Shirley and Mary Louise had a great afternoon
visiting with Mrs. Nestigen - 5/14/2011
"Our visit even included doing a jigsaw puzzle. She really remembers our class very well, I think, and any other classmates who find themselves in River Falls would enjoy a visit with her. She lives at Comforts of Home, a very nice facility south of R. F., on Hwy 29 toward Prescott."
Palecek a Nursing Home Theater Wiz
as published in the Winona (MN) Daily News
In a nursing home, a little silliness can be a welcome thing. A cat onstage portraying a bloodhound in pursuit of a kidnapped 
Easter Bunny may not be Shakespeare, but it's fun. And for people beset with the infirmities of age, fun is a thing to treasure.
For years, Muriel "Betty" Palecek has been involving the residents of retirement complexes, assisted-living centers and nursing homes in their very own community theater. At 89, Palecek may be Winona's senior impresario, casting her latest productions from the residents and staff living and working at her home at Lake Winona Manor.
Palecek and her husband, Marvin, a longtime professor of history at Winona State University, retired and moved to a Florida retirement community in 1987. "We started to put on little plays, and it grew to be a habit," Palecek said.
In her years as a high school English teacher she had some experience in producing amateur theatricals, she said, and she began writing scripts for the group's productions.
"They weren't always plays," she said. "We'd sometimes imitate Jeopardy or other TV shows. It was just for fun.
"I'm not pretending I'm a professional," she said.
Marvin died in 2001, and Palecek came back to Winona and moved into the assisted-living residence at the Watkins Home.
It wasn't long until she was back putting on plays.
Palecek said that casting her plays can be a challenge - when the detective in one of her plays needed a bloodhound, a cat - with four paws and a tail - was the closest match readily available. "We wondered if the cat would walk on a leash," she said. "But it worked out fine."
Betty's latest production, presented last month, was a patriotic musical review - "United States of America" - that incorporated songs, skits, question-and-answer and a happy dose of old fashioned silliness. "The audience gave us a big clap," Palecek said. "They were happy to see that old people could still do something."
Robin Grawe, a friend and colleague for more than 30 years, said the residents "are happy to take part" in her production.
Palecek said that getting residents to participate wasn't that difficult: "They love to be able to tell their friends and family, ÔI'm in a show!'"
Palecek demonstrates a great awareness of and sensitivity to the limitations age has imposed on her actors, Grawe said. "She is creative in how to involve residents in ways that won't embarrass them," she said.
"You give me more credit than I deserve," Palecek said, insisting that the staff at Lake Winona Manor and the residents who took part were the ones really responsible for the show's success. "You have to have the nameless people who move the furniture and get the props. Without them, nothing gets done."