SECTION 2 • VOICE NEWS, Thursday, September 12, 2013 - Page 25

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By Gerry BaksysIt took 30 years, but it was well

worth the wait.Russell and Karen Topp aged

their dry red wine in an oak barrellast year, and the result is every-thing you would expect from thebest winemaker in the world.

You immediately want to buy abottle, but there’s one problem, it’snot for sale.

“A lot of people ask if they canbuy the wine,” Karen said, “but it’sso fun to give away. It’s a reallyspecial gift you can give some-body.”

The truth is Russell and Karenstarted making their own wine in2007 as a hobby, and have no plansto go into commercial production.

“It’s really cost prohibitive toopen your own winery,” Russellsaid. “I’ve heard it can cost you upto $1 million to get started.”

“At that price, it would be moreof a job than a hobby,” Karenadded. “Plus that’s way moremoney than we will ever have.”The dream

Russell has wanted to make hisown wine for the last three de-cades, but life, work and family kepthim too busy until a fateful day ap-proximately five years ago.

“I work for Nebraska Rural Wa-ter Association and was in Uniontrying to find a water leak,” Russellrecalled. “I ended up going to thetown water operator’s basement tolisten to the water line, when hesaid, ‘I gotta check on my wine.’So I started visiting with him aboutwine and it got me all enthused to

Adams winemaker shares dream with friends & familymake my own. I finally decided thiswas the time to try it.”

Why Russell wanted to makewine remains a mystery even he can’texplain. Before 2007, he and Karenrarely drank wine, and when theydid, they were often disappointed.

“But when we did buy a bottle,we’d open it and say, ‘This stuff’sterrible,’ and end up throwing therest of the bottle away. When westarted making our own wine, wewere able to make it how we like itand how our friends like it.”The reality

Karen and Russell did a lot of re-search before going into production.

“I bought a few books and read alot on the internet,” Russell said.

“When Russell does something,he does it right,” Karen said. “Hedoesn’t do anything halfway, orthree-quarters of the way. He figuresout how he wants to do it, re-searches it, then dives in and tweaksit from there. That’s how he’s sogood at it.”

And make no mistake, his wine isgood, really really good.

“We enter it in the state fair ev-ery year,” Russell said, “I’ve gottenthe Nebraska Winemaker of the yearthe last two years, and three timestotal.”

He’s also received best of showribbons from the state fair, and vari-ous accolades from the NebraskaGrape Growers and Wine Associa-tion; and he’s only been makingwine since 2007.

But make no mistake, Karen andRussell have done their fair share of

work, and have suffered through theusual period of trial and error.

“That first year, we tried makingwine from frozen juice concentrate,”said Karen, shuddering with thememory. “It was awful. We ended updumping that batch.”

“Since wine is essentially juice,”Russell said, “we learned the betterthe juice, the better the wine. Sum-mer is harvest season for fruit, soonce you get past summer, you’renot going to get fresh fruit.”The details

Russell and Karen have made avariety of fruit wines, including:

mulberry, cherry, peach, plum, pear,apple and apricot.

“Originally,” Russell said, “Iwanted to make wild plum wine, butI never got around to making that;it’s too much work.”

Russell said you need about 20

pounds of fruit to make a five-gal-lon batch of wine. Finding and pick-ing 20 pounds of wild plums wouldbe a big time commitment, but Karensaid there are other considerationswhen making non-grape, fruit wines.

“With other fruit,” she said, “youhave to make sure you get it ripe. Ifit’s not ripe enough, the wine won’tbe any good. If it’s too ripe, the winewill be earthy and has a different taste.”

Plus, once you harvest the fruit,there’s the added time commitmentof pitting 20 pounds of cherries(Karen recommends from experiencethat you don’t do this in yourkitchen) or coring 20 pounds ofapples.

“Grapes are the easiest to makeinto wine because God made grapesto make wine,” Russell laughs. “I justadd some yeast, and viola, it doesthe rest itself.”

It’s not quite that easy, of course,but Karen and Russell both believethat with the help of family and

friends, turning a bucket of grapesinto a bottle of wine doesn’t take amiracle.The process

Russell and Karen have fourrows of grape vines on their ruralAdams property, but they buy themajority of their grapes from theirfriends Clayton and StephenieDoeschot and Tim and Lisa Loeske,both of rural Panama.

Usually, Russell and Karen helpwith the grape harvest, a chore theymanaged to escape this year. Thenthey bring their buckets home andde-stem and crush them.

“We used to spend all morningin the vineyard picking grapes,”Karen said. “Then we would goback to Russell’s shed and spendthe next four hours with friends andfamily picking the grapes off thestems by hand.”

Last year, however, the Topp’s

Grapes after they’ve beenthrough the machine.

Russell and Karen work their grape destemmer-crushermachine. In 20 minutes, they can finish a job that previouslytook a room full of people four hours.

continued on page 32

Russell and Karen stand in front of the vines that grow outside their rural Adams home. Russelland Karen planted the vines, and started making their own wine, in 2007.

Photos by Gerry Baksys/VOICE NEWS

Page 26 - SECTION 2 • VOICE NEWS, Thursday, September 12, 2013

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Submitted by Connie HartmanThere is a big world out there

and while we operated a “Grade A”dairy farm, our travel was limited.Retirement opened the door for us.This year our escape was to NovaScotia, Canada. On a Friday, morn-ing we climbed aboard a bus onour way to another worldwith 44 new friends.

