Christmas is a great time to get everyone involved in creating beautiful things, and our residents really look forward to it. We've got a very talented crew who has been busy designing, painting and gluing fabulous ornaments for our tree. We're having such a good time that Arts and Crafts will play a large part in our activities for the upcoming year so stay tuned to see our beautiful creations!

Our community is very busy with all of the holiday festivities, and this has been a perfect opportunity for our new Director of Customer Relations and Dietary Manager, Latonda Williams, LPN, to shine. Latonda organized an amazing, tasty Thanksgiving feast for our residents and guests. We're very thankful for all the hard work she and other staff members put into our dinner. A highlight of the event was a wonderful performance by local vocalist Mr. Dalton Derr. It was a terrific day enjoyed by all!

We had a wonderful day honoring our veterans. Becky Pitman, our music therapist, started things off for us with a wide genre of music. This was followed by a pinning ceremony and the presentation of certificates. The highlight of the day was "Taking a Vet to Lunch." We loaded the bus and off we went to a wonderful Chinese buffet dinner that was enjoyed by all.

We had our annual Trick-or-Treat night with nearly 75 little ones walking through. Once again, it was an amazing night and everyone had so much fun. Thanks to all involved for helping it turn out great!

It's been an exceptionally busy spring and summer here at Liberty. Staff, team leaders, family members and our community have pulled together to raise awareness and honor individuals living with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. We enjoyed watching the documentary "Alive Inside" at our local Cinemark theater, and the Mansfield Community Band performed a Spring concert on behalf of "The Longest Day". In July we held a family carnival to kick-off "Walk For The Cure," and Sept. 17 was the Mansfield Area Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Our team whole-heartedly supports this important cause.

We work hard at offering our residents interesting and new activities, and we're quite fortunate to have an interesting and talented staff that are willing to share their skills with our community. So that's how our maintenance man, Mr. Tim Grimes, got us involved in a wonderful outdoor pursuit on Labor Day— gold panning! He educated us on the process, demonstrated the technique, and before you know it we were all prospectors. And yes, we did find gold!

On Monday, August 8th, our county fair hosted a unique event called The Ageless King and Queen ceremony. We're excited to report that the newly crowned "king" is our own Mr. Riggleman.

About six months ago we received a phone call and a strong, deep voice on the line asked if we'd like to have some entertainment for our Happy Hour. We of course are always delighted to find new performances, but had no idea what to expect.

Here in the community it has been somewhat of a busy time! After a spring that was spent dodging the cicada's, our friends that visit every 17 years, we managed to plant a small garden with tomatoes and cucumbers. Some flowers got planted also and they are blooming beautifully, so we're sliding into summer quite nicely. Already, we've been able to enjoy some green fried tomatoes from the garden and they were yummy! What do we do on a hot, hot sunny July afternoon you ask? We pop popcorn, make some cold lemon aide, and pull out the Wii to sharpen up our bowling skills... in the air conditioning I might add!

This has been a very special and busy month. June is National Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness month and our community has been occupied with a lot of activities to raise awareness.