Halcyon residents take bus trips to Kalona, Lake Darling

On Sunday, Oct. 31, residents of Halcyon House in Washington gathered in Epworth Chapel and were led by Minister Jason Collier of Ainsworth and Crawfordsville Church. Jason’s sermon of the week was titled Solomon’s Temple, and he led scripture I Kings 5:1-5/8:1-13. He was joined by pianist Linda McNiel in addition to guest reader, Jeremy Collier.

In Arborwood, residents enjoyed decorating the household for Halloween and Oktoberfest. They even enjoyed a special Oktoberfest meal and got to see Barefoot Becky, a Polka musician from Mount Vernon, Iowa.

Arborwood residents also helped stuff treat bags full of sweet treats for Trick or Treaters. They really enjoyed helping and seeing all of the kids’ costumes for Halloween this year. They ended the week by making decoupage pumpkins with fall themed tissue paper and Mod Podge. It was a nice way to create their own fall décor for their suites! The pumpkins were bright and beautiful, but they had an even better time crafting and singing with their friends. It was a great week in Arborwood!

At “Artist with HeArt” we started painting our Christmas pictures. It may seem early to start on Christmas but we only meet once a month. This a fun activity that anyone can do and everyone is amazed once we take the template off on how beautiful their picture is.

Tuesday was a beautiful fall day for a mini bus trip to Kalona. A stop at the Golden Delight Bakery was a delicious part of this tour through the Amish countryside. Polka music playing, Oktoberfest decorations, a delicious meal with beer cheese soup, kielbasa sausage, braised red cabbage, sauerkraut, German potato salad, German chocolate cake, and a frosty mug of root beer topped off this festive meal.

In the afternoon, Barefoot Becky and the Ivanhoe Dutchmen preformed in the Halcyon Event Center. With Becky playing the accordion and Ivanhoe on guitar this duo entertained everyone with their Czech and Slovenian style polka and waltzes, with a cup of country mixed in, had everyone tapping their feet. The band, featuring Becky Livermore on accordion and vocals, has been performing throughout the United States since 1988.

At “Thirsty Thursday” we had pumpkin spice cupcakes and a glass of freshly pressed apple cider. The topic of the day was how Halloween got its start. Some ghost stories, Halloween pranks, bobbing for apples, and a Halloween poem finished this spooky gathering.

What an exciting week here at Sagewood! On Tuesday afternoon, our residents had the opportunity to take a Fall Scenic Drive. We boarded the mini bus and traveled down Coppock Road, Highway 78 through Brighton and then into Lake Darling State Park. Then we stopped for a quick afternoon snack before heading back to Washington. It was a beautiful drive and the residents loved getting out on such a beautiful day!

Our fun continued on Wednesday when we celebrated Oktoberfest with some yummy food and fantastic entertainment by Barefoot Becky! Thursday was a bit low key since we were all exhausted from Tuesday and Wednesday. We played some 9 Letter Word Square and got our brains working while our bodies rested. Then, we rounded out the week on Friday with some Halloween Fun.

To finish off this week’s activities, staff dressed up in their scariest costumes and paraded around to the different Households and Independent Living. A few independent living resident were the judge of the costume contest. We had a sheriff with inmates (best group), hot dog with all of the condiments (funniest costume), COVID (scariest costume), Unicorn (most creative costume), a trio of butterflies and pumpkin patch pumpkins and a farmer. It has been a great way to celebrate the last week of October.

Lastly, we’d like to wish a happy birthday to Beverly Johnson (11/3), Connie Bauer (11/6), and Carolyn Levy (11/6).