Plaza Press The Newsletter for Jewish Federation Plaza

Frogs of the Amazon

Most people know that the Amazon is the world’s

largest rain forest. It covers 2.72 million square miles—

almost the size of the 48 contiguous United States—

and touches the countries of Brazil, Peru, Colombia,

Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and

French Guiana. The Amazon represents more than

half of the world’s remaining rain forest, home to an

estimated 390 billion individual trees. It is within this

magnificent forest that we find another of nature’s

marvelous animals: the frog. Scientists are not sure

how many frog species inhabit the Amazon, but every

year they are finding more. The latest estimate stands

at 1,000 different frogs, toads, and tree frogs, which

give us 1,000 reasons to celebrate April as Frog Month.

Perhaps the best recognized frog of the Amazon is

the poison dart frog, the brilliant celebrity of the rain

forest. These amphibians get their name from the

indigenous tribes of the Amazon who dip their darts in

the frog’s poison to kill their prey. Another poisonous frog

from the Peruvian Amazon is making headlines for its

healing properties. Local tribespeople burn a small

part of their skin and apply the toxin so that it is quickly

absorbed into the bloodstream. After a few moments

of serenity, the poison causes sensations of suffering,

which leads to vomiting. Practitioners claim that the

experience cures everything from depression to drug

addiction and high blood pressure.

Researchers continue to add more frogs to this list

of amazing creatures. Nearly one year ago, scientists

discovered two new clown frog species, quite a surprise

considering that only two species were known to exist.

Researchers also found a new transparent yaku frog

in Ecuador, named for its transparent abdominal skin,

which reveals its heart. As recently as last November,

researchers came upon the jaguar-snouted tree frog in

the middle of an abandoned road, a new species that

may already be endangered. This is some food for

thought on April 28, Save the Frogs Day.

APRIL 2018

Celebrating April

Passover

Yom HaShoah

Yom HaAtzma’ut

Easter

April 1

World Party Day

April 3

Barbershop Quartet Day

April 11

National Coin Week

April 15–21

Earth Day

April 22

Richter Scale Day

April 26

Yom HaShoah

Many people in the United States observe Yom Hashoah, which is also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day. It commemorates the lives and heroism of Jewish people who died in the Holocaust.

Yom Hashoah is not a federal public holiday in the US. The state of Israel moves the observance of Yom Hashoah when the actual date falls on a Friday or Sunday. It is then observed on the preceding Thursday or following Monday.

Israel’s Knesset (parliament) established Yom Hashoah, as a memorial to about six million Jewish people who were slaughtered by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945. It is observed on the 27th day of the month of Nisan. The full name of the day is Yom Hashoah Ve-Hagevurah, which means the "Day of (remembrance of) the Holocaust and the Heroism".

Yom HaAtzma’ut

Israel’s Independence Day is celebrated on the fifth day of the month of Iyar, which is the Hebrew date of the formal establishment of the State of Israel, when members of the “provisional government” read and signed a Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv. The original date corresponded to May 14, 1948. In 2018, it begins at sundown on April 18.

Most of the Jewish communities in the Western world have incorporated this modern holiday into their calendars, but some North American Jewish communities hold the public celebrations on a following Sunday in order to attract more participation. In the State of Israel it is a formal holiday, so almost everyone has the day off.

Yom Ha’atzmaut in Israel is always preceded by Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers. The message of linking these two days is clear: Israelis owe their independence — the very existence of the state — to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for it.

Manager’s Corner

Hello Residents, I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Kerry Rios and I am the new Property Manager here at Jewish Federation Plaza. I’m excited and I can’t wait to start contributing my part as a team member of JCHC. I look forward to meeting all of you as I settle in my new position. Thank you,

Kerry Rios

Meet Lucy Bonet: The New Plaza Compliance Specialist

Lucy Bonet brings over 16 years of affordable housing experiences to the position of Compliance Specialist. I currently oversee all aspects of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). Prior to joining the Jewish Community Housing Corporation, Lucy held the position of Compliance Manager for Stone Harbour Management Company and she also attended Berkeley College holding a degree in Business Management.

In addition to her long-standing membership in NEAHMA (New England Affordable Housing Management Association), NAHMA (The National Affordable Housing Management Association) and NCHM (National Center for Housing Management), Lucy’s many professional accreditations and certifications include LIHTC (Low Income Housing Tax Credit), COS (Certified Occupancy Specialist), C4P Tax Credit Specialist, TCS(Tax Credit Specialist), MOR (Management and Occupancy Review Specialist) and SCS (Site Compliance Specialist).

