Better than chocolate cake

Do you know what is better than a cake? A chocolate cake. Do you know what is better than a chocolate cake? A chocolate cupcake. At least according to the Perk. I emphatically disagree. Anyone that knows me well knows I take the center piece out of the cake because that’s where it is the moistest. I was talking to a resident about this the other day as we were reading the Perk together and asked her what she thought about me taking the center piece. She laughed and said, “Go ahead!” I said, well who decided that was improper anyway? Not me. 

What is your favorite kind of cake? This month we celebrated Bill K, Rose Hasegawa and Janet Ryden’s birthday’s which we incorporated with our Perk “Mad Hatter Day”. Everyone at the birthday party wore a vintage hat from the 40’s-50. We had a good laugh at all the goofy bonnets.

Our friend Anna Bjork passed away. Anna loved to dress up for our special events. She loved animals, her friends, and family and most importantly she loved Jesus. We will miss her sweet and funny disposition and her twinkly eyes. Anna is one of our residents who enjoyed weekly Skype and FaceTime interactions from her family.

Spotlight of the month is our dear sweet friend Yvonne Smith

Yvonne was born in Moose Lake, MN in 1933. She had one brother Dwight. They enjoyed swimming in Sand Lake as children. Yvonne also liked playing baseball with her cousins who lived next door. Her aunts and uncles used to go to house dances and they used to take her with them. That was fun.

Yvonne said something hard for her as a child was having her mom and dad get divorced and both of them moving somewhere else. She lived with her dad’s parents for a while. Her dad moved to Grand Marais and Yvonne remembers looking North and wondering how her dad was doing and wishing her parents would get back together. Yvonne eventually moved to Grand Marais to live with her dad. She completed 8th grade at CCHS. 

Yvonne met Lonnie Smith at the movie show in Grand Marais through a girlfriend. They got married in South Dakota because it was easier and raised 4 children. Guy lives in Duluth, Lenny and his family live in Grand Marais, Les and his wife live in Tofte. Her son Richie passed away a few years back. Yvonne remembers fondly taking her kids swimming at Mink Lake and having picnics on Lake Superior. She has 8 grandchildren and she doesn’t remember how many grands.

Yvonne stayed home and took care of her children until the youngest one went to kindergarten then she worked as a housekeeper at a motel in Grand Marais. Yvonne and Lonnie enjoyed going to dances in town. She enjoyed knitting and picking berries to make jam and pies. She also loved to bake cookies, cakes and bread. Now she likes to color, do word search puzzles, nap and watch t.v. Her favorite food is a hamburger and sweets are always good.

When asked what she would trade a roll of toilet paper for she said without hesitation “to be with my kids”. Something she enjoys about living at North Shore Living is “All the good girls who work here.” She enjoys everything about Cook County including the cold and the snow. “You just get used to it.” She has had interesting pets including miniature horses, skunks, ferrets and a baby deer that the game warden brought over. People used to stop by and take pictures and give us money for feed and one day it just left. She said she likes all animals. When asked if she liked spiders and snakes she was quick to say, “Well no!”

Oom Pa Pa

Our October Happenings included a week of Oktoberfest complete with pretzels, accordion music, picture taking and beer/root beer. We had Polish sausage with sauerkraut and boiled potatoes, watched the Chmielewski’s on t.v. and played Bavarian Bingo, the  CCHS middle and high school  choir visited us with song out on our patio one fine day. Our community service project for this month was making Halloween ghosts out of Tootsie Pops for some of our local school kids. We play Dominoes and other games every weekend, held resident council, Lutheran communion, our Read 2 Me program, and Monday manicures. This month we had live armchair travel to Iceland with pictures, special water and snacks presented by our very own Jen Dowden who traveled to Iceland. She stopped by to share her adventures with us. We had a Halloween costume party complete with Halloween Hangman and bags of goodies. The whole month residents talked about what they were going to dress up as. 

We would like to thank our kitchen staff for making meals and desserts that go along with our Daily Perk. We enjoyed chocolate cupcakes, Fluffernutters, Chicken Alfredo and our Oktoberfest lunch.

Thank you so much to our fabulous volunteers for helping us out and as always thank you for everything you may have given us whether it is money for Christmas lights and snacks, making cookies and bars or your time. There is always so much to be thankful for. You are much appreciated

Ways to be involved

Of course things can change just like the wind, but as today you can 

• Visit your family and friends at North Shore Living in the multi-purpose room by calling the hospital at 387-3040 ex 0. Please make arrangements by calling at least the day before. 

• To find out more about becoming an Essential Caregiver please call Robert at 387-3799.

• You may take your friend/family member out on a drive or out to lunch. Please call 

   387-3264 two hours in advance so we can help get your resident ready for the outing. 

• You can FaceTime, Skype, Zoom by calling the Activity department at 387-3518.

• To become an Activity volunteer please call Lisa at 387-3518.

We are looking for volunteers in the Activity Department and we also have a part time position open. 

If you enjoy spending time with the elderly give me a call. 218-397-3518

Do you know what is better than chocolate cake? Eating it! Whatever you do enjoy it!