The Cove Guest Home has been selected to participate in the Career Edge
Internship Program, fully sponsored by the Royal Bank of Canada. The
program is for one year with all costs funded by the Royal Bank.

The Cove has selected Giselle Cameron to develop nutritional programs for
seniors in the community. Giselle is a registered Dietitian who has a
Bachelor of Science degree in Human Nutrition. She is under the direction
of the Cove's resident Dietitian, Mrs. Norma Kooka.

What is Career Edge? Career Edge's goal is to enhance youth employability
by providing valuable career related experience to break the pattern of
"No experience - no job. No job - no experience." Career Edge is a
not-for-profit, private-sector youth internship program. It provides six,
nine and twelve month internships at Host Organizations, such as the Cove,
for university, college or high school graduates. Also, they design it for
those unemployed or underemployed graduates who have difficulty making the
transition from full time education to full time employment.

As previously mentioned, the Royal Bank is the sponsor of this unique
program, covering all costs involved. It became involved in this program
in 1996 with the belief that small and medium size businesses, like the
Cove, drives economic growth and creation in Canada.



Festival of Lights ‘98

The trees were brightly lit on the patio deck of the Cove on Dec. 9, 1998.
The Festival of Lights ‘98 was bigger and better this year with more than
250 people gathered in the MacAskill Room and a few more braving the cold
windy night. There were double the amount of trees lit up, with two angels
on each. Congratulations to all, we raised more than $7,600 for the Cove
Guest Home Foundation, which raises funds for future Cove expansion projects.

Master of ceremonies, Rev. Thomas Whent, began the evening by officially
lighting the trees. Rev. Whent, Archie MacKigan and Theresa MacLeod read
the names of dedication aloud. The ceremony was completed with a prayer
to honour all the names.

The festivities went on though, with a wonderful Christmas carolling concert
by the Holy Redeemer Folk Choir. While at the same time sweets and hot
beverages were handed out.

Thank you to all who took part in this special evening. Also, thank you
to the Cape Breton Post for the advertising and Mabou Gardens for the trees.



Gift Planning - Bequests

The Cove Guest Home Foundation has recently established a Gift Planning
program. As mentioned in the previous newsletter, gift planning is intending
to make a donation in the future. Over the next few issues, we will explore
the various tools for a planned gift.

Bequests

The first type of planned gift is a Bequest in your Will. When you as a
donor decide to leave some assets to charity in your Will, you are making
a Bequest. Your estate will receive a charitable estate tax deduction at
your death, when the gift is made to the Foundation. There are several
methods by which you can leave funds in your Will. They are:

Gifts of Residue: This form of giving means that after you have
provided for the needs of your family and friends, the remainder of your
estate is donated to the Foundation. A sample clause for your Will would
look like this:
"To deliver, pay or transfer the residue of my estate to the Cove Guest Home
Foundation for its general purposes."

Fixed Sum: a gift of a fixed sum is another gift option. This way
you choose a specific amount of funds to be given to the Foundation to support
equipment and future expansion of the Cove. A sample clause for a gift of
a fixed sum is: "To deliver, pay or transfer the sum of $________ to the
Cove Guest Home Foundation for its general purposes."

Gift of Whole Estate: you may also wish to leave all of your estate
to the Foundation. A sample clause for a gift of whole estate would be:
"To deliver, pay or transfer all of my estate to the Cove Guest Home Foundation
for its general purposes."

Leaving gifts to the Foundation in you Will is an easy way to make a
long term commitment without affecting your current standards of living and
will help ensure everyone's Long Term Care for the future.


Breaking Ground on Williston House

Another Cove project has begun construction. On July 7, 1999 we officially
broke ground on our new Assisted Living apartment complex. The newly named
Williston House, named after our senior board member, Archie Williston, will
have 31 units and be attached to the Cove by an above-ground sheltered and
heated pathway. The building itself will appear to be a one level complex
when viewing from the Cove, but from the view on King's Road, it looks like
it has three floors. The difference is because the new facility is built to
the slope of the hill that it stands on. This project would not have been
possible without the support of the community to the Cove Guest Home Foundation,
Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation and the Province of Nova Scotia.

The ceremony began at 2:30 pm with Minnette Murphy, Cove Staff, singing O'Canada.
This was followed by a few remarks by Archie MacKeigan, Administrator, then
Carl Rideout, Board Chairman of the Cove, Mayor David Muise and Minister
Manning MacDonald. The sod was officially turned by Manning MacDonald,
assisted by Roy Milley and Archie Williston. The day was completed with a
prayer by Cove Chaplain Rev. Thomas Whent followed by some light refreshments
for the more than 200 people who were present. Completion for the project
is slated for March 2000.

Resident Review - Harold MacLeod

"From the Bay, born and raised." That's the answer he gave when Harold MacLeod,
a WWII veteran, sat down for a chat. Howie, as his friend like to call him,
joined our Cove Family in March of 1998 and looks to be enjoying his new
home. He is still pretty active also, making daily trips in his own car.
And lucky too, as he explains, "When I bought the car, they entered me in
a draw for a trip out west. Wouldn't you know I won."