Resident Service Coordinator Carolyn Schonthal

We are pleased to announce that Ms. Carolyn Schonthal has accepted the position of Resident Service Coordinator. Carolyn joined our organization in 2007, and recently has been the administrative assistant at Plaza. Many of you may have already gotten the chance to meet Carolyn. Over these past 13 years, Carolyn has been an integral part of providing resident services in a variety of positions, which include congregate service coordinator. Carolyn’s advocacy and empathy for our seniors has been outstanding though out the years. For those who are currently using the congregate or the resident services, please be assured services will continue as usual. If you as a resident are in need of the services, please make an appointment with Carolyn. Please feel free to chat with Carolyn at her office, which is still located on the promenade. Carolyn can be reached at 973-530- 3970. Carolyn’s office hours will be: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday- 10:00 am to 4:00pm Wednesday 9am- 3pm (please note, this is subject to change as needed.) We also want to wish Laura Berkin, our resident service coordinator since 2013, a heartfelt goodbye.

Kerry Rios, Property Manager Laurie Loughney, Chief Operating Officer

UPCOMING EVENTS

Passover Seders

Livingston Mall

Hagit Live Passover performance

Mandatory Tenant Firearm Policy Meeting

Essex Green & Kmart

Our Stories

Walmart & Rt 22

Barnabas Stress Awareness Program

Current Events

Life Long Learning

Livingston & Short Hills

Tinton Falls Outlets

Sands Casino

Exercise Classes

Short Story Group

Creative Arts with Joan

Meditation & Relaxation

Trader Joe’s Florham Park

Plaza Mens Club

Adult Coloring

WOHS Senior Prom And much more. Please review your calendar for dates and times of all events.

Carol Levine taught residents about pickets and persistence at JCHC University.

Colon cancer awareness program at Plaza, presented by Cassandra Baksh.

JCHC University presented a Heart Health nutrition program by Jackie Philbin.

Farewell from Ann Marie

I wanted to take a moment to let you know that as I leave my position at Jewish Federation Plaza; how much I have enjoyed my tenure here. I appreciate having had the opportunity to work with you. Thank you for the support, guidance, and encouragement you have provided me during my time at Jewish Federation Plaza.

Even though I will miss my colleagues and my residents you will always have a special place in my heart.

Best Wishes,

Ann Marie Bass

Hagit “Live”

Passover Music Performance

Tuesday, April 3rd 3:00 p.m.

Recreation Room

All are invited to attend!

Happy April Birthday

Jay Linder 4/05 Lucille Jacobs 4/07 Rhoda Morris 4/08 Susan Rich 4/09 Joann Guarino 4/10 Chung Kim 4/10 Donald Rubenoff 4/11 Carol Schneider 4/16 Wanda Robinson 4/20 Cywa Wajner 4/22 Burnice Hardy 4/24 Robert Kraut 4/30

Of Gum and Gumption

The Wrigley Company may be the world’s largest manufacturer of chewing gum, but when the company was founded on April 1, 1891, by William Wrigley Jr., its primary business was selling soap. Wrigley journeyed from Philadelphia to Chicago with just $32 in his pocket and an innovative idea to offer free baking soda with every purchase of his Wrigley’s Scouring Soap. This model proved so successful that he later went into the baking soda business, now offering two free packages of chewing gum for every can of baking soda he sold. Once again, his giveaway proved more popular than the original product, and he ended up dedicating his company entirely to gum, a move that not only made him his fortune but made “Wrigley” a household name in Chicago and beyond.

A Pocketful of Poetry

If you are unsure of how to celebrate Poetry Month in April, then just wait until April 26, Poem in Your Pocket Day. On this day, choose a poem and carry it with you all day to work, to school, out shopping, or anywhere you may go. You may choose to share it with others or keep it to yourself, but the power of the poem will be with you all day. Perhaps you will choose a celebration of life, such as Walt Whitman’s Full Of Life, Now; a hymn to nature, such as John Clare’s All Nature Has a Feeling; a poem about poetry like Archie MacLeish’s Ars Poetica; or a unique take on love, such as Heart to Heart by Rita Dove. Perhaps you won’t choose a poem at all but your favorite song lyrics, which you can sing to everyone you meet. Remember, poems, like songs, are meant to be heard, so do not shy away from the wonder of sharing your special poem with those around you.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

PLEASE BE ADVISED, A “TENANT FIREARM POLICY MEETING” WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE MULTI-PURPOSE ROOM ON WEDNEDAY, APRIL 4TH AT 3:00 P.M.

IT IS MANDATORY THAT ALL PLAZA RESIDENTS ATTEND THIS IMPORTANT MEETING!

