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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2017)
A6 Seniors Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, November 15, 2017 G RANT C OUNTY S ENIORS John Day Seniors Nicky Essex The next couple of weeks will be busy ones — and then we can rest some. I know I need to be counting my blessings. It is easy to gripe about the things that spoil my sense of peace. I will begin my thanksgiving list right now by being mindful of our dear friends here at the John Day Senior Center. We have been fellowshipping here for about three-plus years now, and I don’t want to become complacent. Life changes, and before you know it, one thing can change everything. I just want to tell you all, “Thank you for your hospitality.” On Monday, Nov. 6, Jea- nette Julsrud stood in for Ron Dowse, who was ill, with me at the greeter’s desk. Isa Lar- kin and Joyce Nodine from the Blue Mountain Hospital Auxiliary delivered meals to the John Day and Canyon City folks, while Shawn Palmer and Rodney Bruser from Step Forward took the Mt. Vernon route. Altogether, they deliv- ered 30 regular meals and 28 frozen meals. After doing de- liveries, Isa and Joyce served us at the tables. Isa Larkin opened our time by leading us in the flag sa- lute. The drawings produced the following winners: Isa won the Len’s Drug gift certif- icate, and Ken Henry won the free meal. Then, Dale Sten- nett gave the blessing on our meal. We enjoyed breakfast for lunch: biscuits and gravy, hash brown patties, Western scramble and Danish for des- sert. We served 26 diners. On Thursday, Nov. 9, Cor- nerstone Community Church members Linda Sprouffske, Zola Pike, Carla and Andy An- derson and Pastor Levi Manit- sas served us at the tables. The pastor did his usual and very much appreciated coffee refill service. Brenda Taramasso and Simon Gee took meal de- liveries to John Day and Can- yon City while Rodney Bruser from Step Forward delivered meals to Mt. Vernon, with a total of 35 delivered. Andy Anderson opened our time with the Pledge of Allegiance. Carla Teague won the free Valley View meal, and Carol Roe won the Ches- ter’s Thriftway gift certificate. Pastor Levi read a very funny story before leading us in a blessing on our meal. Our en- trée was sponsored by Dennis and Linda Dickenson. We en- joyed a taste of Greece from our guest chef Anne Lewis, who made moussaka, (aka Greek lasagna), a Greek salad, French bread and halva, a sem- olina cake topped with syrup for dessert. We had many ex- pressions of enjoyment. Some have asked why I don’t “visit” like the other two senior reporters. We all get the same amount of space, but I have two events to report on; they only have one, so they can fill the extra space with their personal news. We had Jim Thomason vis- it us at lunch and Eve Morris, Dalene Norton and her mom, Barb Gentry, with us for bin- go. Next Thursday, Nov. 16, we will enjoy our senior cen- ter Thanksgiving meal, and Monday, Nov. 20, it’s popcorn shrimp, fries and coleslaw. Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Monument Seniors Soo Yukawa We had a simple and de- lectable meal prepared by our cooks Terry Cade and Chris- ty Howell, and of course, we were very grateful for their efforts. They prepared for us a variety of different piz- zas to choose from. We were also served a wonderful fresh green salad, fruit and cookies for our dessert. I don’t always write this, but we always have available fresh coffee, iced tea and punch for our self-serve drinks. Our greeters were Bodean Andersen, Jimmy Cole and Debbie Reed. Bodean led us in the flag salute, made some announcements and prayed the blessing over our meal. Jimmy and Debbie collected and counted the money. There were 49 guests on the books and four takeouts. The win- ners of the free meal tickets were Karen Elton and Phoebe Yukawa. We want to thank all those who gave their time for the kids at the Halloween candy giveaway. Among some of the volunteers were Sylvia Cock- erell, Doug Sweek and many others. Judy Harris and Bob Blakeslee are both home from their stints in hospital care, and both are doing well. We are glad as a community that they are back in the comforts of their home and are on the road to recovery. As a reminder, don’t for- get that Saturday, Nov. 18, is the sewing class. We start at 9 a.m. There is a potluck lunch around noon, and then we continue to sew until 3 p.m. Just bring your sewing ma- chine, a meal to share and ex- pect to have a great time with people who have a passion for sewing and