Before you knew it, the first weekend of August was over and another Monday rolled around again. Noel led residents through a brief, yet invigorating, workout in the morning at Monday Movers! Everyone who participated put in such a great effort and we were all sweating by the end. Time for a little breather before Karaoke Sing-Along commenced! There was a much larger crowd gathered and everyone did a wonderful job singing loudly. After lunch, Noel and Chef Jeff made a double batch of white chocolate and raspberry cookies at Kitchen Corner and it was really hard to not sneak a cookie or two; they looked and smelled so good! We distracted ourselves with Tic Tac Toss and so many folks came out to play the game. There was a three-way tie between Jeff Halverson, Nancy Bishop and Yvonne Sinz for fourth, Milda Bautch was awarded third and Carol Bauer (Seasons) came in second. Dorothy Pfaffe won first place this week! Once supper was over, Kathy Luebker and Teresa Fedie arrived for Monday night Bingo. Thank you so much for helping and spending your night with us ladies!

Tuesday morning, folks spent time at Mass with Terry Pelzel and Father Jojo. It was a lovely way to start the day and once the service was over, everyone gathered lingered to chat and visit. Lunch was served a little later and then Willow arrived in the afternoon for the weekly Popcorn Social! Soon you heard the popcorn machine cheerily popping away and the enticing aroma of fresh popcorn wafted down the hallways. Once the last bowl of popcorn was gobbled up, there was time for more visiting before afternoon church began. Pastor Phil from Evangelical Free Church arrived a little later for the well-attended service. Supper kicked off our evening and then Willow came back to the dining room for an evening of games!

Once we made it to the middle of week, everyone was ready for some Wednesday morning bowling! It was another exciting game in which Dorothy Pfaffe placed fourth, Kathy Geraets claimed third and Kevin Bauer came in second. Yvonne Sinz was the first-place winner this week! Lunch refreshed everyone’s energy and then it was on to one of our most favorite of activities: Fruit Bingo. Marlene Zimmer and Kathy Shingledecker were here to lend their fabulous assistance with set up, clean up and passing prizes – thank you so much ladies! Our blackout Bingo champion was Joann Hubbard’s daughter Trish! Afterward, folks hung around to grab a delicious, homemade white chocolate and raspberry cookies at our Mid-Week Social, in honor of National Raspberries and Cream Day. There was even time to play a few hands of the card game UNO in the dining room, where Ivan Mason and Kathryn Harry were the big winners of the afternoon!

Kathy Shingledecker came to the care center Thursday morning after breakfast for our Local News and Coffee group! Along with reading the newspapers, she shared lots of stories and jokes with everyone gathered, including “The Ten Commandments for Seniors” that was given to us by recent visitor and former resident Carl Barnes. Lunch followed the morning’s activities and then the afternoon was full of one-on-one visits, such as guitar sing a longs, reading jokes and walking outside to enjoy the beautiful summer weather! After supper Noel was here for the evening Pokeno game, in which the group consisted of ladies only! 

Friday came quickly and Noel led residents in a lively morning game of Shuffleboard, along with Stacey supervising as scorekeeper! After five fun-filled rounds, Ivan Mason won fourth place, Alice Brantner came in third and Jeff Halverson claimed second. Yvonne Sinz was the first-place winner! Lunch was enjoyed afterward and then we had a peaceful afternoon of visiting with residents. Before you could say “Happy Friday!” it was time for Happy Hour, with Rudy Rudesill and his guitar to entertain us with toe-tapping tunes. It was also our once-a-month Birthday Celebration Happy Hour, where we celebrated all the August birthdays and snacked on delicious vanilla cupcakes! The afternoon ended with supper and then Movie Night, where we watched the Gregory Peck western “The Gunfighter.”