Oaknoll

by Dorothy Vestal

From here and afar we come,
apprehensively,
Moving into this "refuge for
the elderly"- this last earthly address.

Oaknoll living is beyond
their ken.
A refuge for the elderly- Yes,
But what elderly! What a refuge!

Oaknoll Computer Class Review

A photo essay by Oaknoll resident Bob Heffernen

Throughout last fall and winter, several Oaknoll residents completed basic computer, internet and email classes. Last month, some of the graduates of the class gathered in the recreation room for a reunion/review. Below are some images from the classes and the review session, captured by computer basics graduate, Bob Heffernen.

Coming Spring

by Loren N. Horton

Today it seems
That spring is here
With all the joy it brings
Delight in watching
Rebirth of leaves
And new carpet of grass

Warmer winds
Sigh across the earth
The sun shines stronger
Grey remnants of snow
Melt in shaded areas
First daffodils
Show their green points

All outdoors
Becomes the canvas
For nature's art

Income Tax Time Again

by Willa Jones

Working on it,
Till my eyes wore out
And my tail bone, too.
I don't organize as well
as I used to do.

It seems as though
The powers that be
Could give us an age limit.
I suggest, eighty three.

That many years
Should be long enough
To wrestle with forms
And all that tax stuff.

If we all had incomes
Of a million or two,
Lawyers could find loopholes
For us to jump through.

But we, the aging Middle Class,
Carefully keep all "Important Tax
Information Mail."
For fear of missing something
And be threatened with jail.

Or at least an audit
Yuck, it's income tax time.

December Weather

by Loren Horton

Snowfall glitters
Starlight glimmers
Points of brilliant light
Shimmer on the glaze
Of ice-bound streams

Stillness hovers
Hushing the fluttering flakes
To mute repose
Across the sheeted earth

Calm enfolds the scene
As branch and twig and bush
Keep silence
In the light and in the dark
While snowflakes fall

Honor Flights

Oaknoll residents Bob Laudie, Bill Byington and George Dane had the opportunity to go on an Honor Flight to Washington D.C. Eastern Iowa Honor Flight is a non-profit organization dedicated to sending veterans to our nations capital, where they can visit historical sights and war memorials.


Bob, Bill, and George are veterans of World War II. We thank them, and all veterans, for their service and sacrifice.


For photos of their trips, please visit the Oaknoll Facebook page at www.facebook.com/oaknoll on Veterans Day, November 11, 2011.


We hope you enjoy this short video of Bob Laudie filmed during his Honor Flight on October 18, 2011.

Oaknoll Nurse Shirley Cox Wins Award

Congratulations to Oaknoll nurse Shirley Cox, who was recently awarded the University of Iowa College of Nursing/John A. Hartford Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence Long-Term Care Nursing Leadership Award for her career in long-term care and her mentoring of nursing students!
Check out the video for highlights from the event.