A6
Seniors
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
G RANT C OUNTY S ENIORS
John Day
Seniors
Nicky Essex
My goodness, it was still
100 degrees at our house at 6
p.m. recently. I guess summer
is here for real now!
On Monday, July 3, Merry
Henry and I were greeters, a job
we love, but we’ll be glad to get
some more help.
The Blue Mountain Hospi-
tal Auxiliary was here to serve
us. Mary Miles and Gloria Ku-
lis did a great job serving us
at the tables, after delivering
meals to our friends in John
Day and Canyon City. Michael
Hagopian and Travis Estes did
the Mt. Vernon route. Total reg-
ular meals delivered was 33,
and the total of the frozen meals
was 76.
I have to say once more
what a merciful gift you all are
to our community. Thank you
so much.
We want to thank Diane
Blakeslee for the lovely bou-
quet of white lilies. Also, be on
the alert for our “Christmas in
July” celebration coming soon
(July 20): turkey, dressing, door
prizes and fun. You have to be
here to learn more.
Gloria Kulis led the flag
salute, and Alma Joslin prayed
for our meal. Billie Bullard
won the free meal, Ken Henry
won the Len’s Drug certificate
and the Harrison Ranch Pro-
duce certificate went to Karen
Barrietua.
Our meal was another indoor
picnic. Hot dogs with all of the
fixings, sour cream potato sal-
ad, baked beans and red, white
and blue Jell-O with strawberry
shortcake with whipped cream
for dessert. Yummy. Lisa, you
outdid yourself!
Thursday, July 6, found
Merry Henry teamed up with
Drew Harmer to greet our din-
ers. The John Day Church of
the Nazarene served us under
the guidance of Trace Andrew.
With her were Dale Stennett,
Everett King and Vickie Har-
rison. We had a full house and
lots going on. I want everyone
to know that while we were
eating lunch, our chef Shay,
Lisa, Danny and Veanne were
heaving boxes of frozen foods
from our broken down freezer
into their own cars, trucks etc,
to take to Russell’s Custom
Meats, who stepped right up
to help save our food. Thank
yous to all, and to those who
jumped in after dinner to help
as well.
Our dear friends Joan and
Joel Tayles made the meal de-
liveries to John Day and Can-
yon City, while Michael and
Rodney from Step Forward
did the Mt. Vernon route, for a
total of 40 meals.
Dale Stennett led our flag
salute, and Everett King led
our prayer. Drawings were
won by Nadine Smith, Valley
View meal; Vickie Harrison,
Chester’s Thriftway certifi-
cate; and Linda Christiansen,
Harrison Ranch certificate!
Our entrée was donated
by Old West Federal Credit
Union. We enjoyed chicken
cordon bleu lasagna with veg-
gies, baguettes, carrot salad
and, of course, our friends at
Driskill Memorial Chapel pro-
vided a lovely birthday cake
for those who celebrate their
birthdays in July. We served
63 diners. The meal on July 13
will be pork chops and Waldorf
salad. The meal on July 17 will
be chicken teriyaki salad with
summer vegetable soup.
Don’t forget, we play bingo
after lunch every Thursday.
We are glad to welcome
Bonnie and Frances Kocis
back from their travels. You’ve
been missed.
I am not at liberty to say
who, but we all want to thank
our “secret pot washer,” who
says it is a labor of love.
Galatians 5:1 “It is for
freedom that Christ has set us
free. Stand firm, then, and do
not let yourselves be burdened
again by a yoke of slavery. ...
The only thing that counts is
faith expressing itself through
love.”
Monument
Seniors
Soo Yukawa
I wasn’t sure if I was going
to write an article or not this
week because we did not have
lunch served on the Fourth of
July.
There was bingo played in
the evening, however. The oth-
er events, of course, included
the Monument Jubilee, parade
and the famous fireworks that
are the envy of nearby towns. I
must say that it is comparable
to the fireworks at Disneyland
in California. So, for such a
small town to have such a nice
display of that caliber, it’s pret-
ty impressive.
I don’t know about the rest
of the state of Oregon, but oh
my goodness, the heat has been
intense! We’ve had temps in the
triple digits for the past week.
I am not liking the scorching
very much, but you know, my
tomatoes and cucumbers are
loving it. My Armenian cu-
cumbers are taking off. I saw
some buds, and they are start-
ing to climb and send those ten-
dril-like things to grab for sup-
port. I got some nice Anaheim
peppers that I ate. My beautiful
lettuce has now bolted. Rasp-
berries are starting to ripen, and
we are also getting some peas.
