For me, we’re a family. Meadowlark Hills is home.
"Big Why" Fall Lecture Series: Enriching Our Lives by Facing Some of Life & Our Community's Big Questions
October 3, 2025
Blog
Last summer I had the opportunity to ask Kermit, the Muppet frog, about what frogs and toads do as winter approaches. He wasn’t much help.
For the four species of toads that may be found in NE Kansas, the issue is simple: they dig down and make a burrow in loose dry dirt, a rotting log, or perhaps in behind the exposed roots of a streamside tree. Once there, bodily processes slow down, and the animal rides out the winter.
Our 7th Annual Kansas Day Celebration was a grand success with ninety persons attending to honor 155 years of Kansas as a state. Music from The Haymakers welcomed everyone with a few toe tappin’, hand clappin’ tunes, with the audience singing along on “You Are My Sunshine.” Polly Ferrell shared some Kansas history and refreshed our knowledge about official state symbols. Special guest, Fred Atchison, was recognized for his poetic contributions about Kansas. Polly ready one of his best, “Foundation of the Prairie.” Music continued by The Haymakers to cap the evening.
On the Mystery of the Disappeared Meat Stew
Submitted by Helen Roser
Meat, during World War II, was consumed mostly by our troops, with smaller proportion for civilians. Thus it was that the most popular dish in the cafeterias for the Pentagon’s 40,000 workers was tasty, filling meat stew, with two crackers, for 15 cents.
Getting to the cafeteria before they ran out of meat stew was an incentive for an early lunch. A yummy bowl of meat stew, two crackers, and you were set.
Welcome, new “residents”
There are some new residents at Meadowlark Hills! For the fourth year in a row an anthropology class from Kansas State University will be living at Meadowlark Hills and integrating into our community. There are 11 students in total, and four of them are currently living on our campus.
Outdoor Encounters
Submitted by Nathan Bolls
An old Irish proverb says “The most beautiful music of all is the music of what happens.” Those words remind me of wild non-hibernating homeothermic animals—birds and mammals—that maintain a more-or-less constant body temperature. Failing to do so, they will not survive. They also must adapt and become acclimatized to cold weather. Their bodies must play the game.
Now, even in the-dead-of-winter, the great blue heron frequently is seen standing and stalking its prey for long periods of time in shallow water along the edges of lakes, streams and ponds, even Bayer pond.
The bird withstands this cold-water wading with what we call “regional heterothermy” and by using a vascular “counter-current mechanism.” In the field of study of how animals adapt to adverse conditions, the standard mantra is: an adaptation need not be elegant, only adequate.
Third Annual Culture Story Contest
Happy New Year! Meadowlark Hills kicked off 2016 with the annual Culture Story Contest beginning on Jan. 4. The purpose of this contest is to gather resident, family, staff and stakeholder’s stories that speak to the uniqueness of Meadowlark Hills and how person-directed care has changed their thoughts on what it means to age.
Submitted by Michelle Haub
Happy New Year! For some this greeting is cliché, others heartfelt and yet, for those living with memory challenges, Parkinson's disease or another degenerative disease this greeting could be ominous. The future for all of us is unknown, however when a disease enters our lives we need to look for supports to help us optimize our quality of life and enhance our 'new year'. Meadowlark Hills is committed to residents and the Manhattan community to increase their level of support to families living with memory changes and Parkinson's disease.
Submitted by Nathan Bolls
The beasties, those that survived the noise and flash of the 4th of July, now are bracing for another blast of chaos during the current Holiday Season.
During these days, and during one particular day and night, crossing a busy street is even more dicey because of having to deal with an increased number of drivers whose eyes and compassions are dimmed by alcohol. A time even more dangerous that the five-times-each-week rat race to beat the time clock at work or the afternoon race of escape toward home, bar, gym, or to somewhere unadvertised.