27 minute read
Dadisms
Story by SARAH CLOWER Illustration by CLIFF THOMAS
FATHERS SERVE AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN CHILDREN’S LIVES, and we often have fond memories of our childhoods revolving around the antics of our dads. My dad was a notorious prankster, and was always doing something ornery. My sister and I love to sit around reminiscing about all the silly things my dad did. He told dad jokes like nobody’s business, was always up to something, and was fanatically frugal.
Advertisement
This year, I wanted to write an article about all of the quirky things our dads did when we were young that they thought were saving the family money, funny phrases, and just dad stuff in general.
QUIRKS:
My father in law smells everything around him everywhere he goes. Furniture in furniture stores, basketballs in sporting goods stores, things at Walmart. He swears you can tell the quality of an item by its smell.
- Melissa
My dad loved to scuba dive and would find
all sorts of what he called “treasures” on the bottoms of the rivers, lakes, and oceans, and bring them home to my mom, sister and me. And most of the time, we would be horrified by the condition of these items. But my dad was always so proud of every find.
- Sarah
Every time a boy came to my house when I was a teenager, even if they were just a friend or even in a study group, my dad would sit in the living room cleaning his shotgun. It was so embarrassing.
- Karen
One day a few years back, I was helping my dad switch his info from his old phone to a new iPhone. I told him there was a place to securely keep user names and passwords for different accounts and it was then I realized my dad had about 35-40 email addresses and passwords. He had been making a new one for every single account he had online not realizing he could use the same one for all of them.
- Joy
“My dad smoked when my siblings and I were growing up. My mom insisted my siblings and I couldn’t catch him. My dad used all sorts of excuses to go outside to smoke a cigarette even though my siblings and I
knew that he did. He would say “I’m going outside to check the yard” or “I’m going to go check the tire pressures on the cars.” at 10 p.m. or “I’m gonna go measure the grass.”
- Britten
PRANKS:
My dad’s best friends had an indoor pool, which they taught swimming lessons and water sports out of. My dad used to call right when he knew they would both be preoccupied in the pool so a parent of one of the swim students would have to answer the heavy rotary dial phone on the table downstairs. Upon answering, he would pretend to be the water company stating that his friends had not paid their water bill and the water company was coming to repossess all their water. No matter how much Don and Mary Ann protested that it was only their prankster of a best friend, the parents were always worried that the water company was truly coming to drain the pool their children were swimming in and repossess Don and Mary Ann’s pool water.
- Sarah
My dad was an electrician and an inspector at a factory. The days he had to inspect the light beams, he would fill a five-gallon bucket of water and dump it on workers that weren’t paying attention to their line. He was so high above them, they never knew where it came from because when they would look up they were so blinded by the lights above them.
- Deb
My dad was always trying to mess with my mom, and because he talked to anyone and everyone, in any situation, he would concoct the craziest plans. One day, he ran into a man that had a pet brown bear. He convinced the man to bring the bear to my parents’ house and tied the bear to a large tree in the yard. A bit later, my mom came home from work and. of course, spazzed out. My mom was too scared to get out of the car the entire hour my dad tried to convince her to keep the pet bear. Finally the bear’s owner walked out of their house and told my dad he needed to hit the road with “Cuddles” so they could meet up with other bear pet owners. I really thought my mom was going to strangle my dad that day.
- Amy
My dad would call into Dial-A-Trade to “sell” his friends’ cars, grills, above ground pools, motorcycles, anything they had. Random people would show up at their houses looking to buy their brand new expensive grills for $50 and his friends would be so mad. They still come by to visit my dad and talk about all the stuff he “sold.”
- Joy
When a boy would call my house, my dad would go knock on the “bathroom door” (in actuality any surface he could find) and say “Hey! You done in there? There’s a real nice sounding chap on the phone and you’ve been in there for a long time. You ok? I’ve heard terrible sounds coming from there. And whew! It smells terrible out here.” I would come running from my bedroom to grab the phone to do damage control if the boy was still there, but most
FRUGALITY:
My father in law washes out and reuses Ziplock bags. My mother in law throws the used bags away if she finds them.
