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Touch
of Gray - March / April 2001
Helaine
Plaut organizes local volunteers
Age has not slowed down these musicians
Helaine
Plaut organizes local volunteers
Things
may seem a little busier than usual on the afternoon of Friday,
March 23 at the Carolina Meadows Club Center. That's the day
when the second Annual Volunteers Fair will be held, with
up to 40 Chatham County agencies explaining their programs
to residents and many local visitors. What's the Volunteers
Fair all about? The one to ask about that is a remarkable
soft-spoken 80-year old grandmother and Carolina Meadows resident
named Helaine Plaut. She's the lady who put it all together.
Helaine
Plaut "retired" to Carolina Meadows four years ago. As she
told her friend and new neighbor, Joan Blewett, she was ready
to take it easy. "She was going to put her feet up, catch
up on her reading, maybe travel some," commented Joan. "But
it did not turn out that way after all."
Helaine
came to the Piedmont in 1986 when she and her husband, Roy,
a lawyer who headed his own law firm in Manhattan, retired
to Chatham County and moved into a new townhouse in Fearrington
Village.
Helaine
originally hailed from Boston and attended Wellesley College
in Massachusetts where she was a Wellesley Scholar with Honors
in English Literature. Like so many of her generation, she
looked with high hopes to the fledgling United Nations to
provide a way for the world to avoid future wars and right
the wrongs of the oppressed, the hungry, the ill and the underdeveloped.
She spent twenty years of leadership as a non-governmental
organization (NGO) representative at the United Nations headquarters
on the East River. She was involved with UNICEF on such global
problems as the treatment of prisoners and refugees, food
shortages, child health, equal justice for women and children,
population issues and protection of the environment.
Less
than two years after they moved to Fearrington, Roy died.
Helaine faced a major decision. Should she move back north
where her children and her lifelong friends lived, or should
she make a new life for herself in North Carolina?
She
decided to stay and threw herself wholeheartedly into the
kind of work she had always enjoyed - with the UN. This time
it was through the United Nations Association, the nationwide
body of 30,000 members devoted to educating U.S. citizens
about the UN.
Helaine
became active in the local Orange/Durham Chapter, later renamed
the West Triangle Chapter, and helped to build the Chapter
from 30 to 300 members. The Chapter is best known nowadays
for its monthly luncheons and annual UN Week celebrations,
featuring programs on the environment, population issues and
sustainable development. Helaine was co-president of the Chapter
for two years and then took over national responsibility as
a Leadership Corps consultant, traveling to and advising Chapters
in North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida on programs,
membership and funding.
But
that was not all she did in her years at Fearrington. Believing
that education is essential to building bridges of international
understanding and peace, she became involved in a project
that she called the most important thing she ever did. This
was the Model United Nations, organized annually by a consortium
of the historically black colleges of North Carolina. The
program was presented for three days each April, when 132
students put on a mock General Assembly. She acted as chief
judge for several years. Additionally, she was Secretary General
for a mock Security Council organized by students at NC State.
"The
future is in the hands of our young people," she said. "Only
they can tackle the problems of the global village and the
fragile environment."
Because
of her lifelong interest and appreciation for art, in 1987
she became a docent in the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill,
where she served for six years.
So
how come she did not sit back and take it easy when she moved
to Carolina Meadows? Chatham County is an area of rural poverty
and deeply serious needs existing side by side with affluent
communities like Chapel Hill. Living in Fearrington, she learned
to appreciate the growing needs of the Chatham County agencies
for volunteer help.
How
about Carolina Meadows as a source of this help, Helaine wondered?
Historically, as a community, Carolina Meadows is rich in
volunteerism and in supporting a variety of services and agencies.
Many of the people who move here have long and varied experiences
as volunteers and continue the relationships they have already
established, particularly across the county lines in the Chapel
Hill - Durham area. For example, Carolina Meadows residents
have long worked with WUNC Radio, UNC-TV, Playmakers, the
Ackland Museum, Ronald McDonald House and the Museum of Life
and Science in Durham.
Why
not, asked Helaine, bring together the needs of Chatham County
and the possible volunteers? Let's do it, she proposed, by
organizing a one-day Volunteers Fair on the Carolina Meadows
campus where agencies can set up booths and explain their
mission and needs to residents who might be willing to help?
And so the Community Outreach Volunteers Committee was born.
Helaine Plaut chaired and five other residents, Dick &
Pat Ballard, Irma Eisenbud, Joan Blewett and Roselyn Gurlitz
agreed to help. Angel Dennison, Administrative Assistant to
Kevin McLeod, CM's CFO, was recruited to contact forty social
agencies in Chatham County and invite them to participate.
Beth Gillespie, Director of United Way of Chatham County,
lent her help too in recruiting Chatham County agencies.
Twenty-seven
actually participated in the Fair on April 21 last year. Of
those twenty-seven, more than half already had active resident
volunteers who acted as hosts. Each agency was assigned a
table, and each was manned by a director and in many cases
additional staff members. They came with materials to distribute,
colorful displays to show and abundant enthusiasm.
