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It was 95 and steamy outside on Thursday Aug. 11, but inside the Scott Building at the Armed Forces Retirement Home-DC, it was cool and comfortable for games of Jingo. And a spirited set of games they were! AFRH staffer Amanda Jensema tested everyone on their knowledge of U.S. geography as part of the games. More than a few questions were met with periods of silence as everyone thought hard for the answer. But, whether the answers were right or wrong, smiles, laughter and fun were the end result. Thank you to Friends of the Soldiers Home volunteers Danielle, Rebekah, William, Stella, Kathleen, Terra and Tee for coming out and keeping company with fabulous men and women who have served our country so ably.
Story by John Hughes, photos by Tee Shorter.
We admit it — we were so busy promoting and talking about the July 4 celebration we got a little behind in discussing our other activities. Let’s start with Jingo. Our monthly Jingo game with residents happens this coming Thursday, July 14, at 6:15pm. Below are some previously unposted photos from one of our recent Jingos at Armed Forces Retirement Home-D.C. The photos show volunteers Kaiya and Karam having a lot of fun with residents playing the game, which is a combination of Jingo and Trivial Pursuit. (The trivia at this particular Jingo was about Grimm Fairy Tales. The group was reminded that some of those tales were indeed, grim!) Residents always have lots of fun, and that makes Jingo fun for us!
Spring is here! FOSH has had a busy March/April. Happy Hour featured a large group of Old Soldiers – men and women – and a great group of volunteers, many joining us for the first time. You can see from the smiles on people’s faces in the photos that everyone was enjoying their time together. We followed that with Saloon Night, which was a great success. Emcee Zach Hartman hosted a rousing game of Presidential Trivia. It was a tight race, but in the end, Team Aces High edged out its closest competitors for the win. New resident Jim had a great time playing on Team Politically (in)Correct and hopes to come to many FOSH events in the future. Then came Jingo, which was special this month because the family of resident Mr. Ferguson joined us. Volunteer Jackie repeated every question and answer for her resident partner so that he was able to play the game. Happy Hour, Saloon Night, Jingo — join us each month for these wonderful events by writing 
At Friends of the Soldiers Home, our March Madness consisted of great fun bowling and Jingo playing! On bowling night, only volunteer Lou and Armed Forces Retirement Home-DC resident Mr. Ferguson managed to score over 100 points. But while high scores aren’t automatic, the fun and companionship at this monthly event always tops the charts! At Jingo, the March theme was religion, and never before have the volunteers and residents seemed more hesitant to call out the wrong trivia answers! We might have lost the fun if it weren’t for new volunteer Kim. She chimed in, right or wrong, reminding us all that despite the serious theme, Jingo is just still our favorite game.
It was ‘All Things February’ at Jingo this month, with a small but competitive crowd. It is always fun to see the kids joining their parents to volunteer for Jingo, which plays similar to bingo, but with a trivia question. Our veteran friends at the Armed Forces Retirement Home-D.C. love the game! We are always grateful for our volunteers who brave a freezing cold night to come warm up the hearts of the veterans of the Home.
Friends of the Soldiers home held the first Jingo of 2016 on Jan. 14! Residents and volunteers enjoyed catching up after the holidays with several spirited rounds of play. The theme this month was household items. A few of the clues stumped the volunteers and gave residents the opportunity to educate them on some of the more formal language used to describe furnishings. For example, the volunteers learned that a divan is a type of couch. Who knew? Join us the second Thursday evening of each month for Jingo. Write 
A great turnout for March’s sports themed Jingo and we had an abundence of little ones who joined in to help! Lori’s sorority sister friend, Elizabeth Lloyd came to meet veteran, Elizabeth Lloyd and they enjoyed their time together immensely.
Caption: Kathleen and Auggie came to meet Marvin Archer and sprech ein bischen Deutsch (speak a little German).
Our Jingo theme last month was Fairytales and Fables and to set the mood we were relocated to the top of the Scott Building in the 3rd floor recreation room. (Due to a water pipe bursting below not so that we could let down our hair). The clues covered a wide range of story lines so every resident and volunteer was able to participate in sharing an answer and explaining the story it came from. As always we are grateful for our fantastic volunteers and look forward to seeing them return for our March Jingo event!
Friends of the Soldiers Home 