- Melissa
My dad got tired of hearing my niece, his granddaughter, complain about wanting individually wrapped snacks in her lunch. He bought the usual groceries and then took the crappy sandwich bags that you just fold over, and put the chips, cookies, and crackers in those, making her “individual sized snacks” out of those little bags. My dad was so proud of himself, but my niece was not impressed.
- Jessica
My dad had a phrase — “use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without” — every time my sister and I asked for something new. We would be so frustrated by his phrase that we wouldn’t ask, buy it on our own, or just do without to avoid hearing his message. To this day it haunts me every time I buy clothes or shoes I don’t need.
- Sarah
My dad refused to buy store bought Halloween costumes and always had my mom make us homemade Halloween costumes. One year, I desperately wanted to be a werewolf. The costume ended up looking like a rat, and my dad spent all night trying to convince me that I looked scary. - Patrick l
Happy Father’s Day !
Because of You, We Care.
Triage – Six Volunteers
Triage – Six Volunteers
There was a false alarm in Dover.
They were tested. It was negative. Everyone moved on for a little bit. But Dr. Nathan Henderson didn’t. He saw the reaction from the community. He saw the reaction from the hospitals. Pope County was not prepared.
Story by HANNAH BUTLER | Photos by LIZ CHRISMAN
Dr. Henderson knew it was only a matter of time, but there was no plan. He made a few phone calls and in a matter of days the Pope County Triage Center popped up. The volunteer staff was prepared to face the first potential coronavirus patient in 10 minutes — 10 minutes before the doors opened on Saturday, March 14.
There are six volunteers, one building, a limited amount of personal protective equipment and a large number of potential coronavirus patients.
In the early days, it would take a full two weeks to get results back. Over time, kinks have been worked out. Test results are being seen within 28 to 48 hours.
The mission has always been the same: Separate those who test positive. Limit the amount of healthcare workers in order to protect them. Conserve as much personal protective equipment as possible.
Testing is uncomfortable for patients. It requires that a six-inch cotton swab goes up each patient’s nose for 15 seconds. And when a positive is found, there’s a whole new set of worries. Every single person they’ve come into contact with — a cashier, a friend, a family member, a server at a restaurant — must be tracked down and tested.
In the beginning, there were 12-hour days and a steady flow of patients. Then, the numbers dipped. Social distancing measures appeared to be working. But with phase one of the “reopening” in full swing and more tests available, the Pope County Triage Center is testing more than ever. And the grind can wear down even the most dedicated.
There’s the physical toll of wearing personal protective equipment and being on their feet for hours. There’s also the mental toll of worrying about their families and worrying about the community’s safety. The volunteers are not just testing patients. They’re also testing the lives of themselves, their children and their emotional wellbeing.
These are the stories of our medical professionals on the frontlines during the coronavirus pandemic told in their own words.
Aleyxs Hardgrove Alexys is a viral triage unit receptionist which includes registration, phone calls, and clerical work. ON HER FIRST DAY: When I first walked in, I had to get suited up. We have to wear these white suits that kind of make us look like marshmallows or astronauts — big masks, helmets and booties. It made it seem more real. Whenever you put on the suit, it’s a lot more real. After I saw people getting sick coming in, people actually getting sick, and the numbers growing in Russellville, I started taking it a lot more seriously. I started not going out and social distancing. ON WHY SHE VOLUNTEERED: I was going to school for nursing and I wanted to actually help people. When I started at Millard Henry Clinic and Pediatrics at reception, I was really just checking people in. I didn’t feel like I was helping a lot of people. After working at the Triage Center, I actually feel like I’m helping people a little bit more. ON CONCERNS: It didn’t bother me first. As we started getting more people coming in and listening to the news about everything going on, it started to seem more scary. I worry a little bit because I have my little boy at home, and I don’t want him to get sick. I don’t want my grandparents to get sick. I had read about people on ventilators and people who have died. I was just worried that I’d take something home and then my son or my grandmother would end up on a ventilator. ON WHAT HER JOB MEANS TO HER: I’m glad that I can help people. I’m glad that I can be there for people, and I know that they’re scared. I’m glad that I still have a job. I know a lot of people are without one right now. Because of this, I’ve realized how much more important a receptionist job is than I did before.
