Special Events

Nicole Francoeur from the Alzheimer's Association and Owen Houghton, a longtime Alzheimer's advocate, joined our amazing pie crust maker and resident, Jean for a day of fresh fruit pie baking.

With the Walk to End Alzheimer's in Keene taking place on Sept. 15th, our residents have been very busy baking delicious pies!

For over 5 years, they have enjoyed picking fruit in season, preparing and baking to gladly support the Alzheimer's Association.

Family members, staff and neighbors from the community will wait for pies hot out of the oven. They are pleased to support such a worthy cause.

A highlight of summer is having lobster!

This year, the evening started with fun visiting the seaside parrot photo booth by the deep blue ocean view.

The staff even joined in on the fun; dressing up and taking part in lobster shenanigans.

All to the delight of our residents, who love that we go all-out for this scrumptious seafood dinner.

Over 50 lobsters are served with sweet corn and clams. The fun evening is finished off with delicious blueberry pies that the residents made themselves.

Before the night is done, the residents are exclaiming they can't wait for next year's lobster feast!

The residents of Summerhill love getting out in the fresh air and having a back yard cook out!

There’s nothing like a special barbecue dinner every week to keep the summer hopping when shared with good friends. Aylmer prepares a feast that is server table side while our residents savor an al fresco evening.

Cheers to good times!

Can You believe that it's already August?

At Summerhill, our residents make the most of each sun shining day!

In going here and there for fun during these hot and humid days, we're happy to freshen up snacking on watermelon! Between entertaining and interesting activities and trips, many of our days are on the GO - GO - GO!

Keeping us hydrated and cool runs at the top of the priority list in making it a GREAT day!

The residents of our Memory Care wing had a delightful time at our Teddy Bear Picnic.

Everyone sat down to a china cup English tea while wearing sun hats under colorful umbrella’s.

Chocolate covered strawberries were nibbled on as many reminisced about teddy bears in their lives.

A perfect day at Hampton Beach!

Our residents look forward to going on this scenic ride up the NH coast to see the impressive sand sculptures. This year we met and talked with the winner, AbramWaterman from P.E.I. After which, we stopped for a lobster lunch and ended the day with delicious ice cream!

It’s quite magical to smell and hear the sounds of the ocean and recall happy beach times with family and friends.

Residents and daughters enjoyed a wonderful tea party in the Monadnock room on May 11th.

Over 45 guests came, most of them wearing favorite hats while visiting with family and friends and enjoying a true English tea to celebrate.

Place your bets the race is on! Residents picked their favorite horses and cheered them on! Several won prizes but fun was had by all to attended!

The Summerhill resident's donned their "Red Sox" shirts and hats to show their enthusiastic loyalty in being a SOX fan!

Our chefs put on a skit of "Who's on 1st base" while hot dogs with all the fixings, peanuts and popcorn or Cracker Jacks were served to celebrate the opening season.

They all feel it's going to be a GREAT season. Go RED SOXS, GO!!

Storytelling at Summerhill

It has become a tradition at Summerhill, that the night before the Christmas party, the residents are invited to a pajama party and storytelling event. This year, the Story of “A Christmas Carol” was told.

It wasn’t just read out of the book, it was acted out as well, in full costume. We had a visit from Jacob Marley (Brandon) himself, and of course the ghost from Christmas Past (Joanne), the ghost of Christmas Present (Caitlyn) and the ghost from Christmas yet to come, (Bob). We even had a visit from Tiny Tim (Caitlyn’s brother) and of course Ebenezer Scrooge.

It was a fun filled evening complete with toasting Hot toddies and warm chocolate chip cookies. Can’t hardly wait till next year.

December 2, 2017

The Summerhill 2017 Christmas party depicted the wonderful era of the Christmas Carol. As guest arrived they were greeted by charming Christmas Carolers; students from Mountain Shadows wearing traditional Dickens style bonnets. As the partygoers promenaded through the party they were swept away by an ice sculpture of Ebenezer Scrooge himself. Their good fortune was a delightful presentation of gobs and gobs of succulent perfectly cooked shrimp accompanied by a horse radish laden cocktail sauce.

