Auburn Homes & Services Resident Newsletter February 2022

In this Newsletter:

Valentine's Day Festivities
Auburn Manor Resident Celebrates 99th Birthday
AHS Activities Around the Winter Olympics
Paying Tribute to our Life Enrichment and Therapeutic Recreation Staff
Local Schools Make an Impact at AHS
February Activities Schedules
Pastor's Corner with Reverend Doctor Jennifer Moran

Valentine's Day Festivities

Auburn residents enjoyed many Valentine's Day events over the last week including Valentine themed crafts, luncheons, chocolates and candy hearts, and visits from family and friends.

Stuffing Treat Bags with Valentines and Candy.

Couples Luncheon at the Petals Café in Waconia.

Auburn Manor Valentine's Day Luncheon.

Valentine's Day Smiles from Auburn Manor Residents.

All Saints Sixth Grade Confirmation Class Delivered Handmade Valentines to Auburn Home Residents.

More Valentine's Day Goodies from All Saints Sixth Grade

Confirmation Class.

Auburn Manor Residents Enjoy Visits from their Loved Ones.

Auburn Courtyard Residents got in the Valentine's Day Spirit by Painting Hearts for Picture Holders.

Auburn Manor Resident Celebrates 99th Birthday

Vi shows off a few of her Valentine's Day and Birthday cards as well as a bevy of balloons and gifts.

Vi Scharrer, Auburn Manor resident, not only celebrated Valentine's Day on February 14th, but also her 99th birthday!

Vi was born in Litchfield, MN and lived primarily in Minnesota for most of her life, but she did live in Michigan during her teenage years where she graduated from Coldwater Michigan High School in 1942. She has also lived in Aitkin, Willmar, Hopkins and now in Chaska.

One of her earliest memories was that she and her family lived on a farm with no electricity; she would watch her mother wash clothes on a washboard with a crank that her father found. She also recalls playing with a "lovely doll carriage" that the owners of a duplex her family once lived in would let her play with.

Vi "loved to work" and had "oodles of jobs" during her younger years including working at Penney's in Willmar where she has many happy memories. She recalls a time when one of her co-workers put a "skinned pig tail" in her purse as a prank; Vi got her back by placing clam tails in her gloves. She remembers the scream her co-worker let out when she put her hands in the gloves!

Vi loves all of the Valentine's Day and Birthday balloons she received on February 14th.

Very animated with her hands, Vi tells the story of the clam tails in her co-workers gloves.

A self-taught artist, Vi has created in multiple mediums throughout her life. Her daughter, Ranee, shared that her mom's use of "colored pencils is remarkable...she blends colors and is able to simulate unbelievable textures".

One of the things that Vi is most proud of was the 20+ years she spent being a member of the "Chan-o-laires", a senior choir based out of the Chanhassen Senior Center. She loved to sing and perform and was a beloved member of the group. On her birthday just two days ago, she had several current members of the Chan-o-laires stop by to wish her well, give her flowers and perform songs for her. What a wonderful tribute!

Vi had two younger siblings (Gerald and George), has three children (Ranee, Michael and Fritz, Jr.), and four grandchildren along with 11 great-grandchildren. She is truly blessed and all of us at Auburn Homes & Services wish her a very happy 99th birthday!

The Winter Olympics Come to Auburn Homes & Services!

Auburn residents on both our Waconia and Chaska campuses have been enjoying Olympic themed activities over the last week as we celebrate the 2022 winter games.

Auburn Meadows residents taking part in the Biathlon which consists of skiing and shooting.

Taking aim in the shooting portion of the Biathlon.

"She shoots, she scores!!"

Lining up the perfect shot in the hockey event.

The popular event of Curling was a hit for the residents.

Meadows staff getting in the Olympic spirit in red, white and blue.

Auburn Courts' Atrium was decorated with flags from around the world in honor of the Olympic athletes.

The Garden Café's Chef, Kathi W., baked Olympic themed cupcakes for the residents and staff.

A TV was placed in the Atrium with round the clock coverage of the games, complete with an Olympic Torch "burning" brightly next to it.

Marshmallow stacking may not be an Olympic event (yet), but it sure put the pressure on our Courts resident stacking for gold!

February 2022 is Life Enrichment and Therapeutic Recreation Appreciation Month

Our Life Enrichment and Therapeutic Recreation staff members serve our residents with integrity, compassion and empower them to live a life with purpose. This month we salute them for all that they do to help enrich our resident's lives through exercise, creativity, fun activities, special events, outings, birthday and holiday celebrations, music, mindfulness and so much more. THANK YOU!

RT and LE staff appreciation 2_16_22.jpg

Auburn Homes & Services Life Enrichment and Therapeutic Recreation Staff are the Best!! Be Sure to Thank Them When You See Them for their Loving and Amazing Work with Your Loved Ones.

Local School Donations and Projects highlight the Giving and Creative Natures of our Youth.

Besides the All Saints Sixth Grade Confirmation class making handmade Valentine's and giving them to our residents as highlighted above, we also received a wonderful donation from the Chanhassen National Honor Society who donated handmade, handtied blankets. Our Auburn Homes residents were grateful to receive these cozy blankets, especially during this cold winter!