Helaine
was encouraged by this response - BUT - big question - would
the residents come? Well, they did. 130 residents, as well
as employees, and friends from Fearrington Village, Governors
Club, and Carol Woods came, stayed, and got to know directors
of each agency and something about the needs of Chatham County.
70 signed up to volunteer with the agencies of their choice.
And
the choices were wide, ranging from children's services, like
ITS ( Intercede to Succeed) in Chatham County Schools; family
services, such as Family Violence and Rape Crisis Services;
health services including the Social Health Committee of Chatham
County; recreation, such as The Chatham Soccer League; assistance
with language, represented by the Hispanic Liaison Alliance;
establishing small businesses, with the Central Chatham Small
Business Center.
The
interaction between the Carolina Meadows residents and the
agencies that participated in the Fair has resulted in several
exciting initiatives.
The
Chatham Soccer League is a good example. The League, largely
run by parents, has a roster of more than 100 players, ranging
in age from three to fourteen. President of the Board of the
League is Lunday A. Riggsbee, an attorney in Pittsboro.
Thanks
to the recent mild weather, nightly practice for the 2001
soccer season has already begun in Carolina Meadows Community
Field. Last year there were as many as six games played there
every weekend. "I just wish we had more fields like Carolina
Meadows," commented Ms. Rigsbee. "There are more and more
youngsters enrolling each year and we just wish we had more
coaches and more fields like this available." As a result
of a demonstration of the rules and player positions hosted
by League officials last season for their benefit, Carolina
Meadows residents take a big interest in the soccer games
and practice sessions. "Talk about encouraging intergenerational
activity!' Helaine commented.
Another
cooperative effort that developed out of these contacts was
a December Food Drive which helped restock with canned and
packaged foods the pantries of CORA (Community Outreach Alliance)
and of the Salvation Army in Chatham Country. Carolina Meadows
residents contributed 2000 items which CM's Maintenance staff
transported to Pittsboro. Also a group of Carolina Meadows
residents signed up as volunteers to work at the food pantry.
These were Helaine herself, Joan Blewett, Margaret de Wever
and Elise Goldman.
Every
week eight volunteers from Carolina Meadows drive from northern
Chatham County to J. S. Waters School in Goldston and to Pittboro
Elementary School to tutor students in the ITS (Intercede
to Succeed) tutoring program for first and second graders
in literacy. The enthusiastic tutors each work with three
students, and are actively recruiting additional volunteers
so that more students can receive the benefits of one-on-one
tutoring. Currently volunteering are Pauline Brimhall, Trudy
Couch, Margaret Fallers, Carol Griffin, Amos Hawley, Ruth
Lee, Carolyn Mann and Margaret de Wever.
Another
instance involves resident cooperation with the Orange, Person
& Chatham Mental Health Center (OPC). OPC has long been
involved with the Carol Woods community in providing summer
camp facilities for emotionally challenged children. Plans
are under way for Carolina Meadows to provide similar summer
camp facilities on its campus this year, with resident volunteers
under the direction of Pat Ballard.
Helaine
does not plan to stop now and be content with last year's
results. She intends to make the Fair an annual affair and
is busy planning this year's event. The Committee has been
enlarged with added members, Betty Bailey, Esther Bovarnick
and Milt Donin. Last year's agencies will be here again as
well as several more, including the Chatham Trades Alliance,
which provides vocational training for adults with disabilities.
Helaine expects an even larger turnout of potential volunteers
this year and is again inviting residents of Governor's Village,
Fearrrington, and neighboring CCRCs to attend. Hours will
be from 1 to 4 p.m. in Carolina Meadows auditorium on Friday,
March 23. -- Desmond Reilly
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Age
has not slowed down these musicians
They
love to play old melodies for friends and neighbors
Much
in demand at local retirement centers, at benefit auctions
and at Chapel Hill Senior Center events is 90-year old Carolina
Meadows resident and virtuoso piano player, lean and lanky
and energetic and always smiling Ed Hasselblad.
Ed
hails from Seattle, Washington, site of the recent disastrous
earthquake. He remembered the previous big one there in 1945.
The reason he lived in Seattle was because his parents lost
everything in the big San Francisco shock in the early part
of the century and moved north.
Ed
does not consider himself a professional musician. But in
the view of his many friends, he is certainly a dedicated
amateur with a style and a spirit that brings out toe tapping
in all of us. He began playing at the age of ten when his
sister was taking piano lessons. He dropped out of high school
to become a member of a ship's orchestra traveling all over
the Orient.
When
he came home to Seattle, he decided to get a degree in business
at the University of Washington. But this was the time of
the Great Depression and seeing no jobs in his future he decided
to switch to music and become a teacher. He taught for eight
years and then moved into guidance and school administration.
He served in the Seattle environs for almost half a century.
So except for his early years, he has nor been professionally
involved as a musician since then.