The first couple of dayscovered some familiar ter-r i tory. We traveledthrough Iowa, Illinois, In-diana and Michigan. Weviewed corn and soybeansand never saw crops whichwe would trade. The firstreal s top was NiagaraFalls, Canada. We werethere on the last big vaca-tion weekend of their sea-son. The Canadian side ofNiagara Falls is the realtourist center. The falls aremajestic. The huge dropwith gallons and gallons of waterfrom the St. Lawrence River cre-ates a huge roar and the water hit-ting the eroded rocks develops a

mist which in turn creates rainbows.We appreciated the rain ponchosprovided as the Maid of the Mistneared the base of the falls.

Back on the States side of theborder, we were in New York, Ver-mont, New Hampshire, and Maine,

traveling through the Adirondackand the White Mountains. Thesemountains are full of trees andmountain streams all the way. The

Merlin and Connie Hartman, of Douglas, pose aboard the Maid ofthe Mist ready to depart for the foot of the falls. Photos submitted

Old Man of the Mountain inthe White Mountains has suf-fered the same way as ourChimney Rock has, it has got-ten shorter, and his nose hasfallen off. Vermont has a beau-tiful Capitol with a gold domeand the maple syrup industry.Seeing how the sap is col-lected and how the syrup andsugar are produced was edu-cational. Tasting the soft serveice cream mad with the maplesyrup was delightful.

St. John, New Brunswick,offered the Reversing Fallsand the port for the ferry thattook us to Digby. The ferry ac-commodated the bus, bigtrucks, cars plus the walk onpassengers. The three hours onFundy Bay saved an eight or tenhour trip by land. We lunchedaboard the ship and then we wereoff to Halifax. The architecture isinteresting as it spans from histori-cal to modern. During WWI, a Ca-nadian naval ship was heavilyloaded with munitions bound forEurope. No one aboard knew the se-cret details of the cargo so a smallfire aboard caused no concern.Tragically the ship blew up in theharbor and took half the city withit. The harbor was rendered uselessand thousands of citizens werekilled. The city rebuilt through thedecades but retains the historicalbuildings that were spared. Halifaxis home to five universities includ-ing a marine biology college whichwould become a part of our experi-ence as we met students from therewhen we were whale watching. Likeother Canadian cities, Halifax haspublic gardens of astoundingbeauty. Our guide pointed out thatwe were visiting a garden that hadbeen visited by Queen Elizabeth IIand later by Prince William andKate. Where we try to layoutplantings to conserve water, the gar-deners there plant to allow rain todrain away from their flowers so asnot to let the rains over water them.The lighthouse we visited in Halifaxwas the inspirat ion for HenryWadsworth Longfellow’s poem,“The Lighthouse.” Light houseswere numerous along the coastalwaters. We lunched at Peggy’sCove, which is said to be the mostphotographed place in Canada. Thelight house and restaurant sit onhuge rock formations that drop di-rectly into the ocean. Tourists are re-peatedly warned of the danger ofslipping directly into the ocean.

The big day came! It was a tripto the Atlantic Ocean to go whalewatching. Twenty of us piled intothe small boat to go to sea. Welearned from the college students

from Halifax about the pilotwhales we were looking for.The girls were marine biologystudents spending their summerinforming tourists and doingstudies of the whales thatwould go back with them asthey returned to their univer-sity. It was an exciting ride. Theboat captain declared it a calmocean. But to a land lovingNebraskan, having a four footwave come over the rail andbeing doused by it did not con-stitute a calm ocean. The wavesmade picture taking a challengeas the boat rolled with eachone. We saw much more thanour photos document. We werefortunate to see a family, male,female and pup, but not fortu-nate enough to get a photo.

Another ferry ride took us toPrince Edward Island, the last tosevere ties with Great Britainand become a province of Canada.Like Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Is-land is proud of their Scottish heri-tage. While on the ferry, we wereentertained by a Keltic dancer and aKeltic fiddler. It was pointed out tous that Keltic is the Scottish spell-ing and Celtic is the Irish spelling.Tartans and kilts are found in bothplaces. Hotel employees in Halifaxwear kilts as their work uniform nomatter what their ethnic background.

On Prince Edward Island, we vis-ited the settings for the Anne of GreenGables works by L. M. Montgomery.Prince Edward Island also offeredCavendish National Park and thebeautiful red beaches on the northside of the island that were being en-joyed as gulf stream waters providedwater warm enough for swimming.The red beach and the clear blueocean were truly beautiful.

Prince Edward Island has soillike Georgia. Their crop rotation in-cludes soybeans, wheat and alfalfa,with their potatoes, cabbage and

broccoli. Seeing fields of 40 or 50acres planted with potatoes or cab-bage was eye catching. Their fish-ing villages of vividly coloredhouses made great photos. We weretold they paint in the very strongcolors because their climate washesout the whites and pastels and theywould have to paint their homes ev-ery year or two.

Crossing the New ConfederateBridge from Borden, Prince Ed-ward Island put us in CapeTormentine, New Brunswick, andon the beautiful drive along the St.Lawrence River to Quebec City,Quebec.

Quebec City has a history goingback past our Revolution. Wetoured the city and saw the Citadeland the Plains of Abraham of the1700s. We saw architecture of the1700, 1800s and more. QuebecCity’s park was adorned by cannonsrather than war memorials andflowers like in the other provincesthat we visited.

Our scenic drive continued on toMississauga, Ontario, back throughMichigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowaand home.

