CEDAR FALLS -- A new outdoor gazebo is a hub where Alzheimer's patients at Windsor Nursing & Rehab Center can reminisce.

The wooden structure, completed in midsummer, was overflowing with people recently as activity coordinator Kathy Jensen read from an October 1992 issue of Good Old Days magazine.

"It's nice," said Windsor resident Tom Whitford, sitting on a bench inside the structure. "We have fun out here."

It didn't take long for an article about a community festival to fuel conversation among residents who've attended similar National Cattle Congress fairs, Sturgis Falls and My Waterloo Days celebrations or amusement parks.

"I rode on the most dangerous roller coaster in San Francisco," said resident Joyce (Canfield) Grimmius, a daredevil in her day. "They made me sick, the rides."

Others raved about the carnival food.

"Cattle Congress, yes," Whitford recalled. "I used to eat the cotton candy. We had those Kraft caramels, maple and chocolate. I liked the maple-flavored the best. We ate tenderloins, french-fried potatoes, pecan pie and I think a chef's salad."

The gazebo primarily will be used in spring, summer and fall, Jensen said. Residents try to get outside daily to sit, exercise or listen to books with historical context.

"That's one of the things that's the last to go is their long-term memory, so that's why it's kind of neat to read those kinds of things," Jensen said.

The gazebo, centered in a fenced-in courtyard, is a welcome addition for the Alzheimer's wing, said Jeff Wollum, former administrator at Windsor. It's also handicap-accessible, positioned atop a cement pad with paths extending to and from the structure.

"Before, the residents would stay out of the sun and sat right out by the building in the shade," Wollum said. "(With the gazebo) they might take families out there. Plus, when you're out there, you can be one-on-one with your family member."

Whitmoll Builders of Cedar Falls offered Windsor a deal to construct the more than $5,000 gazebo, built with $4,500 from the Fraternal Order of Eagles of Waterloo. Donations took care of the difference.

Planning for the project began more than two years ago, Wollum said. Eagles auxiliary officer Barb Lynch, a madam trustee, oversees its local Alzheimer's charity and wrote requests to state Eagles officials to secure a $2,500 grant during 2006-07 and an additional $2,000 for 2007-08.

Lynch, a 33-year Eagles member, helped initiate the project in honor of her father, George Bettle of Waterloo, who died of the disease in 1987.

"I would take my father out when it was nice weather there at Parkview (Nursing & Rehab Center in Waterloo) gardens," Lynch said. "I know how much he enjoyed watching the cars go by and the people -- there were children in the neighborhood."

She plans to appeal to the Eagles for more money to further enhance Alzheimer's programs at Windsor.

"Next year maybe they will have something else they would need there, maybe something that would go along with a gazebo," Lynch said. "Maybe like a picnic table or something like that."

Contact Tina Hinz at (319) 291-1484

or tina.hinz@wcfcourier.com.