WINNETT SENIOR NEWS

March

Mar 4 -No information received.

Mar 11 - Twenty-five seniors and eleven take-out orders enjoyed a luncheon of curry pork, corn casserole, cottage cheese, fruit cheesecake, and fruit cups.

Linda reported that the foot clinic was very well attended. The next clinic will be in two months. She will let everyone know at that time what date it will be.

Bingo will be on Sunday at 1:30. Come out and enjoy a fun afternoon of bingo.

There was a lot of discussion among everyone on their different reactions to the 2nd Covid shot they received. A few had fairly severe reactions, but most were mild or not reaction at all. Patti will get more information from the Central Montana Health District about relaxing some of the Covid rules for the senior center.

Everyone enjoyed visiting and talking together. Hopefully, we can begin to play cards again soon. See you next week.

Mar 18 - There were twenty-eight members present and eleven take-out orders today. Our menu was corned beef and cabbage, mashed potatoes, carrots, and pistachio salad. Joan Murphy was able to be with us today. We are always glad when Joan can make it to Winnett from Billings and enjoy our time together. There will be bingo again on March 28.

Sharon Martin joined seniors. It is great to have new members join up. The monthly newsletter from Area II Council on Aging is here. Please be sure to pick up one.

Gary told an Ole’ and Sven story. Patti and Luann reported on the progress of the kitchen design at the Petroleum County Community Center.

Mar 25 - Twenty-five members and thirteen take-out orders had a lunch of chili with toppings, cheese slices, and cinnamon twists.

We need to decide what we want to take to the PCCC. That will help with detailed planning. Luann told the group about the Heritage Wall plans. Plans for the PCCC are continuing and the seniors are still working on being able to request what they would like to have in the PCCC.

April

Apr 1 - There were twenty-seven members and nine take-out orders today. Hamburgers, company potatoes, vegetable salad, and peach cobbler was enjoyed by all.

Guests today were Brenda Brady, Laura Nowlin, and Brandi Lang. They were here as part of the PCCC committee. There was a lot of discussion on the use of the meeting area.

We can begin playing cards together again and doing 50/50. Covid rules are being relaxed and more opportunities to get back to normal are coming back.

Apr 8 - Roast beef, mashed potatoes with brown gravy, fiesta corn, mixed melon salad, and chocolate sheet cake was our delicious lunch today. Eighteen members and nine take-out orders were here to enjoy our meal.

Donna is feeling stronger and should be back next week. Bingo will be this coming Sunday at 1:30. Hope to see you there.

Gary talked about the senior “walk around” with PCCC committee members last week. Everyone was asked to think about what they would like to see included in a contract with the PCCC.

Apr 15 - There were twenty-eight members and nine take-out orders for today. Our meal today was breakfast casserole, blueberry muffins, fresh fruit, and stuffed celery sticks.

Senior newsletters and newspapers are here. They did not send enough so please take one of each per family. Thank you.

Jim Johnke invited everyone to attend a celebration of life for his brother Martin on July 31. It will be at Flatwillow Cemetery.

There will be bingo again on April 25 at 1:30. They reached their goal of making $1,000 to donate to the swimming pool. Thank you all who have faithfully come out and supported our projects and enjoying a fun afternoon of bingo.

Flatwillow Hall will be celebrating being 100 years old on the 4th of July weekend. We’re not sure yet of which date our party will be, but there will a BBQ, music and dancing, and weather permitting, fireworks. Everyone is welcome. It will be an Independence Day party like parties used to be. More specific details will be coming later.

Gary introduced his niece and nephew who were visiting from Washington. Melody introduced her friend Ann O Rourke. She is visiting here from Pullman, OR.

Gary would like to have a committee to iron out questions and concerns about moving over to the PCCC. There are some areas in question on what the seniors would like to see addressed. The seniors feel like they are losing space for their meetings and lunch. Luann spoke that her priority was for the seniors and the PCCC does not seem to want to work with our group. We don’t have to move over there, and we’d like to have more talks with the PCCC committee members. The committee for seniors will be Gary as chairman, Phillip Iverson, Butch Arthur, Carol Ann Schaeffer, and Patti Kiehl. They will get together with the PCCC committee and discuss their concerns.

The Farmer to Family boxes will be delivered today to Winnett. Please be sure to grab a box. There is a gallon of milk, onions, potatoes, and frozen chicken patties.

Cassie gave a report on the Easter Egg hunt. She took it over and it turned out great. There was a great turnout. There were 30-40 kids. Judy Bevis stuffed over 500 easter eggs for the kids to find. Thank you to the seniors who donated toward the Easter Egg hunt.

Apr 22 - Thirty-seven members were here today to enjoy our birthday meal of oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes with milk gravy, fresh salad, cranberries, birthday cake and ice cream. Thank you to Ginger who made the birthday cakes this month.