It was apparent that some prov-inces consider themselves ScottishCanadians, some are French Cana-dians while others are happy beingCanadians. Canada is trying tounite by teaching all school stu-dents both English and French. Itseems to have worked better insome provinces than others. Que-bec apparently has not embraced ityet. But, when we walked intoBurger King and said number one,we did get a Whopper.

Stops at the border crossingsranged from staying on the buswhile the officer walked down thebus aisle to see if we resembled ourpassport pictures (and I hope not)to getting off the bus and filingthrough the building to have ourpassports validated by the com-puter. During one stop, they walkeda dog through the bus while wewere inside. At another stop, ourline was delayed as four or five of-ficers walked a man in handcuffspast us.

We got back home with all 44of us. Goodbyes were said as thegroup departed for homes in Iowa,South Dakota, Kansas and a vari-ety of Nebraska communities.

The House of Green Gables, home settingof the book Anne of Green Gables, wasone of many sites on the tour.

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SECTION 2 • VOICE NEWS, Thursday, September 12, 2013 - Page 27

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Submitted by Southlake VillageRehabilitation and Care Center

The Southlake Village Rehabili-tation and Care Center family cel-ebrated their two year anniversary onFriday, July 12, 2013. On July 9,Southlake Village celebrated by host-

ing the July Jubilee complete with abarbeque dinner, dunk tank, snowcones, cotton candy and music byBilly Bacon and the Sty Boys (DaveRobel and Marty Steinhausen). Withover 350 people in attendance, a funtime was had by all. One of the high-lights of the evening was Mark Tay-lor Feit of the Alzheimer’s Associa-tion being dunked in the dunk tankas a fundraiser for the September 15,2013, Walk to End Alzheimer’s atHolmes Lake Park. Feit, along withSouthlake Village’s Culinary Ser-vices Manager Barb Larkins, PayrollCoordinator Kristin Buntmeyer andAdministrator Aimee Middleton,took turns getting soaked for the

Southlake Village celebrates two years by giving back,Southlake Village celebrates two years by giving back,Southlake Village celebrates two years by giving back,Southlake Village celebrates two years by giving back,Southlake Village celebrates two years by giving back,providing world class care and having a lot of funproviding world class care and having a lot of funproviding world class care and having a lot of funproviding world class care and having a lot of funproviding world class care and having a lot of fun

great cause. By the end of the night,over $300 was raised for donation tothe Alzheimer’s Association.

Southlake Village is greatful forthe support of Lincoln and the sur-rounding communities, and looksforward to continuing to be a pillar

of excellent carein the healthcare commu-nity.

Our doorsopened on July12, 2011, with amission of Dig-nity in Life anda goal of pro-viding the citi-zens of Lincolnand the sur-rounding com-munities with astate-of-the-artfacility wherethey could reha-bilitate or livewhile receivingworld class careand service.

S o u t h l a k eVillage achievesthis through itsmultidisciplinaryapproach usingnursing, life en-richment, din-ing, social ser-vices and spiri-tual care to carefor the wholeperson: body,mind and spirit.The memoriesand experiencesas we touch thelives of those we

serve are amazing. Jennifer Wolf-Wubbels, Public Relations Coordina-tor, recalls the joy on Fred’s face when

Submitted by Chuck Severin, FarmBureau Financial Services

Different stages of life bring aboutdifferent priorities and opportunities.Becoming an empty nester is no excep-tion. You’ve spent years focusing on theday-to-day responsibilities of raisingyour family and preparing for the future.Now that the future has arrived, you maywant to reevaluate your goals and lookforward to what lies ahead.

At this point in your life, you prob-ably have some additional disposableincome that you can put toward yourretirement. While you’ve likely beenaccumulating funds for the future, thismay be the best time to redefine yourvision for retirement and ensure that thestrategies you have in place will help youaccumulate enough funds to retire com-fortably when you’re ready.

Take a look at boosting your retire-ment earnings:

Contributions to a 401(k) are pre-tax,which allows you to lower your taxableincome. Plus, your employer may matcha portion of your contribution, addingto your retirement fund at no cost to you.Taxes are paid when you withdraw themoney in retirement, when you may bein a lower tax bracket.

People over age 50 can contribute“catch-up” amounts to IRAs – Roth andTraditional. In fact, the federal govern-ment allows individuals age 50 and

An empty nest offers room to growabove to contribute up to $6,000 per fis-cal year to an IRA. Plus, IRAs offer cer-tain tax advantages, including federalincome-tax deductions and tax-deferredgrowth.

The thrills and responsibilities ofparenthood have been your top prior-ity. Now it’s time to pursue your dreamsand ambitions. Evaluating your situa-tion based on current and future needscan help you enjoy your empty nest withconfidence and security.

Talk with your Farm Bureau agentand other advisers to make certain yourretirement earnings will serve you wellthroughout the coming years.

Tips brought to you by Farm BureauFinancial Services. For more informa-tion about products and services, callChuck Severin, CLU ChFC at 402-421-2888.Securities & services offered through FBLMarketing Services, LLC+, 5400 UniversityAve., West Des Moines, IA 50266, 877/860-2904, Member SIPC. Farm Bureau Property& Casualty Insurance Company+*, WesternAgricultural Insurance Company+*, FarmBureau Life Insurance Company+*/West DesMoines, IA. +Affiliates *Company providersof Farm Bureau Financial Services . FarmBureau Property & Casualty InsuranceCompany*, Western Agricultural InsuranceCompany*, Farm Bureau Life InsuranceCompany*/West Des Moines, IA. *Companyproviders of Farm Bureau Financial Services

Mark Taylor Feit, Development Director Alzheimer’s Association, Great Plains Chapter,sits in the dunk tank during the July Jubilee onJuly 9. Photo submitted

two very well-known Husker play-ers walked through the door of hisroom, gave him a firm hand shakeand the opportunity to talk Huskerfootball.

