After a quiet weekend, what better way to perk ourselves up than with a little exercising at Monday Movers? Stacey and Noel led residents in a pulse-pumping and energetic series of seated exercises, designed to gently stretch arms and legs. The morning moved right along to Karaoke and while folks sung along to tunes such as “Give My Regards to Broadway” and “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,” Noel and Stacey switched out the decorations in the dining room, going from Valentine’s Day to St. Patrick’s Day in a matter of minutes! After lunch refreshed everyone, Noel was in the dining room with a few intrepid bakers, whipping up homemade chocolate chip cookies at the afternoon baking group. It was hard to resist digging in right after they came out of the oven, but we controlled ourselves and they will be enjoyed at Wednesday’s social. We distracted ourselves from our cookie cravings with a game of Tic Tac Toss, where Shirley Klinski and Bill Joyner tied for fourth place, Beryl Anderson, Alice Brantner and Judy Thorn tied for third and Nancy Bishop claimed second. Ivan Mason dominated the first-place spot with a huge score of 90 points! Supper was served afterward and then we settled in for Monday night Bingo with Teresa Fedie helping set up, clean up and pass candy prizes. Thank you for all the wonderful help, Teresa!

Tuesday morning we welcomed Father Jojo and Terry Pelzel for Mass, with Terry helping set up and doing the readings. We appreciate the devotion of all our faith leaders and the care they provide everyone in our community! Mass concluded, followed by lunch and then Aaliyah was here to fire up the popcorn machine and distribute bowlfuls of piping hot and delicious, buttery popcorn. Once the last salty kernels had been gobbled up, Pastor Dave from Durand Methodist Church arrived for afternoon church, accompanied by Kris Ingli playing hymns on the piano. After a lovely and reflective service, residents assembled in the dining room for supper and then Aaliyah kept interested folks out for an evening of fun games!  

By Wednesday, we were ready to go bowling in the morning and players were ready to strut their stuff on the lane! Ivan Mason, Shirley Klinski and Nancy Bishop had a three-way tie for fourth, Virgie Fritz came in third and we had a four-way tie for second place: Milda Bautch, Jeff Halverson, Bill Joyner and Janet Robelia. Kevin Bauer beat everyone and won first place this week! Residents refreshed themselves with a little lunch afterwards and then it was soon time for Fruit Bingo, this week with volunteers Wanda Ebensperger and Monica Krings passing out prizes and helping set up and clean up. We appreciated their smiling faces and all the help! Julie Tschumperlin was our Blackout Bingo champion! No sooner than the bingo chips and cards were cleaned up that we brought out the chocolate chip cookies baked on Monday for our Mid-Week Social. They were delicious with an ice-cold glass of milk!

Lana Ingli stopped by Thursday morning for our weekly Local News and Coffee group. She read residents all the headlines and chatted about the previous week’s Valentine holiday festivities. Folks are always so happy to visit with all our stellar volunteers and they appreciate getting caught up on what’s happening in the surrounding communities! After lunch, Aaliyah arrived for manicures and there was already a line of ladies waiting for her. She filed and polished many sets of nails and each of our gals admired the pretty polish job once Aaliyah had finished. Thursday afternoons after manicures are always set aside for peaceful visiting and relaxation but once supper came and went, Aaliyah assembled a large group in the dining room for an evening game of Pokeno!

Friday finally came and Noel rounded up a few folks for Fitness Friday fun, kicking around a couple of beach balls! Residents’ reflexes were quick and our soccer stars worked up quite a sweat containing those bouncy balls within our circle of chairs. After a brief water break, we squeezed in a couple quick rounds of Shuffleboard before lunch. Milda Bautch won fourth place, Judy Thorn took third and Jeff Halverson claimed second. We had a tie for first place this morning between Alice Brantner and Mary Matzek! Lunch, room visits and mail delivery kicked off the afternoon and then it was on to Snack Makers, where Noel had a couple of handy helpers (as well as a few supervisors) roll up pigs in a blanket. We sadly did not have an entertainer this afternoon, so Noel put on some polka tunes and old-time country music and we had a pleasant social hour, swaying and singing along to the upbeat tunes. Fun was had by all and the afternoon flew by fast! After supper, we drew the blinds and fired up the projector for Movie Night; this week’s feature film was the classic musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”