FEBRUARY 2016 Vol. 6 Issue 7
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and the Joy of Tennis
SKIP GRIESE
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CONTENTS
FEBRUARY 2016
10
Adam Flanagan Mackenzie Herman
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FEATURES 6 Heart Health and a Life in Balance 10 Skip Griese and the Joys of Tennis
DEPARTMENTS 4 RECIPE 5 IN SHAPE 9 MARKETPLACE
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RECIPE
Baklava Instructions
Chef Williams Oak Hills Country Club
Ingredients
3 cups walnuts, finely chopped 1 cup blanched almonds, finely chopped 1/3 cup granulated white sugar 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1/8 tsp ground cloves 1 lb phylo (filo) leaves 2 cups butter, melted
Baklava is a rich, sweet, holiday confection prepared using phylo sheets, which are a plain, paper-thin flour and water pastry popular in Greek and Turkish pastries, both sweet and savory. What a perfect way to impress your Valentine! The wafer thin layers of phylo are spread with butter; the eighteenth layer is then covered with chopped nuts and another 18 layers are placed, with each layer being buttered for flakiness. It is important never to allow the phylo sheets to be exposed to the air for any length of time during the preparation or they will dry out and become brittle. For this reason, keep a microwavable cup
filled with butter close at hand and brush the phylo often or keep it covered with a damp, clean cloth. Any combination of chopped walnuts, pistachios and almonds may be used as filling, with pistachios perhaps being the most authentic. Combine walnuts, almonds and spice. In a baking pan, layer 5 phylo leaves, buttering between each layer as it is stacked. Repeat 4 times. Top with remaining phylo leaves, buttering each second leaf. Using a sharp knife, trim the edges and cut Baklava into diamond shapes. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool by: Adam Flanagan
...with a romantic candlelight dinner at Hamilton’s Catfish Landing, Valentine Weekend Special featuring a Sensational Chocolate Fountain Bar, comes complementary with your dinner! Tuesday-Saturday 11am-8pm | (580) 399-1412 | 1004 E. 32nd st., Ada (Two buildings east of Star Skate) 4 • www.adahub.com
IN SHAPE
Fa t is n o t Fo e! Star Edwards Registered Dietitian As obesity and heart disease rates have risen in America, so has the fear of fat. Unfortunately, the message to decrease harmful types of fat in the diet was misinterpreted as “don’t eat fat.” While too much of the wrong kind of fat is a contributing factor to heart disease, low-fat intake does NOT do a heart good. To better understand this process, let us review the types of fat in our diet: Saturated - found in animal products like meat, poultry, dairy, eggs, butter and some plants (palm kernel oil, hydrogenated vegetable oils). Trans Fats – man-made, found in fried foods and shortening. Un-saturated Polyunsatured include Omega 3 fatty acids (found in flaxseed, canola, fatty fish and Omega
at sibilities f the pos o ll a e r Explo D.com ALGUAR NATION
6 fatty acids (found in corn, safflower, sunflower, soybean, cotton seed oils, meats and poultry). Monounsaturated – Omega 9 fatty acids found in olive oil, peanuts, avocado and almonds. Saturated and Trans fats are fats that need to be avoided. These fats increase LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol) and lead to inflammation. Inflammation increases the chance of heart attack and stroke. Fat intake should primarily come from unsaturated fats, with a heavy focus on Omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids have the opposite effect of saturated and trans fats, by decreasing inflammation, increasing HDL cholesterol (“good” cholesterol) keeping blood flowing smoothly through blood vessels, and helping the heart maintain a steady and slower beat.
Consuming enough healthy fats also means a lower triglyceride level. Triglycerides are the storage form of fat in the body and also correlate with heart disease. Many people who cut healthy fat from the diet replace it with more calories from carbohydrates, leading to a high carb, low fat diet. This combination can actually increase triglyceride levels (Am J Clin Nutr February 2000 vol. 71 no. 2 412-433). If you have been told that you have high triglycerides, assure that your carbohydrate intake is not too high and your fat intake is not too low. Each person’s sensitivity to carbs is different, but a reference target ratio is 30% of total daily calories from fat, 30% from protein and 40% from carbs. Remember that good fats, and enough of them, are your heart’s friend!