Melissa James, OT, states she ismost proud when she is able to helppatients like Clarinda recover froma stroke. Clarinda who “arrived atSouthlake Village unable to walk,needing two people to assist her, isnow able to take steps with veryminimal assistance and is well onher way to being independent.”

“Hugging our rehab patients asthey walk out the door of SouthlakeVillage to return to their homes moreindependent and healthy makes myheart happy,” declares Guest Relationstaff member, Angie Kreikemeier.

Sandra Robertson, LPN states sheis so proud when she is able to carefor an individual who has chronicmedical problems such as a “longterm diabetic ulcer that has given thepatient problems for years and whilethey are at Southlake we are able toheal the ulcer and help the individualreturn home.”

Gayle Resh, MA, CTRS and LifeEnrichment Coordinator comments,“It’s not about just finding activitiesto keep people busy – it’s providingquality recreation opportunities sothose receiving care experience cog-nitive, social and emotional well-be-ing. Past patients come back to visitand take part in social and musicalevents – that indicates the quality ofour programming.” As the yearscome and go, the Southlake Villageteam will continue to provide thosewe serve with dignity, respect andworld class care.

To learn more about theAlzheimer’s Association and how youcan take part in the Walk to EndAlzheimer’s or the Stars are Out Galavisit www.alz.org

Page 28 - SECTION 2 • VOICE NEWS, Thursday, September 12, 2013

By April D. RefiorErnest and Janice Jurgens, bet-

ter known as Ernie and Jan, havelived in the Cortland, Filley, Adamsarea all of their lives. And, theJurgens are still an active part ofthe community. Ernie drives aschool bus for Freeman PublicSchools, and he and Jan both vol-unteer at GoldCrest RetirementCenter.

Jan, 73, was born to Ehme andGrace Wallman on December 7,1939, and grew up in Cortland.Ernie, 76, was born to PJ and TenaJurgens on November 22, 1936, andgrew up in Filley. “I graduated fromCortland High School in 1957, andErnie in 1954,” said Jan. “After thekids were all in school, I attendedSoutheast Community College inLincoln, and acquired an associatedegree in Human Services, special-izing in Nursing Home Administra-tion.”

The Jurgens first met at a soft-

Jurgens active in church and community, enjoy travelJurgens active in church and community, enjoy travelJurgens active in church and community, enjoy travelJurgens active in church and community, enjoy travelJurgens active in church and community, enjoy travelball game in Pickrell, and celebratedtheir 53rd wedding anniversary lastweek. “We dated several years andgot married on September 4, 1960,at Christ Lutheran Church, in ruralPickrell,” Jan said. “We moved to afarm southwest of Adams, and livedthere for about 45 years. Then, wemoved to an acreage near Adamsfor about five years, before moving

to one of thetownhouses atGold Crest Retire-ment Center. Welove it here!”

Five childrenand 13 grandchil-dren were born tothe Jurgens.Donna and BruceKostal live inPapillion and havetwo daughters,Kara and Whitney;Randy and AngelaJurgens live in Lin-coln have threechildren, Tyson,Abby andHannah; Bob andTeresa Jurgens arein Topeka, Kansas,and have two chil-dren, Ashley andCameron; Myronand Sarah Jurgenslive near Hickmanwith their three chil-dren, Jadyn,Carson and Coo-per; and Darin livesin Adams and has

three children, Chelsea, Alyssa andNoah.

Ernie and Jan are members ofZion Lutheran Church in ruralPickrell. That’s the church whereErnie was baptized and confirmed,and the couple has gone to Sundayschool there for 50 plus years. Ernieis presently the treasurer of the Menin Mission, and has been on thechurch council in the past. Jan is apast member of the ladies choir, al-tar guild and Sunday schoolteacher. She is now involved in theMission Circle.

The Jurgens have been past parkboard members, and on both the125th and 135th anniversary celebra-tion committees. They help with theannual benefit soup supper and en-tertainment night every February,and have been involved with the an-

nual country musicconcert featuring Texand Mary Schuntz forthe past 12 years.Stayingbusy is key

Besides being ac-tive in the church, theJurgens have a varietyof activities that keep

them busy.For the past five

years, Ernie has beendriving the bus forFreeman PublicSchools. Before he be-came a bus driver, hewas a farmer andworked in construc-tion. “He still likes towork on projects in hisshop,” added Jan. “Heis currently working onrestoring a Ferguson –30 tractor.”

Ernie is also a mem-ber of a golf league atthe Tecumseh golfcourse, and enjoysplaying golf duringAdams Days. He isplanning on going tothe Ashland CampCarol Joy HollingCamp Classic golf tour-nament at the IronHorse golf course thisyear, along with hisson, Bob, son-in-law,Bruce, and nephew,Phil.

Jan worked atLakeview Rest Homefor 18 years in variouspositions. “From there,I went to Madonna Rehab Hospitalas a Unit Secretary, retiring in 2007,”said Jan. “I also cleaned houses onthe side for 10 years. After retiringfrom Madonna, I started working forGoldCrest Child Care for six years,and retired July of this year.”

Both Ernie and Jan continue tobe very active. They both enjoyvolunteering at GoldCrest, helpingout with the fall benefit and variousother events. Ernie delivers mealsone week each month. “With somany of the grandkids playing ball,we keep busy going to games,” Jansaid. “We try to get to some of thecollege games closest to us, andmost of the home high schoolgames.”

