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 …”
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