Touch of Gray - October / November 2006

The music plays on at 'the Meadows'
Staff volunteers put program on the MAP

The music plays on at 'the Meadows'
   "Milton Donin has been a chemist by profession, but his heart has always been with music.

   He has given several short courses in chamber music at the Fairways, the assisted-living complex at Carolina Meadows, and he has been a frequent player with music groups, including the UNC Symphony Orchestra, wherever he has resided.

   One evening every week, three musicians appear at his residence to play chamber music: violinists Laura Thomas and Jane Brinkley, both from Chapel Hill, and Denise Dalton, who plays the cello, from Hurdle Mills.

   Donin is the violist in residence.

   Brinkley, Dalton and Donin have been a chamber trio for many years when they can't find a violinist to form a quartet. Brinkley relishes her evenings playing with Donin's group. "It is a delight to be with Milt," she said. "He is a fine musician, and those who play in his group have considerable respect and affection for him."

   In addition to maintaining his lifetime enjoyment playing the music of the great classical composers, Donin is in his second year as chair of the Music at the Meadows concert series, a committee sponsored by the Residents' Association.

   Under Donin's leadership, the committee this year has brought 16 outstanding musical events, including several pianists and vocalists, chamber music groups, a 14-year-old cellist who has won international acclaim, and an 8-year-old with an amazing ability as a violinist and also as a pianist.

   Residents also were treated to the Barbershop Harmony Society, a tuba quartet, a unique voice/piano/trombone trio, and UNC's popular jazz trumpeter, Jim Ketch, with Ed Paolantonio at the piano.

   Donin is in his second year as chairman of the music series. Committee members who help with arrangements include Dick Ballard, Larry and Anna Botto, Kathy Gaston, Jane Gilmore, Gerry and Sydney Gura, Ed Mammen, Marion Peterson and Jody Hite (from the activities staff).

   Donin was introduced to the violin when he was 6, and he continued his interest throughout his school years. After he entered high school in Bethlehem, Pa., Donin decided to try out for the senior orchestra but thought that he would have a better chance of joining if he switched to viola. The conductor was pleased to have another violist in the group, so he gave Donin an instrument and told him to try out. Imagine young Donin's surprise when he barely recognized the music; he did not realize that viola is written for the alto clef rather than for the treble clef as is the violin score. But he managed to transpose for viola and was accepted into the orchestra.

   Later he attended Muhlenberg College and graduated with a chemistry major. He then pursued a doctorate in chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. He briefly considered a music career but felt that the security and stability of a scientific career would fit in better with his family life. While attending graduate school, he married Barbara Goldstein from Worcester, Mass.

   Most of Donin's working life was spent in New Jersey, where he worked for Squibb, a pharmaceutical company, and later for Ciba-Geigy. The Donins lived in Metuchen, where they raised three children. During this time he played in the Plainfield Symphony.

   "Living near New York City provided me with an opportunity to meet many talented professional musicians," Donin recalls.

   One such experience occurred when friends invited the Donins to spend a jazz evening at Eddie Condon's club. The group that was playing featured a clarinet player - Michael Andrew "Peanuts" Hucko. During an intermission, Donin was surprised to hear Hucko playing part of Mozart's clarinet concerto. After talking with the jazz musician about his classical interest, Donin invited Hucko to play with his string quartet and later learned that Hucko's teacher, an internationally famous classical clarinetist, Reginald Kell, suggested that it would be a good experience for him to play with Donin's chamber music group.

   Not only did Hucko come to an evening with the New Jersey players, but the English clarinetist, Kell, who at one time had been Benny Goodman's instructor, came with him. Hucko and the string quartet played Mozart's clarinet quintet, and then Kell joined the local group in playing the Brahms clarinet quintet.

   "My fellow players were thrilled to have Kell 'sit in,' and we never played as beautifully as a group as we did playing the Brahms that night," Donin said.

   This past summer, Donin took part in an Elderhostel European trip, "Tracing Mozart," in celebration of the 250th birthday of the composer. Four days were spent in Salzburg, five days in Vienna, and five in Prague. Two others from this area took part in this trip: Don Hamm, a Carolina Meadows resident, and John Henry, from the Forest at Duke. Hamm and Donin agreed that, in addition to attending many fine concerts, the trip involved considerable walking in retracing the footsteps of Mozart. -- Pauly Dodd

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Staff volunteers put program on the MAP
   At Carolina Meadows, the Meadows Assistance Program, or MAP, recently celebrated more than 10 years of service to residents of that retirement community.

   An appreciation breakfast honored the more than 125 volunteers and Carolina Meadows staff members who make the program go. Set in a balloon-decorated auditorium, the event culminated with a salute to its principal founder and longtime leader, Larry Barrus.