Jan enjoys reading, playing thekeyboard and attending Red HatSociety meetings. She also gets to-gether with two of her high schoolfriends every other month to visitand have lunch.

“We belong to several dominogroups and play cards with friendsand neighbors,” Jan added. “Wealso enjoy going to country musicconcerts in Wahoo and Hastings,and others that come up.”Travel, travel, travel

The Jurgens also have a timeshare and enjoy going on vacations.They used to have a motor home,but sold it two years ago. Vacationshave included the California coast,a fishing trip to Oklahoma with theirneighbors, and several family tripsto Branson, Missouri, aroundChristmas time.

“Right before school last year,my granddaughter asked if we couldtake one more trip to Branson be-fore school started, so we did,” saidJan. “We got to our rooms and justsat down to plan the next day, andthe fire alarms went off. Out the doorwe went. It turned out to be a falsealarm. The firemen seemed quite jit-tery, the night before there was acondo just a block down from wherewe were that burned to the ground.

“The next morning Teresa,Ashley and I went shopping, andBob, Cameron and Ernie went theirway. What we did not know wasthey have a weekend every yearright before school starts that youdo not have to pay sales tax on yourpurchases. People were body tobody in the stores, and parking andtraffic were a nightmare. I decidedto just sit down on a bench out-side and stay put, but they were allfull, one gentleman called out to me‘Ma’am, you get over here and Iwill get up and you can have myseat.’ I sat there until Ashley andTeresa showed up with packages.At least they had luck and gotthrough the crowd. I did get a hugand thank you for taking them toBranson. It was worth it.”

For the last 15 years, theJurgens have made a trip to Arkan-sas in the fall to the craft shows inBentonville and the surroundingtowns. During the two and halfdays of craft shows, the Jurgensenjoy spending time with theirfriends Byron and Sue Pierce, wholive in Arkansas. The men go offon their own while Jan and Suehave brunch and visit the craft fairs.

“Several times, my daughter anddaughters-in-law would go along,”said Jan. “They had a great timealso. One year I gave them theamount of money I would spendon Christmas gifts for them. I toldthem if they saw something theywould like for Christmas to buy it,but I would take it home and wrapit and they had to wait until Christ-mas to get it. They had fun withthat.”Memoriesof the grandchildren

One of the moments with thegrandchildren that sticks out themost for Jan was the Barbie dollChristmas incident.

“One Christmas, I decided to getthe five oldest granddaughtersBarbie dolls,” Jan said. “Well, Ididn’t know one of them did NOT

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Jan and Ernie Jurgens were married onSeptember 4, 1960. Jan and Ernie Jurgens stand in front of their town house at GoldCrest in

Adams. The Jurgens enjoy their many activities from driving the Freemanbus to helping out at Pickrell Zion Lutheran Church and volunteering atGoldCrest. April D. Refior/VOICE NEWS

“I would say our passions are attending church and the activitiesinvolved in the church. Also, giving away love, time, talents and

financially helping unselfishly, you reap many times over.” – Janice and Ernest Jurgens

continued on page 29

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SECTION 2 • VOICE NEWS, Thursday, September 12, 2013 - Page 29continued from page 28

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like Barbies. She opened her gift andimmediately started crying, I askedher what was wrong, she just keptcrying. Her mom says she does notlike Barbie, her father will explain.

“He knew she didn’t like Barbies,and she was misbehaving and itwas getting close to Christmas andhe said, ‘You better be good orSanta might bring you a Barbie.’Well who gave her a Barbie? Me,”Jan continued. “My heart went outto her, and I put her on my lap andsaid, ‘I tell you what, you can leavethis Barbie here and others can playwith it when they come. I will giveyou some money and your daddycan take you to the store to getsomething else. Grandma didn’tknow you didn’t like Barbies.’ Thenshe was okay.

“On our 50th anniversary, thekids made a video for us and thegrandkids all said something to uson it. She said, “Happy anniversarygrandma and grandpa, I still loveyou even though you tried to giveme a Barbie for Christmas,’” saidJan.

Another precious grandchildmoment is when Jan decided tomake embroidered pillow case setsfor each of the grandchildren for

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A Brain Health Fair at SCC September 24BRAIN MABRAIN MABRAIN MABRAIN MABRAIN MATTERS :TTERS :TTERS :TTERS :TTERS :

A free health fair for area seniorswill be held Tuesday, September 24,from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the South-east Community College ContinuingEducation Center, 301 South 68thStreet Place, in Lincoln. No registra-tion fee is required to attend this event.

Seniors are invited to hear invitedspeakers as they shed light on areassuch as how environmental and ge-netic factors impact the brain andcognition as people age, how healthfactors such as hypertension and

diabetes contribute to brain aging andcognitive decline, and what role stressplays in cognitive decline.

