Tuesday, September 25, 2018



September 19th, The OWLS were mesmerized by the haunting melodies played on the Native American flute by Terry Whetstone.  Gary Oberlander and Lee Starcke added to the ambiance by wearing their native American attire, too.

October 17tth—Sign up in the narthex to experience our Oktoberfest celebration complete with brats (specially prepared by Gary Oberlander, German potato salad (specially prepared by Mary Lou Oberlander, and black forest cake (specially prepared by Marleen Merrill) AND German polka band, the Alpen Spielers.  This dynamic and energetic group will perform a variety of music from waltzes to marches...and ballads to polkas.  Ask anyone who has heard them before - this is not-to-be-missed good fun!

November 21st—Plan now to join us for a traditional Thanksgiving meal followed by a time of fellowship and fun as we play an easy but entertaining card game called Italian Poker (which has nothing to do with Italy or poker)

December 19th we will have our Christmas dinner followed by a fun gift exchange loosely based on the right-left-center game we have played in the past.  Please bring a wrapped, gift - value not to exceed $10.00.  Feel free to re-gift something you already have that is new or gently used.  


Friday, February 23, 2018


Regardless of your age, if you are available from noon to 2:00 pm on the third Wednesday of the month, you will want to put OWLS on your calendar.  We have an exciting variety of programs planned for the future.  Programs begin about 12:45p.m.  And,  we always begin with a delicious home-cooked meal for $5.00 per person at noon

Sign up the narthex!


March 21st: The New Harmony Handful will perform under the direction of our very own Jim Bagby.   Whether you call them a very large quartet or a lively small chorus, you can always call these men who come from across the metro area entertaining and inspiring!


April 18th:  OSCARS party!  Icy conditions caused us to cancel this event in February so we will save our glitz and glam for April.


May 16th:  Quilt display and presentation by Robyn Gragg (Sandy Moore’s friend) who designs & makes all of her quilts and has won numerous awards.  Her 6 quilts on creation are just wonderful as well as others she has made.


June 20th:  “Calendar Girls”, Linda Mann and Jennifer Mitchell, will perform songs representing every month of the year on piano and violin.  You don’t want to miss this dynamic duo.


July 18th:  The Kansas City Zoo-mobile will arrive at 12:45.  Zoo keepers will bring several live animals to tell us about.  So, plan now to attend and bring any children in your lives, too.  Children’s meals will be 1/2 price ($2.50 each)  This was a very popular intergenerational activity last year.

August 15th:  Listen up!  Presentation by
Hearing Health Associates followed by an opportunity to share our favorite poetry


Saturday, August 19, 2017

Although we are called Older, Wiser, Livelier, Seniors, all are welcome.  Folks gather from 11:30 am to 12:00 pm, we eat at noon, and then have an activity beginning about 1:00 pm and ending no later than 2:00 pm.  Lunch is $5.00 per person....a bargain for a home cooked meal. 


Mahalo to Mary Lou and Gary Oberlander for preparing a delicious, delightful Luau feast for OWLS on August 16th.  And, many thanks also to everyone who came in their tropical attire and participated in all the amusing activities.








September 20th we will again share a wonderful meal together and then our program will be presented by Leila Calhoon.   Leila is an enthusiastic, inexhaustible encyclopedia of all hair knowledge.  She is a former hair dresser who has been collecting objects such as wreaths and jewelry made from human hair since 1949 and her collection of thousands of items is on display at “Leila’s Hair Museum” in Independence MO.  This promises to be one of our most unique programs to date.  Please sign up in the narthex.


October 18th we will have our traditional Oktoberfest meal...brats, German potato salad, black forest cake and more.  And then, we will be entertained by Jenny Malottes’ trio (which she says will be a quartet for a few numbers this year).  This group of talented singers and their accomplished accompanist thrilled us last year with their lovely voices and range of song selection.


Sunday, January 22, 2017

Guess how OWLS began 2017?   B4 we departed, I ate 2,2 much lasagna and Njoyed calling BINGO for about an hour which took some 40tude.  G, maybe even 41 a game. We had a such a good time it is hard to believe most of us are Over 61!  

Although we are called Older, Wiser, Livelier, Seniors, all are welcome.  Folks gather from 11:30 am to 12:00 pm, we eat at noon, and then have an activity beginning about 1:00 pm and ending no later than 2:00 pm.  Lunch is $5.00 per person....a bargain for a home cooked meal.  We already have some terrific activities planned for this year.  Mark your calendars now for every third Wednesday of the month and sign up in the narthex.

