Events

Pine Run’s 41st Anniversary

Pine Run rolled into its 41st Anniversary year with a bicycle themed party featuring food as famed and varied as the Tour de France.

More than 150 guests, garbed in colorful threads and treads befitting the summer splash, cycled through breathless displays of appetizers, entrees, and desserts festively set between the auditorium and main dining room.

Assorted meats and cheeses, marinaded vegetables, olives, and assorted dips jump started partygoer appetites for the colorful parade of flavors to follow at multiple hot and cold stations. New Zealand lamb chops, freshly carved and garnished with mint vinaigrette, received raves along with the raw bar featuring huge shrimp, ice cold clams and oysters on the half shell, and scrumptious crab legs. Classic comfort dishes such as bow tie pasta, slow roasted pork barbecue, and cheddar ale soup also won fans.

Plentiful seating, accented with vintage bicycle bottle openers, meant no one had to jockey for chairs or juggle drinks. “I thought it a well planned and well executed affair,” said Doug Frelich, a resident of Redwood Cluster. Other neighbors chimed in agreement: “We’re new to the community and we were impressed by so many delicious options at the party,”enthused Linda and Joe Hartman.

The dining team, masters of plate spinning feats, made this event stand out as the best one yet making epic and edible art, a bicycle with foil wheels of fruit for example, out of simple materials and delicious ingredients for everyone to enjoy. Al and Nancy Kleeman of Shadbush Cluster spoke for many when they exclaimed, “The 41st party was a blast because the food and service were top drawer!”

Summer and Gardens

Go Together at Lakeview

Delaware Valley University horticultural students are amplifying the “happy hum” evident each day at Lakeview by inviting residents to take pleasure in gardening.

“Five of our students have buddied up with the Lakeview residents to conduct horticultural therapy activities as a part of their experiential course work,” said Professor Nancy Minich, a registered horticultural therapist who teaches DelVal’s certificate program. “They loved digging in the dirt together, smelling the variety of herbs, and planning ahead for the tomato, pepper and cucumber harvest in August. The hearty plants were sprouted in the greenhouses at DelVal in early spring, and with all of the rain so far this season, the beds are beginning to spill over with greens!”

Thanks to the addition of a new raised garden, the “green thumbs” have more space this year to navigate around the bed and to trowel the soil. “Flat access to the garden, and the waist-high level of the soil, is compatible with the needs of most of our residents,” enthused Maureen Riley, director of life enrichment at Lakeview.

“Being in tune with the garden makes everyone feel good,” agreed Sharon Smith, director of dining at Lakeview. “Our culinary team is taking snippets of dill for carrot dishes, along with rosemary and thyme to rub on roasted chicken and lamb. In August, residents will savor homemade sauces, and I thought they may also like to try some cheese appetizers topped with the lavender they grew and a sweet honey drizzle.”