Family Matters
January 2011
Benedictine Living Community of
St. Peter
Jerry
Hawbaker
(Mayor of
St. Peter
1996-2005)
takes Luci for
a ride
2011 is here, Happy New Year to
all our families and friends! May
this New Year adorn your life with
many beautiful things and sweet memories to
cherish forever. And care of those whom the
heart holds close, abundant joy and happiness.
Wishing you life's best this New Year!
National Soup
Month
A hot bowl of
your
favorite
soup is a great way to warm up. It's one of
America's comfort foods through the long, cold
days of winter which makes January one of the
best months to be national soup month. In
honor of national soup month, we wanted to
share one of our favorite recipes for a delicious
bowl of goodness to enjoy this month, and any
time. This recipe, and many more wonderful
recipes, can be found in our cookbook, Tasty
Traditions 101 Years of Cooking.
Senior Housing Update
The second floor is almost complete. The crew
is working on the east end of the building
before they can work on the link to the nursing
home.
They are working on the interior
framing of the project. Any questions you may
have regarding the senior housing, or to put
your name on the wait list, please contact
Debbie in Social Services at 934-8281 or Linda
at 934-8273.
Mayor Jerry’s Chili
3-4 lb hamburger, browned and drained
1 lg. onion diced and microwave for 3 minutes
-then add to the hamburger
1 can tomato soup
2- 6 oz cans tomato sauce (with bits)
1- 6 oz can tomato paste
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can chili beans, drained
2 cans kidney beans, drained
1 T garlic juice
1 T grape jelly or 1 T sugar
2 beef bullion cubes
2-3 tsp chili powder
1 T soy sauce (optional)
1 tsp salt or to taste
1/4-1/2 tsp pepper
If more tomato flavor is desired, use 12 oz
paste and 6 oz sauce. All above cans may be
rinsed with hot water and added to chili. Add
more water to desired consistency. Simmer for
at least 1 ½ hours. Enjoy and stay warm!
Meet Martha
A letter from Martha: “My name is Martha
Kyoore, and I am the new Social Work
Assistant. I am the mother of three boys. My
oldest son, Ezekiel, is in 7th grade. The second
one is called Zephaniah and is in 4th grade,
and the youngest one, Zechariah, is in 2nd
grade. My wonderful husband
is called Paschal, and we have
been living in St. Peter for
twenty years now.
I am
excited to be part of the
Benedictine family, and look
forward to working with you
and getting to know all of you.”
Next Family council meeting
Feb. 17 @ 10 am – Dove conf. room
We will be having a Valentine Sweetheart
Dinner on Valentines Day in the Activity room.
This special dinner is for our
residents that have a spouse.
Invitations will be sent out soon.
makes sure every resident’s puzzle has all the
pieces. And when you hear Kelley laugh,
you’re sure to have a great day!
Activity staff: Cathy Probst, Jack Coltrain,
Rose Bjorklund and Kelley Reese
Cathy Probst, Music Specialist, started in 2006
at the Benedictine. Music is Cathy’s special
talent and she loves playing music and singing
for and with the residents. Cathy devotionals
and hymn singing brings a lot of spiritual joy to
residents. Cathy also leads the resident bell
choir, taking time to teach residents how to
play the bells and make wonderful music. The
music is wonderful therapy and the song Cathy
has in her heart, she shares with residents.
National Activity Professionals Week
January also celebrates National Activities
Professionals week. In honor of our Activity
Professionals who continuously share their
talents, creativity, spirit, enthusiasm, energy,
love and compassion for our residents and
staff, we thought we’d share a little about them.
Rosemary Bjorklund, Activity Director, started
in 1995 as the Health Unit Coordinator when
the nursing home was part of the Community
Hospital, then starting working in the Activities
department in 1999. Rose loves to cook, sew,
paint, knit, quilt, garden and can, and most of
all she loves sharing those activities with
residents, and they love doing those things
with her! Her favorite activity is homemaking.
She loves helping our residents prepare their
own special recipes in the kitchen, helping
them feel at home. Making this home for
residents is very important to Rose.
Jack Coltrain, Activity Programmer for the
Angel Neighborhood, started in 1990, also
when the nursing home was part of the
Community Hospital. Jack can often be seen
on the Angel Neighborhood playing table
games or reminiscing with the coffee groups.
Jack has an art for conversation and brings so
much joy and laughter to our residents with his
stories and jokes. And the smiles he brings to
the faces of our residents when he sings!
Kelley Reese, Activity Programmer for the
Butterfly Neighborhood, started in March of
2010. Kelley was coaxed by a friend to come
to the Benedictine, who saw in her what we
see in her – a warm and gracious heart that
loves to reminisce with the residents. Kelley
loves to hear the stories the residents share
with her. Kelley is the “puzzle checker” and
Work Study Students: Angel and Bethany
The Activity Department has two wonderful
work study students from Gustavus Adolphus
that started in September, Angel and Bethany.
Angel is a freshman at GAC and is interested
in healthcare and is thinking of going into
medicine or psychology. Angel loves getting to
know the residents and her favorite activities to
do with the residents are sharing trivia and
playing with residents in the bell choir.
Bethany is a freshman at GAC and used to
volunteer with the elderly in her home town.
She is a good listener and loves to visit with
residents and her favorite activity with
residents is singing hymns.
The Activity Department is blessed with
wonderful volunteers. We have 54 Benedictine
Volunteers and 30 Second Time Around Thrift
Store Volunteers.
Some say the Activity
Department is the heart of our community. We
know our residents are the heart of our
community, but the Activity Department does
help make the hearts of our residents happy.
The Activity Department is looking for a
volunteer to polish resident’s nails. If you
are interested, call Rosemary at 934-8280.