"Music and Mind-Benders" was the theme for the Maple Crest Men's Banquet, held on June 19.

The music was provided by folk-singer/storyteller Joseph Helfrich, known as "Joseph." His program included a variety of instruments, from the banjo to the bag pipes, and his humorous songs and stories kept the crowd in an up-beat mood.

"Joseph" felt like a "boy coming home" as he found himself in the company of three former professors from his Bluffton College days - Stan Clemens (guest) and residents Luther Shetler and Burton Yost.

The "mind-bender" part of the evening featured Maple Crest resident Russel Suter, with a demonstration of his home-made wooden puzzles. Many of the puzzles turned out to be tricky brain-teasers that gave Suter the aura of a magician.

For example: He'd turn a box over and a drawer would pop open, but the next time he turned it, the drawer would stay closed. Or, he'd slide a penny or a marble into a contraption and it would disappear, until he made it reappear.

Most of the puzzles were Suter's own design, made from scraps of wood with small hand tools and glue, although on occasion he has used an idea from a magazine.

Puzzles on the tables included home-made wooden brain-teasers donated by John Moser of Bluffton. Men sought to creatively remove the knotted cord from the wooden base, but were unsuccessful during the evening event. Door prize winners get to keep working on the puzzles at home.

Maple Crest thanks volunteer servers Dan Amstutz, Richard Basinger, Mahlon Geiger and Kody Koronich for their excellent help during the banquet.