Throughout the event, a Drop InVendor Fair and Demonstration roomwill give attendees an additional op-portunity to talk with people work-ing in a variety of related fields thatcan challenge and sharpen mentalfunction.Featured presentations and speakers:

9 a.m. “Keeping Our BrainsHealthy,” Richard (Dick) Dienstbier, PhD

10 a.m. “Nourish Your Noggin:Eat a Brain Healthy Diet,” AliceHenneman, MS, RD and UNL Ex-tension in Lancaster County

11 a.m. -“Brain Training 101: UseIt or You Lose It,” Wes Sime, PhD

Noon “Changes, Challenges andChuckles,” Sharon Cheney, RN, MA

Free showing of“Quartet,” bestindependent filmaward winner

Area seniors are invited to seethe movie, “Quartet,” about inhab-itants of Beecham House for retiredmusicians as they prepare for theirannual benefitconcert. Themovi, sched-uled for 1:30p.m., onWe d n e s d a y,September 18,assembles agroup of lovableperformers in a palatialresidence for aged artists and en-tangles them in delightful comicand dramatic situations. Free trans-portation can be provided to themovie and then home if you eat atany Aging Partners Senior Center.Seniors are encouraged to call theircenters to reserve a lunch and thenjoin in Lincoln for this fun movie.To reserve a seat for the free movie,call 402-441-7158. Sponsors for themovie are Bridge to Better Living,Care Consultants for the Aging andHigh Plains Alzheimer’s.

graduation. “One day one of theyounger granddaughters said,‘Grandma, will I get one too?’ I said,‘I hope so.’ She said, ‘Well it’s anawful, awful long time before I gradu-ate, and what if you’re not aroundanymore to make mine, or any of thegrandkids younger than me?’ I said,“Well then, I guess I better makethem all now and they will be all doneand ready for you. I will put yournames on them and tell your parentswhere they are.’ She said, ‘AWE-SOME! Thank you, Grandma. I loveyou.’ The pillow cases are all doneand in the cedar chest.”

This Scrabble board wasgiven to Jan and Ernie oneyear for Christmas. It wasmade by one of theirgranddaughters, and includesthe names of all the childrenand grandchildren.

Page 30 - SECTION 2 • VOICE NEWS, Thursday, September 12, 2013

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Orchard Park

Carolyn Borcher, ofSterling, received aplaque from theSterling RescueSquad for her 33years of service at aretirement picnicheld recently. Theplaque is presentedby Captain MarlinEbbers. Photos submitted

Borcher receives service plaque

By Trudy Lieberman,Rural Health News ServiceLittle by little, the mandatory

federal budget cuts Congress au-thorized—formally called the se-quester—are beginning to pinchacross most all government pro-grams. One program that willclearly feel the impact af-fects home-deliveredmeals for the country’soldest and most vulner-able people.

These are the invisiblehungry that don’t have aloud voice in Washing-ton. They are too frail ortoo proud to stand on thestreets and beg, but theydepend on money fromCongress as well as stateand local governments tofund meals that are deliv-ered to their doors usu-ally once a day five days a week.In some parts of the country theyare on waiting lists—sometimes foras long as a year—for a meal be-cause local programs are short on

funds to provide them, and thenumber of people needing foodcontinues to rise.

According to the Meals-on-Wheels Association, a group rep-resenting senior nutrition pro-grams across the country, about

five million seniorsover age 65—11 per-cent of the seniorpopulation—facedthe threat of hungerin 2005. Today al-most 15 percent do.

“Between 2001and 2010 we haveseen a 78 percentgrowth in the num-ber of seniors facinghunger,” says EnidBorden, founder andpresident of the Na-tional Foundation to

End Senior Hunger.The Center for Effective Gov-

ernment, a Washington-basedwatchdog group, estimates thatthe sequester will result in a $10

million cut in home deliveredmeals authorized under the OlderAmericans Act. How those cutstrickle down to local programsand affect seniors varies fromstate to state. In the end a spe-cific program decision to cut ser-vices depends on what otherfunding sources are availableand what other obligations theprogram must meet.

In Nebraska, the federal AreaAgencies on Aging had been brac-ing for sequester cuts, but RodHorsley, executive director of theSouth Central Nebraska AreaAgency on Aging in Kearney, toldme that left-over funds from pre-vious years will prevent the se-quester cuts at least for this year.

Some parts of the country willsee reduced services very soon.In New Haven, Connecticut, forexample, Kathy Pontin who di-rects the meal program, say shemust cut her budget by five to sixpercent to comply with the se-quester. That means 5,500 fewermeals served next year. She knowsher waiting list will begin growingagain, but she says you can’t callsomeone and say “Guess what!You’re not going to get a meal anymore.’”

Nebraska is hardly out of theproverbial woods, though.Horsley explained Nebraska pro-grams might face funding short-falls next year. Rural Nebraskacounties have lost population ac-cording to the 2010 Census, andthe federal funding allocation forthe meal programs is based on thenumber of people age 60 andolder. As that population goesdown, so do funds, which meansother sources like local and stategovernments or community fundraising must fill in the gaps. “It’snot a beautiful picture by anymeans,” Horsely said.

Some programs offer a privatepay option that allows families tobuy meals when no government-funded slots are available. Pro-gram directors say fewer and fewerpeople are able to pay privatelyas families find it hard to come upwith the money to pay for mealsfor their loved ones.

It’s not uncommon for a per-son to begin paying privately,but stop when funds run low.When they stop the meals, theyusually don’t say they can’t payfor them. Most elders don’t liketo admit they have no money forfood.

Home-delivered meals fi-nanced under the Older Ameri-cans Act are free to anyone overage 60 and who demonstrates aneed for the program (often de-termined by assessment forms andpoint scores). But recipients of-ten make voluntary contributionstoward the meals. Those, too, aregoing down.

The Center for Effective Gov-ernment argues that cutting fundsfor food, which is so basic to thehealth of the elderly, may bepennywise and pound-foolish.Cutting funds for meals-on-wheels will end up costing thegovernment some $479 millionover the next seven months innursing home costs paid by Med-icaid. Malnutrition is a major rea-son for costly hospital and nurs-ing home admissions and read-missions.

