United Presbyterian Home

Bob and Donna Koehler celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in May (the actual date was Nov. 12, 2014) with family while attending their granddaughter Shannon?s wedding to Chris Clouse in Minneapolis, Minn. The Koehlers just returned from Door County, Wis., where they were recipients of a ?Distinguished Service Award? from the volunteer group connected with Birch Creek Music School and Performance Center in Egg Harbor, Wis. It was in recognition of their 29 years of volunteer service at the outstanding music school.

Corinne Phelps was honored with a card shower for her 80th birthday. Plenty of cards arrived from near and far. Corinne and her twin sister, Colleen Havel, turned 80 years young on Monday, Nov. 17, 2014.

Dale Fritz celebrated a birthday on Tuesday. A special cake was baked for him by Michelle Williams and decorated by her daughter, Clara. Clara knew that Dale was a former sanitation worker and so she decorated the cake with a sanitation waste disposal truck on top. Very clever. Dale?s wife, Bonnie, recently celebrated her Halloween birthday with the many trick-or-treaters who came to visit.

A collective November birthday party was also held in the Health Center this week with Julia Gamon providing the piano music to Happy Birthday. Residents with November birthdays include Ruth Lowe, Corinne Phelps and Dale Fritz.

Women of the decorating committee met on Tuesday morning to add their seasonal decorating flair to the Home. The women acknowledge that it is a bit early this year as they normally observe Thanksgiving before pushing the winter holiday season, but their schedules allowed for them to meet this week before they get busy with other activities. The Parlor and Stewart entrance look very festive thanks to Jane Cuddeback, Sandy Dunlap, Kathy Knutson, Jean Robertson and JoAnn Torpey.

Jim Bennett is in the process of constructing a model train display in the Stewart entrance. There are many pieces to this large project and each year Jim adds a few more items of memorabilia. Additions this year include a 1955 trolley, two diesel engines, box cars and accessories. Jim plans to have the trains rolling by Thanksgiving.

Ten people attended the November meeting of the Home?s book club. They discussed Barbara Kingsolver?s nonfiction book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Barbara?s husband and older daughter were co-authors. The book chronicled the year her family spent eating locally. They grew and processed much of their own food and bought the rest from neighbors. Book club members commented on how the whole family worked together for the year. They were especially impressed with the 8-year-old daughter?s chicken business. Pat Jenkins shared information about her grandson and his wife who are producing much of their own food. They live on a mountain in Colorado and have a self-sufficient household. She shared pictures of their straw house, greenhouses and innovative operations. For the next meeting, each person will share a Christmas book of her choice.

Larry Cuddeback and daughter, Cheyenne Miller, will host a book signing Friday, Nov. 28, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Washington Public Library to release their new book, "The Three of Hearts." The book is the second collection of World War II stories as told by veterans of southeast Iowa. Ten of the veterans being published are residents of the United Presbyterian Home and will be there to sign their page in this memorial book. The Cuddeback and Miller books, "We Lucky Few" and "The Three of Hearts," will be available for purchase at this time.

Classics Et Cetera for Nov. 20, included the overture to ?The Abduction from the Seraglio? by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Violin Concerto in A Minor by Jean-Baptiste Accolay; ?Seguidilla: Près des remparts de Seville? from ?Carmen? by Georges Bizet; ?Sheep May Safely Graze? by Johann Sebastian Bach; ?We Are Coming, Father Abraham? played by 1st Brigade Band; 1st Movement of Symphony in D Minor by César Franck; ?Prestissimo Galop? by Karl L. King.

The familiar aria ?Sheep May Safely Graze? by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is from his Birthday Cantata No. 208. It was part of a birthday celebration arranged for Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels in February 1716. The text of the cantata is a classical allegory where Pales, the goddess of flocks and herds, sings the aria accompanied by two flutes that might suggest sheep bells.