wonderful fellow- ship. There will be the Mis- soula show at the Monument School Friday, Nov. 17. For more information, please call Shawnah at the school. It’s been pretty chilly here in the mornings. Brrrr. I think many are still scrambling to prepare for the winter, my- self included. Another thing, I can’t believe that Thanksgiv- ing is in a week. Yikes. Are you ready? I don’t think win- ter will wait for us. So, my victory over the battle of wills against Perry the “Pill” of a goat was very short-lived, I’m afraid. He managed to get back into the goat pen. That rascally goat was very persistent. I can’t believe that Perry outwitted me. He managed to get back into the pen four times. I am hanging my head down in shame (if you could see me). I finally had to just leave him and felt very, very vexed and exasperated. Well, on a happier note, our dog had some puppies. She had five, but one did not make it. I think she might have acci- dentally laid on it. My son is very happy. He is hoping for a return on his investment. The mama is a very good dog and mellow. I really like that she doesn’t jump on people, which is my biggest pet peeve about dogs. Life on the farm, frustra- tions and rewards. Revelation 22:14 “Bless- ed are they that do His com- mandments, that they may have right the tree of life, and may enter in through the gate into the city.” Prairie City Seniors Rose Coombs We had music, music, music this morning with the return of (for want of a better name) The Three Amigos. Never heard of them? Well, it has been six years since they have been together, so that’s understandable. Who are they? Janine Goodwin, Nan- cy Nickel and yours truly. We sing and play and have a high ol’ time. We will be performing live here at the hall on an every-now- and-then basis. So show up and see if we’re here… Pam registered 62 names for the cool day. Lorna Askew from Blue Mountain Care Center led the flag salute, and resident Alma Joslin asked the blessing. We had a little difficulty with the BMCC bus parking area. Some- one parked where I had told them not to. Please do not block the new ramp/exit area. But Lorna was able to get situated, and she and Krystin brought in Alma, Lois, Joan and Marilyn. Larry, Ken, and Carlos made the home deliveries. Ken and Del handled the floor sweeping, afterwards. Bonnie and Pam helped with the clean up, too. Before we ate, I asked all the veterans who were here to stand up. There were seven in atten- dance. We thank you for your service. Food for thought: Cook- books are exciting because they contain so many stirring events. Har, har. Well, our worthy, effi- cient and skillful cooks, Marjean and Tom, stirred up another new (to me) concoction for our din- ing pleasure: a kielbasa skillet. Uh huh. What’s that, you say? A kind of stew with potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes and Polish sausage. Very tasty. To go with it was some pickled beets, ap- plesauce and rolls. Dessert was a gingerbread cake with top- ping. I was so satiated by then, I had to take half of my dessert home for later. We will be hav- ing our Thanksgiving meal on Nov. 15, so bring a pie to share. There will be no meal on Nov. 22. But if you have nowhere else to go on Thanksgiving Day, go to the Teen Center for a tra- ditional Thanksgiving meal. I’ll be there, and, Lord willing, so will the kids and grandkids. The time is 1 p.m., and if you are so inclined as to want to help with preparation and/or cleanup, let Diana Burril know, and she will steer you in the right direction. Soo from Monument sure has a time with her goats. In Prairie City, we watch out for the deer meandering through the neighborhoods, and the occa- sional bear or cougar sightings. But the most interesting depic- tion of small-town life is the parade of the geese and ducks across Johnson Avenue. It’s beautiful. Hope you got your table re- served for the Nov. 18 rendition of Christmas on the Prairie. And if you didn’t, be sure to browse those who did. Derrol is making great prog- ress now that we have the sodi- um levels up where they should be and the medications adjusted for optimal absorption. He even drove all the way to Baker and back. I was along just in case he got too tired. Was surprised when we made a visit to the doc- tor that they didn’t even listen to his heart. Guess they figured if he wasn’t complaining, it must be OK. … 2 Thessalonians 2:16 “May our Lord Jesus Christ…and God our Father…encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” Church Services In Grant County Come Worship with us at