Your Life Enriched

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            [post_content] => 

 

There’s a new face on Valley View’s Campus Services team, the group that oversees maintenance, snow removal, repairs, and keeping our physical plant running smoothly across the Haven, Memory Lane, the Terrace, and cottages in the Village. Kale Stimely is a senior at Mifflin County High School and is studying electrical installation at Mifflin County Academy of Science and Technology. 

“I started out at another company this year,” Kale said, ”But I wasn’t getting the hours that I needed to be able graduate.” As part of the program’s work-study program, students have classes in the morning and then work at a business to gain real-life experience. When his initial placement didn’t fit, his teacher reached out to Mike Minium, Director of Campus Services at Valley View. 

When Kale interviewed for the job, Mike told him that the position would be more than just electrical installation that he was studying at the Academy. Kale quickly realized that was a huge understatement. 

“I’ve learned how to repair drywall, do masonry, cove base, build a fireplace, install a sink, and do a total renovation of a team breakroom,” he counts off on his fingers. “I’ve learned so much.”

Beyond hard skills, he is learning soft skills like communication, teamwork, and adaptability. And he’s discovering that he really enjoys watching residents’ faces light up when they see him come into a room. “I love getting the smiles and ‘hi’s’,” he says. 

“There’s a lot of stuff that goes into running a retirement community,” he says. “I never realized how much maintenance work would go into keeping this kind of campus running smoothly. The team does a lot of work behind the scenes.”

His favorite thing? “Getting to work with Mike,” he says without hesitation. “He’s very, very smart and he has so much experience. He’s not super formal or set in his ways, and I’ve learned a lot from him.”

Soon, Kale will be graduating with his diploma and several hundred hours of experience in electrical work, drywall installation, HVAC, and plumbing. He’s heading to Pennsylvania College of Technology for more training in automation engineering. He says that what he’s learned at Valley View will help him throughout his life. “When something goes wrong in my future house, I don’t to have to call someone to do it.”

But before he goes, he has some advice for upcoming students as they choose their work-study program. “Definitely come to Valley View. You will improve your people skills, and it’s a great work atmosphere. You will learn a lot about an incredible diversity of things.”
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            [post_content] => The story of Florence Geary’s life had many chapters. In some of the earlier ones, she helped her husband Walter on their farm, worked at a pharmaceutical instrument company in Spring Mills, and volunteered with the Potter Township Election Board. She loved to bake — she was famous for her Santa honey cut-out cookies and cherry winks that she gave to neighbors at Christmas time. One of her pastimes was spotlighting for deer in a red Jeep that she won in a raffle at the Hublersburg Carnival in 1968. 

There is another chapter, close to the end of the story (or rather, close to her next beginning) that has very special meaning to Valley View and her family. 

“I was with my mom when it became clear she was leaving us,” Brenda Geary says. “I was alone … but I was never really alone during my mom’s last few days. The staff on her floor kept coming in to care for her, and they cared for me, too. One of the caregivers, Hailey, would lean over and whisper, ‘I love you, Flo,’ before she left the room. There was just so much care. So much love.”

Florence took her last breath in the early evening, with Brenda and what Brenda calls her “extended family” — the team that gathered around both of them. When the funeral director arrived later that evening in the room, the nurses and aides requested permission to continue to care for Florence’s needs and even escorted her to the vehicle to say their final goodbyes. 

“When I spoke with the funeral director the following day she said, ‘In all of my years in this profession, I’ve never seen this kind of love and care anywhere, ever.’” Brenda said. “Their love for my mom was just so incredible.” 

Brenda says that Valley View was a gift to her and her mom over the last two years. “The sheer relief of being at Valley View was unbelievable.”

“I’m an only child,” she said. “And when she was at Valley View, it felt like I had siblings — brothers and sisters who said, ‘You can go to work, we’ll take care of Mom.’”

At her job at Penn State, Brenda says that she encounters many people who are in the same position that she was several years ago — caring for aging parents and struggling with finding the best place for them. 

“I share our Valley View experience every time that I can. People need to hear my mom’s story,” she said. “I tell people, you need to check out this place. It’s worth the drive. I’m so, so grateful that my mom was at Valley View.”

 
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            [post_content] => By Drex Treaster, Director of Memory Lane 

When I think of everyday heroes, I think of a woman who has embodied heroism all of her life -- and changed the lives of people around the world. I first got to know Janie Mattern when I had an opening on Memory Lane at Valley View Retirement Community. As the coordinator for Memory Lane, it is my practice to visit each prospective resident, so I drove to Bellefonte to visit Janie and her husband Rex.  

