The

Pillars

Press

December 2020

L e a d e r s h i p T e a m

Executive Director Stacy Wihlm

Outreach & Sales

Director Ashley Brown

Director of Health

Services Lisa Nussbaumer

Dimensions Coordinator

Brittney Sheeran

Resident Services Coordinator

Patty Crapser

Culinary Director Jana Larson

Director of Active

Living Heather Ballman

The Pillars of Mankato

3125 Prairie Rose Dr. Mankato, MN 56001

507-344-6777 PILLARSSENIORLIVING.COM/

MANKATO

December Residents of the Month: Don and Rosalie Adams

Our December Residents of the Month are Don and Rosalie Adams. Don and Rosalie were both born in the Mankato area. Don in rural Waldorf and Rosalie in Mankato. They met through Don’s younger sister at a dance at the Kato Ballroom when Don was back on leave from the Marine Corps. They were married on November 11th, 1958 and recently celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary. Rosalie taught school for 33 years in Mankato, MN and Rapid City, SD in both Catholic and Public Schools. Don worked for Hubbard Milling as a Sales and Marketing Manager in the flour division for almost 40 years. Hubbard moved them all over, but they spent most of their years in Mankato and Rapid City, SD. Don worked at a golf course in Rapid City after he retired until Rosalie was able to join him in retirement. During retirement they spent their summers in South Dakota and winters in Texas. They have traveled extensively going to 43 different countries and on 37 cruises. Some of their favorite trips were to Europe, South America, Australia, Russia, Egypt, and Israel. Some high-lights for Don was traveling to Alaska and Australia while Rosalie really enjoyed riding camels in Egypt and seeing the Wailing Wall in Israel. When they are not traveling the globe, they enjoy getting together with friends. Don also enjoyed woodworking, hunting and fishing in his spare time. When asked how they liked The Pillars they said, “It is a great place, where people really do a good job of taking care of us!”

DECEMBER During December, the winter solstice tips the Northern hemisphere

the furthest distance from the sun. Through most of the month, North-ern hemisphere inhabitants lose about 2 minutes of sunlight per day until the winter solstice. The winter solstice ushers in the astrological mark for winter and the shortest day on the calendar. However, from

that day forward, the days will slowly lengthen. They may not be warmer, but the Earth is tilting on its axis back toward the sun.

E b e n e z e r V a l u e s : D i g n i t y , I n t e g r i t y , S e r v i c e , C o m p a s s i o n , I n n o v a t i o n

FROM THE DIRECTORS’ DESKS

Thank you to our residents, families and staff for their patience and understanding this year during the holidays. Per the CDC and MDH recommendations, residents who leave our community for any reason other than essential outings will be required to quarantine for 14 days upon return. We understand that the measure may seem extreme, however, we must do everything we can to keep the residents and staff safe within our community. - Stacy Wihlm, Executive Director We continue our holiday season in December with some more traditional meals. We will have Oyster Stew for Christmas. On Christmas Day we will be providing a complimentary ham dinner to all of our residents and staff as we continue to discourage large family gatherings due to COVID. On New Year’s Eve, we will have a pizza party and on New Year’s Day we’ll be serving chicken kiev. If you have any questions or concerns on the menu or your meals, please let me know. I am always willing to come visit. - Jana Larson, Culinary Director Seeking Volunteers

• Dog Walking We are seeking resident volunteers that are interested in taking Parker for a walk. Please let Heather or Brittney know if you are interested. • Library We are seeking resident volunteers to help organize our library. This will include alphabetizing and shelving books as they come in. Please let Heather know if you are interested.

Dimensions Minute – During a pandemic, we may find it much

more difficult to create moments of joy. Luck-

ily, some of our leadership team was able to

hear dementia expert and author of Creating

Moments of Joy, Jolene Brackey, speak on

this exact topic in October. It is so important

in dementia care to create a warm and se-

cure environment and find ways to give com-

fort. Some ideas to comfort ourselves and

our loved ones during this time include:

wearing thick, fuzzy socks; using scented lo-

tion; sit in the sunshine; cuddle up with soft,

cozy blankets; soak your feet in warm water.

Remember it is so important to take care of

yourself- eat, sleep, fit joy into each day, and

treat your body kindly!

PARKER

We are excited to welcome Parker to The Pillars of Mankato on

December 9th.

Parker is a therapy dog and has been in training for the last year.

He is a Golden Retriever.

He likes people more than playing with other dogs but he does like to

play with other dogs.

Loves his toys squeakers and tug toys best.

Loves to be petted and meet

new people.

PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING...

We are a Toys for Tots drop location. Please consider donating a new,

unwrapped toy. The drop-off box is located by our front door.

Toys will be picked up on December 14th.

Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps

Reserve which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford

to buy them gifts for Christmas.

E M P L O Y E E O F T H E M O N T H : A B B Y C H E R N E Y

Holiday Lights At

The Pillars of Mankato

The Pillars went the extra

mile this year to bring

light into our community!

Our lights will shine

bright until Christmas.

Hot Cider Stand, Music &

Lights

December 1st, 8th, 15th

and 22nd

6:00—8:-00PM

Welcome New Residents

Please help welcome our new residents! We are so happy to have you as part of our community!

Sidney Brown

Dwain & Carole Petersen Orville Klein Tom Adams

Bonnie Dretsch

Our Employee of the Month is Abby Cherney. Abby is one of our Concierges.

She has been with us for close to a year. She is always cheerful and willing to

help out. Abby comes from a large family, she has 4 brothers and 2 sisters.

Something you may not have known about Abby is that she has her own

professional photography business, Abigale Cherney Photography.

Some Fun Facts about Abby:

Favorite Food: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Favorite Beverage: Coffee w/ Cream and Caramel Flavoring

Favorite Color: Green

Favorite Movie: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Favorite Quote: “I don’t want to be the center of anything, just a

part of something bigger.” - Amber Run

December Birthdays

Residents Dec 6 Gene May

Dec 8 Clint Lindemann Staff

Dec 10 Marilyn Slama Dec 2 Kim Royer

Dec 12 Carol Broughten Dec 20 Iman Hassan

Dec 17 Shirley Hueper Dec 23 Hannah Miiller

Dec 26 Arlene Nielsen Dec 31 Kylie Nelson

Resident

Anniversaries

Dec 1 Jim & Ermalee Menk

Dec 7 Chuck & Shirley Hueper

Dec 23 John & Nancy Peterson

Dec 27 Roland & Zada Utzinger

Dec 29 Don & Ronnie Leech