“We’re cutting the very basicneeds of human beings at a timewhen we’re trying to cut healthcare costs,” says ChristieHinrichs, president of TabithaHealth Care Services, a meal pro-vider in Lincoln.

It isn’t just some bloated bu-reaucracy that gets hurt by the se-quester. Those affected may wellinclude real people in your owncommunities and your own fami-lies.”

The Government sequester hits home - at meal timeTHINKING ABOUT HEALTH

Eleventh in a series on health care

Trudy Lieberman,Rural Health News

Sterling Rescue members at the picnic honoring Borcherincluded, back row: David Shea, Chris Malone, WayneHansen, Josh Sterkel, Dean Borcher. Front row: Marlin Ebbers,Mary Erickson, Stan Borcher, Beth Hansen, Karen Zuhlke,Carolyn Borcher.

If you are dealing with the lone-liness or stress of losing a lovedone, there is support availablethrough the Grief Education andSupport Class offered by BeatriceCommunity Hospital Hospice.

This six-week video/discussionprogram is a time to learn about thegrief you may be experiencing aswell as a time to remember and sharememories of your loved one.

Classes will be held from 5 p.m. -7 p.m. weekly, beginning Septem-

Grief education and support classoffered free of charge in Beatrice

ber 24. The classes will be held inthe Conference Center at the newhospital on North Highway 77. Foreasiest access, use the ConferenceCenter/Rehab Center entrance.

The classes will be facilitated byregistered nurse Kay Wiens.

The classes are free and open tothe public, but pre-registration isrequested. To pre-register, for moreinformation, or if you have a dis-ability and require accommoda-tions, please call 402-223-2366.

SECTION 2 • VOICE NEWS, Thursday, September 12, 2013 - Page 31

Eric Crump, LPN, VicePresident of BusinessDevelopment for AngmarMedical Holdings, Inc. Photosubmitted

Senior LivingAge 62 & Over. Rent is only 30% of income

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Eric Crump, LPN, Vice Presidentof Business Development for

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Angel Care Home HealthI never really knew Carol Anne.

She was one of those people frommy hometown that I knew “of,” butnever actually met. I know she hadworked for our area district schoolsystem office. I had also seen herat the county hospital in her capac-ity as the volunteer coordinator.She was single and without chil-dren. Her immaculate dresses andsocial parties were legendary in oursmall town.

I never saw her for many yearsuntil I accepted a position as a floornurse at Ebenezer Senior Living Fa-cility. She was now the resident ofroom 201. She was energetic, talk-ative, friendly, and confused. Afterabout two weeks, she had settledin a routine of following my medi-cation cart down my hall during the

morning med pass. She discussedeach resident as I prepared theirmedications. Her running conver-sation was always the same; shecould help me until “her motherpicked her up and took her home”.

After almost a year of “workingalongside of Carol Anne,” my wifewas promoted to a position thatcaused our family to move about90 miles away. I left Ebenezer andworked for a nonprofit skilled nurs-ing facility in Thomasville, NC. Af-ter eight months, Ebenezer calledwith an offer to work a Baylor week-end shift of two twelve hour Satur-days and Sundays as a weekendnurse supervisor. I jumped at thechance.

Carol Anne was now non-ver-bal and in a Geri-chair. She made

Caring for Carol Anneshort choppy motions with herhands and sometimes smiled orgrunted. As facility supervisor I alsodid resident wound care. I beganeach day by bathing Carol Anne andapplying protective creams. She wasalways the first one dressed on theweekends and positioned by theunit one nurse’s station.

As a special treat for the men atEbenezer, I set up a “barbershop” atthe nurses’ station. The CNAswould bring in all the men for their“appointments” and I would givethem a hot lather shave completewith a hot towel and aftershave.Before each man was positioned, Iwould always turn to Carol Anne fora consult and a smile. She would re-ally try her hardest to communicateduring that time.

Another reoccurring activity wasSaturday afternoon reading time. Iwould have all wheel chair and bedbound residents brought into theparlor room and I read a chapter or

two of Roald Dahl’s book The BFG. Iwould use a booming giant’s voicefor the BFG and a really bad British

About the Author: Eric Crump, LPN, is Vice President of BusinessDevelopment for Angmar Medical Holdings, Inc., one of the largest homehealth agency networks in the country, which includes Angels Care HomeHealth in Lincoln. For more information about Angels Care’s Alzheimer’sDisease Management Program and how we can serve your home careneeds, please call 402-328-0048 or visit www.angelscarehealth.com.

accent for the queen. Each time CarolAnne would either smile or squeezemy hand.

After ten months of working ev-ery weekend, I got the op-portunity to move our fam-ily to Hilton Head, SC, andmanage a startup non-skilled home aide agency. Iwas ready for the challengeand this role defined my latercareer.

My good friend Carolynfrom Ebenezer called me inOctober of that year to tell

me Carol Anne had passed away dueto complications from Pneumonia.

I never really knew Carol Anne…

(NAPSA) - There’s good newsfor individuals who are concernedabout their health and fitness. Thereare simple steps to help them main-tain a healthier lifestyle.

Experts say as you age, it’s im-portant to stick with healthy eatinghabits and get regular physical ac-tivity. That’s because staying at ahealthy weight may lower your riskfor type 2 diabetes, heart diseaseand some cancers. Regular physi-cal activity may help ward off de-pression and keep bones andmuscles healthy.Get the fuel you need

• Eat more fruits, vegetables,whole grains and lean meats. Eatless white bread, rice and pasta madefrom refined grains. Avoid foodswith added sugars or solid fats likeshortening and butter.

