St. Luke Living Center correspondent
We had high hopes, but the almond poppy seed bars our bakers mixed up May 22 did not meet expectations. In fact, without frosting on top, they barely would have been tolerable.
We had no trouble tolerating Elsie Reiswig and Bill Schimpf during bingo hour that afternoon.
Gail Assink, who works in our dietary department, brought a beautiful bouquet of large iris and peonies in the afternoon, which we displayed on a table at our front entrance.
To add kindness to kindness, May 24 she brought several pails full of red, white, and blue flowers. Our residents helped arrange these in vases on all six tables in our dining room as a Memorial Day salute.
Our May 24 guest minister was Rev.d Brett Huebner of Our Savior Lutheran Church. He ended his service with a personal handshake for each of us.
Memorial Day morning was spent in our “pretty-up” shop as needed or desired. After lunch, using Crystal’s machine, she and Machelle became snow-cone makers, manufacturing icy treats for each of us in flavors of green apple, blue coconut, cherry, grape, cherry vanilla, and cotton candy.
Later we embarked on a traditional Memorial Day activity, boarded our white bus, and toured Marion and Pilsen cemeteries. We stopped at Amanda Gardner’s to meet some of Pilsen’s newest residents, six four-week old puppies.
Some May 26 bakers mixed up two cake mixes of chocolate and French vanilla flavors and baked them in 15x11-inch pans, preparing to celebrate the May birthdays of Les Broadstreet, Dean Batt, and Henry Sklenar. After lunch, cake frosters appeared. Later, with the help of Irma Benda and Margie Schwartz, we served cake and ice cream to all comers.
Judy Priest accepted our invitation to lead prayer group May 27. It proved to be a nice change of pace.
Mary Ann Wiens and Frankie Turner were here in the early afternoon to visit with friends while drinking coffee and eating banana bread Mary Ann brought with her.
The articles and picture relating to the Elgin in the Marion County Record were of interest to our “current eventers” later that afternoon. Equally interesting was the picture and article in an area daily paper about a large 1890-built house in Manhattan that a church will give away, providing the new owner moves it. We talked this over, made roommate plans, divided household chores, but funds became a problem. Don’t they always.
Before our evening meal, Theodora Koslowsky and a box filled with lovely pink peonies in vases, with blossoms of various sizes, came through our front door. She carefully unloaded the box and asked us to deliver them to her friends and others.
After swallowing our last bite of breakfast Thursday morning, we again sorted dinky ducks (of race fame). A total of 2,004 yellow fowl are in the proper tribes awaiting the competition Saturday at Chingawassa Days.
Shirley Bowers always is a ray of sunshine during Thursday morning hymn sing, but this week we experienced a special bit of sunshine when 18-month-old Carlos Samour, his mother, Ramie, and aunt Danae came to visit great-grandma Agnes Bina.
Our outing was designed to be short in time, but the trip around Marion County Lake provided peaceful viewing on a perfect afternoon.