MONUMENT — Those who attended lunch on Tuesday, April 1st, were treated to a very special meal! We were served prime rib, half a roasted potato, a fresh green salad, and homemade cupcakes made by the infamous Christy Howell. Oh my goodness, it was such a delicious meal and a wonderful treat! The prime rib was anonymously donated. Our cooks in the kitchen were Terry Cade, Carrie Jewell, and Christy Howell. We thank our generous donors and our wonderful cooks.

Our greeters at the table were Sue Cavender and yours truly. We checked in all the guests and Sue collected and counted up the money. Ellie Lucas led us in the flag salute and made the announcements. Yours truly prayed the blessing over the meal.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Tate Holmes, husband to Dakota Holmes, and son to Jeremiah and Tara Holmes of Spray, Oregon on Saturday, April 5, 2025. The event will be held at the Spray Gymnasium at 2:00PM in the afternoon. Jeanne Strange and Judy Harris are making a quilt that will be auctioned off at the Spray Rodeo in May. The proceeds will be donated to Tate’s widow, Dakota and their children. Tickets for the quilt are $5 for one ticket or $20 for five tickets. There is also a gun raffle worth $1,000 of your choice at Ace Hardware store in John Day.

There is a menu for the senior meal at the Spray Grange. Lunch is every Thursday at noon. All ages are welcome. Suggested donation is $6, or $7 for Takeouts. Please give Jimmy Tankerslee a call at 541-468-2182 by noon on Wednesday if you plan on attending their lunch so that he can have an accurate count for meal prep.

There is still a grant for the Monument Senior/ Community Center from the Gorge Community Foundation that is offering a dog/cat spay/neuter program. The criteria are as follows: Must be a resident of Northern Grant County (Kimberly, Monument, Long Creek), residents of other neighboring areas will be considered (by the Senior/Community Center Board of Directors) on a case-by-case basis. The dog or cat must be the pet of the applicant. Qualified applicants may have one dog and one cat spayed/neutered per year. To apply or if you have questions please contact Ellie at 541-934-2700 and she will get back to you as soon as possible. The program is available while the grant funds last.

Don’t forget the 2025 Monument Volunteer Ambulance Annual May Day Fundraiser Dinner! Chef Sylvia Cockrell will be cooking up super tacos, chicken with Cle Mole sauce, Spanish rice, and of course dessert. Save the date of Saturday, May 3, 2025. The dinner will be held at the Monument Senior/Community Center. There will be two dinner serving times, 4:30PM-5:30PM and 6:00PM-7:00PM. The cost will be $30 per couple, $17 for single, and children 6-12 years of age will be $10. Takeout meals will also be available for both serving times.

There will be a dessert auction and a silent auction table. There is also a beautiful handmade quilt that will be raffled off on that day. Please contact a member of the Monument Ambulance crew ASAP to reserve your dinner tickets as they want to make sure they have plenty of meals on hand. Contact Carrie Jewell at 541-934-2078, Julie Erickson at 541-993-2579, Teawna Jewell at 541-620-2150 or Rose Howe at 541-934-2088.

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise your Father in heaven.

 

PRAIRIE CITY — Remember when I got to work in the flower beds in the yard on Feb. 28? That’s never happened in March!

Now April is here. Maybe this weekend, when it quits snowing and gets up to 60 degrees? Ah, yes, spring in Grant County. We may complain, but remember this: no tornadoes, no hurricanes, not much flooding, no smog, no volcanoes erupting—count your blessings.

We’ve had more blessings to count today with the appearance of several first-timers and the return of some winter absentees. Welcome to one and all! And one of the first-timers was definitely not a senior citizen. This is to let you know that any and all ages are welcome at our weekly meals. In fact, at the meal today were those whose ages ranged from 9 months to 95 years! You all can come!
y was sponsored by Delores Scott in memory of Georgeanne Williams. Our volunteers included Sharon, Mary, Teresa, Tom, Pam and Debra. The flag salute was led by Fran Bunch and Ginger asked the blessing. The door prize was a ‘lock box’ won by Carla Wright. We thank the donor and congratulate the winner.

The meal was sweet and sour meatballs over rice, peas, pretzel Jell-o salad, strawberries and cookies for dessert. Great meal to start the month off with. Thanks to our great cooks Pam and Pam. And we want to thank those who helped out in the kitchen during Pam’s knee surgery recovery. She is doing quite well now.

A Celebration of Life for two of our Prairie City old-timers, Jack and Bonnie Pickle, will be held at the Community Center on April 19 at 1 p.m. All are invited to come and help honor their memory.

I made it to Burns and back last week without any delay due to the flooding. I have my doubts that I could have made it this week! You think you have problems?! How long has it been since we had any high water of note in our city? Years! (Knock on wood…)

I played a couple of rounds of “History Trivia” last night and I was shocked at what the younger people did not know about history. Of course, I do not know much about modern history vis-a-vis the current crop of musical, sports, and entertainment figures. I always tell people that the last pop song I remember is “Tie A Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree,” which was copyrighted in 1972. The unexpected part of this is that I’m learning new worship songs every month! And I like that!!

Ps. 33:2, 3 Play joyous melodies of praise upon the lyre and on the harp. Compose new songs of praise to Him, accompanied skillfully on the harp; sing joyfully. (The Living Bible)