Senior center patrons enjoy holiday events
GRAVETTE — Patrons at the Billy V. Hall Senior Activity Center enjoyed a pair of holiday activities recently.
A holiday fun day was held Dec. 14 at the center, followed by a shopping trip in the afternoon. On Dec. 16, visitors participated in an ugly sweater contest and were treated to the center’s annual Christmas lunch.
Guests at the Dec. 14 morning party played a number of games, including deciphering a list of Christmas song titles written with emojis, answering a list of holiday trivia questions and unscrambling holiday words. The top three scorers in each game were awarded prizes. Winners could select from cookies, turnovers or cinnamon rolls for their prizes. Christmas scratch-off cards were distributed, and those whose card revealed a “Nice” were given prizes while holders of “Naughty” cards received nothing.
The final prize was awarded to the winner of a guessing game. A large jar of Hershey’s Kisses sat on a table at the side of the room, and guests were invited to guess how many Kisses were in the jar. Mary Griffin won the prize with her guess of 500 since the jar contained 509 candies. She was given a pillow with a snowman design and a snowman doll.
Refreshments of punch, cheese and crackers, cocktail sausages, cookies and candy were served.
Members of the First Assembly of God Church entertained visitors by singing gospel songs and Christmas tunes in the half hour just before lunch. Entertainers were vocalist Margo Thomas, Sharon Vaughn on guitar, Jerry Yingst on guitar and his wife Charlene Yingst on the piano.
On Dec. 16, guests began arriving at midmorning as refreshments of punch, cookies and candy were again available. Several were attired in colorful holiday sweaters as an ugly sweater contest was on the calendar. Most of the patrons present, who had earlier signed up for a secret Santa gift exchange, opened gifts from their unknown benefactors.
Entrants in the sweater contest were asked to stand up and introduce themselves, then each one present was given a ballot to vote for his or her choice. Almost everyone agreed there were really no ugly sweaters, so winners were actually awarded “best” sweater prizes, although their sashes read “Ugly,” “Uglier” and “Ugliest.”
LaVonda Augustine was winner of the sweater contest with her sweater reading “Feliz Navidad” and featuring a south of the border theme. Chili peppers adorned a Christmas palm tree, and Santa was reclining under the tree, wearing a sombrero and strumming his guitar.
Juanita Whiteside was the second-place winner with a colorful reindeer on her sweater, sporting a red nose, Christmas hat and sweater, and a pair of sparkly glasses. Mary Griffin took third place with her red, green and white striped sweater adorned with snowflakes and a pair of llamas wearing holiday hats and scarves. Each winner received a badge and a sash.
Tables were covered with holiday tablecloths and decorated with potted poinsettias. Each place setting featured a Christmas napkin, a reindeer made from candy canes and an assortment of Hershey Kisses. More holiday candies were strewn down the center of each table.
Whiteside presented center director Melissa Provence and assistant director Cheryl Waeltz with cash gifts just before lunch. Money was collected from center patrons to show appreciation for the welcoming atmosphere and all the services the ladies offer to guests.
Christmas lunch was served at 11:30, with the menu including glazed ham with pineapple, sweet potato casserole, broccoli and cheese casserole, a roll and pecan cobbler. In the afternoon, several met again and made a road trip to eat at the Hiwasse Diner and view the Bentonville Heart Lites display.