It has been a great week for special events at Cedar Village.  We had a visit from our friends at the Cincinnati Zoo and they brought alpacas to visit!  Of course, they were outside and we were delighted that the weather cooperated.  We had great participation from the residents and, as always, the folks from the Zoo had a spectacular educational program.  Lots of learning going on!

We also had a very lovely celebration in honor of Rita Postolski. Rita began her career at the Orthodox Jewish Home.  She continued there until OJ became one of the two homes that merged into Cedar Village and she has been a part of Cedar Village since we opened our doors.  All told that is 40 years of service as of August and we were pleased to recognize her and celebrate this remarkable achievement.  We had a room full of residents, staff and visitors, all of whom shared their wishes with Rita.  One of the most amazing moments was Rita talking about current residents and tenants, remembering their parents who lived at OJ and remembering these individuals (now all living at Cedar Village) when they visited their parents at OJ years ago.  It gave us all a real sense of continuity and history.

We also had a lovely celebration on Wednesday evening.  This week was our state organization's annual conference.  AOPHA represents nonprofit providers of senior living services across Ohio and more than 700 people gathered in Columbus to learn and network.  AOPHA presents a small number of awards every year and we were thrilled to receive the Excellence in Communication award for our B'nai Mitzvah Mission.  It was a wonderful evening and event.

Hope that your holiday preparations are going well and that you'll include services at Cedar Village as part of your plans!