Posts Tagged ‘Oak Park Arms’

Brent Cutro, D.O., will lead a discussion on arthritis at “Breakfast with the Docs” at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 23, at the Oak Park Arms retirement community, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Roughly one in five adults is diagnosed with arthritis, and over 50% of those ages 65 or older suffer from some type of arthritis.

Arthritis–the inflammation of one or more joints which results in pain, swelling, stiffness, and limited movement–develops as a result of the breakdown of cartilage. Cartilage lines a joint, cushioning it and allowing for smooth movement. Cartilage also absorbs shock when pressure is placed on the joint like when a person walks. A loss of cartilage causes the bones to rub together which results in pain, swelling (inflammation) and stiffness.

While there are over 100 different types of arthritis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are the two most common forms. Osteoarthritis typically develops because of normal wear and tear, while rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder.

Symptoms of arthritis include:
•    Persistent joint pain
•    Pain or tenderness (in a joint which is aggravated by movement)
•    Joint deformity
•    Loss of range of motion or flexibility
•    Inflammation (joint swelling, stiffness, redness, and/or warmth)

This disease typically worsens with age. Treatment options vary depending on the type of arthritis, however proper diet (including enough protein) and exercise can help alleviate discomfort. In addition, stretching daily, warm baths and massages help relieve muscle tension.

Dr. Cutro is a new physician at the Oak Park Arms. Prior to joining the Arms he practiced internal medicine at West Suburban Hospital.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. And it’s not called “Breakfast with the Docs” for nothing: participants who attend will also be served a healthy breakfast.

For more information, or to reserve a seat, call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

Roberta Kulik will teach a Scotland and Germany dance workshop at 11 a.m., Thursday, July 11, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Kulik will teach user friendly steps and choreography of Scottish and German types of dance.

Scottish dance consists of three main types: step dance, highland dance and country dance. Similar to Irish step dancing, both Irish and Scottish step dancing share the same Celtic roots. Highland dance is a style of competitive solo dance, heavily influenced from ballet and often performed to the accompaniment of Highland bagpipe music. Country dancing is a social dance comprised of groups of about six to 10 who form a “set” and trace progressive patterns of a predetermined choreography to music played on instruments like the fiddle, accordion, flute, piano or drums.

Of the many types of German dance, among the most popular are the landler, waltz and polka. The landler is a couples’ dance most popular in the 18th century. It features hopping and stamping and is often danced to purely instrumental music, though it sometimes includes a vocal part, such as yodeling. It is believed to have played a role in the evolution of the waltz, as the landler became quicker and more elegant with the growing popularity of dance halls in the 19th century. The polka is a quick and lively dance with rapid shifts from one foot to the other. It’s thought to have been invented by a peasant girl for her own amusement in 1834.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The workshop is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

Taught by Roberta Kulik, the Oak Park Arms’ monthly tap dance workshop takes place at noon, Thursday, July 11, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Kulik will teach 15 minutes of basic tap moves that can be done either sitting or standing. Tap shoes are welcome but not required. This type of dance is a left-brain/right-brain workout great for coordination, balance and memory.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The workshop is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

Visitors are welcome at the next meeting of the Mills Investment Club at 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 9, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. New members are always welcome to join or visit.

For more than 30 years the investment club has come together to learn how to follow economic trends and use that information to expand its portfolio. With guidance from club President Pat Koko, club members jointly purchase stocks and make decisions as a group.

The club provides a fun and easy way to learn about investing by combining camaraderie, education, buying power and confidence.

“Our year-to-date is 9.7 percent right now which puts us ahead of the Dow,” Koko said. “We’ve got a variety of stocks, and we’re doing really well.”

To make the best financial choices, a special presentation is given by a different group member each month. In addition, each member is in charge of following one stock throughout the month and presenting a report of the stock’s activity.

There are currently 15 club members. To formally join, attendance to at least three meetings is required, and the final decision is voted on by the group. However, anyone can attend as often as they like without becoming a member.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

The Monday Night Concert Series continues with The Jeremy Kahn Trio, featuring Eric Schneider at 7 p.m. Monday, July 15, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Kahn and his group will perform some of the best songs of the 20th century. Referred to by Chicago Tribune’s Howard Reich as “a rare and gifted pianist,” Kahn has played in jazz venues around the world and pit orchestras for theatrical events such as “Wicked.” He has also performed with artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Joni Mitchell, Phil Woods, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Aretha Franklin.