Well done, Carter! Carter is an intelligent and innovative third grader at St. Joseph’s STEM school in Waconia. The third graders each have the month of January to work on a business project. They select a Waconia business, set up an interview, take pictures, create a model of the business, write a report and then present it to their class.

Carter chose Auburn Meadows for his business. He interviewed Mary Krant, Executive Director of Housing, for his project. He created a model of Auburn Meadows and a poster board with pictures and descriptions.

During Catholic Schools week there is an Open House and also Generation Day where the business projects are displayed for the public to come and view. The student answer questions about their business, the process and what they learned.

Amy Myers, Therapeutic Recreation Director for Auburn Manor, receives the donated blankets from Ava Kloke, a Chanhassen National Honor Society student.

Carter standing proudly in front of his project.

The poster board and model Carter made for his presentation.

Model of Auburn Meadows, complete with a layout of each floor's floor plan.

February has been an active month already for activities as you saw and read above, but there are still plenty of fun planned for our residents in the remaining two weeks including exercise with the "Hall Walkers", "The Price is Right", Bingo, Bunco, "Music With Mary", "Entertainment with the Singing Cowgirl", An outing to Red Lobster, continuing Olympic Winter Games activities, Birthday party celebrations and more!

Check out your resident's February Activities Calendar to see which ones are available to them by clicking on the appropriate link below:

Auburn Home, Auburn Meadows,

Auburn Manor, Auburn Courts

Want to know what activities are available by location at the beginning of the month? Go to our website and click on your locations web page to find a downloadable activities calendar for the month.

The Pastor's Corner with Reverend Doctor Jennifer Moran

February 2022

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Dear Auburn Family and Friends,

Here in Minnesota we are counting down the days until spring arrives. 32 days to go! In the church calendar, we have an unusually long period between Christmas and Lent this year. Easter is late, April 17^th, which means that Ash Wednesday isn’t until March 2^nd. In turn, that means we are still in the season of Epiphany in the church calendar. I have to admit that Epiphany is one of my favorite seasons, even though it is relatively unknown.

Epiphany is the time after Christ’s birth before we celebrate Christ’s Transfiguration and move into the Lenten season.

Epiphany is a time of awe and wonder, a time where we look for and intentionally celebrate the light of Christ in this world and in our lives. These words above from John’s Gospel remind us of what Christ brings us in his glory: grace and truth. Epiphany is a time of revelation, of “aha” moments, a time of joy as we bask in the light of Christ.

When I think of what it means for us that Jesus Christ was the Word made flesh who lived among us, I find I am grateful for his gifts of grace and truth. Grace is a gift it is easy to be thankful for. Wikipedia offers one pretty clear way to define grace: “a spontaneous gift from God to people – ‘generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved’ – that takes the form of divine favor, love, clemency, and a share in the divine life of God” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_in_Christianity). Clearly, grace is a wonderful gift from God, for which we are grateful!

Truth, the Gospel tells us, is also a gift from God. One definition of truth is: “the actual state of a matter, an adherence to reality, or an indisputable fact” (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/truth). Humanity sometimes finds ourselves a little less grateful for truth than we are for grace. As Jack Nicholson famously said in “A Few Good Men,” many people “can’t handle the truth.” Truth can conflict with our desires, it can conflict with our perspectives, and it can feel relative at times. We have to dig deep to get at the truth in many circumstances. Yet it is always worth the effort to discern the truth. In John 8:31-32, Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Dwelling in God’s word allows us to discern truth.

One of my favorite Valentine’s Day stories is about truth. When I was in elementary school I loved Valentine’s Day. I loved that everyone got the same number of Valentine’s in school, I loved the chocolate, I loved people. It was perfect!

One year my parents got chocolate pudding from Byerly’s deli (not made from a powder…delicious!) to have as a special dessert Valentine’s evening. I woke up before everyone else on Valentine’s Day that year and realized that I could sneak downstairs, eat some of that pudding, and nobody would ever know the difference. Or so I thought! I was usually a pretty truthful child, but the allure of that good chocolate pudding was too much for me to resist. I ate a couple of healthy spoonfuls, smoothed the pudding over so nobody could tell some was missing, and then settled down to read a book until everyone woke up.

The first thing my parents always did was give us a little gift for the holiday, which was a pretty pink satin hair bow this particular year. After my sister and I had opened these, my mom kind of paused, looked at me, and said, “Jenny, do you have anything you’d like to tell us?” Well, my mostly truthful heart panicked. I thought, “how could she know I ate the pudding? I should just tell her that I didn’t have anything to share! But maybe I should just tell the truth. That’s always better in the end.”

So I said, sheepishly, “Well, I ate some chocolate pudding this morning.” There was a heavy silence. Then my parents burst out laughing! I was confused, to say the least. Finally, my mom caught her breath and said, “I am so glad you told us the truth. You have chocolate pudding all over your lips!” Was I ever glad I had told the truth.

Truth is as great a gift as grace. It requires hard work, but it is hard work done in the light of Christ. When we dwell in Christ and his Word, we receive grace and truth, which gives us the strength to speak the truth.

I am grateful for each of you who make up this Auburn community. As we dwell in the light of Christ’s grace and truth, may we be strengthened to do his work and share his love with the world.

In the Spirit of Christ’s Love,

Pastor Jenny