Steady yourself: SAAA offers classes in preventing falls

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STEPHENS CITY — Each year, 25 percent of Americans over age 65 take a tumble. Sometimes these falls cause injuries so severe that the victim ends up in the emergency room.

The Senior Center in the Stephens City United Methodist Church was the first SAAA site to offer the class.

But researchers have found that many falls are preventable.

Preventing falls requires developing the right mental attitude, changing the environment to minimize falls and exercising to strengthen the body.

To help seniors feel more secure about their ability to avoid falls, the Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging is offering “A Matter of Balance,” a series of eight classes. The classes cover such topics as identifying the exercises best suited to fall prevention, recognizing hazards and learning three important physical risk factors for falls: low blood pressure, leg weakness and poor flexibility.

During the class, participants learn to view falls and the fear of falling as controllable and set realistic goals for increasing activity.

See Winchester Star.

Stellar Seven over 70 Award winners announced – Educator Jacquetta Owen

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WINCHESTER — Winners of the inaugural Stellar 7 Over 70 Awards have been announced by TheVillage at Orchard Ridge.

The awards, which were created by the Frederick County retirement community, are designed to recognize achievements made by local people over the age of 70 that combat stereotypes about what it means to be a senior citizen.

The seven winners were announced during a luncheon on Thursday at the George Washington Hotel in Winchester.

Educator Jacquetta Owen won for Creative Engagement. She is involved in teaching music and reading to the children at her church and recently organized and ran STEM-related summer camps for children in grades K-5. She also teaches sewing classes to people of all ages at Hobby Lobby and the senior center in Stephens City.

Valley Pike: A church with a mission (Stephens City UMC in the news)

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Cathy, though, has bigger goals in mind as missions chair. She’s currently negotiating with REACH Mission Trips to dispatch their volunteers to Stephens City. Though REACH may have started in a man’s garage more than 20 years ago, this is no longer a small-bore operation, as more 300 volunteers, Cathy says, descend upon a community to fix, repair, renovate, reclaim, and restore. REACH’s equipment comes a week early, but the volunteers remain on site for just the same amount of time.

See Winchester Star

Recent news on Lending Library: Cathy reached out to the congregation for donations of Christian related books. “40 books were quickly donated and filled both shelves of the small library,” Cathy said.

The word got out into the Stephens City community and gradually all the books were loaned out. “Main Street receives a lot of foot traffic and we are so excited to see that our lending library is getting used,” Cathy added.

The library has been refilled with another 40 books, this time with many donations coming from the community. The little library functions as a church neighborhood book exchange. The idea is that someone will take a book that attracts their interest and sometime later return either that book, or a totally different one. Folks who enjoy the books can keep them if they choose. “Community participation helps us to be an inviting church. You’re promoting friendliness, general well-being and community identity,” Cathy said.

If anyone would like to donate Christian books for children or adults, please drop them off at the church office on 5291 Main Street.

Church’s newly lighted bell tower ‘a beacon’

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STEPHENS CITY — For the first time in its 230-year history, the Stephens City United Methodist Church building has an illuminated belfry.
The glow from the Main Street bell tower can be seen at night from Aylor Road on the east side of Interstate 81 or from the Fairfax Pike (Va. 277) exit overpass looking west. The lights automatically turn on at twilight and turn off at sunrise. Church member Mark Gunderman, who is recording the church’s history, says the bell tower, which illuminates a long stretch of Main Street, is meant to remind all who pass by “that God is alive and present in our community.”

Frederick County Virginia’s Early Churches

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In the beginning, all the Shenandoah Valley was considered part of Orange County, Virginia. In 1738, Virginia’s General Assembly created two new counties from the western area of Orange County: Frederick County in the northwest and Augusta County in the southwest were named after the Prince and Princess of Wales respectively. The availability of land grants brought in many religious families, who were often given 50-acre plots through the sponsorship of fellow-religious grant purchasers and speculators. As a result, the Winchester area became home to some of the oldest Presbyterian, Quaker, Lutheran and Anglican churches in the valley.

See Leesburg Patch.

Never too many cookies in the kitchen

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STEPHENS CITY — Judging a cookie-baking competition may seem easy, but the three lucky souls who judged the Senior Center Cookie Competition last week took the job seriously.

With a bottle of water nearby to cleanse their palates between tastings, the judges broke apart each cookie to test for texture. They sniffed. They nibbled. They asked hard questions.

