JOHN DAY — The week of July 3 did not get addressed here and for that I am sorry. I am in Washington helping my sister through her shoulder replacement and will stay till she can remove the sling and begin to exercise the shoulder, which will be July 18. I will come home to John Day on the 19th so will be at the center on the 20th to catch up on all that has been in action during my absence.

Now I will endeavor to include both weeks’ information in this writing, so bear with me. I will keep it as short as I can.

On Monday, July 3, Darlene Nodine was at the desk greeting all who came in and Darlene did the announcing. Joe Phippen led the flag salute. Sixteen diners were in attendance.

The servers were from the First Christian Church: Marianne Osborne and Becky Reinhart. Thank you, ladies, for your assistance with our lunch. Pati Davis asked the blessing for the food, and the meal consisted of Italian sausage hogies with onion and peppers, macaroni salad, grapes and stuffed cupcakes that I heard were out of this world with deliciousness.

Fifty-eight fresh and 52 frozen meals were delivered throughout the area by Pati Davis, Jeanette Julsrud and Becky Reinhart. Thanks to all drivers and helpers for the dedication to help others.

Some 253 meals went out of the kitchen this day, and 127 of these meals were sent to other towns in the area. This large amount is done on a monthly basis.

Yvonne Majors won the Len’s card and Darlene Nodine won the free meal. Congratulations.

On Thursday, July 6, Judy Thomas and Sonie Guttu were at the desk greeting the 25 in-house diners and taking care of all the details.

Darlene did the announcing, and Ron Phillips led the flag salute. The servers were Ramy Lacy, LaDonna Pickett and Peggy Molnar of the First Baptist Church, and Pastor Jessie Gosnell asked the blessing for the meal that was stuffed peppers, potato wedges, bean and corn salad and birthday cake donated by Driskill Memorial Chapel, which sponsored the meal.

Peggy Molnar, Cindy Combs, Pati Davis and Jeanette Julsrud delivered 58 fresh meals throughout the area.

Each little activity uses a volunteer to perform it, and we so appreciate each volunteer that makes our center a success.

A sympathy card was set out for Kay Cotham’s family and a welcome home card for Rick LaMountain was set out for anyone to sign as Rick had been on a trip to Europe. We are happy that he returned home in good condition. That was a great experience for him.

Bonnie Kocis makes all the candy favors that are on the tables and in each delivered meal and Linda Stoltz does many favors for our meals also, and we would like to thank both of them for their acts of kindness to all of us.

Several people have stepped up to help with bingo in Elsie’s absence, and we appreciate them very much for keeping the game going and not needing to cancel.

Ron Phillips won the Chester’s card, and Joanne Moles won the free meal. Congrats.

Ninety-eight meals went out of our kitchen this day.

For Monday, July 10, Darlene Nodine and Dave Pasko were at the desk greeting the 21 in-house diners and taking care of business, making each person feel welcome and comfortable. Thanks, Darlene and Dave.

Darlene did the announcing, and Rick LaMountain led the flag salute.

St. Elizabeth Catholic Church members were the servers, and they were Alison McCusker and her three children, Cora Graham and Marlene Heck, and of course Father Christie, who asked the blessing for the meal. Thanks to each of you. The meal was baked chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, squash casserole and peach cobbler. The word is that this was a terrific meal. Thanks, Shay. Also a big thanks to Chris and Jeanette for filling in for Darla as she was not feeling well.

Fifty-four fresh and 58 frozen meals were delivered around the area by Pati Davis, Jeanette Julsrud, Barb Comer, Vicky Harrison and her grandson. A big thanks to each one of you.

Gloria Kulis won the Len’s card, and Janice Kuhlman won the free meal. Congrats.

On Thursday, July 13, Darlene and Judy were at the desk keeping the order of business and making sure all 14 people were welcomed. Darlene did the announcing, and Carol Roe led the flag salute. Happy to have Carol back from being ill.

The Cornerstone Church members were the servers: Misty Palmer and her son Daniel, Jodi Cypher and Stacy Hale, as well as Pati Davis, who asked the blessing. The meal was chili verde with rice, tortilla, green salad and lemon blueberry cookies, which I heard were very delicious.

Jeanette helped in the kitchen as Darla was not feeling well again.

Fifty-seven fresh meals were delivered by Jeanette Julsrud, Pati Davis, and Peggy and Matt Molnar. Thank you, each one.

Saturday, July 22, there will be a dance at our center, sponsored by Thadd’s Place. If you are interested, stop by and dance a bit or listen to the band.

Agnes Hall made a donation of money to help our center purchase some meat. Thank you, Agnes, for this contribution. We all appreciate it.

With the one takeout meal there were 72 meals that went out of our kitchen this day.

Judy Thomas won the Chester’s card, and Joe Phippen won the free meal.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

PRAIRIE CITY —

Say, that hobo dinner is pretty good! And it would have been something that a cow camp could have produced. You start with some potato slices and arrange them in the bottom of a foil pan with a few onion rings, put a hamburger patty on them and circle the patty with little carrots, then put a lid over it all and bake away. Some of us bought some that were left over for another meal. The original TV dinner.

