Tale Through the Mail: Perrysburg Area Senior Center Edition

 In August of 2020, we started a Collaborative Story Project! Eight different stories originated from our eight senior center locations. Participants were asked to do the following:  

1. Record your information on the contact sheet.

2. Add a sentence or two to the story on the blank pages provided. 

3. Mail or hand-deliver the story to a friend or family member! 

We asked that the stories be returned to WCCOA around October 31, 2020 to be published here. We hope to receive our last five tales through the mail in the coming months. 

Perrysburg Area Senior Center Story

Contributing Authors: 

Willis Beck & Marty Hogle

It was the middle of the summer of 2020. Each day's newspapers brought the news of the passing of one of our former friends. I drove down to Bowling Green and walked around the Wood County Fairgrounds for about twenty minutes. 

This has been a very unusual season controlled by the Corona Virus curtailing of our simple pleasures. Meetings with friends and family, no church attendance or Senior Center gatherings. Even meals and gatherings with family prohibited. No shopping trips or restaurants to enjoy. But we are survivors and books came off bookshelves and TV became our daily companion. Our home became our palace. We survived!

Tale Through the Mail: Northeast Area Senior Center Edition

 In August of 2020, we started a Collaborative Story Project! Eight different stories originated from our eight senior center locations. Participants were asked to do the following:  

1. Record your information on the contact sheet.

2. Add a sentence or two to the story on the blank pages provided. 

3. Mail or hand-deliver the story to a friend or family member! 

We asked that the stories be returned to WCCOA around October 31, 2020 to be published here. Check back here on January 22 when the Perrysburg Area Senior Center story will be published!

Northeast Area Senior Center Story

Contributing Authors: 

Jan Baker, Dana Kel, Shirley Kingsley, Brenda Oakley, Lois Sounders, 

Mary Wilkolek, and Paul Zam

The phone did not stop ringing all day...

I found out it was the tinnitus in my ear. Whew! Glad I didn't try and answer it... so I got that straightened out. 

I got calls about Medicare, electricity, computer service (I don't have a computer), lower interest on my credit card, debt forgiveness, I won 2.5 million dollars from a contest I never entered, etc. Went back to smoke signals! No more prank calls. 

Seeing the smoke signals, I jumped in my saddle and rode in the other direction, heading further west to the mountains and settled into a wooded area to rest. 

The Lone Ranger and Tonto came and got me. Hi-Yo Silver! We rode away. 

They took me to Walmart so I could get toilet paper and puppy food. I saw a bunch of people I haven't seen in months. 

It was a cold icy winter and my steps on my front porch were covered with ice. I didn't want anyone to slip on them and get hurt so I attempted to remove the ice by getting on my stomach and scraping the ice off. I slipped on each step and ended up in the hospital with a broken wrist and other damages. I only fell five more times since. I now am in my 90s and doing quite well. Thank God. Keep me in your prayers. 

And then the phone rang! It was an evangelist telling me he would pray for me. 

And it rang again. It seems that my car warranty has expired. So I gave my car to Kars for Kids. 

Now it seems that I have won a trip and need to be at the airport PDQ. Unfortunately I'm having trouble hitchhiking with a broken wrist. 

Oh wait... I think I see the Lone Ranger and Tonto. Hi-Yo Silver!! 

December Trivia Contest Answers

Home Delivered Meal clients received a Holiday trivia flyer at the beginning of December. Anyone who completed the trivia and returned it to WCCOA was entered to win a gift basket (pictured below) sponsored by Walker Family Funeral Homes & Crematory! 

The winner of the December gift basket was George Leslie from Northwood, Ohio!

DECEMBER TRIVIA ANSWERS

Correct answers are underlined.

1. What is Ralphie’s little brother’s name in the movie A Christmas Story? Randy

2. What Christmas decoration was originally made from strands of silver? tinsel

3. What was Frosty the Snowman’s nose made out of?  a button

4. What beverage company has been using Santa Claus in its advertising since 1931? Coca-Cola

5. What is the number one best-selling holiday single of all time?  White Christmas

6. This Saturday Evening Post artist was known for his whimsical pictures of Santa Claus? Norman Rockwell

7. This one reindeer is never mentioned in “The Night Before Christmas”?

    A. Donnor       B. Rudolph

    C. Comet          D. Dasher

8. In what city did Miracle on 34th Street take place?

     A. New York         B.  Philadelphia

     C. San Diego          D. Pittsburg

9. This appliance became Santa’s sleigh in this memorable commercial from the 1960’s?

    A. Norelco Electric Shaver     B. Vacuum Cleaner

    C. Toaster                                  D. Microwave

10. Which hymn’s second verse begins with “Christ by highest heaven adored”?

    A. Away in the Manger        B.  O’ Holy Night

    C. Little Drummer Boy        D. Hark the Harold Angels Sing

 11. In 1949, Gene Autry recorded this holiday song?

      A. Frosty the Snowman                    B. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer             

      C. Silent Night                                  D. Deck the Halls

12. What’s the most popular Christmas play featuring toys that come to life?

      A. The Nutcracker                 B. Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

      C. Phantom of the Opera         D. The Grinch

13. Which holiday song mentions “figgy pudding”?

      A. Jingle Bells             B. We Wish You a Merry Christmas

      C. Deck the Halls       D. The Twelve Days of Christmas

14. In the movie “A Christmas Story,” what was the name of the next door neighbors whose dogs ate the Christmas turkey?

      A. The Bumpuses            B. The Burkes

      C. The Brooks                   D. The Bells

15. Who said “God  bless us, everyone!”?

      A. Santa Claus              B. Tiny Tim

      C. Charlie Brown         D. Ebenezer Scrooge 

16. Which one of the these is NOT one of Santa’s reindeer?

      A. Donner        B. Dancer

      C. Dasher          D. Dixon

17. As the clock chimes midnight to ring in the New Year, a Spanish tradition involves eating twelve of  what – one for each chime?

      A. Pecans              B. Chocolates

      C. Sugarplums     D. Grapes

18. Gingerbread houses were inspired by the fairy tale Hansel & Gretel.  True

19. A star is the most popular Christmas tree topper.  False (Correct Answer: Angel)

20. Jingle Bells was the first song ever to be played from outer space.   True

21. Theodore Roosevelt banned Christmas trees in the Whitehouse.  True

22. Candy canes were made to imitate a shepherd’s hook in honor of Jesus. True

23. Ten reindeer drive Santa’s sleigh.  False (Correct Answer: nine reindeer)

24. The ox and lamb kept time with the Little Drummer Boy.   True

25. In A Charlie Brown Christmas, Lucy charges 10 cents for her psychiatric services.  False (Correct Answer: 5 cents)