A8
Seniors
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
G RANT C OUNTY S ENIORS
John Day
Seniors
Nicky Essex
November is racing by. On
Monday, Nov. 12, Redeem-
er Lutheran members Betty
Holznagel, Buzz and Bobbie
Gilmore and Bonnie and Fran-
cis Kocis served us at the ta-
bles. Betty led us in the pledge
to the flag, Nadine Smith won
the Len’s Drug gift card, and
Bonnie won the free meal.
Francis gave a prayer to open
our time together. Bonnie and
Francis also made deliveries
to our homebound friends in
John Day and Canyon City,
while David Gill and his Step
Forward Crew delivered to
Mt. Vernon. They delivered 30
regular and 32 frozen meals.
Thanks to all who volunteer so
faithfully!
We all loved Shay’s su-
preme pizza, salad, bread sticks
with marinara sauce and, due
to a “glitch,” we had ice cream
for dessert with the promise of
berry cobbler next Monday.
Thanks to all who stepped up to
help Shay out, especially Anne
Lewis. Welcome to Gordon
Franky, originally from Day-
ville, now here from Anchor-
age, Alaska.
On Thursday, Nov. 15, we
had a full house (all 12 tables,
96 in-house meals, plus the 39
meals delivered) for our se-
nior center Thanksgiving din-
ner. Our dear friends from the
Methodist Church and Ye Olde
Thrift Shop came together in
full force to serve us. Sherry
Feiger, Marge Gritz, Jean Wil-
ley, Dolores Belden and Marge
and Alva Conlee did a wonder-
ful job, as always.
Sponsored by John Day
Auto Parts NAPA, and the
Lundbom family, Ron, Sher-
ri, matriarch Blanche, Steven,
his wife, Tasha, and Alyse, we
feasted family style on turkey,
dressing, mashed potatoes, gra-
vy, cranberry sauce, veggies,
rolls and pumpkin cheesecake
pie. As usual, I waddled out
like a Macy’s balloon in a wind-
storm!
Special guests included Viv-
ian Rookstool, Leone Meador
and Louise LaBaugh, Father
Christie from St. Elizabeth’s
Catholic Church, Christopher
(magic man) Winesburgh, Jim
Smith and Paul Dirker. From
Valley View Assisted Living,
led by Kim Ausland, Chuck
Corwin, Randa Persinger, Ben
Leuthe, Shirley Yeorgi, Georgia
Osborne, Nancy Burns, Lois
Bidasolo, Dorothy Howard,
Betty Sprague and daughter,
Pam Durr, and Norma Rynear-
son. Thank you all for joining us
for our special day. You helped
make it even more wonderful.
Linda Stoltz has asked me to
thank Evelyn Ogilvie via Nancy
Elliott for the large and wonder-
ful book donation! If you hav-
en’t visited the library lately,
check out the new shelving,
donated just in time for more
books. I thank everyone who
donates books; I have read so
many of them.
We have learned our dear
Lisa (chef’s helper) will be
leaving soon. We will miss her
very much but wish her all our
best!
We are still looking for an-
other senior who will step in
and put their thoughts in this
column. You need to be or be-
come a regular here on Mon-
days and Thursdays.
The senior center will be
closed on Nov. 22. Happy
Thanksgiving!
2 Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks
be to God for His indescribable
gift.”
Monument
Seniors
Soo Yukawa
We had a nice crowd that
showed up for our Tuesday
Thanksgiving turkey lunch.
Yes, we celebrated a little
early. Terry Cade and Teawna
Jewell made us turkey, mashed
potatoes and gravy, green bean
casserole, dinner rolls and
oh-so-delicious pumpkin but-
tery cake with whipped cream.
Mm, mm, I especially liked
that pumpkin cake.
Oh, OK, I confess, I had
two pieces! I think I will have
to drop hints to Terry that she
should make it more often.
Our greeters were Jimmy
Cole, Linda Blakeslee, Kris-
ti Guimont and Judy Harris.
Judy led us in the flag salute
and made the announcements,
yours truly prayed the blessing
over the meal, Jimmy and Lin-
da collected and counted the
money and Kristi checked off
the guests.
We had a total of 52 guests
on the books and 15 takeouts.
We had guests from Spray,
Jean Hammel, Carolyn Adams
and her brother Tim; Diane
Britt was also present from Pi-
lot Rock. Colleen Wiley joined
us from Long Creek.
