The United Presbyterian Home celebrated two momentous occasions Tuesday afternoon.
A ribbon cutting was held for the new bus on the senior residential campus named the Holden Express, after former Washington Mayor Harvey Holden, who also turned 104 years old Tuesday. The bus was made possible by contributions from Mary Meeker, Carolyn Dixon, and Sheila and Gordan Horras, with a combined donation from Holden’s daughters Lorie Davison, Lorene Sundquist, Pat DeSotel, and Barb Leeper to name the bus after their father, who were all in attendance for the ribbon cutting. UP Home Chief Executive Officer Erin Drahota commented on how the campus has weathered the pandemic and what she looks forward to in the future, “I’m excited for the new bus and the trips our UP Home family will take that make their life journeys better and happier. My thanks to everyone for your gifts to help get the wheels turning on the Holden Express.”
The largest need for blood donations is typically the summer when schools that host blood drives are out of session, and the need is especially apparent during the current pandemic.
Impact Life, formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center, lost around 32,000 units of blood in 2020 due to cancelled blood drives, and though schools may be allowing blood drives to occur again and community organizations continue to host drives, Donor Relations Consultant Chris Ciasto says an important partner they haven’t quite recovered is the business sector, as several companies have shifted to a work-from-home model, eliminating mobile drives at work places, “If it’s not convenient, if it’s not at their place of business where they’re able to stop by the blood drive and donate for 45 minutes or an hour. If you move it to a donor center and invite all the same people instead of seeing 50 or 100 people depending on where the blood drive’s at, you’re maybe seeing 10, 1
Another COVID-19 death has been confirmed in Washington County since Wednesday, bringing its total to 33 deaths.
As of Friday morning, the state coronavirus dashboard shows that Washington County has 2,216 positive cases and 1,804 recoveries, with a 14-day average positive test rate of 13.6%. There are currently three long-term care outbreaks in the county, with Parkview Manor in Wellman reporting 13 positive cases in the last 14 days, Pearl Valley Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center of Washington reporting 15, and United Presbyterian Home in Washington reporting six. No new deaths were confirmed since Wednesday for all of Washington’s contiguous counties. Statewide, 194 new deaths have been confirmed in the last week bringing its total to 4,445.
Private graveside services with Military and Masonic honors for 97-year-old Robert “Bob” Koehler of Washington will be Thursday, January 21st at 1p.m. at Elm Grove Cemetery in Washington. The service will also be livestreamed on the Beatty-Peterseim Funeral Home Facebook page and posted with the obituary on the Beatty-Peterseim Funeral Home website and Facebook page. An open visitation will be held from noon to 6p.m. Wednesday, January 20th at the Beatty Funeral Home in Washington. A celebration of life service will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made to the Washington United Methodist Church, United Presbyterian Home, Shriners Hospitals for Children or Birch Creek Music Performance Center in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin.