In the Press
Personal Trainer Brings It HomeThe SpotlightSeptember 30, 2009
Jeff Grayson Miller, owner and operator of Function Fitness, an in-home mobile fitness service, wants to make fitness more accessible. Instead of meeting his clients at the gym, Miller brings equipment to their homes, working them one-on-one to strengthen their bodies and work toward their goals.
Miller has been a personal trainer since 1997, but decided to switch his focus within the past few years. On Thursday, September 17, Miller met one of his clients, Henry Klersy, of Delmar, at Wolferts Roost Country Club in Menands.
Klersy said he has been going to Miller to strengthen his body for more than a year now. “I feel a lot better since,” he said. Miller has been helping Klersy work on his balance, and while Klersy said the sessions with Miller are not strenuous, he does feel that his body has been worked afterward.
Klersy said “there’s no way to compare” the type of service he gets when put up against the kind of service he would receive if he were seeing a trainer at a gym. “This is very personal,” said Klersy.
Klersy is the owner of Delmar Place Assisted Living Residence, an assisted living facility in Delmar for senior citizens. Klersy said Miller comes every week, free of charge, and volunteers with the seniors at Delmar Place, teaching them about ways to strengthen their bodies and be proactive to prevent injury.
Article edited due to space limitations. Public Well Served by Delmar PlaceThe SpotlightJanuary 21, 2009 Dear Editor: Albany County Health Insurance Information Counseling & Assistance Program (HIICAP) is dedicated to assisting senior citizens obtain the information they need to make decisions about their Medicare A and B and Part D drug prescription coverage. It is a free counseling program under the auspices of Albany County and is staffed by a part time director and a group of volunteers. Those of us who are part of the program very much appreciate the support we receive from Delmar Place, 467 Delaware Avenue, Delmar, and its staff, and we want to inform area residents of the kindness and cooperation extended to us. They have opened their doors and provided us with rooms for our training sessions, meetings, often times going out of their way to insure that space is available to us when we need it. We think this attitude of caring and giving speaks volumes about the culture of the organization. We can’t help notice the warm friendly atmosphere and well-maintained condition of the facility. Any time we see staff interacting with residents we see evidence of care and respect. The community is well served by Delmar Place. Anyone seeking assistance with or information about Medicare or any of the services provided by the HIICAP program is urged to call Peggy Moran, HIICAP Coordinator at 518-935-2307. William Schwartz HIICAP Volunteer Representative Delmar Place Adds On-site Physical TherapistThe SpotlightDecember 19, 2007 It’s been only three years since the 6.7-acre Delmar Place assisted-living facility was built for area seniors. But the 94-unit apartment site has seamlessly integrated with the community; so much so, it’s like entering a mini-Delmar when you walk inside. Corridors, libraries and dining areas are named after Delmar sites including Adams Place, Adams Street and the Four Corners. Now, the locally owned and managed facility is offering physical and occupational therapy services to Delmar Place residents and eventually to those outside the community. “We never had and in-house occupational or physical therapist,” said Terri Fishman. “Our folks would go out, and we would transport resident.” Weston Paxxon Senior Rehab Services is now leasing space inside Delmar Place, offering daily therapy for all residents. “Our main goal is to keep residents here well and strong,” said Amanda Deyo, on-site Weston Paxxon occupation therapist. “More people want to stay in an assisted living community, and we help them with strength training, range of motion, flexibility and other endurance activities,” Deyo said. One full-time occupational therapist and physical therapist will be on site Monday through Friday from 8a.m. to 4:30pm, according to Deyo, with future plans to market to residents outside Delmar Place. “We can take people who are not residents, and offer home safety assessments to the Delmar community,” Deyo said. Delmar Place offers 24-hour, on-site personnel with daily activities, three square meals served by a professional chef in the dining area and several other amenities. “It affords you to be able to be more independent than a nursing home,” said Donna Cardish, director of community outreach. There is a beauty salon and barber service, dry cleaning service, and a daily social calendar with activities like bridge, dancing, and movies in The Old Delmar Theater along with Friday happy hour. “We offer a very good social schedule,” said Terri D. Fishman, director of marketing. “There are many activities outside the building as well." Residents can stay for as little as two weeks or as long as they choose. “There is no move-in or buy-in fee,” said Fishman of the private care facility designed to meet the needs of a growing elderly population who want to maintain their current lifestyle without the drudgery of daily cleaning, cooking and other household chores. For information on either Weston Paxxon Senior Rehab Services or Delmar Place assisted living facility, contact 434-4663.
