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On February 27, we celebrated Lucille Carr’s 99 th Birthday Lucille was born February 27, 1925, in Hazelton, PA, to Howard and Carrie Fritzinger. She was given no middle name and often joked about being named after an obituary listing in the local newspaper. Lucille had 3 sisters and 1 brother;  Lucille’s mother died when Lucille was young and was raised by her father. The family moved to Trenton, NJ, when Lucille was a teenager. She graduated from Hamilton High School in 1943. She went to school with her future husband, Jack, but never met him until her brother Fritz met Jack in NYC, where they served in the U.S. Navy during WWII. After Jack returned from Europe and was stationed in California, he worked at setting pins at a bowling alley to save for an engagement ring for Lucille. Lucille and Jack were married September 14,1946, and remained so for almost 75 years until Jack passed in 2021. Lucille and Jack enjoyed camping and traveled to nearly every state in the U.S. with their pup Frostie. They moved to PA in 2001 and then spent their winters as snowbirds at their 2 nd home in Florida. Lucille has always enjoyed crafting, Bingo, slot machines, NASCAR, and most sports on T.V. In her 80s, she became an avid reader and word search enthusiast. Lucille was a stay-at-home mom and homemaker and is affectionately called “MOM MOM” to her immediate family… including her son John, daughter and son-in-law Lynda and Joe, 4 grandson Shawn, Justyn, Michael, and Matthew and 1 great granddaughter Syndee. Lucille became a part of the Columbia Cottage family in August 2022.

Step on a crack and you'll break your Mother's back This rhyme is believed to have originated in England in the 19 th century and was used to teach children to be careful when walking on uneven sidewalks. A Black cat crossing your path is unlucky. Traced back to medievel Europe, black cats were associated with witches and superstitions. Crossing paths with one was believd to bring bad luck. Find a four leaf clover for good luck Celtic folklore believed that finding a four leaf clover could ward off evil spirits. The rarity of the cloud added to its mystical properties. Throwing spilled salt over your left shoulder Traced back to ancient times when salt was a precious commodity, throwing it over the left shoulder is believed to ward off evil spirits. Don't sweep at night. You'll sweep away your wealth. Rooted in practicality, sweeping at night in the past could lead to the loss of valuable items in low light. Knock on wood for good luck The ancient belief that spirits resided in trees, knocking on wood was a way to seek protection or express gratitude.

Mike from our Maintenance department would like to remind all families to please not use extension cords unless they are surge-protected.  Also, you do not need to bring in light bulbs for your loved one's lamps.  We need to be careful that the light bulb is the correct wattage.  These concerns are considered fire hazards.  You can direct questions to Deena or Mike.

We had a large group gathering, enjoying some wine, cheese, and good cheer.

Our little bakers are hard at work making cinnamon rolls.

Residents enjoy painting ceramic hearts and Valentine's gnomes.

The month of February was full of love and fun! We celebrated through most of the month with themes of hearts and Valentine’s Day activities. We hosted our entertainers of Maggie Sings, and they performed a series of love songs to start off our Valentine’s Day party. Then a few days later, we continued our festivities with a popular chocolate and wine or juice pairing!

There is never a draught of creativity here at the cottage, and the residents are always so proud of themselves. If you’ve walked down out art hallway in the last month, you may have seen little leprechauns, acrylic shamrocks, and abstract watercolors!

We all know this day, another day added to the calendar! This year we celebrated in a silly fashion. Our “leap” year party was full of frogs and fun. We talked about past leap years and enjoyed some frog decorated cupcakes!

Residents and staff rejoiced as we received another visit from our favorite puppies at TLC Rescue! We always look forward to meeting some cute animals and are honored to assist in their socialization to prepare them for adoption. This day we saw 2 small Australian Shepherds and 2 bully mixes. Everyone was full of joy by the end of the day!

My wife and I have an unspoken rule that whoever is first to stumble out of bed on Saturday morning that they assume the responsibility of starting the kettle and preparing the French Press with 8, yes 8 scoops of Peet’s Organic Decaf Terrena coffee.  Well this past weekend, I somehow made it out to the kitchen before my wonderful bride and, despite not quite thinking clearly, I was awake enough to move towards something that will help unscramble my thoughts and got the hot water going.  While enjoying my second cup of this freshly brewed coffee, it struck me that God performs a similar function for us when we ask Him to clear out the confusion and unscramble our thoughts.  Some people assume they don’t have time to begin their day with God… they don’t realize how much He can facilitate their lives.  God is sovereign over every aspect of our life, so I encourage us all to open up so that He can remove obstacles and clarify our thinking. Jim

Friday February 9 th was National Pizza Day! Residents celebrated this special holiday with a pizza party style happy hour and some pizza trivia. Did you know that pizza ranks the #2 most popular fast food in America behind hamburgers? 43% of Americans rank pizza as their favorite!