Last Monday I visited Centerville Nursing and Rehab as part of my new job with Hospice of Central Iowa. I took a few minutes to stop in and chat with Ethel Lira. She was very happy to see me and she looked great. I told Ethel that we all miss her and her words. If you are out that way stop in and smile with her.

On Saturday, April 26, my niece Heidi Sniegowski and Andrew Sullivan were married in Farmington. It was wonderful to see my brother Jeff’s kids and his grandbabies are just beautiful. I am enclosing a picture to show you just how pretty they are.

Aunt Cele and I had a really great time on this little road trip. That afternoon we stopped for lunch at the Bridge Café & Supper Club in Farmington and not only were the food and the service good, we were treated to a mini prom display. Four lovely young ladies and their dates entered the restaurant in all their glory and we enjoyed a fashion show that had us clapping. Then at the wedding reception the DJ played the chicken dance and Aunt Cele and I had a chance to show off our moves.

I am pretty sure we were the only ones who knew the proper motions for that song. Saturday night we stayed at the Kountry Kottage in Bonaparte, a small home that is rented out by owners Gary and Cheryl Adam. If you are thinking of visiting that area give them a call at 319-592-3431. I found them on the internet at http://showcase. netins.net/web/kountrykottage.

On the way home Sunday morning we decided to be adventurous and try Bloomfield for breakfast. While driving around the square to see what might be open we spotted someone waving from the office of Kurt Swaim.

Yes folks, there he was on a Sunday morning at 10 a.m., working! After telling me a bit about the last hours of the legislative session, Kurt suggested we try South Fork for food. We did, it was swell, and we returned home happy and with our tummies full. It was a really good weekend for me.

Relay for Life plans are shaping up. There are currently 50 teams, one for each state and they have had to stop soliciting sponsors since there is no more room on the t-shirts for sponsor names. That is all a very good thing. The sale of the luminarias is also proceeding nicely and this year they will be doing something a little bit different.

Usually these are small votive candles placed in bags with sand in the bottom for a base. Last year they had some trouble with the sand and to avoid all that this year, Leo Neubauer, father of Lynda Kauzlarich, has taken it upon himself to make small wooden blocks for the candles to sit in.

So far Leo has made 550 of these and he can make a lot more so go ahead and get your luminarias ordered folks. This year’s Relay for Life promises to be even bigger and better than the 2007 event. Mark your calendars for June 21. If you are a cancer survivor or know one please contact any of us on the committee so that we can get everyone registered. The Relay Committee is also looking for volunteers for the event so if you are interested in that call Joyce at 895-3164 or Shannon at 895-9487.

Last week I received more information about the old theater in Cincinnati. Audrey Rogers sent a lovely letter full of interesting notes. She said “At times there would be a troupe of vaudeville actors come to town and put on stage plays. They usually stayed a week and always at the Stickler Hotel on the east side of the square. They put on a different play each night and they always had one person to be the heroine and the hero. By the time the week was up you felt like you knew them.”

Audrey also told me that Homer Corder went on to buy the Drake Avenue Theater in Centerville. Audrey Rogers grew up in Cincinnati; her father was Isaac (better known as Ikey) Henderson.