United Presbyterian Home

Resident Jim Bennett found humor in the Rev. Herb Yoder?s recent Evensong message. Yoder spoke about miracles and how God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it. He explained how miracles can be large or small and that recently his wife prepared him a nice meal and he referred to it a miracle. Everyone in the congregation laughed except maybe his wife, Dorothy.

George Grove celebrated his 95th birthday over the weekend with family visitors.

Many mothers and their families attended the Mother?s Day Buffet on Sunday in the Main Dining Room. A delicious array of food included lobster and shrimp, macaroni and cheese, maple-glazed ham, prime rib and asparagus frittata.

Jane Vetter was pleasantly surprised Mother?s Day weekend with flowers from her son, Brian who lives in Boise, Idaho. Grandson Cory and Joe Vedepo along with Joe?s daughter Violet, who is 9 months old, had lunch with Jane on Saturday. Saturday evening Jane went out for supper with her son, Steve and his wife Kathy to the Pizza Hut. Steve and Kathy gave Jane a very thoughtful gift of body care items. On Sunday morning Jane attended Mass at the St. James Catholic Church with her son, Mark and his wife, Jan, grandson Joe and great-granddaughter, Violet.

A celebration of women was held on Monday with a ladies afternoon tea. Ladies dined on chicken salad finger sandwiches, berry shortcakes and brownie wedges. Kathy Cuddeback presented a program about birds, depicting various birds with her many different hats. She mimicked bird calls and spoke of their habitat. Over the years, Kathy has rehabbed many birds, nurturing them to good health until they were strong enough to return to nature. Kathy?s dog, Ike, came along and did his part to demonstrate bird signals.

Ann Thomas celebrated her birthday with friends and neighbors in the Town Center on Tuesday morning. Ann treated everyone to birthday cake.

Martha Chalupa and Gwen Ying held a spring sing-along in the Health Center on Tuesday afternoon. They provided the music to songs, May Carol and It?s a Wonderful World among others. Residents eagerly joined them in the vocals.

A dozen or so students from the Washington Middle School arrived on Wednesday to volunteer their services at the United Presbyterian Home as part of the Orange and Black Give Back Day. This is a program started by the schools to teach young people the value of giving back to one?s community. The students graciously washed windows, did some outside clean up and provided wheelchair rides to residents on a beautiful day. It was a good experience for both generations to learn from each other.

Marjorie Fullerton?s family joined her for a special 100th birthday luncheon on Wednesday in the Main Dining Room. All three of Marjorie?s children were able to attend including Bebe McFarland of Ainsworth, Jocelyn Morgan of Washington, and Ron Fullerton of Hastings, Neb. Marjorie?s family will host an open house in her honor on Saturday afternoon at the United Presbyterian Home from 2 to 4 p.m.

One of Rev. Kitch?s thoughts this week included the following message: ?The people who tell you never to let little things worry you, have never slept in a room with a mosquito.?

Classics Et Cetera for May 14, included the Overture to ?Can-Can? by Cole Porter; Turkish March in C Major by Michael Haydn; ?Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes of Carl Maria von Weber? by Paul Hindemith; 3rd Movement of Piano Trio, Op. 150, by Amy Beach; ?Korobiniki? performed by The Stars of St. Petersburg; Nos. 6-9 from ?Elijah? by Felix Mendelssohn; ?Zacatecas? by Genaro Codina.

The success of his first oratorio ?St. Paul? pushed Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) to produce another. When someone suggested the Old Testament prophet Elijah, Mendelssohn started reading. A composer friend reported that one evening later he found Mendelssohn deep in the Bible. ?Listen,? he said, and reading from I Kings, ??And behold, the Lord passed by.? Would that not be splendid for an oratorio?? That was the beginnings of the second-best-known oratorio in the English-speaking world, second only to Handel?s ?Messiah.?