than 75 years, Bob Long has tended to a garden. The size of the garden varied over the years, from his father’s family garden, to the garden he first planted with his wife, to the 40-foot by 80-foot garden they planted on their two-acre plot of land in Solebury Township, Bucks County. Regardless of the size, Long always had his hands in garden soil. For this reason, finding a retirement community with gardening options was at the top of his list.

When he moved to Pine Run Retirement Community in Central Bucks County in 2016, Long didn’t have to leave gardening behind. Back Ache-ers, Pine Run’s communal garden space, was filled with 30 wooden raised garden beds just waiting to be planted with everything from beans and basil to tomatoes and zinnias.

“As soon as I moved into Pine Run, I put my name on the waiting list for a box in Back Ache-ers. I had to wait a year, but I got it,” Long said. “I’ve always been an avid gardener. It’s just that now, my tractor has been replaced by a wheelbarrow.”

“Dining at Pine Run is more than just a meal,” says Dave Fogel, Senior Director of Senior Living Dining Services at Pine Run Retirement Community. “It’s an experience,” continues Fogel. “We offer many different options to please any palate both in terms of venue and menu.”

As the winter weather begins to break and the beauty of our campus comes into bloom Pine Run residents look forward to the start of a new Spring/Summer seasonal menu featuring more of a focus on plant based selections. “We pay careful attention to what is trending both in senior living as well as in other areas of the culinary landscape and the demand and appetite for plant based entrees as well as sides is exploding,” says Fogel.