• Choose high-fiber foods, likewhole-grain breads and cereals, andvegetables with deep color, such askale and sweet potatoes.

• Stay hydrated: drink Tea, water,low-fat milk and other unsweeteneddrinks.Enjoy movementand physical activity

• Make physical activity part ofyour daily life. Take short walksthroughout your day.

• Raise and lower arms and legsto strengthen your muscles. You cando this while seated.

• If you live in an assisted livingor retirement facility, ask if the fit-ness center offers a free healthcheckup and fitness program.Be good to yourself

• Get enough sleep.• Join a walking group or other

social group.• Stay in touch with family and

friends.

Tips on stayinghealthy as you age

Cancer surviors share tips(NAPSA) - Tips for cancer pa-

tients from other cancer patientsand caregivers.

1. Communicate needs, expecta-tions and limitations ahead of time.Warn loved ones about any changein appearance. “Let them know thatyou are okay with it and they willbe, too,” said Carol Notermann, anovarian cancer survivor.

2. Join an online cancer commu-nity, such as WhatNext.com, whereyou can connect with others on asimilar journey. “Connecting withsomeone who shares your specific

diagnosis makes a huge differ-ence,” said Carol Haines, coloncancer survivor.

3. Ask for help with real tasks.“You will feel relieved, they will feelneeded and quality time will bespent together,” said Makiko Fliss,a breast cancer survivor.

4. If you cannot make it to cer-tain festivities, go via video chat,Skype or FaceTime. “Video chat al-lows you to see and hear everyonefrom the comfort of your home,”said Greg Pierce, a three-time can-cer survivor.

Page 32 - SECTION 2 • VOICE NEWS, Thursday, September 12, 2013

invested in a de-stemming/crush-ing machine, and what took ashed full of people four hours toaccomplish, takes the two of them20 minutes.

What comes next depends onwhether Russell and Karen aremaking a red or white wine.

“With white grapes,” Russellsaid, “you pick those, crush andde-stem them and press themright away; so you only fermentthe juice.

“With red grapes, you pick,

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Russell and Karen have no plans to makewine commercially, but they still have acool-looking sign.

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Russell demonstrates his juicer, where the grapes are pressedto release the remainder of their juice. Gerry Baksys/VOICE NEWS

Russell and Karen show of some of the many ribbons and medals their wine has one at theNebraska State Fair, and from the Nebraska Grape Growers and Wine Association.

then crush and de-stem them, andferment the grapes with the skinstill on for two or three days, thenyou press the grapes to get thejuice. That’s where you get thecolor of the wine; the deep redcolor is from the grape’s skin.”

Once pressed, the juice sits inlarge containers for months, whileyeast is added to convert the natu-ral sugar into alcohol.

All wines go through this pro-cess, Russell said, and thus allwines are initially dry wines.

“Then right before you bottlethe wine you can back-sweetenit,” he said. “You make a simplesyrup (two cups of sugar to onecup of water brought to a boil) andadd that to taste. For some of oursweeter wines, we might use threecups of syrup in a five gallonbatch.”

Usually, Russell and Karen saidthey do their bottling in the wintermonths.

“The wine can sit all fall andclear (let the sediment settle),”Russell said, “and in Decemberthrough February, that’s when webottle.”

Last year, Russell said theymade about eight gallons of Edel-weiss wine from their own vines,which roughly translates to 36

bottles. This year, they bought 12buckets of St. Croix grapes, and ex-pect to turn that into 30-35 gallonsof wine.

“Five gallons usually turns intotwo cases of wine, or 24-25bottles,” Russell said.A good hobby

While wine making can be la-bor intensive, there’s nothingRussell and Karen would changeabout the process; at least, notsince they bought the de-stemmer/crusher machine.

“Your friends come out to help

harvest grapes,”Karen said, “and thatday is usually reallyhot and humid andmiserable. But they en-joy helping out andthe benefits. And oursons (Ben, of Lincoln,and Jon, of Firth)know if they wantwine, they have tohelp.

“We really enjoydoing the rest of it,”she continued. “Itgives us something todo together in the win-ter. We turn the stereoon and off we go withour bottling. Of course, you al-ways hope there’s a little left over

Some say it was the Greeks.Some claim it was the Egyptians.Biblical scriptures declare Noahas being the creator of the firstwine. Personally Dionysus, sonof Zeus, gets our vote.

Whoever and whenever,wine drinkers are galacticallygrateful. This liquid panacea(“remedy for all ills”) makes meninvincible, women beautiful, andthe world soooo mush niysher.

The history of making wineWine in the true definition of the

word means fermented grape juice,however generally almost any fer-mented vegetable product could bereferred to as “wine.” Consider forexample blackberries, strawberries,any-kind-of-berries, dandelion flow-ers, barley, figs, apricots, apples andelder-flowers. Even honey, which isa by-product of flowers, ferments tobecome mead. I hear they can evenmake ice wine now although it mustbe a challenge getting the ice to fer-ment.

The art of making wine seems tohave been developed in the Medi-terranean area. Other regions andcountries have since acquired andrefined the art and some countries,which shall remain unnamed, claimto have developed the art ofwinemaking to perfection (France).In any case, the more grapes theygrow, the more wine they make andthe happier we are.

http://www.winemaking.com/

Wine is bottled poetry.~ Robert Louis Stevenson

when you’re done so you cansample.”