By Laura Kadlec Activities Director & Music Therapist

Monday welcomed us with a few grey clouds but plenty of sunshine at the sing-a-long. “You Are My Sunshine” is always a favorite and by the time we sang “Let The Sunshine In,” it really was streaming through the windows! We sang for an hour and soon lunch was served. With possibly the last of our warm-ish days left, a few folks meandered outside to soak up that sun, visiting with people stopping by and each other. Stacey made popcorn and some of our friends from the Seasons joined us in sharing stories of the past. Tic-Tac-Toss was ouered before supper. Nancy Bishop was our big winner with three-in-a-row, TWICE! She took first place followed by Penny Stauord in second. Beryl Anderson came in third with Alvin Bergmark right on her heels for fourth place. After supper, our day was completed with an evening of bingo. We were excited to have a new assistant, Pat Frion, join us and Tere- sa Fedie, for the first time. But Pat is no stranger to the Care Center having been one of our wonderful nurses for many years.

Our weekly schedule was a little mixed up due to absentee voting along with Covid booster shots. We are so grateful for Wanda Ebensperger, Julie Burg, and Roxanne Gilles who assist us with voting. Folks from Walgreens also arrived with syringes in hand, ready to vaccinate and keep us healthy. After lunch, the crafters found their way to the dining room to make pumpkin door décor! We started with a wood, cut-out pumpkin which we painted to our own satisfaction. One person even chose blue! Halloween and Thanksgiving cut-outs were also chosen to place on their pumpkin, all finished up with a pretty ribbon and ready to hang. After delivering all the pumpkins to rooms, we were ready for our weekly church service. Pastor Paolo from Arkansaw Methodist Church joined us with Barb Winberg at the piano for a nice time of worship and song. Our evening ended with a dice game called “Cover the Number” and Milda Bautch was our big winner.

Wednesday also had a wacky schedule as we welcomed Father Jojo for Mass and communion. He is always a welcoming friend and flexible to visit us on a diuer ent day. Fruit bingo was on the agenda for the afternoon. Wanda Ebensperger and Marlene Zimmer were our faithful assistants this week. Black out winner was Shirley Klinski. Our mid-week social was “Wednesday Wine, Cheese & Crackers” and kept everyone chattering until supper arrived.

By Thursday, everyone was ready for some real action with our Ave Maria helpers, Seth Holmstadt and Tim Peterson. They set pins and kept score for us with four rounds of bowling. This week’s top bowlers were: Frances White (fourth place), Shirley Klinski (third place), Alvin Bergmark (second place); and first place was a tie with Dorothy Pfaue (with one strike) and Milda Bautch (who had two strikes). The afternoon ouered manicures for the ladies. Once our nails were dry, we were on to snuggle the puppies Brad Richardson brings to us each week. Everyone knows it’s Thursdays when the puppies arrive. We never tire of holding them, snuggling them and in some cases, singing to them! Supper soon arrived and a few folks stayed up to play Pokeno. This week’s big winner was Shirley Klinski.

Drumming is the gateway to our weekend and they were in fine form as usual. The songs ranged from the 40s to the 60s and all were upbeat. It is often divcult to get them to actually stop once it’s lunch time. Our afternoon began with some of the ladies assisting Stacey with making barbequed meatballs. This particular recipe called for a whole can of cranberry sauce. The end result was absolutely delish! We served them for Happy Hour and even our visitors were impressed. Or maybe it was the music of Larry Radle that we always enjoy! Supper was served afterward and soon we geared up for the Friday night movie. Our movie this Friday was Disney’s “Halloweentown.” We hope you find the time to stop in for a visit. You’ll never know what you might “scare” up here! See you soon.

Herb and Julie Tschumperlin were good listeners with these boys from the Ave Maria Academy.Photo courtesy of Laura Kadlec

We found these two, both who want to be farmers, in Don Brunner’s room! Photo courtesy of Laura Kadlec