Over the last two years there have been major improvements to the Center thanks to the community’s support: the hundreds of individuals, foundations, The City of the Dalles, Wasco County, NWC PUD and Columbia Basin Care. An elevator has been installed, the upstairs restrooms remodeled, and all the old upstairs floors have been replaced – except one: the floor in the Deschutes room. The floor tiles are worn and falling apart – although there is one positive benefit from the floor. It reminds me how bad the dining room floor previously looked before the Center received a donation from Columbia Basin Care to replace it.
To raise funds to replace the Deschutes Room floor and for the Center’s operations, the Center will be hosting its Annual Fundraiser Dinner Auction on Friday, February 22nd sponsored by our friends at The Springs at Mill Creek, Schultens Motors and Cousins who will be catering the Cordon Bleu dinner. Doors open at 5:00, dinner served at 5:30 and the auction will begin at 6:30. But only one hundred tickets will be sold, so purchase your tickets early. The tickets are $35 per person and can be purchased at the Center or Klindt’s Booksellers.
And what may be most important to some folks, the winning raffle ticket for the Chicken Coop will be drawn at the fundraiser. Purchase your Chicken Coop raffle tickets at the Center for $10 apiece or three for $25 dollars.
I know many of you don’t carry around an appointment book or have a smart phone to keep track of your schedule and appointments; and you may not even care what day it is. (If you’re retired isn’t every day Saturday?) So, I just want to remind you of two events coming to the Center in the next two weeks.
On Wednesday, February 6th at 1:00, Lucille Torgerson and Widge Johnson will be presenting their one-hour class, “As I Was Saying – Writing Your Life Story for Your Family, Friends and Yourself”. If you ever wanted to write down your life experiences to share with others, this will be a great place to start. I wish my mom and dad had written their life story so I would have a better idea of the challenges they faced and the accomplishments they achieved.
Then two days later on Friday, February 8th the Center is hosting a 50’s, 60’s 70’s dance with master DJ Randy Haines spinning his imaginary 45’s – plus trivia, Name That Tune and door prizes. It is an over 21 event because Freebridge will be selling beer and The Pines selling wine. But before you come, you may want to refresh your dance moves by watching YouTube videos of American Bandstand where I learned the latest dance moves. (Okay, maybe I should say watched. Because at dances, when I was forced to attend by peer pressure, you would usually find me along the wall trying to avoid eye contact with any girl – fearing some girl would actually want to dance with me! Anyone else remember being a wallflower back then?)
This is the last week for questions about “phrases we don’t hear anymore” and I hope it is one you remember. (I asked my wife the question and she had no idea. And she’s a smart cookie!) For this week’s “Remember When” question, what was someone called who was unpopular and just not fun to hang out with? And to give you a clue since this is a difficult one, the answer I am looking for is composed of two three-letter words. Email your answer to www.mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, leave a message at 541-296-4788 or write you answer on the back of an old dish cloth.
Well, it’s been another week trying to stay on the bucking horse as long as I can. Until we meet again, as I am frequently reminded, only your true friends tell you when your zipper’s unzipped.
Here’s one of those “Isn’t that the truth” quotes I heard from John Zalaznik describing how things turn upside down as we get older, “When I was younger, I exercised so I could stay well. Now I try to stay well so I can exercise.”
I didn’t receive the February menu in time for this week’s column because Denise Patton, the director of the Meals-on-Wheels program, had other things on her mind. She and Gary are first time grandparents! Congratulations.
