Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2018)
A6 Seniors Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, February 21, 2018 G RANT C OUNTY S ENIORS John Day Seniors Nicky Essex Betty Holznagle and Fran- cis Kocis began their volunteer service day by delivering many meals to folks in John Day and Canyon City, while David Gill and Rodney Brunson from Step Forward took the Mt. Vernon route. Altogether, they deliv- ered 31 regular meals and 24 frozen meals. Way to go. Everett King and I had “greeter’s desk” duty, which is one of my favorite parts of the day. We have met so many people since we started com- ing here. There is no reason for feeling lonely. This is a great place to make friends. Our service volunteers were from Redeemer Luther- an Church. Jeanette Kile, Buzz Gilmore, Betty Holznagel and Francis Kocis did the table ser- vice. Buzz opened our time by leading us in the Pledge of Al- legiance. Our drawing winners were Jeanette Kile, who won the Len’s Drug certificate, and Carol Roe, who won the free meal. Francis gave the blessing on our time and meal. We had 26 friends enjoying bacon and eggs, hash browns and English muffins. It was so quiet in the hall. Everyone ate their fill and went away satis- fied. We have had so many in the hospital with flu and pneumo- nia, also many sick kids. We have lost several dear friends, including Alma Joslin, who used to write this column. And Greg Bremner, who was ex- pected to be back home after the weekend, died unexpectedly. On Thursday, Olivia manned the greeter’s desk, while Sherry Feiger and her crew from Ye Old Thriftshop and the Meth- odist Church, Jeanne Madesh, Louise “Sweetie” Nelson, Isa Larkin and Delores Belden, took in stride the need to start later to allow some of us to stand on Main Street to hon- or our beloved friend, Greg Bremner, as he was given a processional escort by local fire departments, police, sheriff’s office and Grant County Road Department back home. What a wonderful tribute. Thank you to all of our 54 diners, our servers and our bingo group for your willingness to extend your time for us to realize this privilege. Isa Larkin led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Then the drawing for the Chester’s Thriftway’s certificate went to Merry Henry, and the free meal at Valley View went to Delores Belden. Sherry Feiger gave the blessing on our meal. We enjoyed pepper steak with rice and veggies, dinner rolls and banana pudding for dessert. Check out “Walk with the Doc” every Saturday (inside) from 9-10 a.m. at the Grant Union gym. And there are prizes. The John Day Fossil Beds is looking for senior input about services, programs, barriers, etc. Please call Sandra Gladish at 541-987-2333 ext. 1214 if you are willing to help. If you have borrowed a shower chair, and you are no longer needing it, please return it to the senior center. We have had more requests than usual and would appreciate any clean, usable returns and donations of those that you may have. Lamentations 3:22-23 “Be- cause of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Monument Seniors Soo Yukawa We’ve got snow on the ground, yay. The weather had been quite mild. I almost thought we weren’t going to have a winter. It is actually downright cold. Supposedly, we will be in the single digits this week. We shall see. One can only antici- pate and be prepared. Our cooks Carrie Jewell and Teawna Conklin prepared for us a delicious meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, dinner rolls, peaches and snickerdoodle cookies for des- sert. My tummy was sure hap- py. We thank our cooks for their dedication and hard work. Our greeters were Bodean Andersen, Jimmy Cole, Deb- bie Reid and Linda Blakeslee. Bodean led us in the flag salute, made the announcements and prayed the blessing over our meal. Jimmy and Debbie col- lected the money. Jimmy and Linda counted the money. Jim Davenport was the winner of the Len’s Drug gift card. Lonnie Lawrence won the Chester’s Thriftway gift card. Bob Yukawa was the winner of the free meal. We thank all our generous supporters. We had 61 guests on the books and 12 takeouts. Quite a crowd, right? We also celebrated Max Breeding’s birthday by singing him the birthday song. We hope he has many more. As a thank you to our gen- erous supporters with their do- nations and participation, Judy Harris had a Valentine’s basket prepared by the Monument Se- nior Center. Everyone who came to lunch received a free ticket for a chance to win this basket. The lucky winner was Sharon Falls. The date for the rummage sale has been set and an- nounced. It will be held on April 21. Any gently used items and clothes will be appreciated and may be brought and dropped off on Tuesdays. Thank you to all who have graciously given. Jimmy Cole, the chairman of the senior center board, made a small announcement. If there are any concerns or suggestions that anyone would like to address, please come to a board meeting or submit your suggestions in the suggestion box located in the lobby on the board. There will be sewing this Saturday, Feb. 24. We go from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. We share a potluck lunch around noon. All are welcome. You may just come and hang out and visit. You may bring your crochet or knitting project. We just have a good ol’ time laughing, visiting, eating and, of course, sewing together. I love that everyone just fits right in, and we just enjoy each other’s company and our passion for sewing. Hope to see you there. Well, I’m glad I didn’t try planting something. I was en- tertaining that thought because we had those nice, warm days that gave us temps in the 60s. Well, that would have been di- sastrous. The snow is definite- ly here, and the cold is too. I hope that we will get a bit more snow. We sure need it, and then in a month or two, I hope we get lots of rain even though I hate the mud, blech. Psalm 37: 23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: And he delighteth in his way.” Prairie City Seniors Rose Coombs Well, we made it to Bend by 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, Feb. 14, through the snow storm and slippery roads. Pulled into the parking lot at the Heart and Lung Center with 10 minutes to spare. The Lord provided a parking spot very close to the front door. Got in to the exam- ination room right on time and got the go-ahead for the shoul- der surgery. So we went and had brunch so we could have enough ener- gy to go through the Goodwill store. That was our Valentine’s Day gift to each other. So got back home in time to watch Jeopardy. Whew. We’re getting too old for these kind of trips. Meanwhile, back at the ranch: Juan Rubio led the flag salute, and Beverly Curtis asked the blessing on the spe- cial meal of apricot pork loin, rice risotto, green beans, rolls and red velvet cupcakes. The gift certificate donated by Valley View went to Lou- ise LaBaugh. And I’m here to tell you that I used the certifi- cate that I won, and it was well worth it. Got to visit with Nor- ma Rynearson. Thank you ever so much, Valley View. Our delivery boys were Larry, Carlos, Ken and Scott. Other volunteers in the kitch- en included Fran Bunch and Sharon Thissell. Ken shoveled snow. Veeann announced that the John Day Fossil Beds peo- ple are looking for input from the public on ways to improve their abode. Lorna and Krystin brought Bud Salisbury and Marilyn Randall from the Blue Moun- tain Care Center. We were sad to learn of the death of Alma Joslin. Her smiling face and cheerful attitude were a bless- ing. New faces in the crowd included Sandra Burns and Pastor Dave and wife, Jannet Hoeffner. That made 50 names on the registration book. And I wanted to thank Car- la and Ginger for the great job of substituting they did in my and Pam’s absence. It makes being gone easier to do when you know that capable and able people are filling in. We will have our monthly business meeting on Feb. 21 after the meal. All of you who said you would be “members- at-large” are encouraged to at- tend. Did you see the opening ceremony of the Olympics? Especially the representative from Tonga. Been wonder- ing just what event he would compete in, and my curiosity was satisfied when I happened to see him beginning a cross country ski race. He had more clothes on. The commentators said that he had been skiing for three months. And all the racers waited for him at the finish line. Wasn’t that special? Wildlife report of the trip to Bend: antelope, deer, elk, one coyote, but no turkeys in Mitch- ell. Saw several eagles there, however. Then discovered that the turkeys migrated to outside of Mt. Vernon. Uh huh. Isaiah 40:3-5 “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed. …’” Church Services In Grant County Come Worship with us at
