Annie Bohanon entertains for Sarah Hogan, Oklahoma City honorary chairman of the Girl Scout luncheon
Hostess Annie Bohanon shows off a Brownie hat for honoree Sarah Hogan. (Photos by Helen Ford Wallace).
Annie Bohanon was hostess for a party to honor Sarah Hogan, honorary luncheon chairman of Juliette Low Leadership Society for the Girl Scouts.
The luncheon was at The Coach House the day before the actual Girl Scout luncheon.
Green vases and ribbons held white roses (green and white are GS colors) and the women took them home as party favors.
Annie awarded each person at the event a personal Girl Scout badge. Among them: Cathy Stackpole received the “Behind the scenes” badge; Karen Luke, “I love Girl Scouts cookies” ; Jose Freede, “Visionary” and Dannie Bea Hightower,” Leadership” ; Lou Kerr, “Save the Planet”, and Mary Nichols, “Seniors Are Cool”.
Others at the party were Polly Nichols, Ann Alspaugh, Renee Knox, Karen Keith and Joan Gilmore.
Sarah received her GS hat and a tee shirt.
Jose Freede enjoys her GS badge.
Dannie Bea Hightower and Renee Knox were at the party.
Renee Knox and Joan Gilmore enjoy the conversation.
Cathy Stackpole, Dannie Bea Hightower, Jose Freede and Mary Nichols get their party favors.
Annie Bohanon and Sarah Hogan enjoy the party.
Parties Extra!—Barbara Thompson, Charlotte Jones and Jennifer Robinson talk about Oklahoma and French exchange student programs and parties
Barbara Thompson, Charlotte Jones and Jennifer Robinson speak about the French on Parties Extra!
20-40-60 Etiquette: Rx for hospital visit
YOU ASK! WE ANSWER! YOU DECIDE!
QUESTION: Is there such a thing as Hospital Etiquette? My friend recently broke several ribs and was in the hospital for several days. I wanted to go to visit, but was not sure if I should take flowers? Candy? How do you find out the visiting hours?
And should I have gone at all? My mother used to tell me that hospitals were for the sick and visitors should stay home?
CALLIE’S ANSWER: Hospital Etiquette, pick up the phone and call your friend. Tell her you would like to come visit and ask her when is the best time to come. If she does not want visitors, send flowers! If you have ever been in the hospital for more than a day, it gets boring.
Flowers are always wonderful and candy or any food is good as well. We all know hospital food is gross. Every person has a different opinion and each situation is different. Do what you want to do, or what you think is best!
LILLIE-BETH’S ANSWER: Your mother has a point, but that viewpoint doesn’t always apply. In this case, you wanted to do something to show your friend you cared, and a visit in the hospital would have been a nice way to do that, assuming your friend’s immune system wasn’t weak and that you weren’t sick yourself.
The next time, I’d call the hospital or the family members to find out about visiting hours and if the patient were accepting visitors and go accordingly. Any gesture like flowers, candy or even books and magazines for the patient to read while cooped up also shows your concern for your friend and can cheer up a drab hospital room, although presents are not required.
Remember, you’re there to support your friend, and let her be your guide — if she’s tired, keep your visit short, and if a conversation is what she wants, then enjoy the time spent. Many times a smile and a visit from a caring friend are all that’s needed to brighten a patient’s day.
HELEN’S ANSWER: When my husband was in the hospital recently for a lengthy back operation, three family members dropped by to see if I needed anything and five friends just appeared, in shifts, to sit in the waiting room with me. I didn’t know they were coming, two of them brought lunch, and the other three spent a couple of hours and went on their way. It meant so much to me that someone cared enough to give up their busy lives and just sit around because they knew that I would be anxious and nervous.
When a person is in the hospital, cards, small flower bouquets and candy are always appropriate and the gifts can left at the front desk if visiting is discouraged because the patient is resting or doesn’t feel so good. It is probably best to call the room or the nurses’ station and ask if visitors are welcome. Sometimes a sign posted on the hospital room door will give you a clue as to visitors. If it says “No Visitors”, act accordingly.
Yes, the hospital is for the sick, but I think a cheerful, short visit can certainly help a patient know you support him/her and that you care.