Time for a Change

Times Square is one of New York City’s most famous landmarks, but many don’t know where it got its name. Before it was Times Square, the intersection was known as Longacre Square, named after London’s Long Acre Square. Both places were hubs for horse carriages, brothels, and saloons. When Adolph Ochs aquired The New York Times newspaper in 1896, he sought a part of town far from City Hall and “Newspaper Row” for his growing news empire. He found his spot in Longacre Square, which the mayor renamed Times Square for the newspaper’s offices on April 8,1904.

The Son of Music

Mariachi music is an enduring musical tradition in Mexico, played wherever celebrations take place. There will certainly be plenty of mariachi music to enjoy at the Tuscson Mariachi

Conference from April 25 to 28. Mariachi’s roots go back hundreds of years, to the arrival of Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés in Mexico in 1519. Indigenous music, played as part of

a religious ceremony, was played with rattles, drums, flutes, and conch shells. The Spanish brought with them harps, guitars, violins, and brass horns, instruments that were played during

Catholic mass but quickly became popular outside of church services. Natives created a new type of music, incorporating the new instruments with local musical styles and African

musical influences that arrived via the slave trade. Many identify the west Mexican state of Jalisco as the center of this new folk music style known simply as son, or sound. It was from

the son of Jalisco that modern mariachi developed.

In the late 1800s and 1900s, the biggest form of entertainment was listening to radio and records. This is when the first modern mariachi bands formed. Violins and trumpets were added to musical orchestras featuring harps, guitars, and woodwinds. These bands became popular, and the music made its way into the rural countrysides. Mariachi was played at parties, on holidays, and in church, and the sound accompanied dances as varied as foxtrots, waltzes, pasodobles, fandangos, pokes, and jarabes. During the Mexican Revolution, many Spanish haciendas had to let workers go, including mariachi musicians. These mariachis wandered and played everywhere they could, and the new Mexican government, eager to promote a unified Mexican identity separate from their Spanish colonizers, presented mariachi as the national music for their young country. While Jalisco may be the “birthplace of mariachi,” the reach of this music is now global, with mariachi bands playing as far away as Sweden, Egypt, and Croatia.

Greetings from the Tenants Association

It’s wonderful to be with family - nothing quite like it ---- But it’s also wonderful to be home – to be in my own apartment, my own bed, my own kitchen… It’s also really great to be back with my friends and all the activities here at the Federation Plaza. I am happy to talk about the Tenants Association activities that are coming up:

* April 21 will be the Spring Fling with Von Martin

Productions – whom we have enjoyed several times in the past.

* General meeting – and elections for Tenants Association

Board members for 2018-2019. * The always wonderful Mothers’/Fathers’ Day Luncheon in

June.

* And more events in progress for the summer months.

Should be fun. See you there!

Joan Bender President

Farewell

To:

Ann Marie Bass

The residents of Jewish Federation Plaza wish Ann

Marie Bass the very best of

luck and much happiness in

her new position.

We will miss you!

A Happy Birthday Wish

To: Florence Widelitz

From: Debbie Ovitz

To: Karen Storch

From: Debbie Ovitz

Jackie Kaufman

To: Sharon Finestone

From: Jackie Kaufman

Condolence

To: Ann Marie Bass

on the loss of

her Aunt.

From:

Esther & Ed Schwartz

To: Ulta Kravet & Family

on the loss of

Larry Kravet

From: Marlene Hyatt

Important Health Announcement

As a courtesy to your friends and neighbors please limit the use of heavily scented products such as perfume, toilet water, aftershave, etc, in the public areas of the Plaza - this includes the promenade, elevators, lobby and dining room. Many of your neighbors and friends have allergies or respiratory problems related to scents and can become very ill when they are inhaled. Keep in mind that your clothes pick up and retain the scents long after you've applied them - even days later. This can happen even after they have been washed or dry-cleaned. Please remember that since our noses adjust, we can't tell how we ourselves smell - but others can. You wouldn't purposely trip someone who is using a cane or a walker - so please limit use of something that might trigger an illness that could become very serious.

Thank you for your courtesy and consideration.

