This was a busy activities week at Fair Oaks Lodge, with even the weather cooperating. Last Saturday evening a load of our folks were taken to New York Mills to view the big wall.
The American Veteran's Traveling Tribute is huge. It was made by Barry Lawrence out of one-fourth inch aluminum. While Barry was in the Marines, the chopper he was in was shot down, landing him in a rice paddy in water up to his shoulders.
News in the activities department this week is that after 20 years on the job, Kathy Richter has retired. No, we haven't lost her as she will be an activities aide. Michelle Simon is taking her place.
Long-time friend Dorothy Berry shared her story with me this week. Dorothy was born in 1917 on a farm near Buffalo Lake to Frank and Emily Bradford. She went through the first seven grades in a one-room school.
One of the things Dorothy recalls is the time their teacher let them make items for the county fair in Bird Island. Dorothy made a big outline of the United States, drawing each state off with a bit of information about it in a little book taped in the middle. She got a prize.
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Dorothy's first job was helping out a young couple who had just moved to their neighborhood. She worked really hard. At the end of that day they counted out six dimes as her wages, wouldn't you know it? She hopes they didn't look too hard for her the next day because it didn't happen.
Dorothy was working at the Golden Rule Grocery when she met and married Sylvan Klucas. They have four children. Don Berry was Dorothy's second husband.
Don was a connoisseur of fine wood. They went on trips to many states and each time he searched out and bought pieces that appealed to him. Their house in the south end of Wadena boasts 26 kinds of wood paneling in two rooms and a hall. Don died in 1941 in an Alexandria nursing home.
Dorothy has always liked to knit, crochet, or any other type of sewing. She likes to read and travel. She has gone on tour buses to Branson three times, as well as many other states. She thinks it is a get way to travel carefree.
I sat in on an entirely pleasurable activity on Thursday afternoon. It was the monthly D.J. Polka Party put on by Jerry and Edith Seigel of Sebeka. They take their entertainment, with more than 2,000 records of 1940s, 1950s and 1960s music along with newer tunes, to four senior citizen centers each month.
I could tell by relaxed expressions that many of our folks had mentally taken leave of their confining wheel chairs. By proxy they were sailing around the floor again, as effortlessly as were Jerry and Edith, maybe even to the same tune, in the arms of their favorite gal or guy.
Not a bad way to end an afternoon.