Toni Pearson Toni is a viral triage unit receptionist. takes registration for patients and answers questions on the phone.
WHAT SHOCKS HER: We’ve had people come in, be placed on quarantine, and we see them out. We’ve had some people throw parties, stuff like that. I’m not saying people need to live in fear right now — I know I’m not —but I think we need to be respectfully cautious right now and pay attention. People do die from this. I don’t think people are taking it seriously enough. They don’t understand that we are not in there, wearing all of the protective gear and working all the long hours that we do, just because. It’s a real thing.
ON HER DECISION TO VOLUNTEER: I thought from the very beginning that I do want to volunteer. It was kind of hard because I have 15 grandbabies and I don’t get to see them. That’s difficult. But I do believe it’s a sacrifice that’s worth making.
ON PREPARATION FOR THE PANDEMIC: I’m 53. I never thought I would see the day where people are having to wear protective personal equipment to work, especially myself. It’s almost out of a movie. That’s where our world is right now, but it’s real. Honestly, I don’t believe anybody thought it would actually come over here. I knew it was a threat. Preparing for it? I think we were prepared as much as we could have been with the resources we have been given.
patients that I don’t believe have a clue as to what it means to us when they leave, and they thank us. They have no clue how uplifting it is when we hear that. We do have a lot of “negative Nancys” out there. They’re coming in to get tested, but they’ll still fuss at us that we’re blowing it out of proportion. But, that’s okay because you’ve got those, but you’ve also got the nice ones out there. I try to focus on the ones that are positive towards us rather than the negative.
Mami Yuasa Mami is a viral triage unit CMA responsible for coronavirus testing, vitals and any medical orders. She also assists in collecting surveillance data. ON WHY SHE VOLUNTEERED: I was working at the Dover [Millard Henry] clinic with Dr. Henderson. And I love working with Dr. Henderson. I think I’ll just go anywhere he will go because he’s just a great doctor. I wasn’t super scared. I wanted to do something to help the community and I wanted to learn more. ON HER CALLING: I’ve felt like I’ve always been a black sheep. That’s how I’ve always, always, always felt since I came to the United States. My English was so broken, and I don’t know a lot of American culture, so I didn’t make a lot of friends when I first came here. I speak more English now but, a lot of the time, I feel like I’m not getting anywhere. But this is what I’m supposed to do. I finally felt like I’m being part of the community by helping others in Russellville. ON WHAT SHE’S LEARNED: If you have a question, you need to ask. You need to know how long it takes to get results back. With patients, you need to know which method to send their results. There’s a lot of rules that you need to know and everything is changing all the time. It’s a little hard to keep up with, so I’ve learned I have to ask and make sure that I’m doing the right thing. I think I can apply that to my normal work, too. ON WHAT SHE WANTS OTHERS TO KNOW: I think people need to be aware that coronavirus has not disappeared yet. It’s not gone. You can still get it, and it will still spread. I think people are not taking this seriously anymore and they’re going out to parties. A lot of retail stores opened the other day, so they think, ‘oh, businesses are reopening, it must be safe.’ No, you still have to wear a mask and still social distance. But people don’t think that way, so they catch it and are spreading it. >>
Morgan Gunter Morgan is a viral triage unit CMA handling coronavirus testing, collection of surveillance data and vitals. WHY SHE VOLUNTEERED: My main goal is that I want to help people. I knew Mami because we graduated together, and I wanted to work with her again. Then, the first day I got there, I met Kelsie Duvall, and it was just like we all went together. It was like team effort from day one, there was no arguments or anything, it was just like open arms, family. ON WHY SHE ISN’T SCARED: When I went to school, the first thing they tell you when you get into this program is that if you’re scared of germs, or blood, or a virus, or anything, you’re in the wrong field. You don’t need to do this. You talk about germs, and you don’t know how quickly they spread until you get a point view of everything. ON HER CONCERNS: I have a six-year-old and a husband. Those two are my world, and I have to go home to them every day. I was scared to death. How was I not going to bring it home? How do I make sure I don’t bring it home? Dr. Henderson told us all that we’re going to wash our hands. We don’t wear the same clothes. We stay six feet apart when we eat. I don’t go anywhere. I don’t go to Walmart, or Dollar General, or anything. ON HER OBSERVATIONS: I don’t think it matters what is behind your name, like, LPN, RN, anything like that. I think this virus has brought us all together. The doctors have gone far and beyond for everything.