After over a decade living in New York, this Chicago native now lives in Oak Park with his family.

Eric Schneider has had an extensive and successful career as a saxophonist and clarinetist participating in concerts, festivals and studio work. After graduation from the University of Illinois, Schneider recorded and toured extensively with Earl Fatha’ Hines for four years and Count Basie and his Orchestra for another two years.

Most recently Schneider performed in the Ravinia 2013 lineup playing clarinet with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra in the Tribute to Benny Goodman, which celebrated the 75th anniversary of Goodman’s Ravinia debut.

Schneider is in high demand by small groups and big bands alike. When not performing, he enjoys golf and skiing.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

Oak Park Arms presents its popular series “You Be the Critic” at 3:30 p.m. Friday, July 12, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. The 1985 classic, “The Breakfast Club,” will be viewed and reviewed with radio announcer Dan Kane.

The film, written and directed by John Hughes, follows five high school students who find themselves stuck in detention together on a Saturday morning. With nothing but time to kill, these kids from different stereotypes find themselves exploring through typical teenage issues and baring their souls as the day wears on.

The movie stars Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy,

By the end of their Saturday sentence they had become good friends. The audience meets them as a Brain, an Athlete, a Basket Case, a Princess and a Criminal, and watches as they form the Breakfast Club.

Known as the “quintessential 1980s film,” the critical consensus touts the movie as a warm, insightful and very funny look into the inner lives of teenagers. Upon release in 1985 the film debuted as No. 3 at the box office and grossed $45 million domestically and $51 million worldwide.

It was released on DVD as part of the “High School Reunion Collection” and was ranked No. 369 by Empire magazine on their “The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time” list. In addition, it was placed on the “Best 1000 Movies Ever” list by The New York Times and ranked No. 1 on Entertainment Weekly’s list of the “50 Best High School Movies.”

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

A recital will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 7, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. Students from the Language and Music School of Oak Park will perform for residents and the public at the Arms.

The Language and Music School was founded by Maria Fermi and Martha Yelenosky. What began privately in a teacher’s apartment in 1990 with just six students learning a combination of Spanish, piano, violin, guitar and recorder lessons is now an establishment with 25 teachers and hundreds of students. The school provides students (from age four to adults) with a unique environment in which nearly a dozen languages and dozens of instruments are taught daily.

Fermi is a music professor from the Conservatorio de Musica Julian Aguirre with studies in Music Therapy and ongoing studies in child development and developmental disorders such as Asperger’s Syndrome, Autism, ADHD and Bipolar Disorder.

Yelenosky is on staff at the Northwestern University School of Music and has been president of the Chicago Area Music Teachers Association (C.A.M.T.A.) Jazz Festivals of Chicago since 1997.

Private 30-minute classes are offered, once a week. Languages taught include Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish and English as a second language. Instruments taught include wind, brass, guitar, piano, percussion, strings, voice and music composition. In addition, group immersion Spanish classes are available for children and pre-school, after-school, kindergarten and summer camps available for kids age two to nine.

Yelenosky and Fermi have also co-authored LMS First Steps in Spanish™ (CDs and materials for teaching Spanish through music-based activities).

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear, an all volunteer radio reenactment group, will present the “Lux Radio Theatre: The Maltese Falcon,” at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 30, at the Oak Park Arms retirement community, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Based on a classic detective story, this radio show is a rendition of one of the most famous film noirs of all time. A film noir describes stylish Hollywood crime drama with an emphasis on cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Shifty characters, suspense and plenty of plot twists will keep the audience guessing until the end.

Written by Dashiell Hammett in 1930, “The Maltese Falcon” features characters like Sam Spade, Effie Guttman and Cairo, all striving to be the first to uncover a missing, jewel-encrusted statuette – the Maltese Falcon.

Named one of the greatest films of all time by both Roger Ebert and Entertainment Weekly, the film was cited by Panorama du Film Noir Americain as the first major film noir.

The Lux Radio Theater was a long-running broadcasted classic radio anthology series. The hour-long radio programs, performed live for studio audiences quickly became the most popular dramatic anthology series and were broadcast on radio for more than 20 years, after which the programs continued on television through the 1950s.

