St. Elizabeth Briarbank

We have developed a relationship with an assisted living home for older persons in the Detroit metropolitan area.  Many of the residents do not get visitors and lead quiet, uneventful days.  We get together about 50 residents and try our best to entertain them with a variety of presentations.  Some of them are highlighted below.  We have also done a web site for them.

Peter Shinbach's Trip to Peru - 5/5/07

My neighbor, Peter Shinbach went to Peru for a couple of weeks and was so kind enough to come to the Briarbank and give a slide presentation on his trip.

Peter is an excellent speaker and everyone really enjoyed it.

Long's Peak, Colorado Hiking Trip - 1/28/06

On this day John and Tom Hale, our preeminent senior programmer gave a travel talk to the residents and the staff of nuns about Tom's trip to Long's Peak in Colorado.  Long's peak is 14,255 feet high and is located about 50 miles northwest of Denver, Colorado.  Tom made the all day hike with his daughter and his three grand children.  They began the climb in the dark at 6 am and got back down around 6 pm.  Below are several pictures from Tom's PowerPoint presentation of over 100 slides.  Once again, the residents really enjoyed our travel story.

     
Tom, his daughter and three grand children                            Long's Peak - 14,255 feet high

   
The trail goes right through the "keyhole"                       Ouch, is all you can say about these rocks.

   
About two-thirds of the way up                                   Many climbers quit when they get here, but not Tom

Western Michigan - 7/24/04

On this day John gave a travel talk to the residents and the staff of nuns about our trip to western Michigan to the towns of Ludington, Pentwater, Spring Lake, Muskegon, New Haven, Holland, Saugatuck and Grand Rapids.  John's presentation included photos from a summer trip.  The pictures showed the wonders of Lake Michigan and the beautiful coast of western Michigan. Here are a few of the slides from the presentation.  

     
Our ladies at St. Elizabeth Briarbank                            The New Haven channel at night

   
New Haven pier at night.                                          Light house in Muskegon

There are a lot of light houses along the western coast of Michigan.  They have been helping seafarers since the middle 1800's

 
Ludington Channel                                              Saugatuck - a neat town on the west coast of Michigan.

New York City - 1/17/04

On this day we gave a travel talk to the residents and the staff of nuns about our trip to New York City to visit John's friend Greg who has a wonderful condo in the Trump Towers and Hotel on Columbus Circle overlooking Central Park.  John's presentation included photos from a summer and winter trip to NYC.  The pictures showed the wonders of Central Park in the summer and also how Rockefeller Center and 5th Avenue looked in its winter splendor. Here are a few of the slides from the presentation.  

  
Wall Street Bull                                                                      New York Stock Exchange

  
Rockefeller Plaza                                                                                 Statue of Liberty

Florida - 2/15/03

On this day we gave a travel talk about our trip to south Florida including Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Miami, Key West, Ft. Myers, Naples, Marco Island, Sanibel Island and Bonita Springs. We went through 165 slides in a PowerPoint presentation showing the residents of St. Elizabeth Briarbank how beautiful Florida is in the winter.  Many of the residents have spent time in Florida and they were able to contribute to the discussion and provide valuable insight. Here are a few of the slides from the presentation.  

  
South Beach Sand Castle                                                                        Mail Box

  
Key West Sunset                                                                                 Intercoastal

Shanghai China - 2/2/02

On this day we gave a travel talk about our trip to Shanghai, China, where we presented "Relationship Selling" to a group of about thirty Chinese business persons.  We went through 135 slides in a PowerPoint presentation showing the residents of St. Elizabeth Briarbank how modern and technologically developed Shanghai is.  Here are a few of the slides from our trip.  There are others on our "Chinese" page.  

  
Nanjing Road                                                                        Century Boulevard

  
Nanpu Bridge                                                                                 Shanghai Library

Blue Ridge Parkway & The Smokies - 9/29/01

On this day we gave a presentation of photos from our motorcycle trip through Virginia's  Skyline Drive, then on through the Blue Ridge Parkway and into the Great Smokey Mountains Park.  We provided the residents and sisters with great scenic photos, historical facts and a little humor as well. 

California - San Francisco to San Diego - 5/19/01

This presentation was a photo documentary of our trip from San Francisco to San Diego on the Pacific Coast Highway 1.  It included great photos from San Francisco, Carmel, Big Sur, San Simeon, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, La Jolla, Balboa Park, Coronado Island and San Diego.  

Visit To Budapest  - 2/19/01

George Smrtka and I presented highlights from our trip to Hungary.  We showed wonderful pictures of the Danube River, the Presidential Palace, Parliament and many pictures of the shops and markets.   George is local "Trust Attorney" who is very comfortable in front of a group.  The residents and sisters got a big kick out of his charming presentation and the unique way we brought a little sunshine and a few smiles.

Budapest

Introduction To The Internet  - 9/23/00

Recently, we provided a lecture and demonstration on the internet for about 50 residents and the nuns.  During the presentations we explained how the internet worked and visited about 30 web sites that are listed on our page of great web sites.  Everyone was excited to see how airline flights could be checked, weather maps reviewed and card games such as bridge could be played against other cyber-gamers.

Here are some of the attendees

Web Site Developed For St. Elizabeth Briarbank

We provided a complimentary web site for the sisters and their home for assisted living.  You can check it out at http://www.briarbank.com.  Please be reminded that gifts to them are tax deductible.