Senior Connections Celebrate December Birthdays

Seniors have had some wonderful days at Senior Connections this grand month of December 2023. The week started off with some musical notes that soothed our souls as we listened to the music of Dave Hollas. He goes by the nickname, “Super Dave,” which was given to him while he was in college. Dave Hollas was “super” to us, that is for sure.

As soon as he began strumming his guitar, people were attentive and sitting up, ready for this moment. Music does make the world go round, and Super Dave’s music was no exception. He played some old country western songs, he played some old music from crooners back in the day, he threw in some old Czech songs, and a German song about the men who worked in the brewery while in the old country.

Super Dave brought smiles to our faces, and lifted us up with his style and charisma. He brought an accordion with him, so when someone asked what he could play on it, he picked it up and belted out some polka music. Wow, did that get people’s toes tapping. Then Mr. Gus Torres asked him if he knew how to play the Old Rancho Grande song, and durn if Super Dave didn’t start playing it. Then he started singing in Spanish, too.

Well, Gus stood up and asked our Director, Cindy Villarreal, to dance, right there, in front of everyone. She said there was no way she could say no because she did not want to embarrass him, and so, she danced. It was awesome, and everyone clapped and laughed with them, and it was a great moment of friendship and respect. These are the kind of moments that cement the relationships we have with our members and with each other. So, now we know, that Super Dave Hollas has already been asked to come back in the spring, and he said yes. Thank you, Super Dave Hollas, for sharing your talent with us. We will see you again, after the New Year.

The next day was special too, as Vicki Woodard came in to call Bingo. She purchased a new Bingo set up for the center and wanted to be the first to use it. Well, then she said she had never called Bingo before, but that’s all right, we told her, we’ll show you how! We had so much fun with Vicki, as she learned the ropes of Bingo calling, and prize selection. She brought in so many bingo prizes that were special and different from our usual prizes, and that generated much excitement.

On Wednesday, there were four December birthdates to celebrate with members who were present and one who could not join us on this day. That’s right, we had Gloria Miksch, Julie Clements, Betty Stolarski, Carelie Ahlschlager, and Cathy Besetsny celebrate birthdays and we wanted them to know that we care about them and that they are special to us. They blushed as we sang Happy Birthday to them, and thanked us for thinking of them.

On Thursday, members boarded the Schuber Van and we headed west along Hwy. 90 into Flatonia for a movie and lunch. The Lyric Theater has been very good to Senior Connections, and for our members. Terry and John Knotts, the owners, are always ready to open up for us to get on the road to go see a movie at their place. We saw the original “Raiders of the Lost Ark” with a young Harrison Ford, which we all enjoyed. We then asked Terry and John to join us for lunch at Jamie’s Café at the Auction Barn in Flatonia. Boy, do they serve some good food. We call them “country-boy servings” because they will fill up your plate. All this action, and we still made it back to the Center by 2 p.m., just as scheduled. Whew, it was a great day.

Fridays are our ARTS (Arts for Rural Texas) days and members enjoy attending classes at their Schulenburg Campus. Projects were worked on and/or completed, under the watchful eyes of our instructor, Stephanie Shroyer. The best news is that starting in January of 2024, they will start having ARTS for Seniors on every Friday morning, from 10 a.m. to noon, and will continue to finish up with a lite lunch at Senior Connections. We know how blessed we are to have this wonderful program, great instructors, and a variety of art projects to work on, to learn from, and to grow in our skills and talents, too.

As you can see, we have been busy, and we enjoy the work we do. Our mission is simple: to enhance the quality of life for the seniors we serve. We thank you in advance, for everyone’s ongoing support. The work we do is made visible by the support of our community, and we end this year on a truly grateful note.