We hope our guests en-
joyed their meal and come
back again real soon. The win-
ners of the free meals were
Carolyn Adams and Clifford
Smith, and Jeanne Strange was
the lucky winner of the Len’s
Drug gift card.
Some of the announce-
ments were that David Stub-
blefield had finished the hand-
icap ramp in the rear of the
senior center; we appreciate
and thank him for his work and
dedication.
Judy Harris had some door
prizes for everyone to have a
chance to win. The winners
were Cindy Helsley, Max
Breeding and Bruce Kramer.
One of the door prizes was a
big, beautiful, fall wreath. We
thank Judy for her generous
gifts to the senior center.
The VA lunch on Nov.
11 was a very crowded and
tear-jerking event. My fam-
ily and I got there a little late
because of church. I was es-
pecially surprised at how
many people were there; the
place was packed. We hope
that those veterans know that
we are all thankful for their
service and sacrifice. We also
hope that they love their quilts,
for they were made with love.
Well, to continue my story
from last week, I was able to
walk to the Ciochetti home,
which was thankfully not too
far from my car. I had a small
flashlight. I thank the Lord
that it didn’t happen some-
where like in between Spray
and Kimberly where there ar-
en’t very many houses. God
is good all the time. Dave
Ciochetti was kind enough to
come out and help me change
out my tire. I’m so thankful for
kind and helpful friends and
neighbors. Thank you, Dave.
Apparently, my tire was pretty
bald. Hey, on the bright side, I
got my money’s worth on the
tire. Ha.
I’m just so thankful that I
live where you know, if some-
thing happens and you need
help, people out here will help
you. I love that everyone out
here is looking out for one
another. Note to self, I need a
better flashlight in the car.
Psalm 68:5 “A father of
the fatherless, and a judge of
the widows, Is God in His holy
habitation.”
Prairie City
Seniors
Rose Coombs
We had a good-sized crowd
for our traditional Thanksgiv-
ing dinner on this cool, crisp
fall day. Seventy-one names
were on the registration book,
and we still had room for
more. Why, I can remem-
ber when there was hardly
room to get around because
there were so many people
in the dining room. Ah, yes,
the good ol’ days. Just did a
crossword puzzle that had this
quote: These are the good old
days the next generation will
hear so much about. Which
should make us be sure that
these days will be good.
Larry, Carlos, Ginger and
Derrol took care of the home
deliveries. Drew Harmer led
the flag salute, and Jack Reth-
erford asked the blessing.
Larry Wright was the winner
of the gift certificate donated
by Valley View Assisted Liv-
ing.
Head cook Amber and as-
sistant cook Dick, with lots of
help from Tom and Margie,
prepared a fabulous dinner of
turkey, dressing, mashed po-
tatoes and gravy, carrots (no
green beans!), rolls, a relish
plate that had olives, pick-
les, beets, cranberry sauce
and celery. Then there was
the table full of desserts. All
kinds of pies and other deli-
cious desserts awaited your
selection, yummy, yummy
all around. There was even
some eggnog for your dining
pleasure, wow. Lorna and Tr-
ish brought Carl Lino, Gor-
don Sindt, Marilyn Randall
and Thelma Kite from Blue
Mountain Care Center. Some
other long-time-no-sees were
Pastors David and Keith from
Prairie Baptist Church and the
Simmerals.
The building is open at 10
a.m. for the pinochle players,
and we always have a good
time. Then, after the meal,
Crish comes for her tai chi
class so you have the oppor-
tunity to spend the day with
us! If you don’t like those
activities, there is always the
library. I noticed that there is
a new bag of books that I need
to put in their proper places,
that way I get first choice.
There are some nights when
there is nothing worth watch-
ing on the TV so get a good
book.
There will be no meal on
Nov. 21 so don’t come to the
hall. Instead, go to the Teen
Center on Nov. 22, and you
may partake of another great
traditional Thanksgiving meal
furnished by the churches of
Prairie City. There is a chance
that you can take leftovers
home, too! Tom’s food for
thought says that leftovers
will not last forever, but God’s
love will. Amen.
I am thankful that I don’t
have to cook anything for
this year’s family dinner. The
daughters-in-love say that
they will take care of every-
thing. Hallelujah! All I have
to do is get Derrol there.
In the future, what will
people say about our pres-
ent days? What can we do
to make sure that these days
will be good and remembered
fondly? How have you “loved
your neighbor” this past year?
That is your assignment for
this season. Have a happy and
blessed Thanksgiving!
Romans 13:9 “The com-
mandments… are summed
up in this one rule: love your
neighbor as yourself.”
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