Music is definitely the word for the week at Cedar Village!  On Sunday, a crowd of close to 800 people gathered on the grounds at Cedar Village to hear four of the choirs participating in the World Choir games.  Two choirs from China and two US choirs provided an extraordinary afternoon of entertainment.  Folks brought blankets and lawn chairs, we had shuttle buses and offsite parking well  organized and many volunteers were on hand to greet, facilitate and help.   The whole event was a tremendous success.  While the big crowd watched from the lawn, many of our Oak View and Fountain View residents attended a "VIP" party we hosted in the Garden Dining Room.  We were concerned about the heat and the distance to the concert site for our folks.  So we created a special private viewing area, under a canopy and adjacent to the Garden Dining Room.  We served an amazing array of tea sandwiches, treats and iced teas and our residents were able to hear the music from both locations and to go in and out as they chose.  It was a perfect combination for all!

On Tuesday morning, we had the incredible privilege of hosting the Israeli Ankor choir.  These young women gave an incredible performance to a standing room only crowd in the Wilbur and Mary Jean Cohen Religious and Cultural Center.  They sang several numbers onstage and then went into the audience and interacted with residents.  There were hands being held and cheeks kissed and many folks, including choir members, residents and staff, had tears in their eyes.  After the performance, the choir spent another 15 minutes chatting with the audience, answering questions and getting acquainted.  The choir director was excited to hear about our upcoming Interfaith Mission to Israel in the fall and she invited us to connect with the choir and possibly join them for one of their rehearsals. When the concert was over, we headed outside and one of our residents, a former rabbi who is 101, was sitting in front of the main entrance with a volunteer.  The girls stopped and sang Hava Nagila for him and he began to sing along-it was a powerful moment for all of us.

Speaking of our Israel Mission, we had our friends from Otterbein join us for the concert and then we had lunch together afterwards.  It is wonderful to see the relationships developing between our folks and theirs and it makes our anticipation of the upcoming Interfaith Mission even greater.  We are still working hard to raise funds for this mission so if you'd like to be a part of this groundbreaking initiative, please let us know. Please contact Sally Korkin at 754-3100 or skorkin@cedarvillage.org or make a gift online at our website, www.cedarvillage.org, using the make a donation feature and selecting the Interfaith Mission from the dropdown menu. 

We received the exciting news yesterday that Cedar Village has been selected for a State award!  Leading Age Ohio will present us with the Social Commitment Award for the Shalom Center for Elder Abuse Prevention.  That will take place at their annual conference in late August and we are looking forward to it.  Elder abuse is a major issue and we are committed to not only providing a safe haven at Cedar Village but to helping raise awareness and educate our community. This award gives us another opportunity to do just that.

All the best,  

carol@cedarvillage.org