So I thought I got like three
volunteer squash plants a few
weeks ago that had made me
so happy. While quenching the
thirsty plants and watering them
in the evening, upon closer in-
spection, I realized they were
cucumbers and not squash! I
don’t know how they got there
because I didn’t plant cucum-
bers there last year. I planted
yellow straight-neck squash
next to them too. I hope they
don’t cross-pollinate and create
some weird hybrid. Maybe I
will get some nice pickling cu-
cumbers to go with all that dill I
accidentally planted, ha.
My goats did a fantastic job
of clearing out thistle in the
pig pen and trampled and ate
down the rye grass too. They
did much better than me trying
to use the weed whacker. They
have been moved to their pen
but have been secured so that
they can’t escape. After they
are done chomping down the
thistles in there, they will be
loaned out to a friend. I think my
hubby might just lend the goats
permanently. They are handy
sometimes, right? I was pretty
impressed that they ate every
part of the thistle plants. They
really do have tough tongues,
because those sharp and pointy
needles on the thistles are scary!
I tried to yank that purple flower
to taste because someone said
they are sweet, and I got poked.
Oh, did that hurt.
I’ve been told that the days
are already getting shorter.
What? How can that be al-
ready? It feels like we just
started summer. I can’t get
over how time is passing by so
quickly. There’s so much to do.
Life out here is definitely not
boring. I’ve never been so busy
in all my life. The best part
about living out here is visiting
with friends and people. Life in
the city doesn’t give much time
for that. They are missing out.
James 4:7 “Submit your-
selves therefore to God. Resist
the devil, and he will flee from
you.”
Prairie City
Seniors
Rose Coombs
Remember how we com-
plained about the cold and
snow six months ago? Well, is
it warm enough for you now?
PTL for air conditioning! Don’t
forget that we live in the “tem-
perate” zone, too. That means
we have four seasons – usually.
We were informed that long-
time resident and senior lunch
supporter Dorothy Blasing
passed away. Our condolences
to her family.
Another former diner, who
wishes to remain anonymous,
brought in a large supply of
fragrant sweet peas. So Ellie
put them in vases and distrib-
uted them to each table. Those
who wished could take a bunch
home after lunch, too. Thank
you, kind sir.
Larry, Carlos, Ginger and
Carla did the home deliveries.
Dru led the flag salute, and I
asked the blessing. The $5 gift
certificate donated by Prairie
Hardware & Gifts went to Ev-
elyn Sheets.
Frances announced that an
eclipse meeting would be held
after lunch. Also a Board of Di-
rectors meeting will be on July
19 and Site Committee on Aug.
2. We still need warm bodies
to fill slots on these various
groups. Come join the party.
Among our 58 diners was
Jim and Pam’s son, Curtis, who
was visiting over the Fourth.
The emergency exit ramp fi-
nally appeared – two weeks late
– but at least it is here. The truck
driver made several circuits be-
fore he found someone to tell
him where he should unload.
Turns out we don’t have our
street number on the building.
Well, how about that? Anoth-
er project. At least it is a small
one. The ramp project turned
into more than we planned on,
but we will really be in compli-
ance when it gets all done.
Our Fourth of July meal (on
July 5) had Tom handing out
cheeseburgers for us to put our
condiments on, potato salad,
beans and wieners and creamy
cheesecake with blueberries
and a strawberry slice on top.
For liquid refreshment, there
was lemonade, iced tea, milk,
orange juice, buttermilk, coffee
and tea. And it only costs $4.
What a deal!
Son number one and family
came to spend the Fourth with
us. I managed to get him to play
the drums with me on the patri-
otic offertory on Sunday. They
did all the Fourth things here,
then went to Bend to make for-
ays to the High Desert Museum
and Crater Lake. The grandkids
made forays into the motel pool
with great delight during the
hot spell.
We went to Bend for a CT
scan on Derrol’s repaired shoul-
der joint. The techs weren’t
told that there was a new metal
joint in it. Had to make a few
adjustments to where to put the
needle in to administer the con-
trasting medium. But all turned
out well. Not many pain nerves
left in that area so he didn’t
feel any discomfort. One of the
technicians had even taken a
motorcycle ride through Prairie
City, so he knew how far away
we were. That was a first!
I John 4:19 “We love be-
cause He first loved us.”
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