The Pines of Peace has a new Executive Director!  The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Sara Kennedy has accepted the position!  Sara is from the area originally and comes to us with a degree in English as well as a Masters Degree in Education.  Sara has been honing her caregiving skills for better than 28 years now, including quality time spent at the Pines of Peace in both caregiving and administration!  You will be hearing from her in the coming weeks!  We are very fortunate to have her continue the legacy of excellent care here at the Pines of Peace on behalf of all of our caregivers and volunteers!  Welcome Sara!!!

Thank you to all of our bakers who participated in the Friday Night Fish Fry sponsored by the Ontario Masons that benefitted the Pines of Peace!  It was a great success and surpassed all previous years and expectations!!!

The Pines of Peace is humming along nicely as the year is well underway.   We are gearing up for some events that will put the ‘fun’ in ‘fundraising’!  Please check our Event Calendar.  We can use donations for our Golf Tournament ( gift certificates and other sports and leisure items) and our Victorian Tea (gift certificates and assembled gift baskets for a silent auction).  And when you are doing your Spring cleaning, please think of the Pines of Peace and drop off your gently used items on June 6 & 7 at Casey Park.  (Please no electronics, large furniture, TVs, computers, printers, child care seats and other regulated items.)  We are accepting gently used clothing in bags for our accompanying clothing drive.  Any questions?  Just call our office:  (315)524-2388.

We’ve got some changes:  I will be retiring in June and we look forward to the introduction of a new Executive Director!  This January the Pines of Peace recruited two new Board members:  Bonnie Dennison and Donna Stern.  Bonnie brings a long tenure of helping many organizations, including the Pines of Peace!  She is already involved in multiple fundraising efforts and is very creative and energetic.  Donna Stern has an extensive background in nursing that is a valuable compliment to the work of our caregivers.  She will bring great perspective in continuing our legacy of the best caregiving next to home. Angela Brown continues her excellent work as Care Manager.  Despite the times, she runs the clinical side of the Pines with great care and talent.  The Pines of Peace is so fortunate through the many years to have had many capable leaders, staff, Board of Directors, and, the heart of the Pines of Peace, our volunteers!  Thank you to all for persevering with us through these challenging times!

The Pines of Peace has been steadily moving toward opening so that we can serve the community. We are mindful that we must open when the time is reasonable and prudent. We have been updating many aspects of the Pines: from safety protocols and procedures to a thorough review of everything within the house to the hiring of new personnel! There will be staff and volunteers returning when we re-open, and sadly, there will be some faces that have decided to ‘move on’ – especially in the context of the new times we find ourselves in. Bonnie Doyle, Cheryl Engle, and Vicki LaRocque, our long-standing nurses that have provided a bedrock of love, expertise, and care here at the Pines are either retiring from the Pines or reducing their roles. The outstanding level of service to the Pines of Peace, and by extension our entire community, will be forever appreciated. This past September we held a ‘socially distant’ gathering to celebrate them and get our staff together, after the long spring and summer separated.

We had intended to re-open in early January, but with the predicted coming surge, have delayed that timeline. Our Board of Directors will meet again in January and assess when it will be prudent to once again open our doors – hopefully soon after that. In the meantime, we continue to hold fund raisers – like our ‘Pies for the Pines’- to make up for income lost this year. The Pines of Peace is a concept of ‘neighbors helping neighbors’ and we have so appreciated the sustained support of the community we serve. We continue to prepare for opening our doors again to care for those nearing the end of their earthly lives. The times continue to challenge all of us, but there is light on the horizon. I am wishing you all health and joy this holiday season.

The Pines of Peace Basement is looking mighty fine thanks to all of the hard work by the Town of Ontario Rotary!  Members began the project back in June of this past summer.  As can happen with many home projects, this one morphed into a major renovation:  demolition of walls; flooring and wall abatement; removal of one very heavy wood stove; new flooring; new walls; new paint; new trim; new ceiling tiles!  The project began as a ‘refresh’ and ended with many people working many long hours to get it done!  We can’t begin to thank Carl Grovanz and the rest of the Rotary for their perseverance and dedication to see the work through to the end!  Now, it’s a beautiful space where meetings can be held and volunteers can work.  It fairly sparkles!  The Pines of Peace thrives because of the support of the community.  We are truly neighbors helping neighbors in all ways!