The guests then strolled on to the cocktail bar which included a popular Dickens era creamy spiced Christmas rum libation. As they listened to Christmas Carols and munched on tiny hors d’oeuvres, they met friend with friend and family in good cheer, while reminiscing of days gone by. And like magic, a roasted turkey was sliced into slivers with stuffing and cranberry sauce and made into delicious Panini sandwiches which tasted just like Thanksgiving. We can’t forget the wonderful house made crab cakes resting a top of a warm asiago cheese and roasted vegetable polenta.

The night would see dancing and storytelling and lively music as they counted down the Twelve Days of Christmas. The piece de resistance was the Waffle Sundae Wild Cherry Jubilee. The night was made complete with all the Toys for Tots gifts so generously left under the Christmas tree for less fortunate children in town.

Next year promises to be even bigger and better than the last.

~Aylmer H Given III

The Residents worked very hard this year Making and Selling over 350 Apple Pies this year!

We Raised over 3,200.00!

Thank You to Residents, Family, Friends & Staff for all your support!

Hampton Beach Here We Come! June 2017

On a sunny early morning, some of our Assisted Living and Meadows residents settled into the Summerhill bus and headed for the blue green ocean waters of Hampton Beach. Many of us reminisced about taking our children to the ocean and were flooded with our own delightful childhood memories of beachside excursions. Jean Kundert shared the highlights of our journey and our intrepid Chef Aylmer drove the bus for all to enjoy a fun filled day at Hampton Beach to view the magnificent Sand Sculptures and boy, they did not disappoint!

We were greeted by a noble sandcastle complete with four towers, a smiling sun and many more. These were created on a grand scale and so detailed you would have sworn they were done in clay, not fragile sand. The smell of the salt sea air, feel of the sand and sounds of the seagulls was just heavenly while the sea breeze kept us comfortably cool.

After spending some time at the beach, admiring the sculptures, a walk along the boardwalk, Jean and Aylmer treated us to a scrumptious seafood lunch at Browns. It is a quintessential coastal seafood favorite restaurant we love to stop at! After lunch, we all boarded the bus once again for a picturesque ride along the coast road, looking at all the grand estates and trying to select which one we’d live in, if we won the lottery. The views were breathtaking, and we were all a little disappointed when Aylmer had to turn the bus for home.

We all agreed, we could not have asked for a better day to go to Hampton. A salty breeze kept us cool, a bright sun warmed our hearts but best of all, the day was shared with good friends!

One resident exclaimed, she’d take a trip to Hampton any time of the year. It was a fantastic change to go from the wonderful mountains and wood lands of the Peterborough to the salt marshes and ocean side of Hampton. We do hope you’ll join us next time – it’s well worth it!

December 4, 2016

It all started on Friday night with a reading of the very popular Clement C. Moore poem, “Twas The Night Before Christmas”. A special guest and early appearance of Santa and Mrs. Claus, along with a few elves from the North Pole made for a memorable evening. Mulled cider and cocoa was served as residents sat before the fireplace listening to this enchanting tale. Santa was so full of cheer that several ladies were delighted to sit on his lap and share wishes for the new year. Even though some of the residents expressed having been “Naughty”, Mrs. Claus found them all on the “Nice” list.

It was wonderful to hear of various Christmas and holiday family or personal traditions that several residents spoke of from their childhood and later years. Many commented on enjoying such a fun night and having the occasion to get to know each other ever more.

Christmas 161203 1 “Twas The Night Before Christmas” was the theme of our Christmas gala this year.

The Christmas Party started with guests being fully transported to Santa’s Village, entering the holiday garland elevator with a greeting of “Twas the Night Before Christmas”. This set the tone for a fairy-tale memory making evening.

The sun-room captivated many with spectacular ice sculptures of Rudolph and his sleigh offering jumbo shrimp cocktail and stone crab claws. All of Summerhill was a Christmas display designed to bring out the kid in all of us. Oh what joy!!

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse at the Grandfather clock cheese extravaganza. Then the stockings were hung by the chimney with care in our living room where tasty gourmet grilled panini sandwiches were served.

