By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Ten St. Luke Living Center residents were all concentrating as they listened to bingo numbers called, checked their bingo cards, and placed markers over numbers Friday.

Dick Bredemeier was on a roll, calling out “bingo” in the first, second, and third rounds.

“You’ve got to watch him every time,” volunteer bingo caller Eva Smith said of Bredemeier.

Smith said she gets back as much as she gives the residents when she volunteers. Her husband, Leonard, was a patient there before he died, and after his death, she needed something to do besides sit home and think. Her interaction with the patients makes a bad day into a good day for her, she said.

“They needed some help,” Smith said. “So many of them suffer from the same thing my husband did, which was dementia. I just love the patients up there. They have so many stories to tell.”

Smith has come to the nursing home twice a week for four months.

Wanda Hamm wasn’t watching her own bingo card. She was keeping her husband, Clayton, company while he played. Clayton enjoys having his wife by his side during activities, and sometimes their daughter, Shirley Riffel, comes to the Living Center to share activities with them as well.

When Ruth Kaufman won a picture frame round after a long session of number calling, she heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. She had all but a blackout on her card and the last number completed the picture frame at last.

Throughout the bingo party, assistant activity director Richard Hill helped two players with their cards.

Other activities shared by residents include pretty-up, armchair travel, mind minutes, crafts, ladies’ tea, Hollywood Squares, dominoes and outings. The activities are scheduled on a rotating basis.