Activity Update

“The month of August had turned into a griddle where the days just lay there and sizzled.”

― Sue Monk Kidd

 

   The Activity Department is sizzling with fun in August.  Watermelon Festival is a cherished annual event in our little river town!  The Watermelon Parade comes right through Montrose Health Center’s parking lot to our residents’ delight.  The floats and fanfare and music all march by while we watch from the front porch, reflecting on the watermelon heritage of our area.  During the week of the festival, our residents will be working on a watermelon print tablecloth and sampling watermelon salsa.  We sent this salsa recipe to other nursing homes with our “About Montrose, Iowa” sheet and postcard in our Vintage Voyagers project. Try it out for yourselves!

Recipe:  Montrose Watermelon Salsa—Chop finely 2c. watermelon (no seeds), ½ c. peeled cucumbers, ¼ c. red onion, ¼ c. sweet red pepper, ¼ c. mango, 1 jalapeno pepper (if you like the heat!), ¼ c. fresh cilantro, 2 T. fresh basil, 2T fresh mint.  Mix 3 T. honey with 2 T. lime juice and a pinch of salt.  Drizzle over the rest.  Refrigerate for an hour and serve with tortilla chips or pita chips.

   August also brings Bryson’s Special End-of-Summer Party. Bryson, a kind eleven-year-old young man, has been faithfully volunteering with us this summer.  Wearing many hats, he has helped with exercises, crafts, snacks, floats, art, squirt guns, the dunk tank, and games. He did a lemonade stand, donating the proceeds to the activity department. We used some of these funds to rent the dunk tank for a little summer fun.  Our residents love visiting with him and hearing about his baseball season and basketball camp. Now, he plans to put on a pizza party for our folks with his own birthday money.  At resident council, he polled the residents for what types of pizzas, pops, and snacks they wanted to have. Bryson is the son of our Director of Nursing, Emily Smith.  He is truly one of the MHC family!