Doors tell a story at Canton’s Orchard Cove community
By Guest
The Wassermans with their antique lobster trap — the centerpiece of their Maine-themed display. (HSL photo)
At Hebrew SeniorLife’s Orchard Cove campus in Canton, many seniors decorate the front door of their apartment to reveal their back story, their history, or their inner life. Below are a few of their stories:
A Little Bit of Maine in Canton
Steve and Judy Wasserman love Maine so they have an antique lobster trap with cotton netting tethered to an old buoy with weathered rope. “We spent a lot of time in Maine, and this is an antique trap, a real one used for lobstering in Maine,” Steve said.
He noted that Maine lobstermen no longer use this sort of trap when catching lobster, having first switched to wooden traps with nylon netting, then to metal traps. “The buoy is probably just as old,” he said, “and it’s connected with a short piece of weathered rope that was also used for lobstering.”
A lobster trap wouldn’t be complete without a lobster, and a plush lobster accompanies the display.
“Someone keeps moving the lobster. We think that’s funny; we just love it,” said Judy.
The lobster has been found in the trap, atop the buoy, eating out of the Wassermans’ candy bowl, and sticking out of Judy’s jar of seashells.
The collection of shells and rocks outside their apartment is just a small portion of those that Judy has collected over the years.
“I love rocks, and these are mostly from Maine,” Judy said, with many coming from beaches in Kennebunkport, Wells, and Ogunquit.
The Pi Apartment
When Terry Levinson moved into Orchard Cove, three apartments were available. She chose #314 — the first three digits of the beloved mathematical constant known as Pi.
Terry Levinson displays her red Pi plushie. (Hebrew SeniorLife photo)
“The fact that this said 314 meant a lot to me because I have a science degree,” noted Levinson, who majored in geology at Washington University, followed by graduate studies at George Washington University, before working at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C.
In keeping with the Pi theme, Levinson decorated her door with a red plushie in the shape of the Greek letter p.
“My grandchildren gave it to me,” she said of the plushie, “and they call it the ‘Pi apartment.’”
In addition, a trio of cascading tables outside her apartment is adorned with several statues and figurines, including a smiling Hotei, a Pallas Athena figure, and a trio of birds, including a statue of Horus, an ancient Egyptian god often depicted as a falcon.
Describing herself as a lover of whimsy, Levinson pointed out a pot converted into a bird statue that she purchased at a craft fair in Maryland, as well as a pair of pink clay figures given to her by her daughter. “There is a lot of creativity outside of people’s apartments,” she said.
The Illustrated Woman
Ray Bradbury fans may enjoy Joan Halperin’s painted mannequin torso. “I found her in Porter Square in Cambridge, outside of a beauty parlor that was going out of business, and I had to buy her,” Halperin said. The mannequin depicts an ocean scene, with several striped orange fish swimming by. It’s accompanied by another nautical novelty — a sculpture of three mermaids.
What Is an Engineer?
Retired engineer Bill Wolfson and his wife, Sheila, feature technology of the past — a giant mobile telephone, wood abacus, etc. The display outside of their apartment takes you through the history of engineering.
“By profession, I’m an engineer, and I love my profession. This just is a little bit of history here,” Bill said, sharing the progression of engineering from the abacus to custom silicon chips.
The display also features a copy of a speech given by a former colleague of Bill’s — the acclaimed engineer and inventor Bernard M. Gordon. In a keynote presentation given at the annual conference of the European Society for Engineering Education in 1984, Gordon sought to answer the question of “What is an Engineer?”
“His basic message here is that engineers are not just geeks, which people thought, but we had to be able to communicate,” he said.
In addition to the electronics, the Wolfsons’ display features an Australian flag as a nod to their son, who moved to Australia in 2000 and has dual citizenship. The flag is accompanied by a rock brought to America by their grandson. “It’s a part of Australia that is here,” Sheila said.
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