United Presbyterian Home

Kenneth Wagner, Kristine Storr and Karen Macdonald, children of Thelma Wagner, hosted a small open house Saturday, April 11, at the Campus Center to celebrate Thelma?s 95th birthday. Guests traveled from Michigan, Chicago, Ames, Harlan, Forest City, and included residents in the Washington area as well. Coffee, punch, cookies and homemade ice cream were served. A PowerPoint slide show included photos spanning Thelma?s 95 years and memorabilia was available for viewing including her wedding dress, hat and shoes. Thelma will be 95 years old on April 21, 2015.

Shirley Boshart?s nieces, Jennifer and Stephanie, along with Jennifer?s daughter from Quincy, Ill., visited last week. Also stopping in to visit were her son, Ron, granddaughter Summer, and granddaughter Tammy and her husband, Damon.

Betty Strum enjoyed lunch out on Saturday with her son and family from Wisconsin.

Bob and Carol Coon hosted their family for lunch in the Main Dining Room on Saturday.

Mabel Wood enjoyed Sunday dinner with her family.

Doris Stout?s niece visited last weekend from out of state.

Week of the Young Child is being celebrated all week long. This is an annual celebration to focus public attention on the needs of young children, their families and the caregivers of young children. Up with Kids Day Care packed many activities into the weeklong celebration. Children wore their favorite hats and paraded through the Health Center on Monday. On Tuesday, they paraded in their pajamas. FFA members arrived on Wednesday with animals for the children to pet and admire. They brought goats, bunnies and ducklings. Up with Kids director Lisa Clark has more activities planned for later in the week.

Kerr Hall luncheon was held on Tuesday with 23 residents in attendance. Pastor Herb Yoder gave the blessing. They enjoyed a baked potato bar with various toppings. Jim and Joy Bennett were hosts for the event.

Girl Scout leader Rebecca Mills gathered her group of young ladies for their regular monthly meeting at the United Presbyterian Home on Tuesday afternoon. They also volunteered their time to rake leaves and do some spring cleanup outside. Their community involvement is very much appreciated.

The United Presbyterian Home was pleased to have the Rev. Dr. Georgine Buckwalter visit this week. Dr. Buckwalter is a specialist in spirituality and aging, and spoke with area church and community leaders about aging options, patterns, obstacles and opportunities. She presented her thoughts to the public on Wednesday evening at the United Presbyterian Church.

Twila Speed celebrated her birthday with friends and neighbors in the Town Center on Thursday morning. Twila treated everyone to doughnuts.

Classics Et Cetera for April 16, 2015, included the overture to ?Edwardo e Cristina? by Gioachino Rossini; ?Rondo a l?Ongarese? from Piano Trio No. 39 by Joseph Haydn; ?A Perfect Day? by Carrie Jacobs-Bond sung by Nelson Eddy; ?España? by Emmanuel Chabrier; ?I Heard Three Birds? performed by Cyril Smith; 1st Movement of Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff; ?Alamo March? by Karl King.

With the failure of his early works, especially his first symphony, Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) was despondent with a deep clinical depression. He could not work. He was referred to a physician, a Dr. Dahl, who was familiar with the recent discoveries in psychiatry in France and Vienna. Over several months Dr. Dahl treated Rachmaninoff by repeating over and over, day after day, ?You will start to compose a concerto ? you will work with the greatest of ease ? the concerto will be of excellent quality.? After months of treatment, Rachmaninoff did start to compose, and the result was one of the world?s truly great works, his Piano Concerto No. 2.