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On April Fool’s day, we had us a bit of fun. All the residents were handed some brown E’s. They were asked if they would like a brown E thinking it was a brownie, and then they were asked to hand them out to other people. We also played a round of Bingo where they all had the same Bingo card. There were many laughs when everyone shouted out Bingo at the same time.
We decorated Easter eggs bright and colorful. It is so much fun to do things that bring back childhood memories. We sampled different flavors of pretzels and played pretzel hangman for our monthly birthday party. Trudy B, Shirley H, Nona S, and Ann W all celebrated their birthdays. We also enjoyed our Read to Me program, where volunteers video in and read to a resident.
Despite not having volunteers or visitors running around, we have things going on to keep us busy. We can win Bingo bucks to spend at our General Store; we have dog visits by Maizy and Ginger, armchair travel, indoor visits from family and friends, exercises, games every Sunday, crafts, birds to watch, coffee and chit chat with fresh baked goods, antiques, living, and well, just getting older.
Eleanor Sjoberg and Maizy share a deep conversation. Photos courtesy of Lisa Bloomquist
Cherish an Antique Day was April 9. According to the Perk, an item has to be over 100 years old to be considered an antique. As we were reminiscing over antiques staff brought from home or were loaned from Oddz n’ Endz, we mentioned we just might have an antique living with us as Irene Peterson turned 100 this past January. We had a Prince Albert tobacco can whose company was patented in 1907; we had a Victory glass clothes scrub board, a water pitcher, an old glass jar which we weren’t sure what it would have held. Some thought jelly or peanut butter. It looked like a honey jar to me. In any case, this jar currently houses many marbles that Melissa inherited from her dad. She looked some of the marbles up and they potentially have a value of $300 each. We also looked at a potato ricer and reminisced about making lefse; we looked at a rolling pin with memories of rolling out hundreds of pies in our lifetimes.
Lunch Lady Spotlight resident of the month
Rose Hasegawa is all excited about the possibilities of candy!
Joyce Hagen was born in Hovland, Minnesota, on November 24, 1926. She is the seventh of eight children. She said something fun she used to do as a child was to go to town for an ice cream cone. She saved money from babysitting and bought herself a pair of roller skates. She went rolling skating in the schoolyard. Joyce spent a lot of time helping her sister with all her babies. She graduated from CCHS along with about 20-30 others. She didn’t attend college but went to work as a telephone operator in Duluth.
One time while home Joyce and her brother-in-law Eddie Koski were in the Hovland General Store where they saw Ray Hagen. Ray had just gotten out of the service after serving four years in Japan. Eddie said to Ray, “This is Joyce, and she isn’t married yet.”
“God, I could have died,” Joyce exclaimed. One day Joyce was surprised when Ray presented a diamond ring. While her mother was hemming Joyce’s wedding dress, Joyce remembers asking her who’s idea this was anyway? Her mother told her it was yours. They were married when Joyce was 21 in Hovland. Joyce said she shook so badly she doesn’t even remember what was being said. Joyce and Ray were headed to Canada for their honeymoon, but someone had put gravel in their gas tank, so Ray had to spend time taking care of that mess and they didn’t go on their trip.
Joyce and Ray have two children, Beth and Warren. Her husband Ray and one grandson passed away. Joyce has two grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren. Joyce was a lunch lady for 30 years at Cook County High School. Joyce loved to bake rye bread and bars. She also loved to crochet, embroider, and play cards. Joyce and Ray used to meet up with Lloyd and Rose Goble every Saturday to play cards. They all also took a trip around Lake Superior. Every fall, Joyce and Ray used to hike Oberg Mountain. They also had a garden, but Ray wouldn’t let Joyce tend it as she said she would end up pulling out the flowers instead of the weeds. Joyce said she and Ray tried not to argue, and one thing she would like to say to young people is to get along with your spouse.
Things and stuff
Once again, we would like to say thank you to all of our volunteers who send us goodies in the mail, make us homemade treats, send us cards, etc. You all are so wonderful and so much appreciated.
There are many ways you can reach out and connect with your family and friends here at North Shore Living. We look forward to seeing you soon.
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