2004 Year in Review

Chamber and Nursing Home Residents Trim the Tree

‘Twas 45 days before Christmas, when at Pleasant View, silver ornaments were trimmed with glitter, paint, and glue. Residents of Resthave soon will decorate, too.

The Morrison Chamber of Commerce designed a project to involve nursing home residents and to benefit the Hospice of the Rock River Valley. Chamber Board member Jason Wheat volunteered to spearhead the entry of a Chamber Christmas tree in the “Festival of Trees” event at Northland Mall in Sterling.

“This is a good project, and the whole community can benefit from it,” he observed. He supplied both Pleasant View and Rest Have nursing homes with 48, round, matte and shiny silver ornaments for residents to decorate.

The photograph shows Pleasant View ladies preparing decorations on October 19. Ellie Jacobsen, CTRS, the Director of Recreation Therapy, is shown at the left. She gathered paints, brushes, glitter, paint pens, and the necessary bowls for paint and water, so the residents could continue a second week of painting. Clockwise are Geraldine Peterson, Eileen Woellert, and Vera Hamilton. The ladies have a mid-November deadline.

When asked about their Christmas traditions, Peterson discussed food items. She used cake mix to form a log roll, topping it with whipped cream and cherries. She made peanut butter fudge with little marshmallows, and date bread was her favorite. The only fruitcake she enjoyed was her son’s recipe.

As an elementary school teacher, Woellert was involved with crafting ornaments for many years. She taught in the country, at Deer Grove, and for 30 years in Tampico.

Hamilton enjoyed stitching felt Christmas ornaments. She remembered one was a horse with a candy cane through it that formed the head.

Wheat will deliver the artificial tree with its nearly 100 silvery decorations for the opening of the “Festival of Trees,” November 14. He will add tiny, white lights and a tree skirt from the Hospice organization.

The Chamber tree will be presented to the one who bids the most for it during the week of November 16-21. Festival trees can be viewed from 10 to 9 Monday through Saturday and from 10 to 3 on Sunday.

Katie Pratt, Hospice of the Rock River Valley, stated all proceeds from the “Festival of Trees” support patients and their families and the services Hospice provides. “I am constantly amazed at the generosity of people and the giving of their time. The volunteers come from all over. They give their time and effort” to aid people suffering from disease.

Although Peterson, Woellert, and Hamilton likely will not attend the “Festival of Trees,” you can view their artistic efforts and those of the Resthave residents beginning November 14.

by Stephanie A. Vavra, Guest Columnist
October 20, 2004