AND THEY’RE OFF

Ladies at North Shore Living gathered on Tuesday, May 3rd to fancify hats for our big Cook County horse derby. Friday, May 6th horses, owners and visitors gathered in anticipation to see who would win the Purse. At the sound of the bell eight pool noodle horses bolted, well sort of bolted out of the gate  for fun filled races complete with betting using Monopoly money all while enjoying refreshing Mint Julep’s. Our pool noodle horses Flicka, Fred, Betsy, Beauty, Tony, Gallop, Secretariat, and Mae jogged according to what their owners rolled on a die. They had to be careful not to roll a two or their horse had to step backwards two spaces. In the winner’s circle were Delores’ Flicka-race one, Nona’s Beauty race two and race three was Joyce’s Mae. The crowd placed their bets before each race using Monopoly money. Rose Hasegawa came out with purse winnings of $100.00, Ethel Walsh and Nona Smith came in second winning $50.00 each and Delores Saethre brought in the rear winning twenty bucks.

All Abuzz

According to the Perk it was World Bee Day on the 20th. We learned that a honey bee colony has about 50,000 bees and 99% are infertile female worker bees.  There are a few hundred male worker bees called drones whose only job is to mate with the queen. Drones don’t work nor forage and can’t sting. There is only one queen bee. The queen is able to lay twice its body weight in eggs a day which comes out to be about 2,500 daily. 

Bees have five eyes including three simple eyes and two compound eyes made up of around 7000 facets or lenses each. A bee flaps its wings up to 200 times per second, producing the familiar bee buzz. A honey bee only produces about 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. We played “Something sticky Hangman”. The residents were stuck on the word fly strip. We also enjoyed homemade fresh oatmeal raisin bread with butter and wild honey.

On Mother’s Day, we enjoyed homemade strawberry shortcake, piano music by Lavona Czaplicki, and orange tea in china cups. Tim Young came and read some lively stories to us on May 9th. Kelsey Saladin has been busy doing morning exercise a couple times a week which really gets us moving. Barb Youngquist, Nadine Abel and another resident were celebrated at our monthly birthday party complete wonderful old time piano music by Doug Sanders. Most residents enjoy animals so much. Miss Molly, my toy Schnauzer stopped by for some snuggles and even took a few naps. Being loved is really hard work. 

We are so thankful to Zoar Lutheran Church for holding a church service on May 15th.  May 17th we had a little creativity going on as Lavona Czaplicki shared her crafting talents helping us make colorful springy umbrella door decorations.  We held a Bean Bidding Auction on Friday, May 25th. Residents went wild over chocolate from Germany. A stuffed bear, silk scarves, jewelry and giant bags of Lindt truffles were also coveted treasures donated by North Shore Health staff and community members.

One of our longest residing residents Donna Willett passed away Sunday, May 15. Donna was a hometown girl who loved to ride horses and downhill ski. She was quiet and sweet, loved to bake and always had a smile. Donna is missed by staff and residents alike.

A wild bunch gathers every Tuesday evening to enjoy Pokeno. It has been a hit. Someone donated a bag of quarters for us to use for this game which has now dwindled to the last quarter. Sometimes residents go home with quite the loot and request a security guard. We watched the Shirley Temple movie The Little Colonel on Sunday, May 29th. I got a kick out of the movie when it mentioned eating out of an old tin plate as we were munching on popcorn from pie plates. Tom Novotsky came and played music for us before Bingo on Memorial Day. It was quite the treat to hear a one man band. Diane Nowers stopped by with poppies for all the residents to help us remember Memorial Day.

We still are in the process of fund raising to get a bicycle built for two so we can pedal residents around for a change of scenery and some fresh air.  We are also still looking for volunteers. Do you have an hour to come play music or to take a resident for a walk or assist with a game? Give me a call to learn how you can get involved. 218-387-3518. If you would like to donate towards our bicycle built for two please send money to: North Shore Health 515 5th Ave W Grand Marais, MN 55604 attention: Activities with bicycle in the memo. 

Thank you to all of you who share gifts and volunteer your talents with us whether you play the piano, bake cookies, read, do manicures, water the flowers, play games and so much more.

As always Old Age Ain’t For Sissies