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Heart Health and a Life of Balance
Have you ever felt like you were going to die? Like you just knew that your time was up? And you knew you weren’t ready to go? While, thankfully, I can answer no to these questions, just as I’m sure that many of you can as well, this is a very real scenario with very real and frightening feelings. Gene Linton, the retired Ada Fire Chief and former Emergency Management Director of Ada, knows all too well what this feels like. It was six years ago that he thought his time on Earth was done. Since then, Gene has worked diligently to change his attitude and behaviors, though maybe not in the way you think. It was cold day in December of 2009. Gene had been working outdoors that day as the Emergency Management Director. He started having pain in his left arm, but he tried to disregard it. He went back to his office in the basement of City Hall, thinking that maybe he just needed to warm up. Then the pain in his jaw started. Even though he never had chest pains, he knew that he was having a heart attack. He almost didn’t go to the ER. He almost blew it off because he didn’t want it to be true. But the pain in his jaw was too intense. His wife took him to the ER and it was, indeed, a heart attack. Gene needed to have heart surgery, a quadruple bypass, at Oklahoma Heart Hospital in OKC. Since they couldn’t get him in immediately, they sent him home with blood thinners and an appointment for surgery. As he was relaxing at home, watching a movie, he felt it happen again. There was pain in his left arm. His family sprang into action and took him to the ER once again. This time he felt like it was touch and go. He just had a really bad feeling about this one. As Gene says, 6 • www.adahub.com
“There have been a lot of times in my life when I say, ‘If it’s my time, it’s my time.’ And you say that until you think your time is up. And then the philosophy goes out the window and you find yourself praying to the Lord for more time.” This was that moment for him. It was his second heart attack in a short period of time. And he didn’t want to die. They put him on a helicopter to take him back to the hospital. Once he was at the hospital, he had his third heart attack, but by this time he was more serene. He had come to a peace that whatever was going to happen was going to happen and if he did make it out of there alive, that he would make some changes in his life. Heart bypasses, even the quadruple bypasses, are considered routine surgery these days. This does not mean that it is not a dangerous and brutal experience, though. Gene knew it had to be done, but he also didn’t know what he was in for. They open you up. They stop your heart. They bypass your heart. In his case they had to bypass all four arteries. He had 90% blockage in one, 85% in another, and 75% in the other two. He went into the hospital on December 30, 2009, had the surgery on January 4, 2010, and came home on January 9th. While his time in the hospital is quite fuzzy, one thing he remembers distinctly is the drainage tubes. Three drainage tubes protruded from his chest and it made it difficult for him to get a good breath. He would try to take a deep breath, but it wasn’t possible. The tubes had to stay in until the drainage was diminished, and it was its own kind of torture. But all of this was nothing compared to the physical and emotional recovery he faced afterward. It took him eight weeks to recover enough to go back to work. It wasn’t just a physical recovery, but an emotional one as well. He was depressed and emotional. It was traumatic. Not only had he faced death head on, but he was aware of his own vulnerability in a distinct and poignant way. He worried if this was a problem with him or something that other survivors also faced. He looked for support groups, but, surprisingly, none existed. Thankfully, he had a friend who had been through something similar. His friend would call him to check up on him and made him realize that these problems he faced were common among heart attack survivors. Eventually, he came to a better place, though still very aware of how fragile life is. During the surgery they had to put a fine metal mesh in his body to protect his organs, and
every time it is cold and humid, he has chest pains. It is a dull ache and a constant reminder of what he went through. Many factors contributed to Gene’s heart condition. As a firefighter for 25 years, he breathed in lots of smoke and other chemicals. He was also a heavy smoker. He didn’t eat right. All of these things contributed to his condition, but he thinks that even more than all of this, the largest problem in his life was stress. Since his operation, he has quit smoking. He said that it was easy to do, because after his time in the hospital, the nicotine was out of his system. His truck smelled like an ashtray and made him sick to his stomach. And he did not want to repeat what had already happened to him. He tries to eat better. Most importantly, though, he has removed as much stress from his life as possible. The problem that most people have is that they try to be too extreme in their healthy behaviors. Many people, after a heart attack, will decide to change their entire lives, but this extreme approach puts more stress on them, and it is easier to fail. Gene has a more balanced approach. He believes in moderation. For instance, you can still have ice cream, but have the small bowl instead of the large one. It’s okay to treat yourself to a burger and fries at Folgers. Don’t try to deprive yourself too much, or you will be miserable. He tries to take things as they come and not worry about the little things that he can’t do much about. He tries to be as upbeat as possible. It doesn’t always work, but he tries, and he doesn’t beat himself up when it doesn’t work. A lot of times, people will take the trivial things in life and get upset about them. But this extra, unnecessary, stress can take a toll on the heart and lead to truly serious problems. While physical exercise is also important, Gene believes that taking a peaceful stroll through your neighborhood can be one of the best things to do. It gets the blood pumping and also relieves stress. Most importantly, though, you need to listen to your doctor and know the signs of a heart attack. Gene was lucky. Since he was a firefighter, he knew the signs of a heart attack. He knew that even though he didn’t have chest pains, he was probably having a heart attack. The pain in his jaw was intense, much worse than basic tooth pain. Some of the signs are sweating, pain in the left arm, pain in the lower jaw, chest pain, dizziness, and fatigue. Unfortunately, many of these symptoms can be associated with other things as well, such as high or low blood sugar. But it is always better to go to the doctor with a false alarm than to die. So talk to your doctor, cease tobacco use, make a reasonable effort to eat better and be as stress free as possible. Remember, though, that moderation is the key. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Enjoy your life. But also try to ensure that you will have a life left to enjoy.