He
still has some contact with the West, as he has a niece in
Seattle and he enjoys reading the Seattle newspaper on the
web. But he moved permanently to Durham in 1994. His son is
an Associate Professor in cancer research at Duke University.
Ed
has been at Carolina Meadows about a year now and enjoys life
here to the full. Every morning he swims in the pool and his
calendar in crowded with dates to play the piano both on and
off campus as often as four times a week. In a community where
single ladies outnumber the men, Ed is a popular figure at
parties and in the dining room, particularly when friends
have an opportunity to hear him play.
Off
campus, he has delighted large audiences at such charitable
affairs as last year's Mental Health Association Auction in
Chapel Hill. He is a regular performers at the Chapel Senior
Center weekly Tea and Music programs on Monday afternoons
and frequently plays at the Charles House in Carrboro, where
music is an important part of each day's activities.
"Ed
is a wonderful performer to work with," Robin Bailin, Senior
Center Facility Manager, told me. "You can call on him at
short notice and he will be there with a smile, willing and
ready to help." Unless of course he has a prior engagement!
And that can happen often with his crowded schedule.
He
loves to play popular tunes from the 20 through the 70s. "I
think Ed would rather play piano than eat," his friend and
fellow CM pianist, Barnbara Walburn, commented. He practices
at home on his compact digital piano but he really enjoys
performing at Carolina Meadows social events on the community's
magnificent Steinway Grand, purchased by resident contributions
a couple of years ago, and now, as Ed says, just about properly
broken in. Besides playing on the Steinway in the auditorium,
Ed has lately begun a series of more intimate programs for
residents of The Fairways; the community's assisted living
facility.
Though
Ed admits to some hearing and seeing problems, you would never
guess his age from the way he belts out those old familiar
tunes. "People don't care how I play, "is Ed's comment. "It's
what I play that matters. My friends want to hear the old
melodies that bring back memories."
"He
can play for an hour nonstop, going from one oldie to another,
then take a break, and come back and play for an hour more
without a pause," noted Charlie Kinnaird, emcee of our record-breaking
Silent Auction last winter when Ed provided all the musical
background.
Also
well known as a pianist who has long been entertaining at
the Chapel Senior Center weekly Tea and Music programs on
Monday afternoons is another Carolina Meadows resident, 81-year
old Catherine Rosin. You may also have run into Catherine
at the new Christ United Methodist Church in Southern Village,
where she sings in the choir and is also the church organist.
Catherine is currently recovering from two very successful
hip replacements and cannot wait to get back to her church
and Senior Center activities.
Catherine graduated in Music from Williams
College in Pennsylvania and is a skilled singer as well as
an instrumentalist. She began her career teaching Hispanic
students in a Presbyterian school in the mountains of New
Mexico in 1942. Later she taught for fifteen years in New
Jersey and sang with the Pro Rate Chorale in Carnage Hall,
Lincoln Center, at Jackson Hole in Nevada and at the Bach
Festival in Portugal.
Since
coming to Carolina Meadows six years ago, she has concentrated
on the piano and the organ and been active in a recorder group.
She has been the director of, and is still a member of the
Carolina Meadows choral group, the MeadowSingers, who will
be performing a Spring Concert at the Senior Center on May
3. The concert will be repeated in the Carolina Meadows auditorium
on May 9.
No
story on Carolina Meadows musicians would be complete without
some reference to three other remarkable women who enjoy entertaining
residents with their musical skills. Like Katherine, Connie
Rachlin is a willing volunteer when it comes to providing
piano accompaniments for memorial services, concerts and Sunday
Sing-Along programs on campus. Connie, a hale and hearty 85-year
old, came here 12 years ago. She is a graduate of the Curtis
Institute of Music in Philadelphia and has delighted audiences
as a concert pianist all over the world.
In
one of those unusual coincidences which seem to occur often
among Carolina Meadows arrivals, a classmate of Connie's in
the Curtis Institute was Becky Wagner, who moved into a Carolina
Meadows villa in 1995 and is now in the Health Center. Becky
worked in the Library of Congress for 25 years, first in the
Music Section of Descriptive Cataloging and later as Cataloger
of Hispanic Languages.
The
Health Center residents at Carolina Meadows particularly enjoy
the piano playing each day in the lounge by one of their own,
87-year old Eugenia Saville. She was for many years Associate
Professor of Music at Duke University. When Virginia moved
here after her retirement, her daughter arranged an unusual
surprise. She had her mother's grand piano shipped to Carolina
Meadows and set up in the Health Center lounge. One day a
nurse came to Virginia's room and told her to come to the
lounge. To her surprise, there was her own piano ready to
play!
All
of our celebrated musical performers not only enjoy playing
but also take particular pleasure in entertaining their friends
and neighbors as they recall the compositions and the melodies
of their earlier years. "If we forget a melody sometimes,"
Ed Hasselblad commented, " we can always move on quickly to
the next selection and keep our audience happy." -- Des
Reilly
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