A twinkling was heard not on the roof but in our dining room with the party tradition of dancing and singing - The Twelve Days of Christmas being an all-time favorite!
To finish off the night the Country Kitchen was transformed into an endless dessert and chocolate waffle bar, not a single person went away hungry and a good time was had by all!

Thank you to the families who brought in presents for the local community toy drives.

You can view a selection of photos below.

Once again, our resident Veterans joined other Veterans from the community for a special gathering to honor their service to our country. Our eight residents look forward to meeting fellow Veterans to talk about how they served. A very special lunch was served to show Summerhill’s appreciation for each of these Veterans. We look forward to doing this again next year. Please consider joining us.

This year’s gathering was extra special with the gift of a quilt for each Veteran that was presented by Quilts of Valor® Foundation. This now nationally organization was started by a Blue Star mother, Catherine in Delaware. She was inspired after her son was deployed to Iraq. Initially these quilts were given as healing quilts to returning service men and women touched by war.

As of 2015 the Quilts of Valor® Foundation has awarded over 124,000 quilts. Today groups sew quilts together at quilt shops, churches and community rooms and homes. They are aptly lifetime gifts stitched with love, prayers
and healing thoughts.

Many thanks to two local ladies, Jan Hicks and Mary Schneckenburger for bringing these beautiful quilts to these Veterans. You may learn more about Quilts of Valor® Foundation by contacting them on their website www.QOVF.org

The Rindge Recreation Department bus of young children dressed in fabulous and creative costumes joined other Halloween attired family members of our residents and staff. They went door-to-door trick or treating and greeting everyone with smiles.

The kids (and even some adults) then paraded around the building to show off their marvelous costumes! Afterwards we had punch and cookies. Thank you to all that came and shared in the fun!

Our resident started baking for the Alzheimer's Association fundraiser in June using fresh strawberries and rhubarb making delicious pies. Many of these were sold to the family of our residents, visitors and staff even before they came out of the oven!

Soon the residents went blueberry picking and tasty blueberry pies were made while the orders kept coming in for more pies. Before you know it, we had apple donations from many to keep the Summerhill Bakers busy working together in pealing, cutting and mixing the filling for tasty fall apple pies. Jean and one of our residents managed to keep up making the best homemade crusts – as many customers exclaimed!

180 pies were baked so far this year. We continue making apple and pumpkin pies until just before Thanksgiving. So, if you want a delicious pie for the holidays let us know. Many thanks to all who support the Alzheimer’s Association!

Anyone who has felt a connection with a pet and experienced that unconditional love and acceptance, knows the value of a pet’s companionship. These qualities make animals ideal therapeutic visitors for our residents.

August 11, 2016

Our Assisted Living residents very much look forward to our summer Lobster Bake which is a fine evening of indulging in steamers, lobster, corn on the cob along and potato salad. The tables were set with sand, mini beach balls and boats to mark the occasion. Jarvis played the guitar while Bob played his drums and residents sang songs before the group sat down to enjoy this feast.

August 8, 2016

Twelve Assisted Living and Meadows residents shared in our annual trip to the Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens. This amazing Lepidoptera source in Western, MA features 4,000 exotic and domestic butterflies in a tropical environment within 8,000 within this conservatory. After our fun outing, we enjoyed a picnic lunch outside followed with ice cream to celebrate this event.

August 3, 2016

Our residents reached out to the dedicated Police, Fire & Rescue Departments of Peterborough with gifts of homemade pies to express heartfelt THANKS for all they do for our community!

June 21, 2016

The bus was filled with our Assisted Living and Memory Care residents for a fun filled day along Hampton Beach to see the wondrous, amazing and creative sand castles created from artists from all over New England and beyond. After much fun and laughter, we drove up the coast to see all the lovely homes and then headed to Brown s Seabrook Lobster Pound for a delicious lunch. Ice cream was a must for desert before heading back home.

Many of the residents shared special memories of when they were at the beach, time with their families there, taking in the smells of a summer day on the water and of course, people watching! Some of our resident s families were surprised and thrilled we make this an annual trip. We can t wait to go next year.