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Hamilton’s Catfish Landing is rooted in a long family history of cooking excellent food. It was originally started back in the 1990’s by M.D. and Joy Bates. The first location was on Mississippi and was named Catfish Junction. This is where the tradition of sharing the families tightly grasped recipes began. Being a mom and pop single business operation, M.D. and Joy closed the restaurant down for a few years but reopened in 1995 as Grampa’s Catfish. The restaurant was successful and M.D. and Joy retired, but their youngest daughter, Allison, took over in 1999. Allison and her husband, Allan, moved the business to 1004 East 32nd Street where they ran the restaurant for approximately 10 years. Allison and Allan closed the doors when they adopted two young boys so they could spend time focusing on family. Seven years passed, and the boys have grown older and are ready to help carry on the family tradition. Today, Hamilton’s Catfish Landing is located at 1004 East 32nd Street right here in Ada, Oklahoma. It is just two buildings east of Starskate. The restaurant is also a part of Grampa’s Antique Shopping Village. You
can bring the family out for great food and then enjoy a stroll on the nostalgic boardwalk where you can see all kinds of antiques. The restaurant has separate dining rooms and also has availability for private parties. There will be a wonderful Valentine’s Weekend special, featuring a Romantic Dinner complete with a chocolate fountain bar. You must come and enjoy! When customers talk about the restaurant, they mention how they enjoy the decor and ambiance of the space. Some say it feels like they are eating at their grandma’s house. People really like the Cozy Western Room when they come in to dine. One couple even said this was the best catfish they have had, and they have traveled all over the United States eating catfish at different restaurants. Catfish Landing specializes in crispy handbreaded catfish, handmade hushpuppies and our Grandma’s famous peach cobbler. They offer a very unique experience with the mixture of fine food and the opportunity to browse the unique shopping village. Allison has always had the mind of an entrepreneur and is so excited to bring this
unique family experience to Ada. Allison is also a successful realtor for Sweeney & Associates. Their plans are to have the full Grampa’s Shopping Village open by the spring of 2016. They also plan to host vintage and antique pop up shop festivals with live outdoor entertainment. Hamilton’s Catfish Landing is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11am to 8pm. For reservations or orders, just call 580-3991412.
www.adahub.com • 9
SKIP GRIESE and the Joy of Tennis
One cannot underestimate the importance of being physically active. It is good for the mind, body, and the soul. It helps relieve stress and tension, but also keeps the body in good physical condition. While it can be difficult to get started and decide what the best fit is for an individual, here in Ada we are uniquely equipped for one particular activity that is both good for the heart and can be a lifelong activity: tennis. Not only do we have the appropriate facilities, but we also have a long history of tennis in this town that we should be proud of. This is embodied in the work and life of Ada High School tennis coach, Skip Griese. Coach Griese started playing tennis in 1964 when he was a small boy. He and his 10 • www.adahub.com
mother lived with his grandparents when his father was away in Vietnam. His mother loved playing tennis and they lived near tennis courts. His grandparents rule was to eat dinner at 5:00. His mother had Coach Griese eat dinner quickly so he could hold his mother’s spot for her five o’clock match. This family commitment to tennis influenced him greatly, and hasn’t stopped since. Griese played tennis at ECU for four years and then coached at ECU from 1980-1984. While he loved his time at ECU, in 1984, he had a chance to start coaching at Ada High School. His friend, Bill Nelson, coached at Ada High and decided to move to the position of principal. He told him the job was going to be open and Griese jumped at the chance.
