Although you served yourself here, the tables were manned by volunteers and Wesley Willows workers. Whenever the cookie platters needed to be refilled, more cake needed to be cut and put on the plastic, disposable dishes or the picnic tables that we ate on (all had white clothe tablecloths on them) needed to bussed, help was always available. Between the volunteers and the workers of Wesley Willows, the buffet-style setup was a success! These people were courteous! And they provided us guests, with a well-organized buffet-style setup and a clean dining area.

Many, many people were enjoying the free refreshments that Wesley Willows provided and proceeds of the ticket sales assisted the Good Samaritan Fund. It was exactly what Wesley Willows wanted to see—people help celebrating their 40th Anniversary with them.

Wesley Willows Dining Services are available for the public. If you desire to eat with your love one at Wesley Willows you can eat there for a charge. And if a resident or an outside guest would like to book a function with Wesley Willows, Wesley Willows can provide a dining room and either serve you a sit-down meal or a buffet-style meal. The food is negotiable but there is no charge for the dining area. You must speak with the Dining Director for the cost of the function.

Wesley Willows is located at 4141 N. Rockton Ave., Rockford, IL, 61103 and the phone number for the dining director, Sharon, is (815) 316-1520.

As I aforementioned in my overview of this journal, the day my friends, my partner and I went to the musical "Cats," it was a very special day for seniors. This day at the Starlight, was set aside for celebrating seniors. It was Wesley Willows Corporation’s 34th Annual Benefit for the Good Samaritan Fund. This fund assists residents who have outlived their personal finances. Over one million dollars was used for charitable support of residents at Wesley Willows (retirement community) last year.

Part of the pre-show 40th Anniversary Celebration for Wesley Willows( providing a retirement community for seniors for this long) was Wesley Willows having a buffet-style refreshment area for the patrons of the "Cats" musical that night (June 11, 2006). My partner, Sharon, whom works for the senior living services for the company Aramark, and is the dining director at Wesley Willows, set up this buffet. She and her employees did a wonderful job!

The buffet-style tables used for this event had white table clothes on them and burgundy, ruffle skirting on the bottom of them. The front table was set up in the following way: a cookie platter on the left end of the table, then the beverage fountain, cut pieces of the Anniversary cake, then the Anniversary sheet cake, more cut cake and another platter of cookies. The back table had a cookie platter on the left side, cut cake, the beverage fountain in the middle, more cut cake, and another platter of cookies. Sharon said they had a two table set up so the line of people would move faster and thus people wouldn’t be standing around.

The snack refreshments were fresh and very tasty. And if you are a cookie monster type personality, you would have adored the cookies Wesley Willows served that evening. The following is the list of the cookies that were served: chocolate/peanut butter, chocolate truffle with coconut, peanut butter/MM, chocolate chip with a fudge filling and a sugar cookie type with raspberry filling. I personally ate the chocolate truffle with coconut and the sugar cookie with raspberry filling. These cookies were to die for! And my friends tried them all and said all of them were equally delicious! Concerning the cake, it was a lemon cake with white frosting. I noticed many people were gorging on it, therefore I assume it was another great snack/dessert served that evening. This cake was made and given to Wesley Willows by a restaurant called Cliffbreakers in Rockford, IL.

Concerning the beverages, besides the fruit punch that Wesley Willows prepared, Cliffbreakers donated the soft drinks and the bottled water. They were available where the buffet-style set up was located. There were huge soda coolers with a variety of sodas and bottled water in them.