May 16, 2016

Our spring outing to Vermont Country Store located in Rockingham, VT is a lovely scenic ride traveling alongside the Connecticut River. Eight of our Assisted Living and Memory Care residents went on this annual jaunt with great anticipation for the treats from this old fashioned purveyor of practical and hard-to-find products. Beyond browsing through the home goods and clothing section, our residents love to taste the samples of cheese, dips and jellies before selecting their goodies to take home.

Margret and many others have been knitting gifts of hats for newborns and comfort dolls.
These cuddly dolls have been sent to Aides orphans in sub-Saharan Africa, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Uganda and Jamaica.

Close to 1,000 dolls have been delivered by local doctors traveling on mission trips.
These small gestures bring great comfort and joy to many children and offer a soothing effect while at medical clinics.

Peter Smith, graciously spoke about and displayed his family antique hand tools from the 1800 – 1930’s. The residents enjoyed testing their knowledge of tools in playing a game of "Guess the Tool". Many learned even more about how the they were used, i.e. carving beams. It was a great educational experience for us all! Thank you Peter for your time and sharing these fascinating tools.

Summerhill Assisted Living held a Volunteer Appreciation lunch on November 19th, 2015. Below is a list of the volunteers honored at this lunch.

Margot Graham has been reading to Summerhill residents for 25 years.
Christine Falcone comes once each month with Msgr. Gerry Belanger from Divine Mercy Catholic Church in Peterborough and plays piano during mass.
Neil Falcone is Chris’s husband, also from Divine Mercy Catholic Church in Peterborough. He is a Eucharistic Minister, assists with monthly mass at Summerhill, and helps deliver communion to residents who are unable to come to mass.
Rev. Jamie Hamilton is Rector at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Peterborough, and provides pastoral care to several Summerhill residents as well as Episcopal worship at Summerhill once each month.
Rita Klug volunteers in the Meadows.
Cathy LaRoche is Barbara LaRoche’s daughter and runs the weekly Wednesday evening Assisted Living knitting group.
Jane Meneghini is a Eucharistic Minister from Divine Mercy Catholic Church in Peterborough. She assists with monthly mass and Summerhill’s weekly Rosary prayer group.
Mico Moran calls BINGO in the Meadows, and in the past helped distribute mail. (Jacob came as Mico’s aide.)
Pastor Lourey Savick is the minister at the Peterborough United Methodist Church and provides pastoral care to several Summerhill residents.
Ruth Wright plays scrabble with residents in Assisted Living.

View the Photos Summerhill Volunteers - Appreciation Lunch

On January 20, 2016 Summerhill welcomed the advisory Board of Monadnock at Home for their annual meeting. In all, it was attended by about twenty members. They joined together in the Pub at 12:30 for social time and then sat down to a luncheon After all had enjoyed their meal, they moved to the Monadnock Room for their meeting. It sounds like it was a very successful afternoon and Summerhill looks forward to welcoming them back.
We also wish to thank them for the generous gift they gave to Summerhill’s activity department. Very kind and much appreciated.

Our annual Christmas celebration was filled with Christmas cheer as residents laughed, danced, and ate the night away. Both the Assisted Living and Meadows residents, alongside family and friends were all given the chance to experience the magic of Christmas. This year’s theme was "The Polar Express," based from the beloved children's book and movie. Director of Culinary Services, Alymer Given and the kitchen staff delighted our taste buds that evening with exceptional and delicious food cleverly presented. Once again, he amazed us with crafting three Polar Express ice sculptures that did not disappoint. We marveled at the jingle bell, Santa Claus and train that directed us to the shining "BELIEVE" written in lights. Talented Customer Relations memory maker, Jean Kundert was behind the camera throughout the night capturing candid moments and treasured pictures! This year’s photo booth was a hoot with special guest "conductor Tom Hanks" by our sides! The "HOT HOT chocolate" room was every chocolate lovers dream come true. Listening to the "12 days of Christmas," sung by our beloved residents, staff and family was a treat for all. The residents were able to gift their families with the 1,200+ cookies they worked hard with Jean to make. Add this all together, plus the open bar and the night was one for the books. We want to thank the generous families who contributed toys in support of Toys for Tots. Our elf stayed busy collecting the many that were brought in! Thank you also to everyone who worked hard to ensure our beloved residents and guests would enjoy the night. It was certainly a magnificent success!

