Halcyon House news

Church services on Oct. 20 were conducted by the Rev. Kwang S. Song, of the Washington United Methodist Church. Scripture was Philippians 3:12-16, and the sermon title was 'Long Race Toward the Goal.” Beth Janecek shared her talents on the piano.

Ron Gallagher visited his mother, Eva Gallagher, the past few days. Ron works for the government as an office manager. He and his wife, Robin, live in Ashburn, Virginia, in a retirement complex.

Sandy and Peter Weller, members of the Southeast Iowa Button Club, took part in a workshop in Marshalltown this month. Sandy reports:

'On Oct. 12, a beautiful autumn day, my husband, Peter Weller, and I attended an Iowa State Button Workshop in Marshalltown to learn about buttons. It was our club's (Southeast Iowa) turn to serve lunch to the workshop participants, including members of other clubs in Iowa. Our club's president, Linda Beatty, of Indianola, made a delicious ham, bean and vegetable soup. Linda Hiatt, of Albia, made chili; and Georgia Conrad, of Keota, made chicken noodle. Sallie Graves, of Washington, brought three beautiful relish and condiment platters with crocheted decorations circling the platters. It was a delight to the eye. Vic Patterson, of Washington, brought several dozen cookies from the Delight Bakery. Marilyn Klise, of Washington, made her blue-ribbon divinity, which my husband says is the best in the world. Sharon Hahn, of Keota, made homemade rolls. I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I popped the buttered popcorn from Halcyon House, which smelled so delightful. It blended in with all the soup aromas on that cold morning.

'Linda Beatty did a program on conversion, made-up, studio buttons and how to recognize them. A conversion is made by attaching a shank to a small article that was manufactured for some other purpose. A made-up or fake button tries to deceive the collector by looking genuine. A studio button is handmade for the button collector, using some creative idea. Several members had buttons for sale or trade for upcoming competition awards. Every state has a convention, and there are several regional ones as well as a national convention. On Oct. 17-19 an MRBA (Midwest Regional Button Association) convention was held in Bloomington, Illinois. Several members attended.

'Our club meets on the third Thursday of the month at 10 a.m. We have a morning snack and visit. The business meeting is at 11 a.m., lunch is at noon, and the button program is at 1 p.m. We show our 9-inch-by-12-inch cards and trade buttons. We finish about 3 p.m.”