Kelsie Duvall Kelsie is an LPN, and is in charge of the viral triage unit overseeing all tasks such as assisting with complex medical orders, contact tracing, and collection of surveillance data. ON HER RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC: In the beginning, I don’t think I realized how serious this is. You don’t realize what the term pandemic means in the beginning. You think there’s this virus, and it has the potential to kill a lot of people and make a lot of people sick. But until it actually hits here, I don’t think you quite grasp the concept of that. The further into it that we are, we definitely have all grasped the concept. And you go from feeling really excited and doing something good and that you’re helping to where we wake up every morning and, if we have a sore throat or a cough, now you have to wonder if you should go to work today. It starts to weigh down on you a little bit. I know that I can’t be the only one who feels that way in the healthcare industry right now. ON NORMALCY: I’m so ready for this to be done and over. Normalcy? I’ve almost forgotten what that’s like. Restaurants are opening back up, but I’m not going to be participating in that. Not until I feel like it’s safe, and right now I don’t. I know I’m going stir crazy; I’m a retail therapy junkie, and I have not shopped. I’m blowing up Amazon Prime, don’t get me wrong, but I haven’t been in a store and shopped since March 8. ON HER LIFE NOW: We don’t leave our house. I haven’t been to Walmart. I haven’t gone inside to pay for gas. I haven’t been out to eat at a restaurant anywhere. I go home and I go to work. I’ve had to rearrange my life to feel like I’m keeping other people safe. It’s not just about if I get exposed, it’s if I’m one of those people who don’t have symptoms and I expose other people because of my level of exposure. You just want to keep everybody else safe. I have
a three-year-old, and she isn’t going to daycare right now. We have a private sitter who is watching no other children. If I were to give it to my child, and she didn’t show symptoms, she could give it to every other kid at daycare. I couldn’t live with that. ON TEAMWORK: Triage is a stressful situation all around, and you know when you go to work that you’re going to expose yourself to the virus. Having a team like we have right now makes it fun. We’re all kind of goofy, and everybody gets along so well that it makes it bearable to be there. It’s been a great opportunity and, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have gotten to work with these people. We all came from different facilities. I’m going to come out of this with really great friends. We have to have somebody to vent to, and you can’t go home and talk about your day because that’s just not what you do. You check out at the door and you don’t think about it again until you go back to work the next day. Sometimes we all group chat or, if someone needs to talk, we call each other. It’s honestly been one of the best bonding experiences that I’ve ever had in a work situation.