While Coach Griese enjoyed his time at ECU, he wanted to be able to work with younger players. Not only could he make sure they received the proper technical background in tennis, but he could see faster improvement, impacting both their sport and their personal development at a crucial point in their lives. Griese is incredibly thankful to Bill Nelson for helping him find this opportunity that brings him so much joy. While he has loved his time at Ada High, the last ten years have been especially enjoyable because of his assistant coach, Terry Swopes. For many years he would have a coach for the junior high, but not an assistant coach in the high school. Terry fills both roles, though, and Griese is incredibly grateful for him and his friendship,
availability of resources. There are a total of 18 free tennis courts in Ada. Griese has been to a lot of tennis courts in his life, and these are the only ones he has found that have free lights. For many of them, you have to put a quarter in a machine in order to run the lights. In addition to these resources, there are also many opportunities to learn and excel in the sport. In the summer, Griese works with Carolyn Nimmo, teaching tennis to children. The Ada Cougar Tennis Camp has been active since 1984, when Griese took over the coaching position. The City of Ada provides free tennis lessons in the summer to anyone in the ages of 5-18 years. The Chickasaw Nation has also become involved in tennis, offering a Chickasaw Nation Tennis Camp with Ms. Nimmo and Coach Griese’ leading the sessions. In fact, if any child wants to learn tennis in the summer, there are plenty of available opportunities. It really is a sport that goes across all lines. It is not dependent on economic status because of the freely available lessons and also the inexpensive nature of the sport. While you might have to buy a racket, they are reasonably priced and last a long time. Tennis balls can also be used over and over again. Not to mention, our courts are free. There are many things that Griese enjoys about his job. He likes the relationships that he makes with players, their parents, and other coaches. He appreciates the ups and downs of the game and also teaching these budding athletes how to weather the valleys and peaks, not only in their game but in their personal lives as well. Many of the lessons he teaches on the court can be translated into real life as well. This could not be possible without the strong professionalism, and reliability. When Griese moved to Ada for college in support he receives from players, their parents, 1972, the tennis community was thriving. It and administration. As he says, “The players’ has continued to thrive, in part because of his dedication and commitment have been more leadership. Ada High has 18 state team cham- than I could have asked for.” While Griese’s former students and their pionships and 92 individual championships. Adult and Pediatric This is a remarkable record. Part of the reason, parents applaud his skill in coaching, he is now though, is the culture of tennis in Ada and the receiving an honor that goes far beyond our
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Serving Ada for 29
community. On February 13th, Coach Griese is being inducted into the Oklahoma Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Even though this association was formed in 1979, this will be the inaugural year of their Hall of Fame and it is a tremendous honor for our town that Griese was chosen as one of the first ten inductees. Of the ten honorees, three have passed away and will be inducted posthumously—Wally Smith, Dewey Allen, and Kate Cushing. Five have retired from coaching—Francis Baxter, Darrell Herndon, Bob Holland, Steve Larimer, and Father Perez. Only two are still active coaches—Dick Villafor and our very own Skip Griese. Coach Griese has such respect for the other inductees and has known, or coached against, eight of the other nine honorees. “It is a tremendous honor to be mentioned in the same breath as these other nine people,” he says. Coach Griese realizes, though, that he did not, and could not, do this on his own. From his parents who started him on this path to Bill Nelson, whose friendship helped him realize his dream, to his family, Griese has had the encouragement he needed to become the coach he is today. His family has supported him in crucial ways. He has so many people to thank. His wife, Debbie, has always been there for him. So has his mother-in-law, Wanda Alexander. His children, Amber and Joe Neil, and their spouses, Chris and Karry, have given him further support and encouragement. His grandchildren, Hayley, Ashley, Connor, and Bryce, have brought even more joy into his life, not only through their smiles, but also as he shares his love of tennis with them. He taught his own children to play tennis and continued doing so with his grandchildren. Even Connor, at four years of age, has started playing tennis, and he is looking forward to teaching the youngest, Bryce, once he is old enough. Above and beyond all of these instrumental people in his life, though, Griese says, “I thank God for all the blessings he has given me.”
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