KAMSACK — Please plan to attend the Eaglestone Lodge Christmas party on Dec. 17. The event is open to family and friends of residents, staff, board members and special guests.
Festivities get underway with an 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. pancake breakfast, followed by Christmas carols played on chimes by our residents and conducted by Amanda Yaremko. A soup-and-sandwich lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. If you are coming to the party and would like to eat breakfast and/or lunch at the Lodge, please notify Karen or Tricia by email: eaglestone@ sasktel.net or call the office at 306-542-2620. The more the merrier!
Musical entertainment continues at 1 p.m. with stories and songs by Stephen Ruten. Headliner Troy McNaughten takes the stage at 2 p.m. and you don’t want to miss this performance. Troy dazzled the crowd last year and is back by popular demand.
The program concludes with Christmas carols sung by a choir directed by Susan Bear.
Eaglestone staff and volunteers go all out to make Christmas special for our residents. As in previous years, we are asking for gift donations. If you would like to help, please call Karen or Tricia at 306-542-2620. Donors are matched with residents who have made a Christmas wish.
Eaglestone is very grateful for donations received in November from Marla Nystrom, Ed Guenther, the United Church, Lillian Delance, Lyle’s Construction, Iris Sheptak, and Kendra Kerr. All donors are presented with a registered charity tax receipt and a personal note of thanks
Eaglestone residents can look forward to a New Year’s Eve dinner of Chinese food sponsored by Eaglestone’s housekeeping expert Annette Purchase and her partner Cole Smith. Thanks guys.
“We are now at full occupancy,” said Kathy Wishnevetski, the special care aide manager. “It has been a very busy time now that we have a full house.
“We hired three more relief workers, but are going to hire more people to keep up with the increased workload,” she said. “I will be doing staff medication training with assistance of Katherine Gustillo, a Sask Health Authority nurse, on Dec. 9. Overall, things are going well.”
Of the 30 full care residents and eight independent suite renters now living at Eaglestone Lodge, 12 people are 90 years of age or older. They get around and function under their own steam, and are a real testament to the health and vitality of this pioneer generation.
If you are looking for something to do on these cold days, take a look at the Eaglestone Lodge website. Amanda Burback, our board member and computer whiz, updates the site regularly. Back issues of this newsletter and classic videos such as Eaglestone Lodge - A Place That Cares, are also available for viewing. To visit the website, go to Eaglestonelodge.com.
The board of directors of Eaglestone Lodge Personal Care Home Inc. will hold its annual general meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 26 in Kamsack’s Legion Hall located on Second Street. The meeting will feature the election of officers and members-at-large, a presentation of the 2021-2022 fiscal year audited financial statement, and other business items pertaining to the operation of our non-profit corporation.
If you have a family member or a friend living in Eaglestone Lodge, please attend the meeting. Likewise, if you support the community and care about its elderly and vulnerable residents, please consider getting involved. Our home, dating back to 1958, provides private rooms, meals, personal care, housekeeping, social activities, laundry and medical supervision. Most of the heavy lifting and hard work is done by our dedicated staff. However, a functioning elected board of directors is vital to the future of this business operation.
Looking back at my two years of service as board secretary for Eaglestone Lodge, I can truly say that the care shown by its staff toward residents has been an inspiration. When the newly-elected board first met with staff in March 2021, we were looking for a qualified leader. Seven staff members arrived at the meeting room. Two had the Continuing Care Aide certification required by the Ministry of Health to oversee a personal care home with a capacity of 30 or fewer residents.
Partly due to her spirited demonstration of martial arts, and mostly for her calmness and confident demeanor, I voted to hire Kathy Wishnevetski as our special care aide manager. The residents also trust and admire her way of taking care of things. I learned more while shooting The Place That Cares video with Access Now TV producer Cole Smith.
Being cheerful in difficult situations is an acquired skill, and I was especially taken by one young woman who while scrubbing a toilet said, “I care by cleaning the residents’ homes.”
Bringing the number of residents and operating revenue back from the brink of disaster was another huge challenge. As reported in this newsletter, the deficit in some months exceeded $20,000.
Having now reached our goal of full capacity with a wait list, this enormous weight, at least temporarily, has been lifted. The corporation borrowed money to keep things running during the pandemic, so paying off this loan is another reason why we are asking for donations.