Haley was here helping Patti. Pat Weingart passed away. There are no services planned but you can donate to the Petroleum County Endowment Fund in her memory. Graveside serves were held for Ellen Woods yesterday at the Winnett Cemetery.

Luann reminded us that bingo will be Sunday the 25th in the basement courthouse. This will be our last bingo before summer.

Gary reported on the meeting with the PCCC committee. He felt we gained some ground and were able to talk about some of the concerns. Check out the updated map of the plans for the PCCC. They are agreeing to give the seniors a little more space.

We are able to start doing the 50/50 again. Ginger won $8.00 Congratulations!

Donna encouraged everyone to read their senior newsletters. It had an article on the top 10 scans listed. The #1 scam is having to do with Covid.

Apr 29 - Twenty-five members and ten take-out orders enjoyed a meal of Shepherd’s Pie with mashed potatoes, cottage cheese orange fluff salad, and bread pudding. It was delicious.

The town clean up is planned for this Saturday, May 1. Luann again thanked everyone for the tremendous turn out for bingo. We will begin again in the fall.

Linda mentioned the foot clinic will be May 10 in Winnett at the apartments. She had a sign up sheet for anyone who wanted to attend the clinic.

Babs won the 50/50 for $6.50. Congratulations. Diane Iverson wanted to say a special thank you to Luann for helping with the Farmers to table boxes. It was great and a wonderful help to many people.

The CMHD will be in Winnett at the school gym today for covid shots. Today is the last day for Covid shots in Winnett. If you receive your first shot today, they will make available 2nd shots. Otherwise, after today, you will need to go to Lewistown for your shots.

Melody and Carol Ann did eye screenings at the school today.

Graduation for Winnett School is May 16 at 1:00 in the gym. Last day of school for the rest of the students will be Thursday, May 20. See you next week.

FLATWILLOW NEWS

Flatwillow Homemakers had their last meeting before summer break on Tuesday, May l1. We went to a new place in Billings to eat called the Marble Table. It is on Montana Avenue. Sandi made the reservations and we all carpooled from Winnett to Billings. The new owners are wonderful, and the food was delicious. They just opened on Black Friday in November and have been so busy, they have outgrown their current spot, so they bought the building next door and are expanding. That is a great recommendation considering there was a pandemic going on and they have a successful business. If you want to try a new eating place in Billings, this is a great one. You can look up their website, The Marble Table, and it will give you their location, hours, menu, and other information. Raye Anne and Luann each drove a carload of ladies. Raye Anne had Donna Lund, Jean Cook, Bonnie Moore, and Florence Wacker with her. Luann had Ginger Moore, Lillian Moore, Melody Whitcher, and Babs Lea in her vehicle and Sandi met us there. After our meal several of our Homemakers headed for home, and another group stopped at several little shops in the area. It was a fun day to end our year. We will start up again in September. See you then.

There will be a celebration of life for Shari Gardner in the Winnett Gym on June 7 at 11:00. There will be a short service and then a potluck to be enjoyed by all. We lost Shari last fall so now we get to remember her with her family and friends. There is also a celebration of life for Bonnie Allen on June 12 at the Allen residence in Winnett. It is a potluck and a chance to say goodbye to Bonnie and visit with family.

If you wish to give a memorial in memory of Pat Weingart, you can give to the Petroleum County Endowment Fund. She passed away a short time ago, and no services were planned. She was a big part of Petroleum County for many years. County Commissioner, 4-H leader, and rancher are just a few of the hats she wore.

Graduation day in Winnett was Sunday, May 16 at 1:00. We had four graduates of WHS and wish them the best as they begin a new adventure. Last Sunday was graduation day in both Roundup and Lewistown. We have friends and family that graduated from both of these schools. We wish them all well as they, too, begin a new journey and adventure after high school. I actually attended the graduation in Lewistown at the Fergus County High School. Our niece graduated. We did have to have tickets to get in and an assigned area to sit in, but it was so nice that all the graduates in 2021 were able to have a graduation ceremony with family and friends. Good luck to all of you.

Kody Lund and Kelly Krutzfeld’s wedding is Saturday, June 5. Shelby Browning and Justin Murnion’s wedding is Saturday June 12. Another classmate of Kody and Justin from Winnett, Braden Jolma is getting married on July 17. Lots of weddings coming up. I am so glad to see they are able to have nice weddings with restrictions easing up from Covid. Life is getting back to normal, and it is great to see.

These last few weeks have been so busy as everyone is finishing up with calving, lambing, trying to finish planting and getting our gardens in. We have received nice rain the last couple of times it has rained, but we could use a lot more. Hope everyone has a great summer, and we all get more much needed rain. May is over, and now we welcome June.