According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the
fight against a mythical beast called Nian,
who had the body of a bull and the head
of a lion. It was said to be a ferocious animal that lived in the mountains and
hunted for a living. Towards the end of
Winter when there was nothing to eat,
Nian would come on the first day of New
Year to the villages to eat livestock, crops,
and even villagers, especially children. To
protect themselves, the villagers would
put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that
after the Nian ate the food they prepared,
it wouldn’t attack any more people.
National Hobby Month
National Soup Month
1– New Year’s Day
3– Fruitcake Toss Day
16– Martin Luther King
Jr. Birthday
21– Squirrel Appreciation
Day
28– Chinese New Year
Employee of the Month
2
Activities
2
Starr’s Kitchen
3
More Activities
3
Employee Birthdays
3
Elder Birthdays
4
The villagers would live in terror over the
Winter, but over time they learned that
the ferocious Nian was afraid of three
things: the color red, fire, and noise. So
when the New Year was about to come,
the villagers would hang red lanterns and
Celebrating the holidays.
red spring scrolls
on windows and
doors. They also
used firecrackers to
frighten away the Nian. From then on,
Nian never came to the village
again. According to legend, the Nian was
eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu,
an ancient Taoist monk, and Nian became
Hongjun Laozu's mount.
After Nian was captured, everyone had a
big celebration and the ritual involved in
banishing him was repeated the following
year, and so the ritual was passed down
from generation to generation and the
custom of celebrating New Year with firecrackers, noise, and the color red has persisted to this day.
For more information, see the article by
April Holloway on www.ancientorigins.net.
Everyone enjoyed a wonderful meal!
Page 2
The Pueblo Avenue Journal
Kind, caring, happy and helpful. These were some of the
words used to describe Elizabeth Diaz, who was recently
nominated by her co-workers
and the Elders as the Employee
of the Month for November
2016.
Although Elizabeth is not well
known by everyone because she
Elizabeth Diaz
works nights, those that do
Residential Aide
know her are very familiar with
what a “go-getter” she is. She is very self-motivated. She
knows her job and she gets it done!
Elizabeth, age 24, has worked for Piner’s for about a year
as a residential aide. She finds the most rewarding part
of her job to be “helping the residents and knowing they
appreciate every little thing you do to help them.” She
also enjoys working with “my amazing co-workers”.
Elizabeth was extremely surprised and very grateful to
learn that she had been chosen for this award.
When Elizabeth isn’t working, she loves spending time
with her family and eating sushi with her mom and sister. She has a bright, 8-year-old son, a 3-year-old daughter who is the sunshine of the family, her high school
sweetheart and boyfriend of 10 years, and her mom and
dad, who she calls “the rock of my family”.
Elizabeth was born and raised right here in Napa. She
has two amazing siblings, her younger brother and sister. Her favorite childhood memory is “when I was 9
years old and I would fake falling asleep on the couch
just to have my dad carry me into bed and tuck me in
and kiss me goodnight”. I think the chances are pretty
good that that is one of Elizabeth’s dad’s favorite memories, too!
Thank you and congratulations to you, Elizabeth!
(from In Memoriam, a poem)
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
by Lord Alfred Tennyson
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Many thanks to the Napa Valley Center for Spiritual
Living, who brought a Christmas party to us, complete
with gifts, food and music on December 10. Then, on
December 14, we made them thank-you cards to show
our appreciation for their generosity.
On December 11, Elders from both the Guest Home and
Nursing Home enjoyed a performance by dancers from
the Napa Valley Dance Center.
We made some adorable gingerbread houses on December 12. Then, on December 13, we celebrated National
Cocoa Day, with fresh, hot cups of cocoa, sprinkled with
toppings like marshmallows, whipped cream and candy
canes.
Our Annual Christmas Dessert Parties were December
19 at the Nursing Home, and December 20 at the Guest
Home. Elders and their families had a visit from Santa,
enjoyed music from John the Music Man and Justin, who
sang and played guitar for us. The desserts were lovely
chocolate and lemon “Yule Logs”, made by Starr Piner.
Elders enjoyed a “Light Ride” on December 22. They
boarded a bus in the evening and drove around town
looking at all of the beautiful decorations.
On December 23, Elders had a great time decorating
Christmas cookies.
www.piners.net
(707)224-7925
Preheat oven to 375°F. Sift together flour and salt. Cut in
shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Quickly stir in about 2 tablespoons of cold milk (the
colder the better). Add up to 2 tablespoons more milk,
stirring just until dough clumps together. Turn dough
out onto a floured “flour sack” towel (or other clean,
smooth towel). Knead lightly to form a ball. Divide
dough into six equal pieces, and roll each piece into a
circle. On one half of each circle, place a pile of chopped
apples, then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and dot
with butter. Fold other half over the apples. Crimp and
seal the edges. Brush the top of the turnovers with whipping cream and sprinkle with sugar. Turn oven down to
350°F and bake turnovers for about 30 minutes, until
golden brown.
Apple Turnovers
Basic Pie Crust
1 cup flour
½ tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening
2-4 Tbsp very cold milk
Chopped apples
Sugar
Cinnamon
Butter
Whipping cream
4– National Trivia Day
24– Global Belly Laugh Day: lots of jokes and humor
6– Anniversary of the premiere of Wheel of Fortune: we’ll
watch some old episodes.
25– National Kazoo Day: our own kazoo orchestra
8– Elvis Day: a fun Elvis sing-a-long
26– National Clothes Clashing Day: “dress to not
impress”
13– Frisbee Day: fun with our own homemade Frisbees
27– Backwards Day/Fun at Work Day
18– Winnie the Pooh Day: story time, movie, snacks
29– National Puzzle Day
20– National Hat Day: bring in a special hat to wear
30– Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day: what fun!
Debra La Barbera
Residential Aide
1/3
Therese Quesada
Martha McDowell
Medical Sales
1/3
Andrea Harris
Medical Records
1/12
CNA
1/12
Modesta Runas
Rowena Visitacion
Lisa Carlson
LVN
1/13
Residential Aide
1/23
RN
1/25
Piner’s Nursing Home and Guest Home
1800 Pueblo Avenue
Napa, CA 94558
Phone: 707-224-7925
Fax: 707-255-0331
PINER
ambulance
For 65 years, Piner Ambulance was Napa’s exclusive
emergency services provider. Although we are no
longer providing emergency services, we are continuing our history of great service to the community of
Napa by providing non-emergency transports. Our
many years of experience and our commitment to excellence will ensure that you or your loved one will have a
safe, comfortable ride. To schedule a ride, call:
Your loca
l
ambulanc
e transpo
rt
company
!
8am—8pm every day
Neta Egelhoff—January 9
Marian Dickinson—January 11
Nancy Salas—January 16
Cynthia Crawford—January 17
Ouida Bonin—January 21
Morgan Lawrence—January 24
Shandy Gonzales—Medical Billing/Acct. Assist.
Katelyn O’Connor—Residential Aide
Karina Valencia—CNA