While interviewing and spending time with Janie, she brought out a two-foot-tall stack of papers that she had kept from all of the service projects that she’d been involved with – some local, some overseas, some short-term, and some still going on to this day. Janie talked fondly of the people she and her husband had served and the impact that serving had on her.  

Later, I talked to Rex, and he gave his wife credit for that two-foot-high stack of sacrifice and service to others. He went on to say that one of the reasons for looking for placement at Valley View was because they had lived in Mifflin County most of their lives, specifically in Burnham.  

Since I grew up in Burnham, Rex and I soon discovered that we had friends in common (in fact, I used to walk past Janie and Rex’s house on my way to Burnham Elementary!). One name stood out in particular: a young man who was a member of the youth program where they served. The young man’s family was struggling to the point that protective services needed to intervene to find placement for the kids. Without hesitation, Rex and Janie opened their home to this young man in his time of need. Today, this young man is a respected member of the community, and he talks fondly about the older couple who helped him in his youth and pointed him in a good direction.  

I left their home that day in amazement. I know people like the Matterns exist, it is just that they are rare, too rare, that it is surprising when you meet them. 

That first meeting was several years ago. Today, Janie lives on Memory Lane, and I have had a front-row seat to hear about her everyday heroism over the years. Once, a young family from Venezuela came to visit her. They told me that Janie and Rex supported them when they were new to America. Another time, Rex donated a Christmas tree to Memory Lane and enlisted a young man to help him carry the box. As it turned out, the man is a professional baseball player with the Atlanta Braves. Early in this man’s career, he played for the Spikes, and the Matterns had helped him while he lived in Central PA. I remember walking away from that interaction giggling about the fact that a professional baseball player was lugging heavy boxes around on Memory Lane. These are just two of the many stories I have of Janie, a small glimpse of a lifetime of serving others and being a true hero. 



Beyond those stories, the best evidence I have of Janie’s heroism is watching her go about her day here on Memory Lane. Her servant’s heart is such a powerful force in her. I watch her care for her other residents; even the team on Memory Lane is a beneficiary of her love. She is so quick at identifying emotional or physical needs in others, and if she sees a need, she does not wait for someone else to fill it.  

We often hear that true beauty comes from within and that it is better to give than receive, but it is quite another thing to see it put into practice every day. I wish I had met the Matterns earlier in my life so I could have truly known that it really is better to give than to receive. 

One final quick thought; when Rex told me that Janie was solely responsible for all the good they had done, my gut told me that he was too modest. I still believe he is being humble, but now I know that there is a bit of truth in what he said. Janie is Batman, and Rex is her Robin. And there is no question that both are heroes. 

 

This article was contributed by Drex Treaster for the “Everyday Heroes” issue of the Juniata Valley Magazine published by Lewistown Sentinel.
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            [post_content] => 

 

 

If you believe the ads in AARP magazine, retirement is a time to travel, relax and focus on yourself. Fortunately for us at the Village at Valley View Retirement Community, Gerald Peachey didn’t get that message.  

Ever since Gerald Peachey moved into a cottage in the Village in 2014, his life has been filled to the brim with service to others. 

An avid gardener, Gerald made use of the extra land behind his cottage to plant a huge, bountiful garden. It is filled with everything from beans to peas, potatoes to tomatoes. And very little of it lands on his table. Instead, he raises the produce to give it away. He donates bushels of garden-fresh vegetables to his fellow villagers from spring until fall. (Even now, I’m sure he’s planning his 2024 garden, and how much he can grow to give away.) 



Gerald is always looking for a way to serve. He drives the Valley View van to off-campus events, providing transportation for those in the Village who have trouble driving themselves. He happily transports friends and neighbors to lunches, doctor’s appointments, and outings.  

Before retirement, Gerald served as a pastor of Barrville Mennonite Church, and it is a calling that continues to be a part of his heart. He frequently takes walks through the Village, and it is just a matter of time before he is joined by a neighbor… or two… or three. “People ask for advice, or for Gerald to pray for them,” his friend Eric Kurtz says. “He is constantly stopping to bless those around him.”  

When his beloved wife, Sue, died unexpectedly in 2022, he learned firsthand what it was like to live alone. And, in true Gerald fashion, he turned the pain into another way to give back. He reached out to every person who also lived alone in the Village and took them to lunch.  

“Gerald is a man of great faith,” Eric Kurtz adds. “He walks with God every day of his life. I cannot say anything more.”  

 

This article was contributed by writers in Valley View Village for the "Everyday Heroes" issue of the Juniata Valley Magazine published by Lewistown Sentinel.

 
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Walking her mother home: “I’ve never seen this kind of care anywhere else”

March 26, 2024

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Janie Mattern has spent a lifetime being a hero

March 6, 2024

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Retirement didn’t slow Gerald Peachey down

February 29, 2024

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