Living at Lakeside News

We started out the month still frozen in, but as the weather improved, so did our month.

We weren’t sure on Groundhog Day if we would have a spring fling or a winter one, but he saw his shadow, so we are preparing for some extra weeks of winter. We celebrated with a safe fire, roasted marshmallows and made s'mores.

We recognized Lanisa Nunnery on National Mail Carrier Day with a small gift to thank her for all the service she provides for each resident.

We welcomed in the 2026 Winter Olympics with some trivia and fun facts, along with a tiramisu dessert and faux wine spritzer, as Italy was the home for this year’s games.

On National Wear Red Day, most of the residents put on their red outfits and listened to a presentation given by the Carroll County Health Department. We appreciated hearing all the information about good heart health.

We had a Super Bowl Pre-Kick-Off Party with a couple of fun games, a football toss and a game score prediction board with Charles Garner being the lucky winner of a huge snack time gift basket. A special thank you goes out to Angie with Baptist Hospice for hosting a Categories activity, Ricky with Aseracare for making Cupid Shakes for residents and to Becky with Cherrywood Post Acute for her Cupid Arrows Game. We switched things up and played nighttime Bingo, and we had a full house and gave a bunch of prizes away.

Our residents love celebrating holidays and they love to cook, so we had lots of fun when we combined the two and made Mardi Gras King Cakes at a cooking class.

February is the month of love, and we showed it. Residents filled funnels with treats, wrapped them in foil and put personalized messages to employees to mimic chocolate candy kisses for a Valentine surprise. Valentine's Day, we had a sweetheart luncheon with a heart-shaped cake with fresh berries and whipped topping. Residents cast their ballots for who will represent us as the Lakeside Sweetheart King and Queen. The winners this year are Clark Brown and Sue Smith. Our Royalty was gifted a beautiful crown, a scepter, a cape, a gift basket for each from Evans Clinic and a basket from Gentiva Hospice.

We went to the Carroll County Senior Valentine Dance, which was hosted by the Carroll County Office on Aging, McKenzie Senior Center and Lakeside Senior Living. The first 50 guests were gifted with a candy heart of chocolate provided by Dr. Merrick and Hometown Health Clinic, along with two gourmet cookie boxes for a guessing game door prize. Lifecare of Bruceton provided the Homemade Lasagna; Carl Byars provided spaghetti, salad and rolls; and Lakeside provided the cherry cobbler and cheesecake, along with heart M&Ms that were used as tabletop decorations. We had a great time, and we hope many seniors will come out March 3 for the free community St. Patty’s Day Dance.

A few more outings this month were to the McKenzie Chinese Restaurant for Chinese New Year and to the last home Bethel Lady Wildcats basketball game of the season. We are so proud of these young ladies who finished first in their region and have begun playoffs. We also went each Monday to the Hometown Health Clinic Breakfast Club.

We thank two churches that went above and beyond for residents this month: Huntingdon First Baptist Church and Overflow Church.

Huntingdon First Baptist Church offered one-on-one visits with residents, giving a fruit basket and words of encouragement or a word of prayer.

Overflow Church welcomed two of our residents for their Tim Tebow Night to Shine Event. Siblings Julie and Charles Garner were treated to a red-carpet experience that included a limousine ride, hair and makeup, crowns, a paparazzi-type photo moment, food, singing and dancing while paired with a volunteer buddy.

God bless these churches for their kindness.

We celebrated two birthdays: Julie Garner and Carol French.

We welcomed two new residents: Ann Isom and Peggy Luther.

Until next time…