The performers

Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear is composed of Chicagoland actors who share a common interest – to perform old time radio programs for the community. Each actor and technician donates talent and time for free.

Group founders, Ben Dooley and Pam Turlow, husband and wife, established a connection with The Oak Park Arms in September of 2002, when Turlow’s father became a resident. They’ve been volunteering/performing at The Arms ever since.

Dooley and Turlow’s group performs only once every two months due to the considerable challenges involved in creating a show. They browse through thousands of old time radio episodes, select a favorite, listen and type out the script. Many shows are not available in print and have to be painstakingly transcribed. Then they gather sound effect, rehearse and mount the show.

Sound effects were an important part of live radio shows, and the group performs them live. They have a real door for slamming, buzzers, a sound board and shoes for footsteps, and doorbells.

The shows are very popular with residents and people from the community. Some bring their children and grandchildren to show them what entertainment was like before television.

“Since the entire cast donates its time and energy, we can only do shows six times a year,” Dooley said, “but we strive to make sure that it’s well worth the wait.”

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The radio show is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

The Monday Night Concert Series continues with “Bobby Schiff’s Tribute to Bill Evans,” at 7 p.m. Monday, June 24 at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

William John Evans, known as Bill Evans (Aug. 16, 1929–Sept. 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, “singing” melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists. He is considered by some to be the most influential post-World War II jazz pianist.

Schiff is a composer, arranger, conductor, pianist and producer. On the Chicago and Los Angeles music scenes for more 45 years, he has led orchestras and bands, performed on piano and keyboards, directed, composed and arranged for and with the best – Mel Torme, Peggy Lee, Johnny Hartman, Frank D’Rone, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbara McNair, The Arbors and Bobby Rydell.

In 2001, he played Wayne Newton’s overseas Thanksgiving USO tour, accompanying Ruth Pointer. Locally, he performs with Ron Hawking and the show “His Way” and is the pianist and arranger for Claudia Hommel’s “Faure Jazz Project.”

Schiff has been playing piano and keyboards professionally since he was in high school. His classical training in piano performance and composition began at age five. As a youngster, he worked several years at Universal Recording Studios in Chicago, honing his skills in the music production and publishing business.

His award winning commercial music business served such clients as Kimberly-Clark, Sesame Street, McDonald’s, John Deere, Sears, Kraft and Hallmark.

A true music professional, Schiff served for many years as a national trustee and national vice-president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammy’s). He served as vice president of the Association of Professional Orchestra Leaders. He also maintains his memberships in ASCAP and ASMA.

On a day to day basis, Schiff is working primarily in Chicago as a vocal arranger and accompanist. Playing, arranging and producing albums for numerous independent artists, he also performs with his own jazz trio at several Chicago venues.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

It’s Senior Prom time. Every year sees event venues filled with high school seniors dressed to the nines and enjoying this most special event. Well, it’s not all high school seniors…

A different group of seniors will be the “cat’s meow” at the 34th annual Seniors’ Senior Prom titled, “Cotton Club,” from 7 – 10 p.m. Friday, June 14, at the Oak Park Arms Retirement Community, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. The public is warmly welcome to attend and dance the night away.

The Dick Elliot Band will provide the music, standards from the Big Band era -  music that will touch lives, refresh spirits and perhaps most important – rekindle  memories.

In addition, the Legacy Girls will perform their Andrew Sisters act. Appetizers will be served before the prom, and a special dessert is being planned. In addition, there will be exciting drawings for prizes.

At 8 p.m. the Oak Park Arms scholarship will be presented to student Anjelica Hannicke. She has been volunteering at the Timbers for several years and will attend the University of Illinois in the fall.

“It’s always a thrill to present the scholarship,” said Jill Wagner, director of marketing for Oak Park Arms. “Hannicke is simply terrific and she has a bright future. We are very happy to be in a position to help.”

A highlight of the prom is the crowning of the 2013 king and queen who are elected by the residents. A special dance will take place featuring all the kings and queens, past and present.

“Our prom is quite an event,” Wagner said, “The room will be decorated with a roaring twenties theme, and the residents and families have a wonderful time.”

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The prom is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.