Joan Bender

APRIL 2018 PLAZA Calendar is subject to change

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 Passover Day 2

9:30

PASSOVER

SERVCES

11:00

KIDDUSH

2:00 MOVIE 1

2 Passover Day 3 10:15 TOWN

BUS

11:30 TAI CHI 2

10:45 Livingston & Short Hills Malls 7:00 BINGO 3

3 Passover Day 4 10:00 WO Health Dept Blood Pressure Screening 2 11:00 EXERCISE 2 1:00 “The Blues not

a Normal Part of

Aging 2 2:00 CURRENT

EVENTS 1 3:00 Hagit Live Passover Music Performance 1 6:30 Meditation & Relaxation 1

4 Passover Day 5 10:45 Essex Green & Kmart 11:00 Move Today & Walking Club 2 12:15 Life-Long Learning 3 1:30 CHORAL GROUP 1 3:00 Mandatory Tenant Firearm Policy Meeting 1 3:00 Floral Design Workshop 1 7:00 BINGO 3

5 Passover Day 6

9:00 SHOPRITE

10:00 SHOPRITE

11:00 Exercise 2 3:00 Plaza Men’s Club 1 7:00 Candle Lighting

6 Passover Day 7

Office

Closed

Dining

Room Open

9:30 SERVICES 11:00 KIDDUSH

CANDLE LIGHTING BEFORE 7:05 pm

7 Passover Day 8 9:30 PASSOVER

SERVICE

10:15 YIZKOR

11:30 KIDDUSH

PASSOVER CONCLUDES 8:10 PM 7:00 MOVIE 1

8 11:00 BRUNCH

3

2:00 MOVIE 1

9 10:15

TOWN BUS 10:15 Walmart &

Rt 22 Shopping 11:30 TAI CHI 2

6:45 Life-Long Learning 1 7:00 BINGO 3

10 11:00 EXERCISE 2 2:00 CURRENT

EVENTS 1 6:30 Meditation & Relaxation 1

11 10:45 Rt 10 &

Farmers Market 11:00 Move Today & Walking Club 2 12:15 Life-Long Learning 3 1:30 CHORAL GROUP 1 7:00 BINGO 3

12 Yom HaShoah 10:15 Bed Bath & Beyond & Panera Bread in Springfield 11:00 Exercise 2 2:00 Adult Coloring 2

13 9:00

SHOPRITE

10:00

SHOPRITE

1:00 ONEG

SHABBAT 3

14 9:30 SHABBAT

SERVICE 1

11:00 KIDDUSH 3

7:00 MOVIE 1

15 11:00 BRUNCH

3

12:45 Seeing

Eye Puppy

Visit 2

2:00 MOVIE 1

16 10:15

TOWN BUS 10:45 Trader Joe’s Florham Park 11:30 TAI CHI 2

4:45 WOHS

Senior Prom

6:45 Life-Long Learning 1 7:00 BINGO 3

17 11:00 EXERCISE 2 1:00 Barnabas Health: Stress Awareness Month 1 2:00 CURRENT

EVENTS 1 6:30 Meditation & Relaxation 1

18 10:15 Christmas

Tree Shops & Rt 22 Shopping 11:00 Move Today & Walking Club 2 12:15 Life-Long Learning 3 1:30 CHORAL GROUP 1 7:00 BINGO 3

19 Yom HaAtzma’ut 10:15 Tinton

Falls

11:00 Exercise 2 1:00 Leo the Therapy Dog Visit 2:00 Our Stories1 7:00 Book Club 1

20 9:00

SHOPRITE

10:00

SHOPRITE

1:00 ONEG

SHABBAT 3

21 9:30 SHABBAT

SERVICE 1

11:00 KIDDUSH 3

2:00 Tenant Association Spring Fling 7:00 MOVIE 1

22 11:00 BRUNCH

3

2:00 MOVIE 1

23 8:45 Sand’s Casino 10:15 TOWN

BUS

11:30 TAI CHI 2

6:45 Life-Long Learning 1 7:00 BINGO 3

24 11:00 EXERCISE 2 1:15 Rabbi

Study Group 2:00 CURRENT

EVENTS 1 6:30 Meditation & Relaxation 1

25 10:15 Walmart &

Rt 22 Shopping 11:00 Move Today & Walking Club 2 12:15 Life-Long Learning 3 1:30 CHORAL GROUP 1 6:45 Creative Arts with

Joan 2 7:00 BINGO 3

26 10:00 Kids Cookie Golda Och Academy 10:45 Livingston & Short Hills Malls 11:00 Exercise 2 2:00 Short Story Group featuring Pearl Kaufman 1

27 9:00

SHOPRITE

10:00

SHOPRITE

1:00 ONEG

SHABBAT 3

28 9:30 SHABBAT

SERVICE 1

11:00 KIDDUSH 3

7:00 MOVIE 1

29 11:00 BRUNCH

3

2:00 MOVIE 1 Gamefest after

Movie 2

30 10:15

TOWN BUS 10:15 Whole Foods & Target in Union 11:30 TAI CHI 2

6:45 Life-Long Learning 1 7:00 BINGO 3

Program Location Codes

1 . Recreation Room 2 . Promenade 3. Dining Room Note: Location is subject to change