Monday was Labor Day, but that didn’t stop us from having an afternoon and evening of fun and games! Willow started the afternoon at Kitchen Corner, with the assistance of Chef Jeff, baking a yummy spice cake to be enjoyed later in the week. Then our residents worked hard on their aim at the Oh My Stars! Shootout, where we had a big group compete for first place and to watch the fun. Fourth place went to Jeff Halverson, Kevin Bauer and Yvonne Sinz tied for third, and second place was awarded to Judy Thorn. Our first-place winner was Carol Campbell! No sooner had we congratulated our champions than it was time for supper and afterward our Monday night game of Bingo! Thank you to Teresa Fedie for all her stellar assistance!

Tuesday began with Father Jojo and Terry Pelzel leading us in a peaceful Mass service; afterward we enjoyed lunch and once the mail was passed out, it was time to get ready for our Popcorn Social! It’s easy to entice residents out of their rooms when you have bowls of buttery popcorn to share with them. There was plenty of time for talking, laughing and visiting in the afternoon followed by church with Pastor Phil from Evangelical Free Church. Dinner followed shortly after and then it was an evening of playing games with Willow!

The kids are back in school and we welcomed Ave Maria students Ava and Wyatt to help with our Wednesday morning bowling game! We bowled our hearts out and it was a tight competition throughout several rounds. Ivan Mason and Yvonne Sinz came in fourth place, Joann Hubbard was the third-place winner and Milda Bautch, Janet Robelia and Jeff Halverson all placed second. The first-place winner this week: Kevin Bauer! Lunch and mail delivery followed soon after and then it was time for an afternoon of Fruit Bingo. We had eight Ave Maria students come to join in the fun and our HUGE group expanded to 35 players seated at nine tables! We are always on the edge of our seats to see who gets blackout first and this week, Carol Campbell and Virgie Fritz were our big winners! With such a big group of players, we definitely appreciated having the help of wonderful volunteers Marlene Zimmer and Kathy Shingledecker; you ladies were awesome! Everyone stuck around after bingo to attend the Mid-Week Social, where we tucked into slices of spice cake and glasses of apple juice, which we enjoyed every bit of it!

Harriet Rothe came to see everyone Thursday morning, as well as read the local news and enjoy a cup of coffee with us. We love our volunteers helping us stay informed and connected with the community! After the leisurely morning and a bit of lunch, the ladies geared up for an afternoon of pampering with manicures. Noel had quite a line-up of ladies wanting to freshen up their nails with cheerful summer colors and just when we thought we were done, someone else wanted to get in on the nail polish party! In no time at all, it was supper and then an evening of Pokeno fun with Willow.

Friday was all about eggs and a game of Egg Toss kicked off our morning with numerous residents hoping to take home the title of first place. The fourth-place winner was Carol Bauer (Seasons), third place went to Herb Tschumperlin and second place was awarded to Kevin Bauer. Judy Thorn displayed eggs-cellent throwing skills and was the first-place winner! Our game took us to lunch and after the midday meal there was a little bit of downtime to relax. Noel and Chef Jeff flexed their culinary skills for Snack Makers and this week they whipped up mini egg salad sandwiches to munch on. The dining room started to fill up with folks, signaling the approach of our weekly Happy Hour! Larry Radle entertained us with tunes until suppertime and then residents settled in for the Friday night movie, “Chicken Run.” We are feeling the approach of autumn and as the crisp leaves begin to fall and the days get shorter we prepare for harvest, football season and plenty of more fun at the care center!