Hello folks! I suppose like the rest of us, you are waiting for some warmer weather to come our way. Spring hasn’t been the nicest, what with the cool temperatures and the wind. It isn’t good for people or crops. Hopefully it will be better as the month of July approaches. We missed the Huberty Band in June because they had to cancel. Everyone was asking for them as the days went by, but they just couldn’t come. You are missed a lot, guys! We were supposed to have some rides in the country scheduled during June, but our van got “sick” and was out of commission for awhile. It is good-to-go now, so maybe we can get out to see the countryside soon. We had some new entertainers come one afternoon. We enjoyed the music provided by Larry Madden and Marlene Ruprecht. They are welcome to come back any time. This year we have a garden club. A few of us received garden boxes, which are raised wooden boxes that allow wheelchairs to fit under them. We could plant anything we wanted in them, so there is a variety of things growing in our gardens. It is good for those of us who like to get outside and get our hands a little dirty. Maynard Nathe came one afternoon and played his music for us. We all love his singing. We not only tapped our toes, but a lot of us found ourselves singing along. The IMPACT group of children played games with us one afternoon. We sure like to have the kids come and visit us. Later that evening the St. Anne’s prayer group came and sang some hymns and prayed for us. If you need a prayer for something, they will pray with you. We all need prayer in our lives. We had six folks who celebrated birthdays in the month of June. They all had families who provided cake and ice cream for their birthdays. We sure had a lot of goodies this past month. Once our van was back and running, we made a trip to the Family Inn for lunch. We enjoy getting out and trying our favorite food at restaurants. We read the newspapers from the surrounding towns on Friday mornings. We like to keep up with what is going on in our hometowns. After the news, we do a few stretches, see what’s up for the rest of the day’s activities, and what is for lunch and supper. We all celebrated Father’s Day here; relatives came to visit or take their loved ones home or out for the day. It is good to see that they can share their day with people they love. We started playing a new game here at Hilltop besides all the other games. The new one is called Jeopardy. It is a very good game and the folks here enjoy playing it. We also like to have a spelling bee occasionally; it makes you stop and think before you spell a word. It’s been a long time since we have been to school and practiced spelling words, but it sharpens our minds. We had a Resident Council fundraiser and sold root beer floats. It wasn’t such a good day for ice cream, as it was rather chilly outside, but we enjoyed it just the same. At our June Resident Council meeting, Karen Schlangen, a nurse here at Hilltop, gave an informational summary about Parkinson’s and how it affects a person. The topics she speaks about each month are all very interesting. Well, I’ve told you all we’ve been up to lately, so you all take care and enjoy the summer. I’ll leave you all with a little story from Ole and Lena. “Ole went to Sears to buy some carpenter tools and decided to charge them. The credit clerk took down his name and address and then asked, ‘Are you a regular customer?’ ‘Yah, I guess you could say I am,’ said Ole. ‘I take a glass of prune juice every morning.’”
