Halcyon House

Marilyn Johnston of Danville has recently made Halcyon House her home. Marilyn has three daughters, Kim, Lynne and Jani and has five sisters and five brothers. She was a former farm wife, health care worker and has lived in Trivoli, Ill. and Crawfordsville. She loves to watch the St. Louis Cardinals, Iowa Hawkeyes, likes to read and enjoys visiting. Welcome Marilyn!

Betty Osincup and Alice Rademaker celebrated their official birthdays on Nov. 9, with special leis received from Hawaiian friends and family. Congratulation to Alice. She is a centenarian, having turned 100 years of age and Betty celebrated her 95th birthday, which she celebrate for over a week. Arrangements were made for the Sunshine Girls birthday honorees, Gretta Embree, Joyce Marie, Martha Hahn and Betty Osincup for a luncheon held at the Applewood Bistro.

Virginia Tschantz made a pumpkin newlywed cake roll for treats that were enjoyed by the Halcyon Mexican Train Dominoes group on Friday evening.

On Saturday, Betty Osincup drove to Iowa City where she and daughter Donna Schultz drove to Cedar Rapids for a Shaklee meeting. Betty was a ?show-and-tell? exhibit of how the products have served her well the past 50 years. They enjoyed lunch at Panera and were delighted to find themselves in the order line with the girls' high school basketball team from Washington. Betty attended the Mid-Prairie High School play ?Peter Pan? where her daughter, Elyse, was assistant director and grandson Ben was an actor. On Sunday, Betty received ?birthday blessings? from pastor Chuck Rogness at Shiloh Church and dinner at Riverside Casino where granddaughter Regina surprised Betty with a special birthday cake. The rest of the week consisted of flower deliveries, a visit from her daughter, Janet of Miami, Fla., a family get-together in North Liberty, and the official birthday celebration at Kyodoci Grill, and ended her drive back to Halcyon House on icy roads and thankful she doesn?t have to celebrate a ? 95 biggie? every year.

Phyllis Lyle had the honor of attending the wedding of her great-granddaughter, Gabrielle and Andrew Okone on Saturday night at Ss. Peter and Paul Church in Clear Creek Township and reception at the Knights of Columbus in Harper. The guests included Arlyn and Lila Midtgaard of Hanlontown, Bill and Patty Treimer of Hartley, Marcus Treimer of Des Moines, Meredith Treimer of Chicago, as well as Matt and Sarah Roegner of Beloit, Wis. A group of 30 family members gathered at the Pizza Ranch on Sunday for dinner. Phyllis appreciated her daughters who did some early Christmas decorating in her apartment home.

Lela?s ?Topic of the Day? featured an Amish family that lives in an Amish community of 200 families. This family has been blessed with 11 children who live on a 170-acre dairy farm and have 12 Belgian draft horses to help do the fieldwork. The children are busy helping with the milking, fieldwork, cleaning, cooking, sewing, endless laundry, caring for the smaller ones and preparing goodies for the Farmers Market. Their day usually starts at 4 a.m .and many times up at 3 a.m. to prepare some 100 homemade pies with an organized assembly line, along with baking some 80 loaves of bread, other goodies and homemade soap. There is always a feeling of relief after the mountains of dishes are washed. Ruby reports that it has been a long busy week but they give thanks to God for granting them health, ability to work, and sends her blessings to all.

Ryan and Abby Butler from Washington continue to provide fellowship for residents at their Bible study.