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“To me, living at Sherwood Oaks means freedom from property maintenance and the opportunity to pursue hobbies, activities, and events on and off the campus with old and new acquaintances.”
- Henry HerchenroetherResident since 2003

Sherwood Oaks Residents partner with Seneca Valley High School to Judge Senior Projects

March 24th, 2010 by Katherine Vojtko

Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania―

Twenty-four residents of the Sherwood Oaks Retirement Community will act as judges for the Seneca Valley Senior High School’s 2010 senior projects presentations. The residents will volunteer their time for judging duties and will undergo training in order to understand the scope and criteria for awarding entries.

Madelin Clements, a resident of Sherwood Oaks, served as a judge during the 2009 Seneca Valley Senior High School’s senior project presentations. She enjoyed the important experience and interested many of her friends at Sherwood Oaks to join this year’s panel of judges. The senior projects cover a wide range of topics including career entrepreneur, community service, visual and performing arts, humanities, mechanical design and construction and more.

The Seneca Valley School District is a suburban district serving Butler County, Western Pennsylvania. The district covers 100 square miles and includes the townships of Cranberry, Forward, Jackson and Lancaster and the boroughs of Callery, Evans City, Harmony, Seven Fields and Zelienople. Seneca Valley School District comprises four elementary schools, two middle schools (5-6 grades), one middle school (7-8 grades), one intermediate high school (9-10 grades) and a senior high school (11-12 grades).

A total of approximately 7,300 students per year are educated in the Seneca Valley School District (2009). The school district reports SAT scores which rank consistently higher than the state and national averages. The district ranks within the top 20 of Western Pennsylvania schools (2009 ranking) and the Seneca Valley middle school was named in the top 10 (2009 ranking).

Katherine Vojtko, Vice President of Sherwood Oaks, isn’t surprised at the many residents who want to offer their time and expertise to the school project. “It’s a perfect partnership. Residents of Sherwood Oaks are retired or semi-retired people who have been business leaders, medical professionals, teachers, lawyers, engineers and more. They have done great things with their lives and have so much to offer as well as being great role models for the students.”

Sherwood Oaks is a continuing care retirement community for people age 62 and over with patio homes and apartments offering secure, maintenance-free living with fine amenities, activities and programs with on-site assisted living, skilled nursing and memory support care. The mission of Sherwood Oaks is to foster independence, health and wellness, and financial security for residents while preserving a quality and dignity of life in which residents may realize their fullest potential. Sherwood Oaks is part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) retirement communities.

The Sherwood Oaks Retirement Community is situated on an 84-acre wooded campus 25 miles north of downtown Pittsburgh in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. Visit www.sherwood-oaks.com.

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A Note Recently Written to Sherry Cook, Client Advisor

February 18th, 2010 by Katherine Vojtko

Dear Sherry,
Thank you for all of the thoughtful ways you helped us in the decision-making process as we considered Sherwood Oaks.  We are sooo glad this community “won” in our evaluations, and the professionalism with which you met us and your desire to have us here played a large part in our decision.

Thank you again and may God bless you!

Sincerely,
John and Harriet Burress

PS  – The Moving Seminar was great.  We recommend it as an ongoing marketing tool.

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Campus Life Is Rich With Activites, Hobbies And Fun

February 18th, 2010 by Katherine Vojtko

“Make the decision to come to Sherwood Oaks while you are young as active enough to enjoy it,” advises Loretta Pospistle, 67. Loretta and her husband Richard, 72, have been residents since 2006. They love the fact that the residents develop and run the activities at Sherwood Oaks and they are taking full advantage of them to match their energetic lifestyle.

Loretta participates in Tai Chi and yoga and shares a weekly walk as part of the Walk with a Friend program. She puts on her dancing shoes and joins husband Richard to take part in line dancing fun. “I enjoy games,” says Loretta, “and I play poker and dominoes. I also like to play Mah Jongg, but there wasn’t a play group here at Sherwood, so Richard and I started one!”

“I enjoy being active and helping others,” says Richard, who possesses many high technology skills. He volunteers weekly in the Sherwood Oaks computer center where he assists residents with projects like email, word processing and slide shows. As chair of the audio visual group, Richard manages the set up of projectors, microphones and sound equipment for campus movies, concerts and presentations. And Richard is involved with the organization of Sherwood’s summer games during which residents compete for bragging rights in games of croquet, golf putting, horse shoes, bocce and other sports.

Now that he has time to devote to it, Richard is getting back to painting as a member of the art group.  He spends time with the resident art instructor and is working in both acrylic and watercolors. He is part of the Program Committee that secures outside entertainment such as musical, comedy and guest speakers to perform at Sherwood Oaks. And as a member of the Dining Services Committee, he participates in determining healthful and appetizing food options and reviews resident comments.

