Halcyon residents learn about Appalachian Trail

On Sunday Feb. 27 in Epworth Chapel, United Presbyterian Church led chapel services at Halcyon House in Washington. Reverend Erin Kaye read scripture Luke 6.27-38 and the sermon was titled “Forgiving our Enemies.” Erin was also joined by pianist Dorothy Koehler. It was a beautiful Sunday in Epworth Chapel!

Monday was the kick-off day to hike the Appalachian Trail. Clyde Pearce kicked off this exciting trip with a program about hiking the trail and landmarks along the way. Everyone will be putting on their hiking boots and travel along the Appalachian Trail for the next 10 weeks.

Every minute of exercise will equal a mile of hiking time. On every Monday, the total of minutes will be added up, and the residents and their boots will travel the trail map that is in each household. Along the way we will stop at different landmarks and enjoy a treat that pertains to that area. Tradition has it that once you reach the half way point, you celebrate with a pint of ice cream. We will be enjoying that tradition.

On Wednesday, a spa day was enjoyed in the Morrison center. Lots of services including manicures and pedicures, chair massages, and henna tattoos were offered and all residents enjoyed the opportunity to get pampered! What else do you do on a cold winter day in February? While getting pampered, residents enjoyed wine, mimosas, grapes, strawberries, cheese, and chocolate truffles

On Thursday, residents came out to Timmins to enjoy the Keota Brass Band. The room was full of smiling faces and tapping toes and the triad played catchy tunes on their instruments. Some residents hummed or sang along as they played many songs they recognized. The Keota Brass Band was generous enough to give us an encore and played “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue.”

The following day, residents enjoyed a ukulele concert and program held by University of Iowa professor, Tom Northingale. Tom had a very educational program and residents were intrigued to learn more about this charming instrument. They enjoyed the tunes on ukulele and some residents said they felt like they were on an island in Hawaii! They look forward to ukulele lessons starting this week.

We also received a surprise gift from the YMCA child care center. Residents were each treated to the cutest, hand-tied, heart-shaped stuffed pillows. We thank them for all of their hard work and for thinking of us! Card playing and music with exercise was also part of our week. We look forward to warmer weather.

Lastly, we’d like to wish a happy birthday to Barb McAllister (3/1), Jane Kaczinski (3/1), and Jim Wood (3/3)!