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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 14, 2018)
A6 Seniors Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, March 14, 2018 G RANT C OUNTY S ENIORS John Day Seniors Nicky Essex March 5 was cold and windy, but a warm, friendly greeting was waiting for all guests who made their way to the greeter’s desk at John Day Senior Center, manned by Ron Dowse and Everett King. Isa Larkin and Joyce No- dine represented the Blue Mountain Hospital Auxilia- ry for our service. They first took meals out to John Day and Canyon City, while David Gill and his crew from Step Forward took the Mt. Vernon route. Altogether, these wonder- ful volunteers delivered 34 regular and 32 frozen meals to our local friends. Isa led us in the flag salute, we drew names and had winners, Gene Essex, who won the gift card from Len’s Drug, and Rober- ta Dowse, who won the free meal. Ron Dowse then prayed a blessing on our meal and a blessing for the hands that prepared it. We really chowed down. You could hear a pin drop as we enjoyed shrimp Alfredo, mixed vegetables, cucumber and tomato salad, breadsticks and, for our dessert, strawberry ice cream. I’d like to mention here, I missed an important acknowledgment of our entrée sponsor last Thursday, Jan El- lison, in memory of Dan. It is because of those who sponsor entrées that Shay and Lisa are able to provide such wonder- ful meals. Their budget and your gifts mean so much to so many. Don’t hesitate to join us on Mondays or Thursdays for a tasty, wholesome meal for $5. It was so nice to have Hel- en Bogart and Lois Bidasolo as well as Ron Smith join us to- day. Not the same Ron Smith who was to come on Thursday. On March 8, Merry Henry and Dave Pasko were at the greeter’s desk. It was a very special time for us, as we were served by our wonderful local firefighters, led by Chief Ron Smith: Ronda and Carl Metler, Stephen Stinnet, Tom Smith and Don Gabbard. While Ron Phillips did table setups, Ron- da and Carl took meal deliver- ies to John Day and Canyon City, and our regular Mt. Ver- non deliveries were made by David Gill and his crew from Step Forward. In all, deliver- ies of 38 regular and 30 frozen meals were made. To open our time together, Ronda led us in the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. Drawings were won by Gregg Starr, Chester’s Thrift- way gift card, and Karen Barrietua, Valley View meal. Carl Metler led us in a prayer of thanksgiving for our meal, which was sponsored by the firefighters. We enjoyed spa- ghetti, green salad, veggies, baguettes and pineapple angel food cake for dessert. News of passings this past week, Sally Limbeck and Peg- gy Bartley. Special notes: Sandra Glad- ish from the Fossil Beds will be here on March 22, seeking input from us regarding acces- sibility needs to better serve the community. She will be bringing some extra drawing prizes for bingo. March 26, Lon Davis will go to Boise for evaluation of a new medica- tion for help with his vision. Psalm 31:15 “My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.” Monument Seniors Soo Yukawa Terry Cade and Carrie Jew- ell made us a yummy meal of chili dogs, french fries, fresh green salad and cookies for dessert. We thank them for all that they do to keep us well fed. We had 49 guests on the books and four takeouts. Our greeters were Judy Harris, Debbie Reid and Linda Blakeslee. Judy led us in the flag salute and made the an- nouncements, and yours truly prayed over the blessing of the meal. Debbie and Linda col- lected and counted the money. We had some visitors join us for lunch, Dick and Pam Wanous from Spray along with Keith Galager. We also had Louis Grushka from North Powder. Veanne Weddle from John Day also was present and made an announcement about input being needed concerning making the Fossil Beds facility more accessible for everyone. If you would like to partici- pate, there will be a meeting on March 22 at the John Day Senior Center. The Chester’s Thriftway gift card was won by Jan En- sign. Yvonne Baughman won the Len’s Drug gift card. The winner of the free meal ticket went to Marilee Turley. Teaw- na Conklin won the free raffle prize of floor mats for the car. The Tai Chi class has start- ed, and if you are interested in taking part, please come join after lunch on Tuesdays at the senior center. I am hoping you all didn’t