As a member of the Health Affairs Committee, Loretta receives health care concerns of residents and helps develop educational programs, such as preventing falls. She felt honored when asked to create a permanent Sherwood Oaks historical display for the Oak Lodge.  “Richard and I love to be active and involved, but we make certain to set aside time each day to spend with each other.”

Helen Haberlein came to Sherwood Oaks in 2008.  “I am happy here at Sherwood Oaks and there is certainly lots of activity and enjoyable things to do,” says Helen, 77. She swims twice per week and plants and tends flowers as part of the Landscape Committee. She has high praise for the books she reads and discusses at the book club.

“I also make use of the ceramics and pottery studio,” says Helen. “I enjoy ceramics and the studio is fully equipped with a pottery wheel and kiln.” Helen also likes to work on her golf putting on the campus putting green.

Sherwood Oaks residents currently have over 50 committees and activities available on campus. They know that active people are happier, healthier and a whole lot of fun to be around.

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Going Green at Any Age—Purchase of ZENN Electric Car Reflects Progressive Vibe at Sherwood Oaks Retirement Community

February 18th, 2010 by Katherine Vojtko

Based on their commitment to independence, dignity, and quality of life, resident advisors give the green light to zero-emissions acquisition.

With the blessing of their community’s transportation committee, headed by a retired electrical engineer from the Westinghouse nuclear division, executives with Sherwood Oaks, a retirement community in Cranberry Township, today announced the strategic addition of a ZENN electric car to the campus motor pool.

Hinting at both the due diligence of the resident committee he chairs as well as a lifetime of attention to detail, 91-year-old Melvin “Jud” Judkis, an 11-year resident of Sherwood Oaks, reels off the compelling stats that helped drive executives’ decision to go green.

“The fuel economy was listed as 245 miles per equivalent gallon of gasoline,” he says. “The cost of operating the car on electricity would be about 3.4 kilowatt-hours to drive 25 miles. That turns out to be about 40 cents, based upon the price of electricity.”

According to Sherwood Oaks president and CEO Mark D. Bondi, those facts made sense in terms of both bottom-line savings and in the way the purchase reflects the unique collaborative dynamic between Sherwood Oaks administrators and its clients who live there.

“We have a bunch of residents who are very bright,” says Mr. Bondi. “They’re retired engineers, retired educators, business owners. These are people who have planned very carefully all their lives. The residents really have a voice in what happens here, and they’re a resource for us.”

Manufactured by the ZENN Motor Company (www.zenncars.com), the new car will be used at Sherwood Oaks as an on-campus-only vehicle to supplement an already busy fleet of gas-powered cars and buses used by residents for transportation both on and off campus, to the airport, to doctor visits, and for shopping excursions.

According to Ralph Edgar, director of security and transportation for Sherwood Oaks, the four-passenger ZENN car is ideal for daily use around the community’s 84-acre campus. It has a top speed of 25 mph; it can be recharged overnight via a standard household electrical outlet; and it has a range of up to 30 miles on a single charge.

“We had a demo car for the last three weeks,” he says, “so we’re used to having it in service every day. We looked at some other products, along the lines of golf carts, but this is like a regular car. It’s enclosed; it will protect you from the weather. It’s a nice addition to our fleet.”

In addition to the ZENN car purchase, Mr. Bondi says other eco- and budget-friendly initiatives at Sherwood Oaks include recent construction of a “green” rooftop on the community’s healthcare center as well as energy-efficient design elements included in new apartments under construction, all of which reflects relevant input from some of the more than 50 activity/advisory committees that comprise the Sherwood Oaks Residents Association (SORA).

“Sherwood Oaks is a resident-founded community, and the relationship between residents and staff is extremely cooperative,” says Mr. Bondi. “I think the better communities try to stay close to their customers, like any business should.”

The resident chair of SORA’s transportation committee agrees.

“We try to be progressive in the things that we do, and we like to think that we are having a say in how this place is run,” says Mr. Judkis.

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Sherwood Oaks Nursing Center Again Receives Five Star Rating

February 18th, 2010 by Katherine Vojtko

The Sherwood Oaks Nursing Center continues to receive the highest rating of “five stars” from the federal agency, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).  The rating system, which CMS began in December 2008, reviews and ranks each nursing center in the country on a quarterly basis.

The rating ranks Sherwood Oaks in the top 10% of the 16,000 nursing homes in the U.S. The scores are awarded based on the review of data from health inspections, quality measures, and staffing ratios.

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