Halcyon House

Mary Meeks celebrated her 90th birthday in high style with celebrations on several occasions. Last Monday, Mary joined Margrette and Alan Utech for lunch in the Applewood Bistro. The Pepper card-playing group treated her to lunch in the Applewood Bistro on Thursday. Mary was volunteering at the Methodist Church on Friday when the staff presented her with a beautifully decorated cake. Mary?s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren hosted an open house on Saturday, May 3, in the Morrison Center. Halcyon neighbors and friends as well as other Washington, Ainsworth and Monticello friends attended the celebration. Nieces and nephews traveled from Cedar Rapids, Fairfield, West Branch, Waterloo, Kewanee, Ill., and Topeka, Kan. to be with their aunt. The grand finale was a pizza party for the family on Saturday evening. It was a wonderful week!

Mary Meeks enjoyed a visit from her niece, Sue Meeks of Mt. Pleasant, on Wednesday afternoon.

Phil and Pam Perdock, Trevor, Erin and baby Martin were recent guests of Bill and Ellen Perdock.

Betty Osincup and the other four ?Five on Four? ladies on the fourth floor have been meeting monthly for coffee and this month Darlene Flynn hosted the group in her home. The five include Martha Chabal, Peg Gerot, Lauilee Chalupa, Betty Osincup, and Darlene Flynn. However, the group name could be changing as they had the pleasure of new residents, Mike and Donna Wheelan, joining them this month. Betty?s daughter, Elise Chapman, surprised them with an appearance and brought special guest Moses, her small phantom poodle, to meet the group. Elyse and Betty enjoyed a lunch at the Applewood Bistro.

Betty and family attended church service at Shiloh and following, Betty hosted her family, Donna Schultz and daughter, Karen along with friend Don Johnson, Elyse and Ben Chapman to a brunch buffet at the Kalona Brewery. ?Moses? was not allowed to join them on this trip.

Members of the Avalon House enjoyed Easter time with family, church services, programs, and the traditional egg hunt. The Easter Bunny came to visit as children read stories that brought many smiles to the residents. Sara Sieren, daughter of Tim and Ethel Sieren, has been the faithful Easter Bunny for many years and enjoyed her bunny time as the staff and residents' children and grandchildren scurried to find the 500 eggs that were hidden throughout the bunny trails on Halcyon campus.

Halcyon volunteers were treated to an appreciation breakfast on Monday in the Timmins Dining Room. The dining staff prepared breakfast casserole, coffeecake and fresh fruit.

Chris Marshall thanked the volunteers for their hours of service and presented them with gifts of reusable ?green" tote bags and a reusable notebook portfolio. The tables were decorated with fresh flower arrangements created by resident Bess Edwards. A selection of music was sung by Iowa Wesleyan student Aaron Wagoner and Emily and accompanied by Chris Marshall at the piano. The event was a tribute to all of the 60 people who attended, and Halcyon?s appreciation and gratitude is extended to all our volunteers.

Goodwill Industries was on hand to handle donations from residents. This proved to be a convenient service as everyone was busy doing their spring cleaning and the maintenance department helped out by picking up the donated items at everyone?s doorstep.

The Wellness Department hosted its first ?Livin' Country Earth Day.? The morning was kicked off with Halcyon residents and the Kingdom Kids preschoolers planting an oriental pear tree that was presented to Halcyon House by the Washington Tree Beautification Committee. Residents and staff enjoyed a ?Honey Bee Keeping? presentation by Carol Wehr. There were a variety of vendors with educational displays.

The Studio Art and Craft Class met on Tuesday in the Marshall Game Room. Several residents created a ?Tussie-Mussie? bouquet led by Mercy Brinning and Becky Carter.. All had a great time arranging the dried and artificial flowers into a homemade holder that can be displayed on the wall or front door.

Topic of the Day with Lela always proves to be a delightful time. Lela and five members of her family were on hand to share their Easter family reunion and grandsons William and George sang songs from their day care. Lela and Keiffer Garton are feeling special with their big 60th anniversary approaching because they were able to celebrate early, as all four of their children and families were home at the same time, traveling from Texas, Mexico City, Wisconsin, Oregon, New Orleans, and Iowa. They enjoyed family time with breakfast at church and watched as 10-year-old grandson Preston stepped into the kitchen after eating and offered his services of dishwashing. The Korner Kremery became the favorite destination along with card playing and Frisbee throwing that rated as a lot of fun, the constant chitchat, the favorite antics of the grandchildren and the eye contact episode between sisters.