Our week began by shaking off the cobwebs of the weekend with Monday Movers exercise group! Noel led a very small but fun-loving group of residents through 30 minutes of seated exercise, where they worked off all the Christmas cookies and goodies from the previous week. After cooling down Noel turned up the tunes and Karaoke commenced with many folks flocking to the dining room to join their voices in song! Lunch followed and once the meal was cleaned up and the mail delivered, Stacey and Noel helped residents at Crafty Corner, making smiling snowman faces for our gallery wall. These frosty fellows brightened up the dining room and brought all the winter cheer (but none of the cold temps!) into the care center! Our afternoon continued with a game of Tic Tac Toss where Yvonne Sinz scored fourth place, Kay George and Kevin Bauer tied for third and Milda Bautch placed second. Herb Tschumperlin and Ivan Mason tied for the first place win this week! Supper brought the game to an end and then it was time for Monday night Bingo. A huge THANK YOU to Teresa Fedie for all her help with the game!   

Tuesday was New Year’s Eve and Father Jojo, along with Terry Pelzel, arrived at the care center after breakfast for one more Mass before 2024 was out the door! Once service had concluded, it was time for lunch and then the mail was delivered. Willow was here in the afternoon for our Popcorn Social and she popped piles of popcorn for eager residents who gathered in the dining room to claim a bowl or two for themselves! Once the last of the kernels were crunched, there was time for visiting and then Willow was busy passing out new activity calendars for January. It was hard to believe that the year was almost over, but what was not a surprise: that supper was around the corner! After the meal, Willow kept residents busy in the dining room with and evening of fun games.  

The new year of 2025 started off with fun and laughs at Wednesday morning’s bowling game! Noel was here to round up residents and they played three rounds in which Ivan Mason scored fourth, Janet Robelia and Kay George tied for third and Jeff Halverson placed second. Milda Bautch and Kevin Bauer shared a first place win this week! After lunch, there was no mail to deliver due to the holiday but that was okay since Fruit Bingo was right around the corner. Noel called numbers to a small group of folks and the odds were very good for Bunny Traun to win the $1 prize at Blackout Bingo! We ended New Year’s Day with slurping down Purple Cows (grape soda floats) at the Mid-Week Social. We hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s holiday! 

Harriet Rothe swung by to read folks the newspapers, as well as share stories and laughs at our Local News and Coffee group Thursday morning. We always enjoy seeing her smiling face while she kept us informed about what has been happening around the area! Later on, after lunch, Willow steered her cart of full of nail polish into the dining room and the ladies were ready for their afternoon of pampering with manicures. All of our gals chose such classy colors and their nails looked lovely once Willow worked her manicure magic! Then it was time for a little more visiting before supper was served. Our evening ended with Willow leading a lively game of Pokeno with residents!

Friday finally came and Noel rounded up folks for a spirited game of Shuffleboard! The competition was fierce and after three lively rounds…Milda Bautch was in fourth place, Jeff Halverson took third and Kevin Bauer and Carol Bauer (Seasons) tied for second. Janet Robelia was the Shuffleboard champion this week! Lunch, room visits and mail delivery kicked off the afternoon and at Snack Makers, Kay George and Chef Jeff {Halverson} helped Noel quickly whip up savory Garlic Ranch Pretzels because pretty soon Happy Hour was upon us. Johnny Keyz came with his keyboard and delighted everyone with his soulful songs and toe-tapping tunes! Happy Hour was over way too soon and after supper, we drew the blinds and fired up the projector for Movie Night. This week’s Friday night film was the classic “Black Beauty.”