January has almost blown by us, and so far it's been a pretty quiet year except for our Bingo group. Bingo is a huge part of our recreation here, and New Year's Eve was no exception. Peggy, our most recent newcomer, loves the game. She couldn't wait for our New Year's Eve "all night Bingo," and never imagined she'd actually be playing into the wee hours of the morning. However, here she is— still going strong when the game finally ended at 3 a.m.!

Our December was extremely busy as we heartily enjoyed a month of holiday traditions which our community holds near and dear. One of our favorites is a cozy afternoon frosting delicious Christmas cookies. Spending time with our families, including the little ones, and friends is what the season is all about!

Looking back on the holidays, our Secret Santas went above and beyond to make the arrival of "The Portly Man in Red" a memorable one. Mansfield's Nicole, certainly couldn't wait for him to arrive and was ready to jump right in and get things underway. Santa was running a bit late this Christmas Eve, but he did eventually arrive with a big smile and warm heart. It turned out to be a wonderful evening and joyous holiday season.

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.