Growing up in Glace Bay, Howie started a job with the Sydney/Louisbourg
Railway in 1928. "It wasn't much of job but it was work. In those days,
you were glad to get anything." Over the years, he did everything from
cleaning, to firing the engine, to finally becoming an engineer later in
his career.

"In 1933, I was convinced by a friend to learn telegraph codes, so I did.
Later, I got my licence for the codes." This new knowledge proved to be
an action that would change his life forever. In May 1940, Howie received
a letter from the National Defence of Canada requesting he volunteer to
learn about radar and then serve in the war in Europe. After a long talk
with his wife, Victoria, he decided to go. "First, I had to pass a medical
exam in Halifax, then basic training in Toronto, next they jammed 72 of us
into a Troop Train headed for Saint John, NB. We boarded a Belgian ship and
10 days later we were just outside London, England."

He went on to say the course lasted ten tough weeks. After which he was
posted to Malta. "We were in a convoy of ships travelling through the
Mediterranean when we were attacked by an Italian plane which bombed the
stern of the ship, shutting down the engine. As we were floating along, a
destroyer ship picked us up, then sank the ship."

Howie served in Malta for three years before returning home in 1945, after
the war. He went back to his old job on the railway before retiring in 1970.
Now, the days are a lot simpler and one of the harder things he has to worry
about is making it down for his pool game with his buddies Walter MacNeil,
Don Ball and Murdoch MacNeil every Tuesday through Saturday. Howie seems
to being enjoying life, the Cove and the people around him.



Resident Council Report

The Residents' Council is a collective group of residents that meet every
month to discuss various subjects of interest. The following is a report
submitted by Carol Manson, Director of Recreation and Activities, summarizing
the monthly conversations.

Mary Ferguson asked if any others played Tarabish. We might try to invite
the public and other Homes. Tena Boutilier and Betty Goodyear are happy
with the bridge games when they invite the neighbours and friends.

Carol mentioned the celebration plans for the International Year of the
Older Persons is going very well and will be held at the Gaelic College in
October.

Kathryn MacIntyre asked if Mickey Gillis could be invited to entertain.
Carol added a good fiddler was already lined up for next Happy Hour but we
can ask him for the next one.



Staff Focus

When you walk in the foyer of the Cove, you are likely to find Debbie MacNeil
cleaning her floor to a "glass-like" sheen. Debbie is part of the housekeeping
department and one of her many tasks are to make sure the main entrance and
the MacAskill Room sparkle, which she does.

"I've lived in Sydney my whole life, growing up on Bentinck Street," explaining
her early years. " I went to Holy Angels High until 1978 when I married
Russell." She bounced around a few different jobs before starting at the
Cove in 1984. Although being hired for housekeeping, she had to work a
couple of hours a day in the kitchen.

It was interesting to find out that Debbie was the niece of the late Mrs.
Anne MacAskill, past Matron of the Cove. "I can remember Dad taking me to
visit the Cove as a little girl. What sticks out in my memory were my aunt's
big dog and huge living room."

One of the things Debbie noticed over the years was the advances in technology
at the new Cove as compared to the old Cove. " The old Cove had the warmth
and charm but the new building is state of the art and the residents in wheel
chairs love the wide hallways."

When asked to tell a funny story from her experiences, she recalled a time
when she just started. "I was only a couple weeks into my job when the
other staff members told me to make sure I talked loud to the residents
because they had trouble hearing. So one day I was cleaning Mary MacLeod's
room and I was talking loudly to her when she interrupted me and said
‘Dear, I might be going blind but I'm not deaf.' I learned then that they
weren't all hard of hearing."

Debbie takes pride in her work and enjoys making the residents feel good
about their home. But, don't be fooled about her innocent look. She loves
a good joke but is never involved in a prank herself - or is she?



Cove Chaplaincy


The Needs of Seniors

We are at a time in our Society when the needs of seniors should be addressed,
just as Society made statements about the inclusion of children, youth and
young adults.

The World Health Organization has recently named Canada to be one of a
growing number of Countries with an anticipated 81 year average life span,
at the same time as the proportion of older persons in the world will
increase from approximately 1 in 14 to 1 in 4.

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 1999 as "The International
Year of Older Persons" with the Theme for the year chosen by the Canadian
Government to be "Towards a Society for all Ages".

The International year will address a vast array of issues such as ageism,
accessibility, care for the dying, living wills, ethnic differences, gender,
sexual orientation, elder abuse, rights to financial security and health
care, and spiritual and religious care as they apply to seniors.

The International year will be a good time to encourage a programme of
comprehensive Pastoral Care within seniors' facilities. All residents of
a seniors' facility have a right to access to adequate spiritual and religious care.

Rev. Thomas G. Whent
Chaplain
The Cove Guest Home

Click Here for Fall 1998 Edition