Aging Well in the Gorge April 24th 2019

The Northwest Cherry Festival is just days away thanks to the hard work of the Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce team. As part of the festivities, the Center is hosting a 50’s Dance sponsored by Flagstone Senior Living on Friday, April 26th. Doors open at 6:00 and the music starts at 6:30 with Randy Haines spinning hits from the 50’s including from his favorite vocalist Ol’ Blue Eyes Frank Sinatra. The Pines and Freebridge will be providing the beverages. Tickets are $5.00 and will be sold at the door.

Then on Saturday at the Center between 8:00 – 9:30, you can enjoy a delicious breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, ham, fruit and a beverage for only $6.00 for adults and $3.00 for children twelve and under. The crowning of our special guests, the Cherry Festival Royalty, will take place at 8:30. And before everyone leaves for the parade, the drawing for a beautiful handmade quilt will be a 9:00.  It’s all fun down the “Cherry Brick Road”.

Nehemiah Brown will be back for the first of his 2019 performances thanks to the support of The Dalles Health and Rehabilitation Center. He will be performing on Friday, May 3^rd between 11:30 and 1:30 - before and after the Meals-on-Wheels’ noon dinner. With a buttery smooth voice, Nehemiah sings pop, country, and gospel standards from the 50’s and 60’s. There is no cost, but you are welcome to enjoy lunch for a suggested donation of $4.00 for anyone 60 and over or $6.00 for anyone under 60.

Once again, a big thank-you to Bruce and Lori Harris of Today’s Rays for checking and turning on the Center’s irrigation system. Besides the sugar ants making their appearance on my kitchen counter, I always know it’s finally spring when Bruce shows up.

And a quick plug for volunteer drivers. The Meals-on-Wheels program is looking for volunteers to join their loyal cadre of drivers. Every driver can share stories of how they have personally connected with the folks on their route. Besides receiving one nutritious meal a day, the daily connection can make a critical difference in a person’s life.

Also, GOBHI (Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc.) is looking for volunteer drivers for their Non-Emergency Medical Transportation program to better connect eligible community members in need of rides to healthcare providers. Volunteers receive training and support and will be reimbursed at the Federal Rate for travel which I believe is now fifty-eight cents per mile. If you enjoy driving, have a dependable car and like working with folks, call GOBHI at 541-298-2001 or email cross@gobhi.org.

The name of a coin-operated music playing device was a Jukebox. I received correct answers from Betty Weston, Jim Ayers, Ron Nelson, Lana Tepfer, Marvin Elsberry, who remembers dropping a dime in 613 to play “Surrender” by the King, and Alice Mattox, the winner of a quilt raffle ticket, who remembers table top jukeboxes at Johnny’s Café. But I must also mention Betsy Ayers’ answer, Nickelodeon, which she remembers from Teresa Brewer’s #1 hit in 1950 “Put Another Nickel in the Nickelodeon” because “All I want is having you and music, music, music”.

When we can no longer remember where we parked the car - or whether we even drove it, we will probably still be able to spontaneously belt out the Mickey Mouse Club theme song. But there was another song from a 1950’s television mini-series in the same “we will never forget” category that many of us also remember - especially the boys in the audience.

For this week’s “Remember When” question, this popular 1955 ballad was about a frontiersman who was (now this is where you can start singing – but not too loud. Your younger friends may think you have lost it!) "Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee/Greenest state in the land of the free/Raised in the woods till he knew ev’ry tree/Kilt him a be ‘are when he was only three/ … king of the wild frontier.” Who was the king of the wild frontier? Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, leave a message at 541-296-4788 or return your answer inside a coonskin cap.

Well, it’s been another week, doing what I can with what I have. Until we meet again, every day is a gift – although sometimes hidden, wrapped in a crumpled month-old newspaper.

“When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap.” Cynthia Heimel Writer/Humorist