Then there was the whipped cream salad and a banana bar to finish the meal. I had mango juice, too. So I got all the food groups. Next week is a hot beef sandwich with taters and gravy. Mmmm. And the dessert is scheduled to be ice cream and a brownie! I hope the menu doesn’t have to be changed.

Colin led the flag salute, and Chris asked the blessing. The winner of the gift certificate donated by Valeria at Chuck’s Little Diner was Gail Kolb. Chris’s trivia had these gems: Today was Etch A Sketch day; birthdays included Henry David Thoreau, George Eastman, Milton Berle and Bill Cosby. On this date in history: The U.S. Army created the Medal of Honor for its soldiers in 1862 (the U.S. Navy had done theirs in 1861). A quote from Nelson Mandela in 2008: “A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dream of.” Amen. Quote from Milton Berle: “Eve was the only woman to take a man’s side.” Har, har. There were a few U.S. presidents that died on July 4. The trivia question was which president was born on July 4? There were lots of guesses until Chris gave a hint of where he was born and I guessed Calvin Coolidge. So our table got to go to the serving window and pick up our hobo dinner first.

Our faithful batch of volunteers were all here today to take care of us in the hall and deliver meals to those who cannot come. They include Sharon, Carla, Gwynne, Mary, Chris, Theresa, Pam and Susanna, who was surprised to see her name in the paper. Yep, you show up, you get noticed.

So I trundled down to the grocery store to get a package of lemon pie mix for the dessert I was supposed to make. Guess what? It has been discontinued. The ones they had available all called for milk and there were no microwave directions. I was flummoxed, stunned, bewildered and dumbfounded. Bought a lemon and a jar of lemon juice and dragged out the old cookbooks. Well! To my surprise, there are lots of recipes that use milk to make lemon pie filling. And they all say, “Use a double boiler.” That was why I liked the mix because it is really hard to burn it in the microwave! Stay tuned …

The pea vines have pods, and the corn is up to my waist. Still no carrots, though. What am I doing wrong?! Most frustrating.

Thanks to all who worked for three weeks on the estate sale. And thanks to all who came and bought. We made over $4,400 and made the homeowner very happy. PTL.

Prov. 15:13 A happy heart makes the face cheerful … James 5:13 … Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

MONUMENT —

It’s been pretty hot over this part of the state. But ya know what? It was really nice and cool in our senior center! We all enjoyed a nice, cool place to sit, eat a meal and visit with friends. It sure beats working or just plain walking around in the heat, that’s for sure! Ha.

Our fabulous cooks, Terry Cade and Carrie Jewell, whipped us up a variety of different pizzas for all of us to enjoy. At first it seemed as if there was just going to be a small group of us when, all of a sudden, everyone showed up just before lunch was going to be served. We also enjoyed a fresh green salad and a bunch of different kinds of dessert. We thank our cooks immensely for their efforts!

Our greeters at the table were Bob Cockrell and Sue Cavender. They checked in all the guests, collected and counted up the money. Bob led us in the flag salute and made the announcements. Yours truly prayed the blessing over the meal.

We want to thank an anonymous donor who sent us a check for $250 in the mail for our Monument Senior Center. Thank you so much for your generous donation in support of our center! We appreciate it very much.

I got to learn something new this week. I learned how to make a gift basket. Judy Harris put on this class as a way of teaching us how to make gift baskets along with making these baskets for the upcoming Buckaroo Fall Festival in September. I don’t know if I will master how to organize and put a basket together, but I got the gist of it. I don’t have the talent of decorating, and that’s OK. That is just not one of my gifts! Ha.

I’ve been finding tons of pesky grasshoppers all over our place near the house. I find them feasting on my raspberry leaves. My revenge on them is to pick them off with chopsticks (they don’t see it coming, hee hee), and then I put them in a spice bottle with a flip top. When I have gathered a whole bunch of them, I shake the bottle like mad and stun them and then I feed them to my chickens. Let me tell you, it is sweet revenge! Those pests have decimated some plants and parts of the raspberry patches. I figure it is their just reward.

I find it amusing when the chickens come running over when they hear me shake that bottle. They have them eaten up in nothing flat. I could give them about 75 grasshoppers and they will have them eaten up in less than thirty seconds. The cats like to eat them, too. I really dislike when I catch them and they “spit” all over your fingers. I especially love it when I catch the great, big fat ones!

I almost lost a goat the other day. Sissy and her sister Squeaky were too close to Albee and Victoria and got all tangled up. I went out to do chores and heard screaming. When I got there, Sissy was laying on the ground and the cables were in such a knot, she was almost strangled to death. It took me at least five minutes to untangle the mess. She is OK, thank goodness.

Psalms 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God. He heard my voice out of His temple and my cry came before Him, even unto His ears.