A Collection of MemoriesThe SpotlightDecember 12, 2007 Gerry Klett reached into her dollhouse to lift out a miniature Spode candlestick. She couldn’t recall the name of the famous English china factory, but she remembered buying them on sale in England. Next she showed off a rug she made for her granddaughters’ dollhouse. “Then when I got my dollhouse, they gave it back to me,” she said. Klett’s son-in-law, Carl Hiener, built her dollhouse, a nine-room, three story mansion, some 15 years ago. In the intervening time, Klett has furnished and decorated every inch of the inside, as well as the grounds in front and back. Klett’s apartment at Delmar Place in Bethlehem is dominated by the dollhouse. It’s set on a table in the middle of the main room. Decorated for the holiday season, Klett has been hosting visitors this month, from friends to Girl Scout troops, to see her miniature marvel. The back yard features a picnic table, two Adirondack chairs and a privy. Inside are knick-knacks, dolls and a player piano; a lace-covered bed, chairs and a hat rack; and lamps, tables and a woodstove. Some used, some new, some very old, the objects represent a collection assembled over time, arranged and rearranged. When Klett started buying furniture for the dollhouse, she said, “I didn’t get the best.” The wood wasn’t good.” A flip-top table in the living room is a real antique, as it came from a dollhouse older than many homes in Delmar. She doesn’t buy high-end things very often, and still, she said “It’s been a costly little dream.” One room on the third floor functions like a real attic, a dusty collection of collectables, retired to storage when something newer takes their places. "Someday I’ll have to have a sale,” quipped Klett." Klett has lived in Bethlehem for more than 60 years. She worked as a school nurse educator for the Bethlehem school district and was married to Stan Klett, a local dentist. She said she had pushed Hiener to make something for “the girls” –her granddaughters – and he did. He built a dollhouse. “The next year I got one,” said Klett. Four tiny coffee mugs sit on the kitchen counter. Each has a name: Geraldine, Stan, Carl and Sandy. Klett’s voice wavered as she recalled her daughter’s memory. Sandy Hiener predeceased her mother. Other personal touches include the number 37 over the front door, the address where Klett used to live. Likewise, the dollhouse is pained yellow, to match Klett’s real house. A southwestern pottery urn stands out against the more traditional furnishings. “I go to Colorado – my other daughter lives out there,” she explained. “There are wonderful gift shops there.” Other memories are less poignant, but no less sharp. The piano is from Washington, D.C., the Jacuzzi tub was painted by a child in art class, and an antique rug came from a lady in Troy. As Klett approaches her 90th birthday, her memory is showing signs of age. She searches for words and loses her train of thought. But the objects in the house, placed with attention and consideration, seem to hold certain memories in place and trigger a clear connection once again. For those interested in seeing her dollhouse, Klett is hold an open house for residents and guest on Thursday, December 13, from 3 to 5 p.m. Delmar Place is located at 467 Delaware Ave. in Delmar.
The Caller is Only 9, But His Spirit is TimelessTimes Union Esther Smith wins again at bingo at Delmar Place, an assisted living center on Delaware Avenue in Delmar. She looks up at the caller and says in a soft, embracing voice, “You’re my boy. I love you, honey.” Collin Peragine blushes and looks down at the floor. He’s known Esther only since February, when he started calling bingo on Mondays and Saturdays at the center. Collin is 9. His skin is smooth, his hair brown. He wears black tennis shoes, a gray and orange sweat shirt and jeans, ripped at both knees. Esther is 98. She arrives for bingo pushing her walker and wearing orange pants, a striped purple blouse, a white sweater with a rose embroidered on the front and dangling, rose-colored earrings. Her strikingly white hair is perfectly coifed. “Where’s my boy?” she says, looking around the room for Collin, who is right there with his mother, Melissa Wiedman-Peragine. “He’s my sweetheart.” “Hi, Esther,” Collin says. “How’re you doing?” “I fell out of bed; I’m achy,” Esther says. “Oh well, better times are coming.” And they do as Collin’s calls keep Esther’s right arm shooting into the air as she whoops: “Bingo! I got it.” Collin and his mother have been here for bingo since the former caller, a resident of Delmar Place, fell ill. When that happened, a worker at Community Caregivers in Slingerlands called Melissa and asked whether she and Collin would fill in. They’d been volunteering already with the agency, which draws from a pool of 500 volunteers to help people, especially the elderly, shop, cook, pick up prescriptions, clean and pass the lonely hours. Collin and his mom had been helping an elderly man recovering from foot surgery. Their involvement with Community Caregivers started last year, when Collin and his family faced a slimmed-down Christmas at their Voorheesville home. Collin's great-grandmother had died and other relatives had moved away. Collin wondered what they would do on such a quiet holiday. His mother told him that some people visit others who are alone. “Yeah,” Collin said, “a lot of old people don’t have anyone to visit them.” So Melissa contacted Community Caregivers, and she and Collin began visiting the elderly man. Then the call came about helping out at bingo. Collin sits at the head of a row of narrow tables placed end to end. Seven residents of Delmar Place sit shoulder shoulder with bingo cards in front of them. All but one arrives with the aid of canes or wheelchairs. The boy scoots forward in his chair, then scoots back. He swings his legs forward, then swings back. He reaches into a plastic tub and pulls out a small, numbered ball, and then reads the number. “I, 16,” Collin says in a strong, clear voice. “I, 16.” The room is silent except for the clatter of fingers digging through boxes of coin-sized markers to cover the numbers Collin calls. Players reach out, put down the markers and lean back. They don’t talk during bingo; their concentration is absolute. The blinds are closed, so they can’t see the gray clouds threatening overhead or the leaves flapping their warnings of an approaching storm. Collin waits for everyone to cover his or her numbers, and then calls another. “N, 40,” he says “N, 40.” “I have a bingo!” shouts Ruth King, 93, sitting in her wheelchair and wearing a light blue sweater. She reads off her numbers, and Collin checks them one by one. The tension dissolves, the residents erupt into conversation between games. Several talk at once, so you can hear only snippets of dialogue. Jim Kehoe, 63 curses his luck again. Beverly Craig, 71, says she’s won lots of money before at the casino, playing slots. Her luck’s holding out. “I went for a sonogram, and everything came out fine,” she says. “I’m very grateful for that.” Used to talking about baseball, football, and skiing, Collin listens but doesn’t join in. Later, as he helps his mother collect the cards after calling for an hour, he says he likes being around the folks at Delmar Place. “They’re nice,” he says. They think he’s nice, too. “How many kids would do this?” Ruth asks. Esther nods her agreement. She reaches out her left arm and wraps it around Collin’s waist. She pulls him to her, and her and the boy hug. “When is the next bingo?” she asks, as the room empties. “Monday,” Collin says. “It’s Monday, Esther.”
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