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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 2018)
Seniors Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, January 3, 2018 A7 G RANT C OUNTY S ENIORS John Day Seniors Nicky Essex We have survived Thanks- giving and Christmas. We just need to survive New Year’s, then back to school. When we finish that, we can return to our quiet little lives in which we just see doctors, get poked and prodded, buy groceries, convince our hus- bands they love to cook, do laundry and watch TV. I have skipped some details. The senior center was closed on Monday, so I only have Thursday, Dec. 28, to report about. Dave Pasko and Drew Harmer were our greeters. We had a wonderful lunch. Beginning with shrimp cock- tail, they even gave seconds to those who wanted them. We ate roast pork with par- boiled baby red potatoes and gravy, creamed spinach and a delicious dessert of pump- kin dump cake. Shay and Anne held down the kitch- en, as Lisa and Danny were both home, ill. We missed you both. There were others, including Gene Essex who weren’t in their normal posts. I know Gene wishes he could have been here for bingo. Prior to the lunch hour, our friends from St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, Jimmy Ma- ples and David Turner, went out to make home deliveries in John Day and Canyon City, while our friends David Gill and Rodney Brunson from Step Forward took the Mt. Vernon route. Altogeth- er, these valued volunteers delivered 39 regular meals and 45 frozen meals. Thank you so much. As soon as Jimmy and David returned to the center, they finalized setting up the tables. David led us in the salute to the flag, and after the drawings, in which Dave Pasko won the Valley View meal and Norm Strawn won the Chester’s Thriftway cer- tificate, Jimmy shared some of our much loved Christmas scriptures and prayed for our meal. Don’t forget, we host bin- go here after our Thursday meals. We usually begin at about 1 p.m. There is news of another bingo gathering on Jan. 7, at the Prairie City School, from 5-7 p.m. I be- lieve it is a fundraiser, and Drew told me to say, “Bring your daubers.” We are reminded to check on our neighbors during these very cold days and nights, especially seniors and those who live alone. There is a lot of illness right now, so it is good to help each other out. I’m glad to hear that friends have arrived home from the valley safely. If you have been want- ing to sponsor the entrée for one of our Thursday meals, to celebrate a loved one or a birthday or your anniversary, call the office here, 541-575- 1825, and let Veanne or Shay help you. We will be serving spaghet- ti with bread sticks on Jan. 4, with birthday cake. Hamburg- er gravy with mashed potatoes is on the menu on Jan. 8. Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Monument Seniors Soo Yukawa Happy New Year, every- body. Well, it’s not quite the New Year yet, but when you read this, it certainly will be so. According to the Chinese calendar, it will be the Year of the Dog this year, woof. Anybody born this year will supposedly be an earth dog. Last time it was the Year of the Earth Dog was way back in 1958, oh my. If one is born this year, one supposedly is commu- nicative, serious and re- sponsible in work. Some well known earth dogs are Madonna and the late Mi- chael Jackson. Some other famous dogs were Winston Churchill and Mother Tere- sa. We did not have lunch served for Dec. 26. Our cooks had a most deserved- ly nice day off, so we had to fend for ourselves. Ha. This makes us all the more ap- preciative of how hard the cooks work to keep us fed with delicious meals. I finally found the paper where I wrote the names of the nice ladies that came to join us for lunch on Nov. 21 from Condon. Sorry for such a long delay. We were honored to have Mary Bare, Coarnet Bettencourt and Karie Hickerson present that day. I kept finding the paper, then I would put it in a safe place for later and then forget where that safe place was. I think I’m get- ting old. There is snow on the ground, and yes, we had the white Christmas. There were some really cold days where the temperature went down to 5 degrees. It felt so cold that even my chickens didn’t want to come out of their house. I like it, the cold and the snow. I am sure that in a couple of months I will be reminiscing about fragrant flowers of spring and the warm sunshine of summer. But that’s the beauty of it, the part about looking forward to the next season, you know? Our little puppies are now six weeks old and so darn cute. I think the nov- elty of having to clean up after the pups has worn off for my son. It is a good ex- perience for him. They are teaching him to be responsi- ble. I make him go out and walk them to train them to go potty — yes, even in the cold. I also make him clean up the kennel after them too. He is a good little boy and doesn’t complain too much. Maybe I can get him to tend the goats later, hmmmm? The passing of time seems to be accelerating. I received a bunch of Christ- mas cards from my friends down in California, and I just can’t believe how all our kids have grown so much. Some of these kids are now looking taller than their parents. I was in utter disbelief. May you all have a bless- ed new year and that you may know the joy of the Lord and his perfect love, which casts out all fear. Psalm 95: 1 “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.” Prairie City Seniors Rose Coombs Did you enjoy the white Christmas? Our grandchil- dren had a grand ol’ time out in the front yard — even managed to make a snow- man. A friend in Portland sent a photo with the mes- sage: “Sorry you missed the snow.” Bert then took a photo of the six inches in our yard and sent it back to him with his message: “No we didn’t.” We made a run to Red- mond and Bend to see med- ical specialists the day after Christmas. Now that’s a great thing to do, huh? The stores were doing a great business in after-Christ- mas sales. Didn’t have to swerve to miss any deer or other four-legged creatures. Did have to slow down for the flock of wild turkeys in Mitchell going over. When we came back, they were all roosting in the tree tops be- side the creek east of town. I didn’t know they could fly that high. Well, we are all prepared for the new year. Someone took care of all the deco- rations on the walls, and I dismantled the Christmas tree. It was a lot easier to take it down than put up, I know. Wonder who invented it? Thanks again to Frances for doing all that work. I’m not a decorator, so those who want to, I’m happy to let ’em. Speaking of after-Christ- mas sales, when we picked up the mail the day after Christmas, there were eight catalogs and two more cal- endars in the box. Hmmm. Is the item discounted enough for me now? And “This could be your last catalog.” How many times have I seen that? Of course, since I’m not online, I do have to shop us- ing the catalogs, and thrift stores, and yard sales. Find such interesting items that way. Like the book that I found in the Baker Salva- tion Army store that had my name in it and a date of 1986. Asked the children if they had taken it when we downsized, but they couldn’t remember doing it. And if they had, how did it end up in Baker? Being it is the new year, it is time to start thinking about what the ensemble is going to do for Easter. And Easter is on April 1 this year. So that only leaves three months to practice. Due to the fact that we are having difficulty getting people to sit on the boards of our three entities of the Prairie City Senior Citizens, it has been suggested that we revise the by-laws and go back to one board that is responsible for all the ac- tivities of the center. There- fore, a revised copy of the by-laws will be available for your inspection in Jan- uary. A vote will be taken at the annual meetings in late January. There. You have been informed and notified, OK? 1 Corinthians 12:28 “… appointed … those with gifts of administration. …” Ephesians 3:9 “… and to make plain to everyone the administration …” Church Services In Grant County Come Worship with us at