By Laura Kadlec Activities Director & Music Therapist

Monday arrived for a hopefully typical week without drama, tornados, or Covid! Yes, that would be quite the combination. We are, however, happy to be out of our rooms and enjoying getting together with each other and meals in the dining rooms. Our sing-along kicked off the week and is a great way to start the day. We learned a new song (to some) but a real oldie for others: “A Daisy A Day.” Look up the lyrics. They are quite sweet! The afternoon included our popcorn social followed by a fun game of bean bags. Round one included throwing with your opposite hand, and round three was to toss the bean bag off your foot! In the end, Alvin Bergmark captured first, Shirley Klinski followed in second, with Nancy Bishop a close third and Irene Converse in fourth place. Our evening was completed with a game of bingo. Thank you to Kathy Luebker for assisting with candy rewards!

Father Jojo and Terry Pelzel arrived for a real celebration of mass for the first time in a month. It was so nice to be able to worship as a group again. A quick game of Name That Tune was held before lunch. Winners were: Penny Stafford in first; Carol Bauer in second; Barb Gruwe in third; and Mary Ellen Coulson in fourth. After lunch, our crafters gathered in the dining room to design stepping stone. Jewels, letters and seashells were arranged as Laura was elbows deep in mixing cement. Everything came together and the stepping stones turned out uniquely beautiful! Soon, Pastor Darren arrived from the Lund Covenant Church for our weekly worship service. It was nice to have him back after a month without our pastors.

Wednesday brought out competitive residents looking for a rousing game of Uno. Shirley Klinski came out the big winner after three rounds. Lunch was served and in no time, bingo cards and poker ships were handed out by our lovely helpers, Julie Tschumperlin, Lana Ingli and Norma Chilson. Mary Nelson was winner of the black out game. Ice cream treats ended the afternoon and we didn’t even care if it ruined our supper appetites!

Kathy Shingledecker and Thursday were both on time this week. Kathy read us all the news from around the area and also shared fun stories of life on her farm with those adorable goats! Aaliyah offered manicures in the afternoon and Brad was also on hand with his ever so cute puppies. He brought some darling schnauzers for the first time and everyone fought over them. Such cute faces and gorgeous markings they had. Pokeno finished out the day and we were ready for bed.

The drum group brought everyone to attention and started the day on Friday. It’s almost as much fun to watch the drummers, as it is to do the drumming itself. We were saddened that our happy hour entertainer had to cancel due to Covid in his household. However, we still had fun watching an old-time video of many famous Grand Ole Opry concerts. Stacey and Laura treated us to popcorn as they popped over 200 bags for the upcoming car cruise. We had a quick supper and then grabbed our chairs and headed for the front patio. What a wonderful parade of many fun, smart looking cars and roadsters! Our arms are still tired from waving at all the drivers and passengers! Everyone in the parade was gifted a bag of popcorn.

Saturday brought another game of bingo followed by bean bags. Our top winners are still throwing well. Winners this week were: Marlys Amdahl in fourth; Alvin Bermark in third; Shirley Klinski in second and first place champ Lorraine Anderson.

Ann Landers once said, “At age 20, we worry about what others think of us, at age 40, we don’t care what they think of us, at age 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all.” We hope you think of us and consider a visit sometime. We would love to serve you a hot cup of coffee and a cookie.

See you soon!