GUEST: Kathy Walker, local community leader: Hospital visits present a multitude of scenarios for potential visiting friends and extended family members. “To go or not to go, that is the question”!
We enter this world in a hospital where we most likely have enjoyed visits, flowers, champagne, and congratulations from well-wishers. Between our birth and our end of life care in the hospital when those whom we have loved come to say goodbye, we could on a few occasions be hospitalized for anything from broken bones to broken hearts!
Patients are in the hospital to get well. However, the mind, body, and spirit sometimes need a little levity, the assurance of caring friends and loved ones, and news from the outside world. Asking a spouse or close relative of the patient whether or not it would be acceptable for one to visit the patient is probably the safest course to take. However, a good enough friend needs to know that we care.
We should be mindful that there are a variety of other ways of expressing concern for the patient. Sitting with a relative of the patient during an operation, calling or emailing a care-giver, cooking a meal for the family, putting the patient on a prayer list, delivering reading material to the hospital, and offering to sit with a patient while a family member runs an errand or leaves for lunch or dinner or sleep are all ways in which one can be of help to others during hospital stays.
I sat with a dear friend this week a day after the blizzard while her husband underwent open heart surgery. In what was a quiet time, I know that my visit provided an opportunity for her to talk about the morning and release some anxiety about the 5-hour operation. I left when he was safe in the recovery room. It was a very good day for me, my friend, and Mac. I was glad that I went.
P.S. We should remember that volunteers are always needed at hospitals. For instance, the Oklahoma VA Medical Center has a volunteer opportunity called Adopt-a-Veteran, a one-on -one experience with a hospitalized veteran who might just need a touch and a caring visit from another person.
Callie Gordon, a college junior, was an Oklahoma City 2009 debutante. Lillie-Beth Brinkman is a former debutante and currently the assistant features editor for The Oklahoman. Helen Wallace has written a social column for The Oklahoman for many years and has been on various local Ball committees. Guest is local community leader Kathy Walker.
This group does not always agree (via age differences), but they ALL see the need for proper behavior.
Ask a specific etiquette question and you will get three answers…Then you decide for yourself how you would handle the situation. The answers have information for every age range….Callie is 20-ish; Lillie-Beth is 40-something, and Helen is 60-plus.
Please email us with your questions and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and daily blogs. We will try to answer your etiquette questions weekly on the Parties Extra! blog.
Sometimes we will ask other people for their opinions.
Look for us!
E-mail us! helen.wallace@cox.net …lbrinkman@opubco.com…calliezok3@aol.com
“Saints Babies Luncheon” features Malaak Compton-Rock as speaker
Lee Ann Nordin, Stephanie Singer and Sherry Rhodes talk about the upcoming “Saints Babies Luncheon” on Parties Extra! The event is at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club on March 3nd.
Angi Bruss-”Art With A Heart!”
Angi Bruss talks about “Art With A Heart!”
Former high school fraternity members get together for dinner
Tom Little, Jon Spence and John Coats, Jr. meet with high school fraternity members. (Photo by David Faytinger).
Members of a former high school fraternity, Phi Lambda Epsilon, met for dinner at Johnnie’s Charcoal Broiler. It was a reunion of the group and was billed as a “Founder’s Day Dinner.” The group organized in 1909 as part of a national fraternity.
The members plan to meet periodically and are working to preserve their scrapbooks, complete with photos and minutes of all the meetings from the early days, to give to the library.
Jon Spence was organizer for the event.
Among those at dinner were Ike Bennett, Dennis Adams, Frank Broadstreet, Bill Deupree, Lee Allan Smith, Dee Sadler, Bob Deupree, Dick Deupree, Jim Holmboe, Robert W. Haggard, Phil Roberts, Bud Mangum, Mike Proctor, Milton Trice,Jerry Neff, Tom Little, Jack Mills, Henry Harris, Phillip Matthews, Dennis Kaufman and Dale Foulk.
Parties Extra!—Oklahoma Humanities Council Awards Dinner
Oklahoma Humanities Council executive director Ann Thompson and assistant director David Pettyjohn talk about the OHC Award Dinner on Parties Extra!