We Raise over 3,000.00 The Residents Made & Sold over 65 Apple Pies, Baking Breads, Cookies, and Jams.

Thank You to Residents, Family, Friends & Staff for all your support!

Once again Summerhill honors our Veterans and Service Men and Women with a "Thank You" luncheon.

A memorable afternoon with our residents sharing times with other veterans from the Community.

Josh with Aylmer and Rita Dowd

Congratulations to our own Josh Brescia for his performance at this years Special Olympics. Josh took home a gold and a bronze medal in his events. We couldn't be prouder of him.

Three cheers for Josh from all his friends at Summerhill.

aylmer Congratulations to Aylmer Given, Director of Culinary Services (aka Top Dog Chef of Summerhill!!!!) for being The Biggest Loser. Aylmer lost the most weight in our three month contest. He looks and feels great with a 21 pound weight loss. It should also be noted that Aylmer turned all in winnings back to be donated to Alzheimer's Association. So very generous. Thank you Aylmer!!!!

Also, a round of applause for all the staff that participated in the contest. Everyone lost weight in varying amounts. Keep up the good work.

Think Spring!!!!!!

Summerhill is looking for volunteers to work in our Pub. No experience needed. We will train. It's a lively fun place where folks meet in the evening from 4 - 5 for a cocktail or soft drink. Most evenings there is entertainment. A fun and rewarding job for outgoing individuals who enjoy being around the same! Call Mary Pat or Deb. Thank you.

On Thursday, November 20, 2014 Summerhill hosted New Hampshire Public Television's Brit's Wit's. Our Monadnock Room was transformed into a theater and the entrance became a "London Tea Room". Brit's Wit's has it's own followers through NHPTV and many of our residents joined in for the afternoon. They previewed a soon to be shown Brittish comedy, sipped tea and port and were treated to Aylmer's goodies. NHPTV expressed delight over the welcome that Summerhill rolled out. Everyone is welcome back anytime.

June McDonald
with some of her devoted family membersCongratulations to our June MacDonald!!! She received The Boston Cane in recognition of being the oldest citizen of Rindge.

June is 99 years young and certainly does not look it. June has lived here at Summerhill for a little over three years. She is shown here with some of her devoted family. Again, congrats June!!!!

More Photos June MacDonald - Oldest Citizen of Rindge, NH

Summerhill is very proud to share the results of our most recent State of New Hampshire survey ( August, 2014).

We were found to be 100% deficiency free.

We are so proud of the entire staff of Summerhill. It is their success story because it is they who provide extraordinary care to our wonderful residents. Take a well deserved bow folks!!!!!

Summerhill Community has been baking, canning and fundraising in all kinds of ways to raise money for Alzheimer's. We have already reached our goal and we still have a couple of weeks to go.

On September 20th we will head to Keene to walk for Alzheimer's awareness. We hope to see old friends and meet new ones. Thanks to all who have supported our efforts. A special thanks to Jean Kundert, Jean Palmer and Kay Kereazis. Their baking, canning, pickle and jam making as well as Kay presiding over her "Lemonade Stand" helped push our fundraising efforts over the top.

On Thursday, September 4th, Summerhill hosted our monthly Memory Cafe her in our pub from 2:00 - 3:00 in the afternoon. Our presenter for this month was Tiffany Calcutt (pictured). Tiffany spoke extensively about the benefit of certain foods to promote good health and possibly slow down memory loss. It was standing room only. Our best turnout yet! Twenty three folks from the community in addition to our wonderful residents and staff. Aylmer put out a buffet of heart and brain healthy treats including salmon, colorful fruits and vegetables with a lovely yogurt dip. Attendees sipped iced tea, lemonade seltzer and sherry. The questions were thoughtful and the answers informative.

This Summer we have taken two trips up the winding service road to the top of Pack Monadnock. From the peak you can view Mt. Monadnock, Mt. Washington and even Boston on a clear day!

