February 2025 February 2025 | Page 23

Their work is on display at the Activity Center art wall
Charbonneau Villager February 2025 A23

Solo Sisters

By CANDY FERGUSON

We ' re still friends after catering a holiday party

In last month ’ s Villager article for Solo Sisters , I talked about our plans for our holiday party . In order to allow the party to be BYOB , we the planning committee had canceled
FERGUSON the caterer and decided to go ahead and prepare the holiday dinner ourselves . This would be
a true test of friendship , because those of us on the committee are good friends , but not chefs or caterers or even event planners . My background is in operations for event planning . Someone else came up with the plan , often promising the undeliverable , and I had to deliver the event . So , as the committee met to discuss ideas for the holiday party and the decision was made to release the caterer and prepare dinner for 40 guests ourselves , my PTSD immediately began to kick in .
The committee had one important vendor on our team as we planned our holiday party : Costco ! That was our secret weapon , and we would never have been able to pull off the delicious dinner we served without its help . I don ’ t know about you , but after a month of holiday
celebrations , I am over Costco food ! But our dinner was early in the month , and this was a meal , and it received rave reviews . Each committee member was in charge of preparing one dish in the dinner , with Mary Costa getting the largest share by having three spiral hams to warm up . I went online and bought disposable chaffing dishes so the food would stay hot once it arrived at the club .
Of course , transporting the food to the club was a challenge too . Mary had three heavy hams , I had scalloped potatoes , Bobbie cooked up six pounds of green beans , Deanna made enough salad for an army and Shirley transported and cut up three cheesecakes . What a feast ! Kristine and CCC decorated the Fireplace Room better than we had ever
seen it before . Our 42 guests arrived with wine bottles in hand and a wrapped gift for a gift exchange and we partied until we dropped . Truly dropped . I have put on events for hundreds , thousands of people , but old age has set in I guess , and I was exhausted by the end of the evening . The rest of the committee was pretty pooped too , so we may have to rethink this for next year . And , after all the hard work , we were still friends !
If you are a single woman living in Charbonneau , and you would like to meet other single women of varied interests and energy levels , please contact Deanna Morgan by email at deannamorgan @ gmail . com , and she will be happy to reach out to you .

Elaine Luneke ’ s art students are showing watercolors through February

Their work is on display at the Activity Center art wall

By LESLIE LEEPER Charbonneau resident
Did you know that we have watercolor classes here in the Activity Center for beginner and advanced students ? On display through February are some of Elaine ’ s students ’ works . Stop by our Activity Center to see the Community Art
Wall adorned with these various styles and subject matters .
If you are interested in a fun opportunity to learn watercolor basics , a Valentine ’ s themed “ Paint & Sip ” class will be offered at the Activity Center on Feb . 7 beginning at 4 p . m . The cost is $ 25 and all supplies and snacks will be provided . If you are interested , want to sign up or want additional information , contact Elaine at 503-989-1540 or Eluneke @ aol . com .
Student art is on display this month at the Activity Center art wall .

Thank you C harbonneau

FLORENCE “ FLOSSIE ” SEXTONBRUCE
Dear Charbonneau community ,
Our family would like to express our deepest gratitude to all of you for the support you have shown following the passing of our mother at the age of 92 . She was privileged to call Charbonneau home for over 40 years . She forged many meaningful friendships and happy memories with you and she asked us to thank you for those many decades together . The outpouring of compassion from this community has been a great comfort to our family during this difficult time . Your heartfelt condolences , thoughtful gestures and kind words have truly helped us navigate through this loss . Our mother often spoke about how much she appreciated the warm , welcoming spirit of Charbonneau and it is clear she was surrounded by wonderful , caring people who enriched her life in so many ways . Thank you once again for being such an important part of her journey . Your support and care mean more to us than words can express .
With heartfelt appreciation , The Family of Florence “ Flossie ” SextonBruce , Brenda and Brian

Sunshine

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is near the patient and the caregiver can snap the monitor onto their belt and hear if they are called to duty . This is so much better than calling out or running back and forth to check !
We ’ ve also got a few bedside tables that can be raised or lowered and move about on wheels , perhaps to other rooms . They are very lightweight and easy to wipe clean .
If you ever have a few minutes to spare , visit the Activity Center and take a tour of our room . Just phone one of our volunteers to meet you there ; the CCC staff does not assist in this ! It ’ s only our team that will do so .
And a gentle reminder , again — please return items within a decent timeframe ( approximately six-toeight weeks ). Any longer than that , you might get a phone call to nudge you along .
Stay warm , stay busy , and , most of all , stay healthy !