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The Clark Meadows/Ferris Hills Kitchen staff set a high bar in the culnary department.  They provide an excellent menu offering healthy delicious meals every day.   In an effort to change things up a bit, the staff who do not work in the kitchen wanted to share some of their soup recipes with our residents.  The residents were eager to taste and we were honored to have our head chef, Tony Cafarelli, sous chef, Dan Cobb, and long-time dining associate, Brittni Hewitt, come in at the end to critique our soups.  They gave us all gold stars!  The Soup Bar Lunch included Melissa's Tomato, Basil & Orzo soup, Beth's Butternut Squash, Kristen's Black Bean, Claire's Steak & Potato, Dave's Pasta Fagioli, Rebecca's Meatball Stew w/Orzo & White Beans, and Jenn's Stuffed Pepper Soup.  Thank you all for helping with this Soup Bar lunch special. It was a success!

Children’s voices in our community are a welcome sound.  Today, Grandfriends were here.  Melissa, on our activities team, was ready with a flat snow globe craft for the kids and the Grandfolks to work on together.  This group of homeschooled children has been coming here since our 4-H farm and tractor show that was held in the summer.  Megan Miller and Jessica Manning are two of the mothers working with our activities team to coordinate these monthly visits.  Last month they helped us build gingerbread houses.  Megan said, “what’s not to love about working with sprinkles and now glitter!”  She said the kids look forward to coming here.  She has a child who is on the shy side and this experience has helped her blossom and to become more confident as she interacts with our residents.  The smiles on our resident’s faces speak volumes.  It is a win-win for both generations.  The children’s ages range from 4 years to 17 years old.  This is a gem of an activity brought to Clark Meadwos by our team of caring recreation planners.

Since the beginning of December, so much has happened at Clark Meadows.  It was hard to keep up with our activity’s coordinator and her team.  They planned so many wonderful activities and events.  The magic of the holidays was brought to Clark Meadows in a special way this year with this new team of creative energy.  We have our fun traditions at Clark Meadows, but every year there are moments created that make each year memorable.  It is a time where we do miss those who aren’t with us anymore, but with the help of our activities team we created a lot of busyness, but most importantly joy.  Before we knew it, it was Christmas Eve.   On December 24^th some of us gathered for a candlelight service. Residents from Clark Meadows and Ferris Hills participated with readings and musical performances.  We turned on our battery-operated candles as we sang the closing hymn, Silent Night.  It reminded me of candlelight services I attended as a child, but this one was different.  This community touches me as I’m sure it does many of our staff.  The kindness, beauty, and truth that we experience from our elderly give us courage to face life cheerfully.  It is a privilege to work here and participate in the daily lives of our residents.  I took that candle with me that night and it lighted my way home.