Dr. Nathan Henderson Nathan assesses, treats, and quarantines patients. He also collects surveillance data analysis, contact tracing, and isolation. ON BECOMING THE LOCAL VOICE FOR THE VIRUS: I was an intensely private person before all of this happened, and I still am. But to be in a newspaper, and to be on an internet TV show, and have people look to you for advice is very foreign to me. It’s been something I’ve had to adjust to. To be in the center of this, and for this to be in the center of everyone’s attention, has been a bit bewildering at times. That’s been something I’ve discovered about myself. I really do prefer to be a private person. I’ll probably be more of a hermit after this than I was before. Right now, with this situation, part of protecting the public is educating the public. I’m learning how to cope with all of that. There’s certainly been a lot of positive feedback from the public but dealing with all of the negative we’ve received has been something I’ve had to learn, and had to learn how to cope with. My feeling very early on in this, and it still comes to me from time to time, is this thought that I am a rural doctor for a small community of closely knit people. In the big picture of the world, outside of Dover and Pope County, I’m not a big academic in Little Rock. I’m not a CDC researcher or a World Health Organization public official. I’m just a family doctor in a tiny town. It felt to me like someone much more important than me should be doing this. Someone who has fought a pandemic before should be doing this, but we don’t have that option. >>
ON HIS CONCERNS: One of my big concerns, early on as a doctor and community member, is that I saw this threat and how bad it could be. I saw that if we took action early, and if we moved aggressively, we could substantially decrease the damage that was done. One of my big concerns was that we move quickly enough and that we move aggressively enough to get in front of this and minimize the damage we could do. If we took no action, the numbers would be catastrophic. I wanted to protect my community from what could have been, and what still could be, if we’re not careful. I wanted to protect my community. That was probably my biggest concern as a community member. We had to stop this before it got started. We couldn’t wait for this to get rolling then work from behind. ON WHAT HE’S LEARNED: I took a lot of things for granted before. I’ve always tried to be a mindful person, but even at that, I took a ton of things for granted. The ability to just get together with friends and just enjoy a Saturday night. Every fourth of July, I always throw a big party. It’s always been fun, but I’ve always taken the ability to get all of my social circle to get everyone together in one place to have fun and enjoy fireworks [for granted]. I never really
appreciated how special that was. In my profession, you learn very early how finite health and life is. And you have to accept that as a physician or it will eat you. At the same time, as a physician, I’ve coped with that by putting it in a detached place somewhere that I didn’t visit. So there are many nights when you lay there awake and you worry. You worry about what happens to your wife and your daughter when you don’t come home. You think about all of the things that you wanted to do and that you planned to do, but you might not have time to do, you might not have an opportunity to do with your family. There are things you still have
Proudly serving our customers since 1903 Four convenient Russellville locations to serve you:
800 North Arkansas Avenue 2500 West Main 306 West O St. (ATM on Tech Campus) 3079 East Main
to teach your daughter. Those are some things that you learn about yourself when you’re in this situation. ON ADVICE THAT’S HELPED HIM: One of my friends sent me this video from a World Health Organization official who had spent his entire career fighting Ebola in Africa. He said that if you wait, if you’re wondering if you’re making the right decision, then you’ve waited too long. You have to make a decision and do it. If it needs adjustment as you go then you adjust as you go. But you cannot hesitate or the virus will get ahead of you. That helped me, and it resonated with me. Even people who do this for a living for their entire career have doubts, but they select a course and they go forward. At night, sometimes I’ll wonder if I’m leading the right
direction or if I’m making the right decisions. Then I think back to the advice not to hesitate but to choose a route forward and adjust as you go. That’s how I’ve been operating. Someone has to lead and someone has to take us forward. Through luck, that ended up falling on me. Here I am.
The guidelines for getting tested are to check yourself for fever, cough, or shortness of breath. If you find yourself with any of these symptoms, contact the triage center. It is located at 2424 W. Main St. in Russellville and can be reached by phone at 479-858-1117. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. l
I promise. I will. I do.
