Greetings from "the Home" front...

Winners!! Winners!  We have WINNERS!!!   Since we still cannot have activities in our activity room, our staff has been busy coming up with unique ways for residents to participate in activities – we have held various contests throughout the week and here are the results:  The Halloween Guessing games – there were 59 cheese puffs in the jar and resident Ardie Lovejoy and staff members Sam Trosen and Shelly Aune  were the winners.  In the chocolate kisses jar there were 57 kisses – resident Linda Erickson and staff member Anna Bradner guessed that one correctly.  There were 112 pompoms in the jar and Resident Kathy Thomas and Staff member Stacey Nosbusch were spot on with their guesses.  The jar with the google eyes held 54 of those and Resident Barbara Hettervig and Staff member Josh Balstad were closest with their guesses.   The Halloween costume winners were:  Resident Nathan Scherr and Staff member Rahni Smith.  Nathan dressed as a cowboy and Rahni was a witch.  Molly Lenaburg won the Pumpkin Decorating contest with her Owl & the Pussycat entry. Special thanks to Nancy Bjerke, Angel Oshkosh and Carol Carpenter for their decorated pumpkins – they were all winners.  We put all the votes in a big jar and Kayla Hanson’s name was drawn for a prize.   Thank you to everyone who participated in the guessing games and the decorating contest.    Robert Aasen was the Progressive Bingo winner this week.

We have also had several members and groups in the community thinking about our residents. Lora Cunningham donated two prayers shawls for our residents on comfort care. The DECA students at Mayville State brought cute mini painted pumpkins for our residents to have in their rooms – the pumpkins certainly livened up the area.  Shirley Beck donated Simon Says puzzles books for everyone to enjoy and pass the time. Vivian Kent’s family gave a gift basket of food and treats to the staff as a thank you for their mother’s care.  Betty Holkesvig’s family also donated treats for staff and a special bag of Beggin Bits treats for Scooby our therapy dog. Pastor Deb donated 2 large 100 piece puzzles for our residents to enjoy.  And the freshman SOS class have written letters to our residents.  Stephanie Dale’s 5th grade class over in Finley made Fall door decorations for each resident’s door PLUS each student wrote a letter to our residents telling about themselves.  Our hallways sure look festive.  Down at Sun Center Linda Kaldor brought jars of jelly for each apartment.  What a wonderful treat – thank you Linda for thinking of our apartment residents. A big thank you goes out to each and every person who has brought items to our staff and residents – you are forever appreciated.

This week we had Sit & Be Fit in the morning and Hallway Turkey Bowling in the afternoon – don’t worry no turkeys were harmed in this activity.  Tuesday brought newscurrents and rhythm band – both on Channel 98.  Molly and Nancy did individual crafts with residents in their rooms on Wednesday.  Pastor Deb was here for Bible Study on Thursday morning and we had pretty nails in the afternoon.  Friday brought church in the morning and happy ½ hour in the afternoon.  On Saturday there is Sit & Be Fit and Reminisce later on.

Next week we start out with Sit & Be Fit on Monday morning – which is good because we have apple cider and homemade bread in the afternoon!  There is newscurrents and resident council on Tuesday.  On Wednesday which is Veteran’s Day there will be a patriotic singalong followed by a Veteran’s Day Parade.  Men’s club meets on Thursday and the ladies will get their nails done at Pretty Nails.  We have church and choir planned for Friday.

We have one resident birthday next week – Robert Robinson on November 8th. There were no Sun Center birthdays.  There are four staff members celebrating birthdays next week – Sheila Rustvang and Madalynn Parent-Quirk on November 8th.  Linda Knudsvig on November 10th and McKinley Kartes on November 13th.  Happy Birthday to all of you and enjoy your special day!

We are saddened by several deaths these past few weeks.  Dan Walden passed away on October 23rd.  Dan loved to sing and we did many duets when I came to visit – he had a wonderful smile.  Dan is the father-in-law of our Infection Control nurse Jeanne Walden.  Deanna Marks passed away October 24th.  Dee also had a big smile and enjoyed visits with staff, singing and listening to stories being read.    Betty Holkesvig died October 26th.  Betty loved to play the piano in the activity room, she attended as many activities as she could and absolutely LOVED her faithful companion – our therapy dog Scooby.  Vivian Kent passed away October 29th.  Vivian enjoyed visits from her family and having devotions read to her. Ron Semmens died November 1st.  Ron was a well-known professor at Mayville State.  He enjoyed reminiscing with staff and family.  Carol Peltier also died November 1st.  Carol enjo6yed it when staff would play the piano or read stories.  May all these wonderful people rest in peace and know that you will be missed.

Until next time … a thought for the week …When we lose someone we love, we must learn not to live without them, but to live with the love they left behind.  Stay safe everyone and please wear a mask and wash your hands frequently.