September 2014
Volume 15, Issue 1
FRAUD PROTECTION
Chamber Coffee
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
National Grandparents Day falls on the
first Sunday after Labor Day every year. It
was founded for the purpose of enhancing
the bond of love between grandparents and
grandchildren and heightening awareness of
the needs of the elderly in long term care
facilities. The motto of the holiday is
“Make Every Day Grandparents
Day!”
Wes t e r n Nigh t
5:15 p. m. Concer t i na m usic
w i t h Lyle
5:45 p. m. “Sou t h er n Swee t BBQ ”
Sup pe r
6:45 p. m. “ Dyna m ic Duo ”
Thursda y
Sep t e m b e r 1 1, 2 0 1 4
The Internal Revenue Service
is again warning the public about
phone scams that continue to
claim victims all across the
country, including assisted living residents. In
these scams, thieves make unsolicited phone
calls to their intended victims. Callers
fraudulently claim to be from the IRS and
demand immediate payment of taxes by a
prepaid debit card or wire transfer. The callers
are often hostile and abusive. The Treasury
Inspector General has received 90,000
complaints about these scams and estimates
that thieves have stolen approximately $5
million.
To avoid becoming a victim, you should
know:
The IRS will first contact you by mail if you
owe taxes, not by phone.
The IRS never asks for credit, debit or
prepaid card information over the phone.
The IRS never insists that you use a
specific payment method to pay your taxes.
The IRS never requests immediate payment
over the telephone.
Don’t be fooled by the partial information that
they may have about you such as the last 4
digits of your social security number or email
address.
If a scammer does call you, call the IRS,
report it to the Treasury
Inspector General and the
Federal Trade Commission.
Thank you!
Pastor Jean Zeittlow, Father Duchaine,
Catholic Lay Ministers, St. John’s Circle
and the area churches for religious
services.
Kathleen Hawkins for conducting Bible
Study each week.
Connie Toben, Marge Roder, Janice Renken,
Janice Albert and Norma Schuster our
manicure ladies.
Marilyn Hoffman, Etta DeJager, Jan
DeRaad, Judy Majeres, and Helen
DeStigter for calling bingo.
Le Mars Public Library staff for hosting
the Book Review.
Kathy Gordon, Kay Koch, Carla Jenness and
Darlene Jurrens for music on Wednesdays.
Betty Dutcher and friends for providing
craft club.
Lois Hageman, Helen DeStigter, Etta
DeJager, Judy Majeres and Rosanne Hoss
for helping with breakfast service.
Helen DeStigter and Tim & Curt Winquist
for sweet corn.
Dr. Oelke and staff for conducting the
Foot Clinic.
Connie Toben for the beautiful tomatoes.
Mary VanHill, Don DeJager, Denny
Mathers and Beth Schlitche for the
cucumbers.
Marge Roder, Lindsey Den Ouden and
Norma Schuster for helping with the
Dreams Dance outing.
Thank you to the family of
Virginia Petersen for the monetary
donation in memory of Virginia.
Treasured Memories
We had a great time learning
about all the different types of
squirrels from Sally Ortmann.
The title of her program was
“Squirrels, love’ em or hate’ em.” Everyone
seemed to be on the side of love the
squirrels.
We have had several
requests to make the recycled
greeting card placemats again
for Craft Club. So, this month the ladies
began by cutting out all their greeting cards.
Next month they will laminate the cards
between two pieces of contact paper to
make the placemats.
Summer is here and we have been
enjoying the fruits and vegetables
of the season. The residents have
been preparing tomatoes, sweet
corn, cucumbers, peas and peaches. We’ve
had lots of conversations about recipes,
gardens and preserving produce.
We attended the 7th
annual Dreams Dance at the
Avalon Ballroom in Remsen, Iowa.
Happy Siesta nursing home
sponsored the event. The
residents enjoyed big band music by
“Sentimental Sing” and a catered meal. The
meal included “Majeres” square hamburgers,
a Remsen tradition, along with beans, chips
and homemade bars. The residents also
enjoyed watching people dance and the little
kids dancing.
Our sympathy to the family of
Nadine Sailer who passed away on
August 10.
Kara’s Comments
A new lesson I have learned this month: My boss needs to add this to her job description,
“Must have passion if not obsession with excel worksheets.” I have a new respect for the
amount of tracking our Director does. In her absence I have been tracking census, occupancy
rates, food costs, billables, employee hours, education, quality assurance, advertising costs,
maintenance requests and rolls of toilet paper ordered (240 rolls since January if you must
know), among other things. No wonder my girls think I am strange when at home I am trying to
get them to sign the report I created tracking the number of green beans eaten versus the
number of green beans on the floor and how that correlates to the number of chicken nuggets
consumed. I have faith that Tammy (RN) will set up an intervention if things progress.
On a different note we are once again preparing for the changing of seasons and the start
of football!
“O we will fight, fight, fight for Iowa State, and may her colors ever fly. Yes, we will fight with
might for Iowa State, with a will to do or die”. Or how about this one: “There is no place like
Nebraska, dear old Nebraska U. Where the girls are the fairest, the boys are the squarest, of
any old school that I knew.” Yes, I am a Nebraska fan (it was a condition of marriage per
my in-laws).
There is nothing better than watching college football and hearing the school fight song.
What should a fight song inspire? Team spirit? Courage? Resilience? Commitment? These
qualities may be needed on the field but are also valued in the workplace. I wonder what Park
Place staff would choose for our fight song? Maybe this could be a discussion topic at our next
staff meeting. Where I will be tracking attendance, of course.
Every September we celebrate National Assisted Living Week. We will have many special
activities planned. Families and friends are always invited to our Chamber Coffee and Western
Night. There is no need to RSVP and it doesn't cost anything for you to come! So please join
us. The theme this year is “The Magic of Music” to showcase the integral role that music plays
in our lives every day.
Until next month….
Kara Hitchler
p.s. U of I was not accidentally left out of this article. It was intentional. :)
Thank you to Ray and Lois
Grinstead and the staff at
McDonalds for helping us to make
our “Be Happy” day a success.
Thank you to Karen Konz
for the condiments.
Residents enjoyed their
“happy meals.”
Mailing
Address
Goes
Here
9/1 Labor Day
9/4 Newspaper Carrier Day
9/5 Be Late For Something Day
9/7 Grandparents Day
9/15 8-Track Tape Day
9/17 Constitution Day
9/19 Talk Like a Pirate Day
9/20 International Eat
an Apple Day
9/21 Wife Appreciation Day
9/22 First Day of Autumn
September Birthdays
9/24
Aggie Sitzmann
Transitions
Welcome to
Gus and Ann Puetz in Apt 104
Marlyce Christensen in Apt 212
Goodbye to
Mary Ann Freking who moved to Happy
Siesta in Remsen.