Couple entertains for Chinese New Year
Dr. Douglas Clark and Dr. Shu-Ming Wang enjoy cooking in their kitchen. (Photos by Helen Ford Wallace).
Dr. Shu-Ming Wang and her husband, Dr. Douglas Clark, entertained friends at a Chinese New Year’s dinner in their home.
Guests wore something red. Chinese people believe red is a lucky color and wards off evil spirits.
An outstanding nine- course dinner prepared by the hosts included dumplings, spring rolls, pork ribs, chicken and cashew nuts, salmon, shrimp, rice, sticky rice cake, watermelon seeds, foods chosen because they feature good luck in Chinese culture. The salmon was the last course before dessert symbolizing abundance.
Dr. Wang had wonderful stories about Chinese lore, including one about a dragon, to accompany the dishes she served. She also went with the tradition for money in colorful envelopes for the children at the table.
Among the guests were Kay and Gates Oliver, Emily and Sergio Moreno Akins and daughter Julia, 5 months; Judy and Winford Akins, Tyler Thomas and children, Minli and Ling Thomas and Bill Wallace.
Chinese New Year “crackers” were filled with party hats, whistles and jokes.
Tyler Thomas and children, Minli and Ling Thomas have fun with the whistles, party favors at the party.
Sergio and Emily Moreno Akins and daughter Julia, 5 months, and Judy Akins have fun at the party.
Winford Akins and Kay Oliver put on their party hats.
Parties Extra!—Red Tie Night
Lela Sullivan and Carol Troy talk about Red Tie Night on Parties Extra!
20-40-60 Etiquette—Where is my book?
YOU ASK! WE ANSWER! YOU DECIDE!
QUESTION: I am in a book club. There are 12 members and we pass the book each month to someone on the list. The woman who passes to me is always one to two weeks late in passing her book to me, so I don’t have the same amount of time as the others to read the book.
I am a fast reader, but sometimes I would like to have the book on time. Do I tell the others in the club? How do I politely tell her? I don’t know her very well. Thanks for your help
CALLIE’S ANSWER: Just ask her! Don’t be rude, or annoyed, simply tell her that you need more time to finish the books. Ask her if she could try and get it to you earlier. It is simple and makes it looks as though you need more time, not her fault of being slow. Be pro active.
LILLIE-BETH’S ANSWER: Lately, the only book clubs that I’ve heard about are ones where everyone reads the same book at once in order to discuss it at a fun get-together. They either check the book out of the library or buy a copy. If changing the format of your book group is an appealing option, it would be one way to solve the problem.
But that’s not what you asked. I can’t imagine there would be too much trouble in asking the group politely if you could change the order of the book passing once a year or so. Perhaps you could phrase it in such a way that your proposal would let you get to know other members in the club and hear their thoughts on the books when dropping them off or picking them up. That way you’re not directly identifying the source of your frustration, and no single person is stuck forever getting the book several days behind schedule.
HELEN’S ANSWER: If the rules to be in the book club are given to each member, you might ask that they are re-sent periodically, as usually the rules state how long a member has to read the book and what day of the month it should be passed.
Otherwise, just politely remind the woman that she should pass the book on time. You could offer to pick it up from her house on the due date.
GUEST’S ANSWER: Mary McReynolds, author of the new book called “The Tapeworm Emails and The Gloria Airmails: Just ask the other reader to change places with you so that you’re the one passing the book to her. Or, check the book out of the library.
Callie Gordon, a college junior, was an Oklahoma City 2009 debutante. Lillie-Beth Brinkman is a former debutante and currently the assistant features editor for The Oklahoman. Helen Wallace has written a social column for The Oklahoman for many years and has been on various local Ball committees. Guest is author Mary McReynolds.
This group does not always agree (via age differences), but they ALL see the need for proper behavior.
Ask a specific etiquette question and you will get three answers…Then you decide for yourself how you would handle the situation. The answers have information for every age range….Callie is 20-ish; Lillie-Beth is 40-something, and Helen is 60-plus.
Please email us with your questions and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and daily blogs. We will try to answer your etiquette questions weekly on the Parties Extra! blog.
Sometimes we will ask other people for their opinions.
Look for us!
E-mail us! helen.wallace@cox.net …lbrinkman@opubco.com…calliezok3@aol.com