   Barrus was presented with a special award created by artist Betty McMahan. Its poem began with, "Here at the Meadows we gather to praise/A prince of a fellow in all of his ways ... " and ended "... We gratefully honor this fabulous chap/And hail Larry Barrus as our 'Mister MAP.'"

   Also a big hit was the entertainment provided by 13 of Carolina Meadows' talented staff, who performed as the Don't Give Up Your Day Job Dancers.

   MAP's volunteers escort and sometimes drive residents to medical and dental appointments. They drive residents to area shops for special needs or to visit friends or relatives in local hospitals.

   Through MAP's services, residents without transportation are able to volunteer their services to community organizations in Chapel Hill and surrounding areas.

   "At 93 it is not easy to find volunteer work that you are able to do and that gives some degree of satisfaction," resident Helen-Edgar Hicks says. "Having had a 34-year career teaching nursery school, I wanted to tutor at a local school but lacked transportation. MAP provides that through volunteers who drive me there and back as needed."

   In the mid-1990s, a committee of staff and residents at Carolina Meadows came up with an idea to organize a group to provide services not otherwise available to residents. The idea caught on and MAP was born.

   In close association with Carolina Meadows' Health Care administration and its social workers, needs were identified and policies established. Headed by Barrus, the program took off.

   Map has expanded and broadened in scope so that today, more than 125 volunteers are listed in a database and hundreds of tasks are carried out each year. With MAP's expansion, it was obvious that it needed a committee to make policy, initiate programs and administer activities. The Steering Committee was formed and meets monthly to run a large and active organization.

   "In addition to its obvious benefits for those needing help, escorts and recipients of the service find it a great way to make new friends," said the committee's chairman, Bill Delanty.

   Early on it was recognized that homebound residents needed visitors and their caregivers needed relief. Support teams numbering 10 to 15 residents were formed to visit, one or two at a time, a few times each week, to read to shut-ins, or just to socialize.

   "It enhances our lives when we can help our neighbors and friends," said resident Ruth Goldwasser, who has long coordinated a support team for a neighbor. "We all benefit from our MAP activities."

   Another need is met by support groups meeting at central locations for discussion, and reading to residents with visual impairment. One such group has been active for more than ten years.

   Recently, a MAP survey showed that a sizeable minority of residents no longer drive. In order to help them maintain a quality of life, a new program was begun, called WOT -- Weekend On-campus Transportation -- to function when staff transport is not available. Two-person teams are on call to drive residents to meals, cultural events and other activities on campus.

   "I used to drive for MAP and now that I am no longer driving, I am grateful for the service," said resident Huldah Beckley. "It allows my husband and me to go to the Club Center for lunch on Sundays, which we always enjoy."

   Another service called HERO (Helping Every Resident Out) provides MAP drivers on weekdays to transport non-driving residents off-campus for important shopping needs or personal errands. Carolina Meadows staff drivers provide scheduled transport to specific sites, but this does not always meet the needs of individuals.

   With responsibilities requiring volunteers' use of cars, it became evident that screening was needed to assess the driving capabilities of volunteers, so a pilot program was developed by UNC professor Jennie Womack and Allison Darwin, a UNC graduate student, along with Bobbie Gray, Carolina Meadows' Director of Health Services. Darwin now heads the Driver Assessment Program, which tests and approves MAP volunteer drivers. The testing program is also available to other residents. Other retirement communities are studying the Carolina Meadows program with the prospect of starting their own.

   In order to help fill the need for new volunteers, MAP member Phil Penberthy meets with newly arrived residents to explain the program.

   To assign tasks to MAP volunteers and avoid over-use of individuals, records are administered through MAP Coordinators, one for each neighborhood precinct. Ruth Penberthy oversees that program.

   Keeping the data required for all these programs is a major task, calling for resident Earl Weaver and his computer skills, supported by Helen McLane and Ginny Lansing. Weaver has been a tireless volunteer for years.

   Any organization needs quality leadership. MAP's success is a testament to that. MAP's principal leadership comes through the Steering Committee, now headed by Delanty, who succeeded Barrus in that role. Other committee members are Barrus, Debbie Coplin, Vivienne Jacobson, Ginny Lansing, Al Manning, Candace Owens, Phil Penberthy, Ruth Penberthy, and Earl Weaver, all ably supported by Carolina Meadows' professional staff.

   When new residents come to Carolina Meadows, they often mention the friendliness of the community. The Meadows Assistance Program is an integral part of that ambience. "Friends Helping Friends," MAP's motto, says it all.

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