“What’s the spice I’m tasting,” Stephens City Police Officer Bill Copp asked as he chewed a raisin cookie.

“Ginger,” offered Coleen McMains, owner of the Historical Homemaker Bakery and Cafe in Strasburg, which re-creates historical recipes such as Mary Todd Lincoln’s White Almond Cake and Laura Bush’s Cowboy Cookie.

A service of the Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging, the Stephens City Senior Center is in the Stephens City United Methodist Church on Main Street. The program provides activities and a hot lunch to people ages 60 and older. The center also delivers hot meals for seniors who are homebound.

See Winchester Star.

Middletown woman’s 100th birthday party draws a crowd

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STEPHENS CITY — Kathryn Koerner, of Middletown, had so many people show up and speak to her during her 100th birthday party on Saturday that she didn’t even have time to eat. 
About 200 people attended the celebration at Stephens City United Methodist Church, where Koerner has been a member of since 1986. Koerner’s former pastor, Waverly Reames, 74, of Winchester, and her children planned the event.

Stephens City UMC to open day care center

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STEPHENS CITY — The rocking chairs sit waiting. The cribs are lined up. The staff has been hired.

Now, all that’s needed at the new day care center at Stephens City United Methodist Church are the babies.

The church will open a day care center March 12.

On Saturday, the day care center will hold an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. so parents can visit the rooms and find out about the program.

The church is located in downtown Stephens City at 5291 Main St.

See Winchester Star.

https://www.winchesterstar.com/lifestyles/stephens-city-umc-to-open-day-care-center/article_10998d32-8f32-5c86-b06d-eb3e8909375b.html

Jesse Curry – Cook can’t leave the kitchen behind

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Jesse Curry, a resident of Stephens City, used to cook for the Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging (now Seniors First) senior program at Stephens City United Methodist Church. Jesse also donated a copy of the Rev. Robert Orrick portrait to our church which is located in the Orrick Chapel Fellowship Hall.

See the Winchester article about Mr. Curry below.

https://www.winchesterstar.com/lifestyles/features/cook-cant-leave-the-kitchen-behind/article_7263f82e-4d24-5ebc-9601-ebc059158209.html

On Saturday, August 3, 2019 an event celebrating soul food and honoring African American chefs of the Shenandoah Valley was held at Belle Grove Plantation in Middletown, Virginia. Belle Grove Plantation is a key legislated partner of Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park. The event was free and open to the public with tours of the Manor House and talks throughout the day.

“We have had tremendous response to this idea,” said Robin Lyttle President of the Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project. “There were so many amazing chefs recommended to us who are so worthy of recognition. We look forward to honoring these individuals and will invoke the name of many others who shared their talents and passion for cooking with our community.”

The honored chefs include:

  • Mr. Ira Iverson Becks Sr., Mr. Ira Iverson Becks Jr., and Mrs. Viola E. Becks, Chefs at Ingleside Hotel, Staunton, VA
  • Mr. Jesse Curry, Chef and Owner of Rustic Tavern, Winchester, VA
  • Mrs. Catherine W. Dunn, Chef at Belle Meade Hotel and Lloyd’s Steak House, Harrisonburg, VA
  • Mr. Jerome Grant, Executive Chef, Sweet Home Café, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC
  • Mrs. Ellen Williams Gant and Mrs. Lucille Kent Williams, Chefs at the Wayside Inn, Middletown, VA
  • Mr. Edwin Green, Chef and Owner, Po’ Green’s Southern Food & BBQ, Front Royal. VA
  • Mrs. Geneva Jackson, Caterer, Berryville, VA
  • Mrs. Vivienne Jackson, Chef and Owner, Ruth’s Tea Room, Winchester, VA
  • The Newman Family, Chefs at Wayside Inn, Middletown, VA
  • Mr. Henry Stewart, Chef Kavanaugh Hotel, Harrisonburg, VA
  • Mrs. Sue Tokes, Chef and Owner, Tokes Inn, Opequon, VA
  • Mr. William Tutt, Mrs. Edith Tutt, Mrs. Ella Twyman Tutt, Chefs, Luray, VA and Managers of Lewis Mountain Lodge in the Shenandoah National Park
  • Mrs. Savilla Toliver Vickers and Mrs. Edna Toliver Rhodes, Chefs and Caterers in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, VA
  • Mr. Kenneth Williams, Caterer, Winchester, VA