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Creighton Lodge had a wonderful December

December was a whirlwind at Creighton Lodge. We partied like it was 1969! We are so thankful for all the people who came to see us during the month of December.
Creighton Lodge
The Creighton Lodge resident Christmas dinner was once again a big hit. Photo submitted

December was a whirlwind at Creighton Lodge. We partied like it was 1969! We are so thankful for all the people who came to see us during the month of December. 

We had family members from near and far, students who brought us glorious Christmas carols, church members who came on their own to delight us with a few Christmas songs, and volunteers who took time from their busy December to ensure we were entertained. The Salvation Army brought us all calendars and cute stuffed animals.

On Dec. 10 we hosted over 200 people at our annual resident Christmas dinner. A Little Taste of Heaven catered the event; they also organized the volunteers from the Knights of Columbus to serve our dinner. Santa Claus came to bring us our lovely gifts and handwritten cards that contained a beautiful Christmas message to each of us. 

We are so blessed to have so many wonderful community volunteers that come out to ensure we have a great night. Thank you to all of you. Each year we also give thanks for our beautiful lounge expansion, which enables us to host all of our loved ones together on this special night.

The following week on Dec. 17 was our annual wine and cheese evening. This is the night where we invite everyone who volunteers, the RM councils, the management and trust committee members to come and spend the evening with our residents.   We absolutely love hosting this evening because we get to make all our favorite appetizers and see which ones are enjoyed the most. We skipped the stuffed mushrooms this year, but won’t make that mistake in 2020.

The residents enjoy the wine and cheese gala because it gives them time to socialize with the people who are behind the scenes helping to enrich their lives throughout the year. We also love meeting all the councilors from the RMs so we can put a face to the name. Thank you to everyone who attended our event. We had almost 100 people this year.

We wrapped up December with a New Year’s Eve in style. Lori Elliott and Donna Mcgillicky served lobster and T-bone steaks for us at noon. The T-bones were from our 4H beef that was donated by Torq Oil and Gas, which we saved for a special occasion. They were delicious and so was the lobster. 

We then relaxed for the afternoon while we patiently waited for Joan Wock and Bev Holinaty to host our New Year’s Eve bingo. These ladies were excellent. They brought Christmas wrapped prizes and it brought back memories of when the legion hosted their annual Christmas bingos.

Jesse Hochstein brought out the meat and cheese trays with a sparkling punch and we brought in the New Year with our hats, horns and beads. What a great party we had.

Our December birthdays were celebrated with entertainment by Judy Pratt and the St. Paul’s United Church choir. Adeline Wanner, Marco Stasiuk and Blanche Keating all celebrated December birthdays. Blanche Keating is our Christmas birthday; she celebrated her 102nd birthday on Dec. 25th.

Thank you to our sensational six volunteers who came to help serve our birthday treats, which were individual presents wrapped in chocolate with a surprise centre. They were delicious.

We said good-bye to Rose Hokanson, who passed away on Dec. 26. Our condolences go out to the Hokanson family. Rose was a part of the Creighton Lodge family and she will be missed, but her memories will continue to live on in our hearts and our stories.  

In January we will start a new year and begin the glorious task of creating new memories together. But it is December that always gives us that time to reflect on the year gone by. The best of it and also the worst. We start to pick out things we should change and so the dreaded resolution list begins. 

We think of the moments that were out of our control but we handled them to the best of our abilities and of the friends we lost with only memories to hold onto.  We can’t take the people in our lives for granted or the time we are given with them.  We know that life comes with no guarantees, so for every moment we are given, we are going to enjoy it to the fullest. Happy New Year to you all!