St. Luke Living Center correspondent
Our living center bakers reported for duty Friday morning to make cookies with the helpful hands of a new volunteer, Mary Ann Smithhart. We mixed up a cherry chip cake mix recipe submitted by Jan White. To maintain peace, we baked a pan-full without walnuts.
The afternoon passed quickly while we played bingo with caller Elsie Reiswig and our loyal helper, Bill Schimpf.
Noting that March was just a few hours away Saturday morning, we created leprechauns from paper. Some of our mischievous elves are dressed very colorfully while others look a bit more traditional.
Aulne United Methodist Church members brought Sunday afternoon’s worship service with the spoken word, guitar music, and singing voices with visuals. Thank you Kevin Fruechting, Rod Just, Dave and Michele Hett, Dennis and Brenda Riggs, and the “visual aids,” Phoebe Hett and Courtney Williams.
In an effort to be more organized, a few of us put our heads together Monday morning while poring over some cookbooks and chose cookie recipe recommendations to make and eat on the four Friday mornings in March.
The pitch players, four gals and guys, parked around a card table that afternoon for an “intense” session with our good friend, Marie Navrat.
We also had a group who spent a portion of the afternoon reminiscing and sharing experiences as well as some family news. It was nice to have Sadie’s daughter, Margie Schwartz, join our circle.
Twelve residents attended the March council meeting Tuesday morning with dietary supervisor Janet Bowers as a guest. We spent some time addressing the better dining experience agenda. The suggestion of chocolate on her tray every meal was offered by Ruth.
We rededicated ourselves to saving aluminum pull-tabs for the benefit of the Ronald McDonald House. A Good Friday service was discussed and we agreed to begin making plans for it.
We also are planning a kindergarten and younger Easter egg hunt that afternoon in our courtyard. We’re looking forward to hiding the eggs and then watching the youngsters find them.
In the afternoon, we played kickball, beanbag throw into the can and basket (‘cause we’re very versatile), and a few other limb-using events.
A chapel-full of residents greeted Dick Pracht who arrived Wednesday morning to lead prayer group.
After lunch, Mary Ann Weins and Frankie Turner shared a “spot of tea” and some sweet treats with friends.
There also was time to enjoy the video, “Sentimental Sing-Along,” which actually stimulated us to sing along to “Bicycle Built for Two” and “Ain’t We Got Fun.”
It’s always a joy to hear hymns being sung Thursday mornings, due in no small part to the beautiful voices of our hymn sing leaders. This week’s voice was that of Lois Winter who, as does Shirley Bowers, always ends the hour with “God Be with You.”
We began our afternoon’s outing at an earlier hour, which allowed us time to inspect the USD 408 Sports and Aquatics Center from the van before touring our favorite haunt, the Marion County Lake. The fishermen almost were as numerous as the ducks on the water. We motored on to Peabody via Sunflower Road, enjoyed seeing large, older homes, found the grain elevator, drove around the historic stadium and park, and back to Marion on Nighthawk Road.
As a last side-trip, we turned into the drive of Marion’s Central Park where children were swinging and adults were enjoying the wonderful late-winter weather.