forget to change your clocks to spring forward! I’m sorry, I completely lost track of time and forgot to remind you. I can’t believe that we are al- most in spring. It felt really weird eating dinner at 6:30 p.m. the other day, and I wasn’t hungry. It will take some time to get used to the time change. The snow is melting. Most of the Monument area has pretty much been cleared of the snow, except for the high tops of the nearby mountains. That will pretty much be gone also I would venture to say in a few days. I was horrified to find flies buzzing around. The bugs are coming out of the woodworks literally. I also saw a Monarch butterfly and some wasps. Yes, spring is in the air. I’ve been collecting some of the seed catalogs that have been coming my way in the mail. I feel a little over- whelmed by the planning of my garden for this summer. I am not a very good planner. I am a visionary. The details of planning is just not one of my strong points. It just doesn’t seem to happen the way I see it in my head. I need someone to help me — maybe I will get my oldest to help me or- ganize? The two little baby goats will soon be going to their new home. They are just as happy as can be playing in the goat yard. I know they will be happy with their new owners who will love and take care of them. I’m pretty sure they will be spoiled rotten. Ha. 1 Corinthians 2: 4-5 “And my speech and my preach- ing was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wis- dom of men, but in the power of God.” Prairie City Seniors Rose Coombs And welcome to March with its trademark winds. My, my, didn’t it blow. And cold, too. Makes you put off think- ing about seed planting, huh? We had our “Cabin Fever” game day, and I finally got to play pinochle. Oh, what fun. Those who said that they hadn’t played in years acquit- ted themselves very satisfac- torily. Let’s do it again. Home deliveries were taken care of by Ken, Carlos and Scott. Sharon Thissell was doing duty as the kitchen helper assisted by Tom after the meal. Delores led the flag salute, and Jack Retherford asked the blessing. Good to see them back after their bout with the “crud.” The tables had their March decorations. Marjean is hav- ing so much fun with the monthly decorations. Some- times it takes a little searching to find the table number on the little figurines. The winner of the $5 gift card donated by Len’s Drug was Joann Wilson. We had 48 names on the registration book this dreary day. Our meal was comprised of salmon loaf (which brought forth the discussion of how salmon is properly pro- nounced), pasta Alfredo, kale salad, applesauce and a roll. Dessert was just a plain ol’ yellow cake — but the “frost- ing” was an unexpected layer of chocolate pudding. Well, well. Didn’t know you could do that. See, you learn some- thing new every day. Back to salmon — its pronunciation also brought to mind our Western names that Easterners stumble over: Owyhee, Wallowa, Malheur, Ochoco, Willamette, Pully- up, and even Magone. That’s what makes our neck of the woods special, right? So March 8 was Interna- tional Women’s Day. Hmmm. Is there an International Men’s Day? Can’t have any discrimination here, you know. Anyhow, I celebrated by putting sheet rock on the bare areas in the new office space. Now it’s ready for tap- ing, mudding, sanding, prim- ing and painting. Should keep me occupied for the rest of the month. And since that room is much smaller and the ceilings are lower, it won’t require so much electricity to heat. The Blue Mountain Care Center didn’t get to come. That’s the way it goes some days, huh? Reminds me of the old saying: If you want God to laugh, make some plans. So, we have a plan for Der- rol’s next surgery — the one that should have taken place last fall. By the time I write next week’s column, he should have a new shoulder joint. Speaking of next week, Marjean and Joy are going to serve Irish stew and mashed potatoes. So come and enjoy. Did you ever wonder where Mr. Spock’s Vulcan salute came from? Leonard Nimoy created it based on the priestly blessing performed by Jewish Orthodox priests using both hands to represent the Hebrew letter shin, which stand for El Shaddai, or Al- mighty God. Now isn’t that interesting? Psalm 89:8 “O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O Lord, and Your faithfulness surrounds you.” Church Services In Grant County Come Worship with us at