ElderSong Publications, Inc. Newsletter

JUNE 2007

June Printable

The wedding season is officially here. Are you thinking about love songs and wedding bells? Summer is typically full of marriage ceremonies and anniversary celebrations. It's a great time of the year to celebrate the joy of love and marriage with your group of senior adults. Share some remembrances of the courtship, engagement, wedding, and marriage of some special couples. Ask: How did you meet your spouse? How long was your courtship? What year did you get married? When is your anniversary? How did you celebrate your wedding anniversaries over the years? What shaped your view of love and marriage? Enjoy Guy Lombardo's recording of the "Anniversary Song" as your group reflects on milestone anniversaries, such as the 25th, 50th, or even 60th.

Here are more activities to use with your group throughout the month. (Note: Some of these activities are adapted from sessions in the ElderSong resource, Down Memory Lane, Second Edition.)

Name some terms of endearment used by couples who are dating. Examples: sweetheart, lovey, honey, sweetie, sugar, doll.
Describe an old-fashioned marriage proposal. Ask: How did your spouse ask for your hand in marriage?
Sing some favorite love songs, e.g., "I Love You Truly," "Love and Marriage," "I'm in the Mood for Love," "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "You Made Me Love You."
Share wedding day reminiscences. If available, display wedding mementos from group members, e.g., invitation, cake topper, toast glass, wedding album. Ask if anyone in the group had a special wedding dance at the reception.
Display a "Just Married" sign. Reminisce about the first year of married life. Ask: What advice would you give to newlyweds?
Pass around photographs of vintage wedding chests. Ask if anyone received an heirloom gift that has been passed to another generation. Share some of these gifts with your group, e.g., a traditional double wedding ring quilt or hand- embroidered linens. Ask the ladies if they wore a wedding gown made by their mother or a local seamstress. Did anyone wear Grandmother's wedding dress?
Reminisce about 1940s wartime weddings. Ask if anyone married while the groom was on leave from the military.
Enjoy watching the 1954 musical film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Look at wedding gown ads from bridal magazines. Compare bridal wear from different decades. Listen to traditional wedding songs: Bridal Chorus from the opera Lohengrin ("Here Comes the Bride"), "O Perfect Love," "Because," "Wedding March" (Mendelssohn).
June is National Rose Month. Display a bouquet of red roses as a symbol of love. Enjoy the scent of some fresh rose petals. Serve some wedding cake (ask for old wedding cake recipes) decorated with roses.
Define love. Talk about the beauty of mature love. Ask: How does love change after many years together?
Compose a "Recipe for a Happy Marriage," e.g., a touch of humor, one cup of trust, a dash of common sense.
Use Emily Post's traditional gift suggestions for the first, fifth, tenth, fifteenth, twentieth, twenty-fifth, and fiftieth anniversaries to talk about gift giving. Example: First anniversary - paper. Ask your group to name paper gifts to give to a special couple, e.g., tickets, books, artwork.
Encourage participants to reflect on their wedding day vows. Ask: Did you ever celebrate a milestone anniversary by renewing your wedding vows? Use the following verses from Robert Browning to compose some wedding vows: "Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be. . . ."
Write a wedding anniversary toast for a special couple.

ElderSong can help you plan some color appreciation activities for your group. Check out some helpful resources below. Continue to look for upcoming editions of this newsletter the last week of the month. Our newsletter contains useful information to make your job of working with older adults more fulfilling. In this issue, you'll find:

Anniversary Celebrations
Couples Trivia Quiz
Featured Products for June
Thought for the Month

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

Wedding anniversaries are special occasions to be celebrated with family and friends. Encourage participants to reflect on ways to observe wedding anniversaries - gifts, cards, calls, dinners, or trips. The popular resource Down Memory Lane, Second Edition, is full of ideas for your reminiscing groups. The sessions titled "Falling in Love," "Weddings," and "Marriage" will help uncover a lifetime of special memories to celebrate the gift of marital love. You'll find song and visual aid suggestions, trivia quizzes, hands-on activities, listening activities, discussion questions, and more. There are 65 session themes in this completely revised and updated 2nd edition.

Be sure to make music a part of your anniversary celebration. Use music from the era of courtship. A favorite with senior adults: swing music and the Big Band sound! The 3-disc CD set Swingin' to Swing's Greatest Hits features 36 all-time favorites. "In the Mood," "Take the 'A' Train," "Chattanooga Choo-Choo," "Boogie Woogie," "Begin the Beguine," "Stomping at the Savoy," and "One O'clock Jump" will encourage your group members to reminisce about the year they met their spouse. Relive memories of the dance hall or the USO canteen as you enjoy the sounds of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Harry James, Les Brown, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington.

Many couples travel to celebrate a milestone anniversary. They might visit places of courtship or even revisit their honeymoon site. The 4-disc DVD set from Reader's Digest, America's Most Scenic Drives, will encourage participants to share memories of special trips with their spouse. Here's a look at some of the breathtaking scenery you'll find:

Scenic Drive 1: From Maine to Key West - Nantucket and Cape Cod, Mississippi River, Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains
Scenic Drive 2: From Texas to Yellowstone - Bridges of Madison County, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park
Scenic Drive 3: From Arizona to Alaska - Hawaiian Islands, Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier, Alaska's Seward Highway
Bonus Program: America the Beautiful Musical Tribute - 19 songs including "New York, New York," "Chicago," "Rocky Mountain High," "The Yellow Rose of Texas," "Oklahoma!" and "Star Spangled Banner."

COUPLES TRIVIA QUIZ

Many couples enjoy a fairy tale romance and wedding. Encourage special love stories among group members. Ask participants if there was a married couple that they admired through the years of marriage. Did anyone in the group ever mentor a young couple?

Enjoy the following couples trivia quiz with your group. Give the name of one member of each couple and ask participants to guess the other member.

Franklin Roosevelt - Eleanor Roosevelt
Queen Elizabeth - Prince Philip
Jack Benny - Mary Livingstone
Bill Cosby - Camille Cosby
Lucille Ball - Desi Arnaz
Paul Newman - Joanne Woodward
John Kennedy - Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy
Billy Graham - Ruth Graham
Bob Hope - Dolores Hope
Prince Rainier - Grace Kelly
Jimmy Carter - Rosalynn Carter
Roy Rogers - Dale Evans
George Burns - Gracie Allen
Walter Cronkite - Betsy Cronkite
Harry Truman - Bess Truman

FEATURED PRODUCTS FOR JUNE - 15% off

Down Memory Lane, Second Edition, - 65 reminiscing sessions. Regularly $26.95. Online sale price $22.90

Swingin' to Swing's Greatest Hits - 109 minutes on 3 CDs, 36 songs. Regularly $29.95. Online sale price $25.45

America's Most Scenic Drives, - 5 hours on 4 DVDs. Regularly $29.95. Online sale price $25.45

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters." ~ Mother Teresa

POSTSCRIPT

Sandy Yeroshefsky is the friendly voice you hear on the phone when you call the ElderSong office. Sandy recently celebrated her 10th anniversary with ElderSong. Wish her happy anniversary when you call!

Send your comments or requests about this page just [Click Here] .

		My Account Shopping Cart 0 item(s)
		Toll Free 1-800-397-0533