A trip to Humdingers in Marlborough provided a challenging afternoon of mini golf. The delicious ice cream we enjoyed after was a reward for our efforts on the greens.

We visited Executive Director Mary Pat Jackson's lovely gardens and pastures at the peak of iris season. The iris were in full bloom and all the horses loved the carrots and attention. Even Elba, Mary Pat's beloved Mastiff got in on the action. We were even lucky enough to make a few new friends as we enjoyed the sights. This was one of the first trips in our new bus!

On a picture perfect day, several of our residents climbed Mount Monadnock. They could not have chosen a more classic hiking day. A cool breeze, no bugs and big smiles. All came home a little tired but very satisfied. Great job guys!!!! Mount Washington next???

Ponys visit Summerhill Assisted Living in Peterborough NH On June 6th Summerhill had some very adorable four legged friends visit with us. Cover Girl (complete with hat and sneakers!!!) and Ginger graced us with their presence. And, presence they had! They roamed the halls and living areas of Summerhill greeting all our residents, families and staff. They nibbled carrots, shared kisses and even a little pony ride or two. We all hope they will be regular visitors. They call home a therapeutic riding facility in Hopkinton N.H. Cover Girl and Ginger's owner, Pauline has offered our residents the opportunity to get back in the saddle and ride once again. Our Activities department is in the process of putting this together for our residents who would like to pursue this.

I am thinking some more very special photos will be following these. Stay tuned!

Save the Date for our BIG BBQ EVENTS

Hawaiian Luau

On July 16, starting at 12:00 noon, Summerhill is hosting our Hawaiian Luau Theme BBQ for all residents and their families.

Come dressed for the occasion!

Beach Barbeque

And on July 23 @ 12:00 noon, a Beach Themed BBQ for our Meadows Residents and their Families.

(Hamburgers, Hot Dogs and a variety of salads and accompaniments will be served.) We hope you can join us !

grilling-image We are so pleased to announce that on every Wednesday @ 5pm - Beginning May 8th until September 11th Summerhill will be having a BBQ for residents under the tent. (Hamburgers/Hot Dogs/Salads/Fruits/Desserts)

Summer Menu

Also, our Executive Chef, Aylmer Given has selected his Summer Menu for our residents and guests. Paring fresh fruits and vegetables with lighter dishes for dining.

Unbridled-Chocolates Our residents recently took a day trip to the Belgian Chocolatier. Only 15 Minutes from Peterborough, Unbridled Chocolates is a small "boutique" chocolate shop located near Keene, NH in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire.

More than a chocolate store, Unbridled Chocolates is a place to hold parties, a place where you can order dessert, and taste tempting treats.( samples are encouraged) Their pride in business comes from combining unique flavors with fine Belgian chocolate. Our residents enjoyed the tour and the specialties of the shoppe thanks to Alan Crofut, Owner and Chef.

Beth & Warren from Dublin NH are participants in the "Pet Partners" Program and visit our Summerhill residents on a regular basis. Along with their 3 Golden Retrievers, Sofie (9 yrs old), Willow(6 yrs old), and Alice(3 yrs old), the owners and dogs Touch the lives of our residents, while Improving their Health.

Thank you from all of the Summerhill residents and Staff for enriching our lives with your kindness and visits.

Kristen, Mia & Baby Weston, (not pictured) , are our latest Volunteers at Summerhill.

The family is from New Ipswich and Kristen recently called our facility and asked if she and her children could come to visit and hopefully brighten our residents day.

And that they have. Eyes widen and smiles come upon the faces of our residents on our Assisted Living and Memory Units when they arrive.

Thank You Kristen and Family for Brightening our Day !!

The Summerhill Assisted Living Annual Easter Bunny Visit and Egg hunt was held on Saturday March 30th at 10:00am.

Residents of Summerhill, their Grandchildren and great Grandchildren participated in the egg hunt.

Summerhill staff also brought their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews to help celebrate and participate in the hunt as well.

Thank you to our Activities Director Jean Kundert, staff, and employees of Summerhill, for graciously giving of their time to making it another fun filled day !