Fort Scott Presbyterian Village
NOVEMBER 2020
Ruth Streitmatter shares her love for nursing and helping others
Celebrating country, flannel and friends
Ruth Streitmatter’s love story began as a young child.
In November 1939, Red Flannel Day was a bright spot in a time of war, when people could forget what was looming on the horizon. A festival was created in Michigan focused around red flannel. The theme was taking what they had and making it a fun and memorable occasion.
She was only 7 years old when her father passed away, leaving her mother with nine children, all born within 11 years. Ruth was the fourth oldest child, and from a young age she felt a loving responsibility to help her mother with the hard work of raising children, working on the farm milking cows, feeding chickens and all the hardships of farming in the early Ruth Streitmatter’s nursing school graduation photo. years without a father. That feeling of responsibility to care for others never departed. Ruth’s house was filled with God’s word and his love, and she carried that with her as she grew. Ruth said she always knew she wanted to be a nurse in order to care for others. While in high school, she took a job as a nurse’s aide at the Fairbury hospital in Illinois to earn money while still helping others. In those years, “they let aides do quite a lot,” said Ruth. She got a great deal of experience and knew nursing would be a perfect fit for her. NURSE– continued on page 2
We thought if we could borrow some of their ideas and add some of our own, it might take our minds off of the pandemic. Instead of thinking of all the traditional things we are not able to do during the upcoming November and December holidays, we plan to create memories by incorporating some new, fun activities into our days. Our theme for November and December is “country, flannel and friends.” Each resident and employee should get out their flannel and join in the fun! Over the course of two months, we will have country-themed events such as: -Best dressed “lumberjack” and “lumber Jane” on our stage, with prizes for the winners FLANNEL– continued on page 4
Fort Scott Presbyterian Village | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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