February 15th - Come enjoy a Valentines' themed afternoon with a variety of goodies to dip in chocolate fondue before, during and after lunch.  Our activity that day will be "Things We Love".  We're asking all attendees to bring  a sampling of something they collect to tell the group about.  If you don't have a "collection", bring something - maybe even a picture of something you love to share with the group.

March 15th - We  will have a St. Patrick's themed birthday party to celebrate OWLS 9th birthday.  Then plan to bring as many quarters as you would like to play the game "Left, Right, Center". You'll need 3 quarters to begin each game.  One-half of the "pot" for each game will go to the Summer Lunch Program and one-half will go to the winner of that round.  If you can roll dice, you can play this fun game!

April 19th - The New Harmony Handful under the direction of our own, Jim Bagby will entertain us.  This mini-chorus of men who sing barbershop harmony is a highlight every year.

May 17th - Ed and Sally Ingram & Bill and Shelley Melewski are going to give a travelogue about their Mediterranean Cruise last summer. 

Thursday, September 8, 2016


Why did the OWL say , “Tweet Tweet”?
Because she didn’t give a hoot! 
On August 17th, however, our OWLS were hooting and hollering with laughter (That might be a slight exaggeration but we had fun!) for our Wacky Wednesday celebrating National Joke Telling Day (a day late).  Several folks shared jokes but Shelley Melewski stole the show by enthusiastically telling 3 jokes without notes.  Gary Oberlander had grilled burgers for us and Mary Lou and Judy prepared all the fixin’s so we left with our tummies full of good food and our hearts full of laughter.

We have lots more good food, fun, fellowship and frivolity to look forward to in 2016 including:

September 21st—Sandy Moore will present “26 Years in the World of Quilting”.  Sandy has been a quilter since 1990 & will talk about classes she’s  taken, show some quilts & will be glad to answer questions.  Sandy’s bubbly personality is sure to make telling her journey a real “stitch”.

October 20th—Jenny Mallote’s trio and their accompianist will be performing for us.  If you were in worship on July 31st, you know how good they are!

November 16th—we’ll have a traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all of the trimmings and then play board games as many families traditionally do.

December 21st—we’ll play Pass the Parcel  - no need to bring a gift—just come prepared to have a good time!

And, here’s one last joke in honor of the recent start of the school year…..
What is an owl's favorite subject?   Owl-gebra!


Thursday, August 27, 2015



The OWLS had a "hula" va good time on August 19th.  Everyone came dressed in their best island attire to enjoy our first every luau.  Lunch included giant croissants filled with fruited chicken salad, chips, and  a rainbow fruit salad that was a much a feast for the eyes as it was to the palate all topped off with a beautiful coconut cake.  Then we played some games to learn more about Hawaii and about each other.



September 16th - "School days, School days!

OWLS are celebrating our school days this month because for us "old folks" school days didn't begin until September.  Wear your school colors, bring your year book and/or other school picture(s). We'll eat and reminisce about those "good old golden rule days".
 

October 21st - Oktoberfest!
Starring brats, German potato salad, Black Forest cake AND...
German polka band, the Alpen Spielers. This dynamic and energetic group will perform a variety of music from waltzes to marches...ballads to polka's.
Ask anyone who heard them last year...they will all agree that it is not-to-be-missed-toe-tapping good fun!
 






 
 

Sunday, March 22, 2015

  
         
                                   

 No OWLS were pinched on March 18th.  Even if folks didn't arrive in green, there were lots of accessories to remedy that.  Everyone visited our photo booth to capture our "wearin' 'o the green" and each person received a copy of their picture as a memento at the end of our time together.  Mary Lou and Gary Oberlander once again outdid themselves by preparing a fantastic meal for us of Irish Stew, Soda Bread and Pistachio Pudding Dessert.  Then the shenanigans began with a tater toss which was won by Marleen Merrill with Dot Mitchell in close second place.  Our complete-the limerick contest and matching Irish slang words to the real meaning were won by the clever Linda Dickison.  The champion of our Roll-a-Leprechaun game was Connie McPherin.  And, everyone was a winner in our St Patrick's themed game of pictionary.

 

 April 15th - We've  all heard that April showers bring May flowers....so....we've invited Master Gardener, Mary Wood to give a presentation that will  help us have a bloomin' good summer.

 May 20th - Director, Jim Bagby and The New Harmony Handful, a mini-chorus representing the Barbershop Harmony Society, will entertain us.  This has become a favorite event in our yearly programming.  We hope everyone will come and bring a friend....just be sure to let us know how many are coming.