United Presbyterian Home News

The Three G Book Club which translates to three generations of the Ada Kleese family met at the United Presbyterian Home Friday to discuss Big Little Lies by Laine Moriarty. Ada and her three daughters, Susan Hough of Urbandale; Judy Leavitt of Coralville; and Jane Krumwiede of Davenport, began the family reading club which now extends to granddaughters and great-granddaughters. Family members decide on the same book to read every couple of months and then gather to discuss it and share a bit of family time.

WACO students visited the UPH Campus Monday morning to kick off a week of activities honoring young children. This is an annual celebration to focus public attention on the needs of young children, their families and caregivers of young children. WACO students read to daycare kids and played games with or read to adult residents during their visit. On Tuesday morning kids paraded the hallways modeling their pajamas and sharing their favorite stuffed animals with residents.

Representatives from Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines visited on Wednesday bringing with them a menagerie of animals including a parrot, snake, ferret and even an alligator.

Washington FFA members arrived on Thursday with animals for children and adults to pet and admire. They brought chickens, baby goats, baby pigs, a dog, mini horses, bottle calf, lambs and rabbits. It was a room full of excited children and animals. Up with Kids Director, Lisa Clark has more activities planned for later in the week.

The Cottager?s Potluck was held in the Main Dining Room Monday evening. Hosts for the April meeting were Betty Beenblossom, Melva Mineart, Don and Ethel Dayton and Sue Kretzchmar. Darwin Widmer gave the invocation prior to the meal. April birthdays were announced along with recognition of Emory and Phyllis VanGerpen?s 66th wedding anniversary.

Six people attended the UPH book club and discussed A Memory of Violets by Hazel Gaynor. It is a novel set in England around the turn of the century and is the story of two sets of sisters. The group shared some stories about their own sisters. The May selection will be Journey to Munich a Mazie Dobbs mystery by Jacqueline Winspear.

Classics Et Cetera for April 27, included the overture to ?Roberto Devereux? by Gaetano Donizetti; ?Morning Song? by Sir Edward Elgar; 2nd Movement (?The Cuckoo and the Nightingale?) of Organ Concerto No. 13 by George Frideric Handel; ?Somewhere a Voice Is Calling? by Arthur F. Tate; ?Maple Leaf Rag? by Scott Joplin; 2nd Movement of Symphony No. 6 (?Pastoral?) by Ludwig van Beethoven; ?Chicago Tribune March? by William Paris Chambers.

Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934), considered one of England?s all-time great composers, had a struggle getting recognition as a serious composer. The one work that instantly gave him fame with the public came in 1901?his ?Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1,? often called ?Land of Hope and Glory.? The piece became a veritable second national anthem for England, especially during the two World Wars, and Elgar became a national hero, showered with honors, and he conducted his own music with orchestras around the world.