Greetings from Assisted Living
Greetings from Assisted Living,
April has been busy despite the weather. We had some tremendous speakers talk with the tenants this month. My favorite was John the Executive Director of the Raptor Resource Center. He talked about our Decorah Eagles, the history of how this whole thing got started and how the cameras work and record the birds. Founded in 1988 by the late Bob Anderson, the non-profit Raptor Resource Project specializes in the preservation of falcons, eagles, ospreys, hawks, and owls. He mentioned in 2011 the eagle cam was the most watched video ever with 200 million views.
Julie from Camp Courageous in Monticello, Iowa gave us a very uplifting and heartwarming presentation about the camp. Camp Courageous is a year-round recreational and respite care camp for all ages with disabilities. They have participants from age 12 months to 105 years. It was founded when John Gallagher donated 40 acres of land just for this purpose. The first year the camp opened they had 211 campers. Today they have over 200 acres and serve about 8000 yearly. It is completely run on donations with no government assistance. We so appreciate the camp and all the lives that are touched by the camp. We have offered to volunteer our help if there is anything we can help them with. We hope to take a trip to Monticello to visit the camp and take a tour. Many thanks to Julie!
We had a wonderful presentation given by a few gals from our local 4H organizations. 4H provides experiences where young people learn by doing. There motto is “To make the best better.” Angie is the County Youth Coordinator. She told us that 4H started in our nation in 1902. 4H has been helping our youth “make the best of better” in Winneshiek County for over 100 years. Jenna showed us her latest projects and told us what 4H has done for her. She is a very talented gal with big dreams ahead of her. We wish her all the luck in the world and hope she accomplishes all of her dreams. Many of our tenants shared their stories of being in 4H. I think they enjoyed reminiscing about days gone by. The 4 H’s stand for Head, Heart, Hands and Health. By putting all the “H”s together, we get the 4-H pledge:
I pledge
My Head to clearer thinking
My Heart to greater loyalty
My Hands to larger service
My Health to better living
For my club, my community, my country and my world.
Upcoming speakers include Kevin Lee talking about local history and Midge from the Genealogical Society talking about family histories.
Our monthly breakfast was a huge success. We invited the Decorah Police Department to join us and they enjoyed a delicious chef prepared breakfast. This month the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Department will join us. On May 11th we will be having a Mother’s Day breakfast and June 15th Father’s Day Breakfast.
May brings a Cinco de Mayo party with a taco bar for lunch, Karla Brown from the Vesterheim Museum and a performance by the Luther Swing and Ballroom Dancing students, not to mention plenty of musical talent.
Until next time, Kelly Nordschow