(479) 968-3117 • www.joshuasfinejewelry.com
50% OFF SELECT BRIDAL
Celebrating Russellville’s 150 years, the air parade and fireworks can be viewed from any location on the map (fireworks launch site marked in red). There are no activities planned for the downtown area, and no public restrooms will be available. Public officials encourage folks to stay in or near their vehicles and wear masks when outside of vehicles. Arkansas Avenue will be closed from Main Street to Parkway during the fireworks show. Think of your neighbors and practice social distancing. Schwehm earns 2020 ATU Online Innovation Award
Arkansas Tech University’s Dr. Jeremy Schwehm doesn’t view virtual instruction
as a challenge. He sees it as an opportunity. “The distance in distance education refers to location only,” said Schwehm. “Engagement in the online classroom can be equivalent to, or exceed, those levels attained in a face-to-face environment. My approach to online course design is best described through the concept of the connecting classroom. In any given activity, my goal is to connect students with content, to their peers, to the instructor and to the institution. The online student experience is the online classroom, so the online classroom must meet the various academic and social needs of online students.”
Schwehm’s execution of that approach has been rewarded with the 2020 ATU Online Innovation Award, which honors faculty in online teaching environments who utilize innovation and focus on student success initiatives.
Previous winners were Dr. Douglas Barron (2019) and Dr. Aaron McArthur (2018). The selection is made by a committee of faculty peers.
Schwehm, associate professor of professional studies in the ATU College of eTech, was honored for his senior-level Community Development course. Schwehm’s students work with a community-based organization to align the student’s strengths with the organization’s needs and develop a service plan to benefit the organization. Class participants engage with each other through videos that allow students to describe their progress and work with classmates to overcome obstacles.
In addition, Schwehm has developed an approach to online group projects that facilitates flexibility by allowing distance learners to collaborate asynchronously and focuses grading on individual contributions.
As result of Schwehm’s innovation, his ATU online students have performed more than 3,000 service hours in Russellville and other communities across the region since 2014.
“I design online courses to be academically rigorous, engaging and fun, while including high-impact practices such as writing-intensiveness, collaborative learning, undergraduate research and service learning,” said Schwehm. “It is my responsibility as an online faculty member in professional studies to increase learner interaction and prevent/reduce feelings of learner isolation, for both academic and social reasons.”
OVER
YEARS IN BUSINESS
Eligible ATU students may apply for CARES Act funds
Arkansas Tech University has established the procedures by which its eligible students may apply for Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds.
The CARES Act provides federal grants for economic relief from the national emergency created by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. One portion of the CARES Act established the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), which provides the opportunity for emergency financial aid grants to help cover a student’s expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus.
CARES/HEERF Act grants will be administered by Arkansas Tech and awarded to current undergraduate and graduate ATU students who meet the following criteria: *Have a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on file *Are eligible to receive Title IV (federal loans, grants and work study) funds Continued on page 27...
List your engagement or wedding announcements in the pages of ABOUT the River Valley magazine at no charge. You can email yours to: editor@aboutrvmag.com or mail to: ABOUT Magazine, 220 East 4th Street, Russellville AR 72801. A phone number must be included for verification.
JUNE
Tayler May and Woodrow Ramey (5th) Madison Reasoner & Jacob Morton (6th) Hannah Key & Travis Farmer (13th) Cassandra Johnson & Ryan Watkins (13th) Gabby Abbott & Dillon Green (20th) Sarah Kathryn Hale & Samuel Pegg (20th) Jessica Felkins & Justin Looper (27th) Lindsey DeSoto & Tyler Allen (28th)
JULY
Charleigh Kennamore & Caleb Albrecht (5th) Caroline Scott & Ethan Chernivec (11th) Jessica Enciso & Christian Martinez (18th) Bethany Freeman & Jackson Hogue (18th)
JULY
Amy Duncan & Michael Jennings (24th) Carlee Hinkle & Bradley Martin (25th)
AUGUST
Hannah Grace Knight & Robert Branscum (8th) Brooke Woodward & Derek Hollowoa (8th) Selby Bailey & Alec Yates (10th) Andrea Dixon & Chad Stewart (15th) Sydney Johnson & Nathan Bell (15th) Meredith Hedberg & Morgan Link (29th)
SEPTEMBER
Haley Fossitt & Thomas Avery (5th) Shelby Gray & Marty McNally (19th) Josie Dixon & Jonathon Myers (20th) Abbie Moore & Kent McCoy (27th)
